Last Wednesday jdc & i went to a port tasting w/food pairings at the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I've had port many times, but never really enjoyed it until I tried with chocolate a few months ago. But this tasting and the appropriate food pairings actually made me enjoy port as much as I enjoy standard non-fortified wine.
We tried 5 ports, which were served with a Recchiuti chocolate, marcona almonds, fig walnut cake, dates, blue cheese, and Gruyere. Tasting notes:
1995 Smith Woodhouse - Late Bottled Vintage 1995 - $34/bottle
This was smoother and much less sugary tasting than any port I've previously tasted. Nice mild cinnamon taste, not overpowering. Unfiltered. Tasted with the fig walnut cake, the berry tastes really came through and it seemed less "flat."
2001 Quinta Vesuvio - Vintage Port - $65/bottle
Sweeter than the Smith Woodhouse, with lots of fig and raisin. Very smooth. (At this point in the lasting I realized that maybe I just need to drink EXPENSIVE port more, because clearly this tasted refined, not cloyingly sweet like most of the other ports I've had in the past.) Tasted with the blue cheese, a bit of latte/coffee came through, but without being overly bitter. Slight astringency w/blue cheese. Chocolate brought out blackberry notes.
1977 Dow's Vintage Port - $275/magnum (I didn't realize you could magnums of port.)
Hints of chocolate and powdered sugar. I tasted this right after eating a few almonds, which influenced my perception. Blue cheese brought out toasted notes...a bit too sweet, with hints of maple. The date kind of killed this port for me - it was too sugary and mapley. Somewhat floral. I liked it best without food.
Dow's 10 Year Tawny Port - $35/bottle
Smells like caramel, tastes like butterscotch. Somewhat like syrup. With gruyere more maple came out, but then the port tasted thin. The almonds matched better, picking up toasted notes.
Cossant - 15 Year Bual Madeira - $42/bottle
Kind of weird and tangy. Cough syrup, but not quite that bad. It reminded me of the feeling of drinking cheap white wine plus some lemon. None of the food had much impact.
Overall, a great tasting! With the exception of the madeira, I enjoyed everything quite a bit. Lesson learned - save my pennies and buy nice port.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Ubuntu Dessserts Pt. 2
I forgot to post the best of the two desserts at Ubuntu: a bowl of frosted feuilletine; bananas, keiffer lime ice cream, warm coconut & rum milk. I could eat this for breakfast.
This November I may be heading back for the full tasting menu, yay!
This November I may be heading back for the full tasting menu, yay!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Ingredient of the Week: Swiss Chard
As a way to incorporate new foods into our diet, cjr and I have decided to purchase one item not usually on our list at the farmers' market each week. We wanted to grab some okra, but we got there too late and the stall was sold out! Instead, we headed for some beautifully colored Swiss chard.
There are the standard recipes, you know, sauteed with some garlic or drown with a ton of delicious cheese but this pasta recipe really struck me as something different. Swiss chard whole wheat pasta. Yum. We made a few alterations of note:
1. We didn't use pine nuts because I don't like them (and we didn't have any).
2. We used more tomatoes since our can was larger.
3. We added a touch more wine (1/3 instead of 1/4 cup).
4. We added extra red pepper flake (total used: 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp depending on desired spicyness).
5. We doubled the olives/cheese for the topping since we left out the pine nuts.
6. We used Parmesan cheese instead of Pecorino because that's what we had in our fridge.
7. We used one onion because two just felt excessive (and we diced instead of sliced).
8. We used a large pot for the sauce instead of a frying pan. Shoving all that chard into a frying pan with out high walls would've been a disaster.
This recipe was a lovely and unique way to incorporate delicious Swiss chard into our diet using only items already in our pantry (besides the chard of course!).
1. We didn't use pine nuts because I don't like them (and we didn't have any).
2. We used more tomatoes since our can was larger.
3. We added a touch more wine (1/3 instead of 1/4 cup).
4. We added extra red pepper flake (total used: 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp depending on desired spicyness).
5. We doubled the olives/cheese for the topping since we left out the pine nuts.
6. We used Parmesan cheese instead of Pecorino because that's what we had in our fridge.
7. We used one onion because two just felt excessive (and we diced instead of sliced).
8. We used a large pot for the sauce instead of a frying pan. Shoving all that chard into a frying pan with out high walls would've been a disaster.
