Wine review

We’ve been trying a lot of new wines and need to keep track of the ones we like, so I’m going to start blogging about them.

Last week we had Julianne and Tanner over for dinner, so we opened a Nora Albarino and a Posenato Costa Lunga (Soave Classico) to compare. Everybody liked both wines very well. The Nora was spicier and more crisp, while the Posenato was smoother and more delicate, without having the sort of sweetish, sticky mouthfeel I often associate with “smooth” wines. I’d buy either again. The Nora was about $15. I’m not sure about the Posenato because it was a Winestyles selection of the month in recent months. If you are Winestyles members, one benefit is a monthly selection of a couple of bottles of wine. Winestyles is gimmicky, but between the tastings and monthly selection, we are learning more about what we do and do not like. Additionally, you’re almost forced to articulate what that means to you, as you try the different wines at the tastings. Most of the monthly selections have been great, but there have been a couple of ringers, such as the extremely sweet champagne we opened on July 4th for fireworks. We didn’t even drink it!

 A great example of a type of wine we probably would never have tried on our own is Albarino. In addition to being featured in a tasting, there was an Albarino in a recent monthly selection. I haven’t tried one yet that I disliked. I believe we had a Martin Codax and really enjoyed it.

I will try to blog our opinions when we try new wines in the future.

Chiki Paht Paaaah

We want to make Cartman proud. And we also want to make a chicken pot pie that, while it’s not entirely virtuous, is not as horrible from a nutritional perspective as even the best grocery store pot pies. Cooper was really craving chicken pot pie, and I had a bunch of leftovers that seemed ideally suited, so here you go:

2 cups chicken, cut up into bites (we had leftover grilled)

2 cups amazing chicken stock that you had in the freezer. No? OK, use box broth.

1 cup milk. Or so, not sure how much we used

6 TB butter, 6 TB flour. You know where we’re going with that.

1 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup dices onion

2 deep dish pie crusts

1 sheet puff pastry dough

peas, corn, if you want. About 1/2 cup each

Cook the carrots and onions til al dente in the chicken stock. Make the roux. Add the stock/carrot/onion mix and then the milk to make a thick-ish sauce. Season with salt, pepper, tarragon, basil and dill (just a bit).

Bake the pie crusts until done, but not too crisp.

Put the chicken filling in the crusts, then top with puff pastry. We rolled it thin, then cut one circle to cover one pie, and then cut various random pieces to cover the other. They’re not out of the oven yet. I’ll update if either method is tragic, or spectacular. We’re baking at 400 for about 30 mins. You could probably do butter or egg white on the top for added pretty. I may throw a sprinkling of cheese on for that purpose.

Chef Rob’s Caribbean is an Interesting Place

Located in the strip mall immediately north of 285 on Roswell Rd (on the left), Chef Rob’s is unassuming from the outside, except for the expensive cars/rims in the lot, one of which has vanity plates that say CHEFROB. Inside, the decor’s reminiscent of the Caribbean, in that it appears sort of unplanned, as if somebody found some cool things here and there and put them all together without any regard for whether or not they go together.

So, I approached the menu with an open but slightly skeptical mind. We wanted two entrees, so we wanted a small/light appetizer, but they all seemed like a fairly large commitment. As an alternative, we ordered a side order of sweet potato fries, which were lovely, salted just right, and served with ketchup on the side. James thought the fries were great without ketchup. I, however, love ketchup delivery mechanisms, and these sweet potato fries served that purpose much better than ones I’ve tried in the past. The entrees appeared just as we were finishing the fries - perfect timing.

Dinner was accompanied by semi-live music. A fellow with a metal drum sang to some sort of karaoke versions of non-Caribbean ’80s music. It sounds weird, but did actually make me feel like I was at a trippy Caribbean resort. And you really can’t beat live music. And the dude’s dreads were awesome.

We split both entrees. The first was pan-fried tilapia with julienned vegetables and jasmine rice. The sauce seemed more Asian than Caribbean (a sweetish, teriaki-ish glaze), but the dish was delicious. I recently read in Cooks Illustrated that tilapia is a bottom-feeder, like catfish, and that it can have a slightly muddy flavor. I’d never noticed that before, but now that the suggestion was in my head, I did indeed taste the muddiness of the tilapia. However, the tasty sauce more than made up for it.

Our other entree was the shrimp and jerk chicken fettucine. It was a little spicy, but certainly not off-puttingly so. In fact, the creamy sauce complemented the chicken and shrimp beautifully, and the pasta was perfectly cooked. When we ordered, we figured we’d need a take-home box, but we pretty much wiped it out.

