Coaching Cooking

I find that for those occasional nights where I give in to the ease and price of getting Chinese take-out, I need to spiff it up somehow. The best way to do that is with a bottle of bubbly. Sparkling wine goes well with the saltiness of your chow mein, the fried egg rolls, or sweet and sour chicken. That particular bottle in the picture is an Oregon brut, but you could use almost any bubbly.

If you like sweet wine, though, make the meal a little spicier to provide good contrast.

The San Jose Mercury News just posted a helpful guide to urban wineries in the Bay Area.

Check it out! Reviews include Testarossa, Clos La Chance and Fleming-Jenkins, Storrs and Rosenblum.

Happy tasting…

One of my nearest and dearest starts his new job at Wine Globe in a few weeks so we headed to Illusions in Palo Alto for a wine tasting with his new company (plus many singles from the likes of Yahoo and beyond). The ballroom had a disco ball and several televisions and a wall screen. Many tables were set up for the various wines and the bar had a lavish selection of appetizers ranging from baba ghanoush to falafel, pita and hummus. The hummus was sprinkled generously with olive oil and pomegranate seeds. The baba ghanoush had the perfect blend of tahini and roasted eggplant and the pita bread was toasted and warmed to perfection.

Wine Globe provided us with tasting note sheets so we picked a table and AB grabbed our wines for us from the nearby tasting tables. We tried a few whites including Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The Sauvignon Blanc had a fragrant nose and flavors included rose and apricot/peach. There were many more reds to try from Cabernet Sauvignon to Petite Syrah to Zinfandel. My favorite of the evening was the 2005 Adobe Zinfandel. It had a juicy sweetness with walnut on the nose and a long, cherry finish. To be blunt, it tasted damn good!

Tasting is subjective so AB and I enjoyed comparing notes and fraternizing with our tablemates. Our one, strong agreement was that one of the wines had flavors of Band-Aids and chlorine on the nose. So, clearly, it was NOT our favorite wine.

My favorite part of the evening, of course, was trying the wines while eating some great Mediterranean food. I never turn down freshly cooked falafel, warm, soft pita or tangy baba ghanoush. We left the tasting sated and happy with some new wines to add to our collection (and wines that we hope to drink very soon!).

A sante!

Today, I ventured out into the hills for a bit of research with Farley from Wine Outlook. We met in downtown Los Gatos for some winetasting at Backyard Wineries, a new tasting room at 45 West Main Street that pours wines from the Fleming Jenkins Winery and Clos La Chance. Claire, the tasting room diva, answered all of our questions plus she had a fantastic music selection. I love my Beastie Boys with some 2004 Fleming Jenkins Santa Cruz Mountains Syrah!

Then it was lunchtime and we headed over to Savannah-Chanelle Vineyards for a picnic lunch and some good ol’ winetasting with our snappy host whose witticisms and old-school personality added some great humor to our experience.

The picnic lunch included some great bread from La Brea Bakery in addition to delicious picnic fare from Whole Foods. I have always loved the curry chicken from Whole Foods because it combines generous chunks of chicken wtih raisins, whole almonds and just the right amount of curry and other spices. Farley made a great appetizer spread with green olives, fresh chopped garlic, cream cheese and a touch of mayonnaise. We ate our picnic near the winery with a fine mist sprinkling over us (not quite rain, but getting close).

Teeth chattering and arms wrapped around our freezing midsections, we sought refuge in the tasting room which is housed in a quaint, farm-like structure with a large, sloping room and gorgeous, exposed ceilings. We also drank a tasty Syrah port to a classic Nirvana tune. So far, my purchase of the day: 2003 Savannah-Chanelle Estate Zinfandel Santa Cruz Mountains.

On to Thomas Fogarty’s where Farley introduced me to Mort, the cat, and to some great wines. I bought two bottles at this lovely place including the 2005 Gewurtztraminer and the 2002 Sangiovese Santa Cruz Mountains. We chatted up the manager who had some great restaurant recommendations for the SF Bay Area. And we looked out over the mist which made me long for this song (just played once and combined with the Gerwurtztraminer).

