Filet and Jazz

Last night, Julie and I had tickets to see Wynton Marsalis, so we needed a quick dinner; I also wanted to do something kind of nice, since it was a sort of mid-week date night. This made for an easy call--filet mignon steak with a nice mushroom sauce, plus some couscous and green beans on the side. There's nothing like a beautifully pan-seared, well-seasoned rare steak. That seared, brown crust is such a wonderful contrast to the soft rare meat inside. (An aside--cook these beyond medium-rare, and you've wasted good food and good money. So, please don't.)

Thanks to having a good boning/trimming knife, the steak didn't cost a fortune, either. Precut, trimmed filet can cost upwards of $15/lb. Not everyday eating. But, buy a beef tenderloin vac-packed, and cut your own steaks, you get the same thing, and can pay as little as $4/lb--about the same as a nice beef roast. Plus, you can cut them to whatever thickness you like -- a big bonus. All it takes is cutting off a bit of connective tissue and fat, separating the three muscles that comprise the subprimal, and slicing to your desired size. Five minutes, and it's done. And, you can turn the trimmings into a nice beef stroganoff or stirfry.

So, all of this was lead in to one of the best concerts I've attended in recent years. I've long been a fan of Wynton Marsalis--this is the 3rd or 4th time I've seen him play live. He's perhaps the most talented trumpeter alive today -- that rich, mournful tone is one of a kind. But it was especially cool to see his band this year--it turns out that I know one the trumpet players in the band. Ryan Kisor and I performed together in several honor bands across Iowa during our high school years. Of course, he was always the better trumpeter, and has now grown into a true powerhouse. In addition to playing awesome section work, he stole the show as solo on a big piece--such a dark, clear tone! In spite of not getting home until after 11 at night (not much fun when the alarm goes off at 4:45 in the morning), what a great evening!

The Germans were here

Today was the annual Taster's Guild German wine tasting. Two and a half hours, 89 amazing wines--Rieslings of all levels, from QbA to Auslese and eiswein. Several gewurztraminers, five mineral-laden sylvaners, pinot noir of several styles--with and without oak, and even two sweet ones! I like pinots, but those sweet ones were definitely a unique experience, even if not something I'd actually buy to drink at home. Many of the rieslings, though, just blew me away. Fitz-Ritter, Fischer, Dr. Heyden, among others, make killer rieslings. The 2007's, in particular, were really beautiful, although many need more age.

Many of the wines were represented by either the winemaker from the estates or others close to the production, so we could get a real sense of where the wines came from, both in terms of the land, and the philosophy of the winemakers. That's an extraordinary experience, any way you cut it. But even better, our Wednesday group hosted a post-party for the winemakers. We each brought a bottle (or several) of wine, and some food to share. In all, there were over 40 more wines, all higher end stuff, to share. There were probably 10 or 15 burgundies, some dating back to the early 1990's. The Germans brought along some of their well-aged library wines--one dating back 40 years to 1969. To think that we were drinking wine that was produced the year that man landed on the moon, and five years before I was born--pretty cool. It was a beautifully honeyed, slightly nutty Auslese Riesling.

There was a lot of good food, as usual at these things. Homemade venison sausage was good. A great potatoes gratin. Pork in cherries, chicken satay. Homebaked bread, made by the host. I cooked up a lentil stew, which was very well received by the group. It's amazing how easy it is to cook that, though. Fry up some diced bacon, brown off some sausages. Cook onions, celery, carrots, leeks, and a bit of garlic in the leftover fat. Add in a pound or so of dried, rinsed lentils (they come in a bag at the grocery for about a dollar). In this case, I added liquid in three forms--a bit of white wine, which I cooked down a bit, then added a bunch of stock and enough water to top it off. Seasoned it with a mix of salt, pepper, and a premade "Bavarian spice blend" of mustard seed, rosemary, thyme. Cooked for about 45 minutes, it was done. It was a great, tasty, easy thing to cook, and enough to feed a large group cost about $12.

Wine Tasting and Spaghetti Night

So, that’s called a cop-out for “I got home late and don’t really feel like cooking anything complex.” Last night was wine tasting Wednesday (our weekly wine group), so we didn’t get home until after 8 pm. At that point, I wanted something quick and easy. So, brown up some beef, throw in some garlic and tomato sauce, and boil some Barilla pasta. Grate some parmiggiano-regianno over it, and life is good. Simple, filling, easy.

I do have one tip of my hat to my gourmet tendencies. Last fall, when tomato season was wrapping up at the farmers market, we bought seemingly tons of “tomato seconds” for a little of nothing. The fruit wasn’t pretty, we had to trim out some green parts, and some brown spots. But, cooked down with onions, garlic, and some spices, it makes a wonderful alternative to that jarred stuff. Just pull a container of it out of the freezer, add it in, and life is good.

Now, as to the wine tasting—that’s a blast. The owner of our local wine shop gathers a group of about 20 or so of us each week to taste through around 18 wines new to the shop. It’s a great mutualism: Dick gets to open and taste through his new stock, while getting opinions from other wine-heads, while we get to try out and learn about a lot more varietals and producers than we’d otherwise be able to do. I know I’ve been inspired to order several of the Wednesday night wines, and I’m sure everyone tends to do this, so it helps the store’s bottom line, and we have made some great new friends among this group.