This recipe was a lovely and unique way to incorporate delicious Swiss chard into our diet using only items already in our pantry (besides the chard of course!).
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Quinces!
It's now (for a very short time!) quince season!
So, every year I buy a bunch and poach them in a syrup. They keep pretty well in the fridge in their syrup and make good additions to salads (chop up into small bits). Use the syrup with some vinegar and make a nice quince vinaigrette. (Beats raspberry any day!)
I use this recipe (well, I doubled it because I had 6 quinces). Highly recommended.
So, every year I buy a bunch and poach them in a syrup. They keep pretty well in the fridge in their syrup and make good additions to salads (chop up into small bits). Use the syrup with some vinegar and make a nice quince vinaigrette. (Beats raspberry any day!)
I use this recipe (well, I doubled it because I had 6 quinces). Highly recommended.
Spinach and Cheese Borekas/Mini Spanikopita
In Israel we have these savory puff pastry triangles that we call 'borekas'. They can be filled with almost anything. Most popular are the potato and the spinach/cheese filling. I once tried to make these (unsuccessfully) with filo dough. But I found that too fussy. I've since switched to puff pastry which is a) smarter and b) more authentic. You can use fresh spinach too, of course, just make sure to chop it and cook it through first. You can probably get away with lower fat cheese too, but not fat-free you want it to be melty after all!
Ingredients:
Filling:
5 oz of frozen chopped spinach (about half a bag at trader joes).
3 ozs of crumbled feta cheese
3 ozs of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 beaten egg
pinch of salt
Puff pastry:
1 package puff pastry (I used the trader joe's variety because it was handy).
1 egg, beaten mixed with a tablespoon of water.
Seseme seeds for topping (optional)
1. Defrost the puff pastry as per the instructions on your package. If you have the kind that is folded in thirds, be very patient! You do not want to 'break' your puff pastry.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
3. Cook the spinach as per instructions on the package. You don't have to get it to a point where it's very hot, just where it's not frozen/cooked through. Drain and squeeze out as much of the excess moisture as you can.
4. Add the feta and mozzarella to the spinach and mix well. Add the egg and combine. Add a pinch of salt for flavoring.
5. Roll out the puff pastry and cut into equal size squares (I like 3-4 inch sides).
6. Place a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each square and fold over diagonally. use some of the egg wash/water mixture to 'glue' the triangle together. Repeat for all your puff pastry (or until you run out of filling, probably you'll run out of puff pastry first).
7. Crimp the two short sides of the triangle with a fork to seal it up. (Think pie crust edge.)
8. Coat the top of each triangle with some more of the egg wash (a nice silicon brush would be useful here) and then sprinkle each top with sesame seeds for extra pizazz.
9. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
10. Allow to cool and enjoy!
Suggestions:
I stash the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and warm them up in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes to bring back to their delicious, flaky, original state.
If you have extra filling you can a) find more puff pastry or b) nuke it in the microwave until it's decently hot and use it as spinach dip for chips. (Make sure to get it hot enough to kill any germs hiding in your raw egg!)
Ingredients:
Filling:
5 oz of frozen chopped spinach (about half a bag at trader joes).
3 ozs of crumbled feta cheese
3 ozs of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 beaten egg
pinch of salt
Puff pastry:
1 package puff pastry (I used the trader joe's variety because it was handy).
1 egg, beaten mixed with a tablespoon of water.
Seseme seeds for topping (optional)
1. Defrost the puff pastry as per the instructions on your package. If you have the kind that is folded in thirds, be very patient! You do not want to 'break' your puff pastry.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
3. Cook the spinach as per instructions on the package. You don't have to get it to a point where it's very hot, just where it's not frozen/cooked through. Drain and squeeze out as much of the excess moisture as you can.
4. Add the feta and mozzarella to the spinach and mix well. Add the egg and combine. Add a pinch of salt for flavoring.
5. Roll out the puff pastry and cut into equal size squares (I like 3-4 inch sides).
6. Place a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each square and fold over diagonally. use some of the egg wash/water mixture to 'glue' the triangle together. Repeat for all your puff pastry (or until you run out of filling, probably you'll run out of puff pastry first).