All in all, this was a tasty dinner. The food was not as interesting as the venue, though. Anyplace that serves a dish called Rasta Pasta invites speculation about what other sorts of ventures might be supported by the Caribbean Cafe’s convenient location…and that was half the fun.

Rich Salmon Tacos

Leftover grilled salmon turned into some really delicious soft tacos this week. As a bonus, the leftover taco filling made a great sauce over pasta the next day, and don’t we all love to eat salmon for three days straight. Now I just need to remember how I made them. Let’s see…

Step 1: Invite your mother over for a nice little dinner. Make way too much grilled salmon, rather plain, with just a little salt, pepper, and lemon (What?? That’s what she likes!).

Step 2: The next day, chop some stuff up:

1 large tomato (pretty fine dice)

1 handful cilantro (about 1/2 cup)

1 large clove garlic, minced

You’ll also need about 3/4 cup sour cream, about 1/4 cup heavy cream, chives, 1/2 to 1 tsp adobo seasoning (it’s salty! You can add more if you need to, but you can’t take it out), 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, the juice of one lemon, and a pinch of sugar. There were probably other things that I’m forgetting, so feel free to improvise as always. Oh, and you’ll need small flour tortillas.

Step 3: Steam the tortillas. If you don’t have a handy dandy tortilla steamer, place a damp kitchen towel on a cookie sheet, spread the tortillas around, then cover with another damp towel. Bake on 325 while you’re making the filling.

Step 4: Make the filling. Start by sauteeing the tomatoes in hot olive oil until they begin to come apart, because I don’t like raw tomatoes and this is my recipe. Add the garlic about halfway through, being careful not to let it burn. Add everything else except the chives and - obviously - the tortillas. Warm the leftover salmon a little in the microwave, then add to the sauce, breaking it into pieces. How much salmon? Well, how much did you have left over? That much. I had two pretty large pieces, each about the size of my hand. And if you used the nasty kind with the odious gray backing, pick that shit off before you make the taco filling!

Step 5: Dump some filling in each tortilla, garnish with chives, and serve with fresh corn on the cob. The corn is not optional. The texture and sweetness of the corn complements the tacos in an important way. I thought about cutting it off the cob and using it in the filling, but there’s already a lot going on in the filling.

Banana Bread

I’m not excited about this or anything. Somebody asked me for this recipe, which I adapted from a cookbook a long time ago. Since I went to the trouble to type it up, I figured I’d record it here for posterity. My kids don’t like nuts, so it’s got none. Should you enjoy nuts, feel free to add them!

1 stick butter (softened)

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg (2 medium)
• 4 TB milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Cups flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• About 2 cups mashed banana

 Mix butter and sugar until fluffy

Add egg, milk, vanilla

Add combined dry ingredients

Stir in banana

Bake 1 hour at 350 in a loaf pan prepared by greasing, then lining with sugar or cinnamon/sugar

Curtis Stone Needs to Bottle It

Take Home Chef’s (TLChannel) Curtis Stone appears to be exuding some serious shit, pheromonically speaking. I’ve noted for some time now that - oops! - all the ladies’ panties seem to magically disappear when he’s around. Never mind that they’re supposed to be cooking a lovely, Chef-Curtis-Assisted-Surprise dinner for their husbands, the show’s premise. They coo, they giggle, they lose the power of speech, they flirtatiously help him stir the bechamel.

Today really clinches it though: today’s featured person is a GUY. A straight guy who is gazing adoringly into Curtis’ eyes. (Curtis’ perpetual bedhead is looking particularly crunchy today.) Curtis had better not drop the soap is all I’m sayin’, straight guy or no.

He needs to figure out how to bottle it.

Yummy French Cuisine Right Around the Corner

Last night we headed out for dinner with no destination in mind. James said, “Let’s go to Roswell Road and either turn right or left then just pick something.” We turned right. And there was La Petite Maison! We’d noticed this new (7 mos old) place a few weeks ago and decided to try it. It has the potential to be a great addition to the Sandy Springs food scene, with maybe a few adjustments.

The space is pretty and well designed, small, with an enclosed patio that I imagine will be al fresco May to October. Inside is a very romantic little dining space, with beautifully renovated restrooms (especially if you enjoy a complimentary butterscotch while “seated”). 

I call this place “promising” because there are some adjustments they need to make, diversifiying the menu a little, and sharpening up the leisurely service (which I really think was not negligent but an attempt at a “real” French dining experience). 