This week’s wine lineup was as interesting and diverse as any – some very old style German Rieslings, a couple old school Italians, along with a very modern-styled super-Tuscan (mixing Sangiovese, merlot, cab, and syrah) that I hated, and Julie loved. Also some over-oaked, over-extracted California plonk. Some strange white wines from Spain – who ever heard of growing moscato and gewürztraminer in Spain? And there is a reason it probably shouldn’t be done. Two outstanding wines, and both good bargains—a lovely dry marsala for under $10, and a beautiful French rose from the Loire valley. Whoever thinks pink wines are all like the nasty, cloying Beringer White Zin needs their eyes opened with this.

Lamb Chops

One of my favorite quick weeknight meals involves lamb chops and couscous. Tonight, I made just that. We got some lamb loin chops from a local vendor at our farmers market, and I marinated them in lemon juice and olive oil, spiked with garlic and oregano. It's simple to sear them off and cook them stove-top for a few minutes on each side, then use the marinade plus some white wine and stock to make a quick pan sauce. Israeli couscous provides a wonderful baby pasta to go with the lamb and to absorb the wonderful sauce. Cooked in stock, it's full of flavor. We paired it with the remnants of the Chanson Bourgogne from Sunday night, and sadly, the wine had lost a lot of its early charm. There was still good earthy complexity, but it lost a lot of the subtle fruit notes that made it such a beauty upon opening, in spite of using the vacuum preservation and all. Still, not a bad wine, and a the earthy notes worked nicely with the lamb.

This is a meal I like a lot, and one of Julie's favorites. But it also provides a certain conundrum for me. I like to be creative when I cook, try new things. So preparing the lamb chops more or less the same way each time drives me nuts on one level. On the other hand, it's a dish I absolutely love, and lamb chops are not something we're having every other day. Sometimes there are just these classic approaches to food that just work so beautifully, it's hard to tamper with it. Stay tuned--we have another set of market lamb chops in the freezer right now, so we'll see what I do with those. Will I do the safe thing, or be adventurous?

Welcome, and Roast Chicken

So, I’ve decided to start a blog – devoted to our day-to-day eating and drinking habits. For me, it’s a way to track what we’re eating, how I’m preparing it, what drinks and food work together, and what doesn’t. I’ll probably rant a bit, explicate a bit, spend time on the soapbox, and generally be, well, me. Maybe I’ll throw in real recipes, for sure some of the techniques I’m using. After all, I seldom cook from a real recipe, per se. If you find it interesting, great. If not, I honestly don’t care – this is more for me than for you. If you can get something out of it, great. If not, well, that’s really not my worry.

My first topic: Roast Chicken. That’s what was for dinner Sunday night. It’s the ultimate in comfort foods. Done right, with a nice crispy skin and juicy meat, can be amazing. Done poorly, well, it’s still OK, so long as you don’t undercook it and poison your diners. Overcooked, yes, it’s dry and rubbery and not all that great, but some sauce will fix it fairly well. Plus, it’s cheap (you can get a decent sized chicken, around 4-5 lb., for about $5), pretty easy to prep, and incredibly versatile. Of course, you’ll get more taste if you “splurge” on a free range local bird, still a bargain around $10.

Versatile, you say? Why, yes. In it’s most basic form, it’s yummy. Toss it in the oven with salt and pepper seasoning, maybe some olive oil or butter to baste it a couple times. Tired of that? Squeeze a lemon over it and throw the squeezed lemon in the bird’s cavity. Now, the chicken has that beautiful acid freshness of lemon. Or, try balsamic vinegar instead. It brings that acetic vinegar note, with some added depth and a touch of sweetness. Cook your veggies in the pan with it—fingerling potatoes and carrots are classics, but turnips do very nicely too, as will an onion or celery. You can use some of these to make a gravy if you’d like – they take on a great flavor along with pan juices. Just throw in a little flour at the end, cook for a couple minutes, deglaze your pan with some white wine, add some stock, cook it down for a few minutes, and season it. Strain, and you have gravy.

Ready for more adventure? Glaze the bird with a fruit based preparation. It can be as easy as heating up some nice jelly or jam, or a complex mix of fruits and herbs. Or, get really crazy, and add an international flair. Try some Asian flavors – ginger and garlic in the cavity, or a soy based glaze, or both. Or, maybe some Latin notes? Or Caribbean? Citrus and allspice could really bring some new dimensions to the bird.

Sunday night, I went uber-simple. Chopped up some veggies for the bottom, seasoned it up with salt and pepper, put a few cloves of garlic in the cavity, and coated it in cheap “balsamic” vinegar and a bit of olive oil. Paired it with a ridiculously bargain-priced 2005 Chanson Bourgogne, and had a nice Sunday dinner without much work. And, we’ve got leftovers for both Julie and me to take for lunch early this week. How much easier could it be? And the very best part? We’ve saved the bones and carcass in the freezer, so after another round of chicken with bones, I’ll be able to make up a nice yummy homemade chicken stock. It’s SO much better than the crap in a can or box, to say nothing of cheaper. I control how much salt goes in, and can freeze it for months. But, that’s a topic for another day.