7. Crimp the two short sides of the triangle with a fork to seal it up. (Think pie crust edge.)
8. Coat the top of each triangle with some more of the egg wash (a nice silicon brush would be useful here) and then sprinkle each top with sesame seeds for extra pizazz.
9. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
10. Allow to cool and enjoy!
Suggestions:
I stash the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and warm them up in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes to bring back to their delicious, flaky, original state.
If you have extra filling you can a) find more puff pastry or b) nuke it in the microwave until it's decently hot and use it as spinach dip for chips. (Make sure to get it hot enough to kill any germs hiding in your raw egg!)
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Ubuntu - Desserts Pt. 1
My birthday dessert was vanilla bean "cheesecake" in a jar", with blueberries with chamomile, and almond-teeccino crumble. I ordered this one due to the Yelp raves about it, but I wasn't that impressed. Yes, it was in a jar. It was moderately tasty. But it didn't totally blow me away like fine dining should. Nicole's dessert, on the other hand...
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Maple Pecan Buttons
This is a Carine Goren recipe that's just awesome. It's basically a variation on Mexican Wedding Cookies, but the maple makes it really special. I've converted the weights into british units from the original metric for your convenience.
Ingredients:
200 grams (7 oz) softened butter
1/4 cup brown, Demarera (sugar in the raw style/Turbinado will do) sugar.
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
A pinch of salt
200 grams (7 oz) pecans (somewhat) coarsely chopped (this is replacing some of the flour, so use of a food processor is recommended).
Up to 2 cups powdered sugar
Optional:
Some cornstarch to make sure the powdered sugar doesn't clump.
1. Preheat the oven to about 350 degrees (170 C).
2. Mix the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla until it is creamed.
3. Add the flour and salt and mix just until the dough comes together.
4. Add the pecans and work quickly to combine.
5. Stash the dough (covered) in the fridge for half an hour so the dough will be easier to work with (this step can be skipped in a pinch).
6. Roll into 1 inch diameter balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 25 minutes until the cookies brown just a bit (check the bottoms) these cookies stay rather light, so take care not to burn them!
8. Cool them just a little bit and then roll the still warm cookies in the powdered sugar. Store the cookies covered in the refrigerator. (The tend to fall apart at room temperature). If you want to make sure your powdered sugar doesn't clump, add about a tablespoon or two of cornstarch to each cup of powdered sugar you use.
They're the cookies on the left.
Ingredients:
200 grams (7 oz) softened butter
1/4 cup brown, Demarera (sugar in the raw style/Turbinado will do) sugar.
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
A pinch of salt
200 grams (7 oz) pecans (somewhat) coarsely chopped (this is replacing some of the flour, so use of a food processor is recommended).
Up to 2 cups powdered sugar
Optional:
Some cornstarch to make sure the powdered sugar doesn't clump.
1. Preheat the oven to about 350 degrees (170 C).
2. Mix the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla until it is creamed.
3. Add the flour and salt and mix just until the dough comes together.
4. Add the pecans and work quickly to combine.
5. Stash the dough (covered) in the fridge for half an hour so the dough will be easier to work with (this step can be skipped in a pinch).
6. Roll into 1 inch diameter balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
7. Bake for 25 minutes until the cookies brown just a bit (check the bottoms) these cookies stay rather light, so take care not to burn them!
8. Cool them just a little bit and then roll the still warm cookies in the powdered sugar. Store the cookies covered in the refrigerator. (The tend to fall apart at room temperature). If you want to make sure your powdered sugar doesn't clump, add about a tablespoon or two of cornstarch to each cup of powdered sugar you use.
They're the cookies on the left.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Ubuntu - Mains Pt. 2
Based on Yelp recommendations, the other main we ordered was strawberry & basil pizza margherita with a farm egg: 3-day strawberry soffrito, fresh mozzarella, saba. It was quite good, but I discovered the wonder of farm egg on pizza already (via Pizzetta 211) so that extra bit of "wow" was lost on me. The crust was chewy. The strawberry did add a nice and slightly different flavor note, but if I could order again I think i would have gotten their other signature dish, the iron pot cauliflower.
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