The thing that really made me think this place will grow, adjust, and succeed was the smoked salmon appetizer (Saumon fume et sa crème fouettee). At $16.50, it was expensive, but plenty for two. And it was a total Work of Art. Lovey fresh salmon draped diagonally across a large square platter, surrounded by citrus (lime and grapefruit sections, sliced key limes and kumquats), grenadine-pickled onion slices, and tiny scoops of apricot sorbet. There was very thick whipped cream (creme fouettee), but who’s counting. Lovely.

We split the special entree, Monkfish in a brown butter sauce with vegetables. Very nice and satisfying, comfort food rather than showstopper cuisine.

We were surprised that there was no fromage plate, either as an appetizer or dessert course. As I said, there are tweaks needed for this place to become a real standout.

All in all, it was a lovely, romantic, delicious meal. I hope this place gets increasing attention and becomes a Sandy Springs staple.

Entrees are in the teens (pasta) up to 39.50 for filet with foie gras…mostly in the 20-25 range.

Frying Fun

I didn’t set out to intentionally destroy the kitchen, but it almost worked out that way.

I don’t fry things. It’s not so much that I’m on good behavior nutritionally. And God knows everything tastes wonderful fried. The reason I don’t fry things is that I hate the greasy miasma that smells the house up and coats the cabinets. AKA The Mess.

But last night  I decided to make french fries. Normally I would stuff some Ore Idas in the oven and call it good. But I forgot to get the Ore Idas. And it was Burger and Fries night. And I actually had oil and potatoes in the house. So I dumped the oil in a good, heavy calphalon saucepan, cranked up the heat, and started slicing.

I don’t have such a great history with french fries, so I should have known better. The (first) time I chopped the end off my thumb was when I was cutting potatoes for fries at the cottage in Maryland (”nobody eat the funny little round french fry!”). But yesterday I did not cut my finger off: I almost started a great big grease fire.

No sooner did I put the first round of potatoes into the oil than the whole damn thing boiled over in a big way. All over the stove, down the front, all over the floor, and — certainly — onto the blazing hot burner. I have no idea why we didn’t have a fire. Maybe because we’ve got a flat, glass-topped stove?

Miasma indeed. Smoke was everywhere, oil was everywhere. Nobody ate any fries, not even funny little round ones.

Amazing Grilled Chicken

There’s nothing really special here, but the kids have agreed that lately my grilled chicken has tasted amazing. I’ve been making a bunch and using afterward in quesadillas, sandwiches, and pasta dishes, all of which have gotten raves. I never measure, so I’ll give it my best shot and update this as I try to be more exact in the future.

 For 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, put the following in a zip-loc bag:

• Juice of 1 lemon
• An equal amount of EVOO
• A splash of dry white wine
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dried basil (I think the dried actually matters, despite my love of fresh)
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley (I think the fresh actually matters)

1. Marinate the chicken in the bag for a few hours, then grill as follows:
2. Get the grill good and hot, like maybe 15 minutes on High.
3. Put the chicken on the grill (presentation side down and all that).
4. Immediately turn the burners to low and CLOSE THE LID.
5. Turn periodically, minimizing open lid time.
6. Don’t overcook it. You should take it off when it’s still a tiny bit pink when you cut into the thickest part. It’s going to finish cooking after you take it off, so if you cook it through on the grill, you’ll ruin it. No, I don’t know how much time that takes; you’ll have to pay attention.

Spinach and Leek Tart - Gently Delicious

This is so easy and very worth the effort. You can eat it cold or hot for days - it warms up beautifully. I’ve made the large tart form twice now, and I am next going to try doing individual tarts for an upcoming wedding shower.

• 1 puff pastry sheet 
• 2 leeks, rinsed and sliced in 1/4 inch slices
• 1/2 bag spinach, roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream + 1/2 cup milk
• 3 eggs + 2 yolks
• 1/2 tsp dried basil or several fresh basil leaves, chopped
• salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste
• 1/4 tsp dried tarragon
• 1/4 cup micro -basil or other aromatic microgreens (optional)

1. Saute the leeks in butter until tender, then add the spinach and cook until wilted.
2. Combine all the other ingredients, except the microgreens, in a bowl. Stir in a little of the spinach mixture to temper the milk/eggs (so you don’t scramble them).
3. Place the thawed pastry in a 9 inch square baking dish, pressing down without making holes and creating a ruffly edge where excess dough exists, mostly in the corners.
4. Put the spinach mixture in the puff pastry shell, then carefully pour the milk/egg mixture over it. Try really hard not to let it get outside the pastry shell. Sprinkle the microgreens on top.
5. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 350. Continue baking 20 minutes or more, until it’s puffy and golden in the middle.