Thanks, Farley! I had a wonderful time. The fog and mist parted into a brilliant blue as I sailed down the windy road to Highway 9 and then home on 85 with Ok Go playing quirky tunes on my stereo and the faintest traces of wine still clinging to the corners of my mouth.

AB marked the beginning of our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple by opening the Rosenbaum 2005 Paso Robles Zinfandel:

Then we preceded to regale the day with a delicious Dungeness Crab cocktail and AB’s special, oven roasted prosciutto-wrapped asparagus:

The slight crunch and saltiness of the prosciutto (that had been roasted in the oven) perfectly complemented the asparagus and the wine (thanks for the recommendation, Farley!). Then we moved on to the main course: beef fondue. Here’s the wok heating up (we used a combination of peanut and canola oils). The wok we used is electric with a nice rack (yeah, ha ha) that really comes in handy for slightly cooling the meats and vegetables after they are cooked. We also opted to use chopsticks instead of fondue forks so we wouldn’t scratch the wok.

In addition to beef cubes, I also prepped mushrooms and AB prepped broccoli (which turned out to be the second most popular part of the meal). We cooked the beef and ate it with dijon mustard, tarragon/mustard sauce, barbeque sauce and a special balsamic reduction that AB made just for today.

We rounded out the meal with some roasted potatoes (from Trader Joe’s) and some shrimp (also cooked in the wok) along with Pellegrino and Moet & Chandon’s White Star (our fav champagne). Then AB used his fabulous barista skills to make lattes which we drank with these exquisite chocolates:

Thus, bellies full and foodie souls sated, we toast you to a wonderful February night while we lick the chocolate from our lips! Happy Valentine’s to you and yours…

One way to enjoy wine (in my opinion, one of the BEST ways) is to cook with wine. I love trying new recipes and I love trying new wines (tip: it helps to get through the new recipe with a great glass of new wine…).

Here are some wineries that offer delicious-sounding recipes:

Robert Mondavi has an official recipe search page including the sublime sounding Ancho-Glazed Halibut Tacos with Avocado

St. Francis has an equally attractive recipe search that includes a recipe for an inventive dish (that I am going to try very soon!): Gnocchi Stuffed with Mushrooms.

Fritz Winery has a few recipes to offer, plus they encourage their customers to send in recipes featuring their wines. Here’s a delectable recipe for Duck with Blackberry Sauce using Fritz Old Vine Zinfandel.

Mirassou Winery has a wine-inspired recipe page with pictures of recipes including Baby Wellingtons whose cuteness and potential deliciousness hooked me right away.

Bennett Lane Winery offers some tasty recipes including the Thai Lobster Rolls with Mango Sauce and some tempting photos of other great-sounding recipes.

Columbia Winery collaborates with the Barking Frog located right near the winery. Recipes include the Grilled Quail with Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette and Grilled Watercress.

Cooking with wine is an adventure. Even if things don’t work out perfectly, there’s still wine to drink and good food to eat. What could be more satisfying?

Today marks my second visit to Le Village’s public warehouse opening. This time, AB, my husband, went with me and marvelled at all the great foods available. We bought some foie gras in a tin and the delicious yogurt that I pine for. We also got a great deal on a case of 12 bottles of wine including the following wines:

2004 Joseph Burrier Macon Fuisse
2004 Grand Bateau Bordeaux
2004 Celleir des Dauphins Cotes du Rhones Villages
2004 Fitou Mont Tauch
2004 Louis Tete Beaujolais-Villages

I have no idea if we got great wines or stinkers. I’ll let you know as AB and I begin the difficult and somewhat torturous task (**okay, we’re thrilled**) of tasting all these wines.

Oh the horrah, the difficulties we will face, I say in my best Scarlett O’Hara voice. It’s going to be a very jolly Christmas…