Embrace poverty!

Maybe it's Winter, but I find myself moving more and more into my Lyonnais hole. As all know, Lyon is the Gastronomic center of France- many regard it as the food capital of the Western world. It's famous for its famous chefs- Paul Bocuse, Jacques Pepin, and Daniel Boulod amongst countless others. But, it's not the haute cuisine that inspires me. It's the brasseries, the bistros, and cafes. Dishes involving pork, braised "off" cuts of meat, and the baguette as the spoon of choice. Mustard is more important than salt and pepper- table side.

The recession is over I guess, but times are still tough. Me? I'm celebrating the times. I'm re-discovering pork. I made my first mornay sauce last week and yes, I need some work, but I found it amazing that a little flour, butter, cream, eggs, and cheese could elevate broccoli in such a way.

Lentils have become fashionable in my household.

And in wine, I find myself enamored with the Grand Crus of Lyon- Les Crus de Beaujolais. These are the best of the best, finest wines produced by artisanal growers working traditionally. And many blow the pants off of Burgundies from the North costing 3, 4, 5x as much.

Marcel LaPierre's Morgon 2007 is one of my favorites...Arguably one of the finest red wines that can be drunk table side- and a legend within its own appellation. Under $25bt retail. Earth. Minerals. Reduced black cherry. Yet, fresh and with an acidity that penetrates fat like a knife through warm butter.

Embrace poverty. Slow down. For me, with such humble ingredients, my table is more rich than its ever been.

Cru Beaujolais producers to search out:

LaPierre
Desvignes
Jean Paul Brun
Trenel
Clos de Roilette
Tete
Christian Bernard
Chignard
Chauvet
Michaud
Descombes
Diochon
Guy Breton

If you don't feel like cooking- no worries. Get a fantastic, classic french styled baguette, some cornichons, some saussicon, some marinated olives, some comte cheese, some pate, a head of Boston lettuce. Make a vinaigrette from a shaken mixture of a dollop of dijon mustard, salt and pepper, 1 part red wine vinegar, 3 parts vegetable oil. Pour over lettuce head. Serve with other ingredients and a bottle of one of the above.

Finish bottle!

I'm Back!!!

You may have noticed a hiatus in the posts. My apologies.

A fantastic chicken curry and beer last night.

Will post more soon.

2003 Pontet-Canet

My sister-in-law brought home a bottle of Pontet-Canet 2003 yesterday. She asked if it was a good bottle. Yes, I responded. Pontet-Canet is a good producer. And that's what I thought. Classified growth Left Bank Bordeaux. Probably Michel Rollanded and over-made, I anticipated. Forgettable and over-priced, I assumed.

No.

There was a glass left, so I decided to have a glass with lunch as I'm working from home today. And what I found has re-opened my eyes to Classified Growth Bordeaux. Parker writes this is a definition of cassis. I completely disagree. Scorched earth and dark chocolate- yes. But more important, the wine delivers depth and power without a huge overly made alcoholic mouthfull. In short- it's balanced. There's structure here and even acidity which I can't believe for this vintage!?

Is it over priced? Yes. Even now, I'm seeing sticker prices at around $70bt. I think it drinks that and I think that's a fair price to pay for this quality. But, I would wait as ties they days demand patience. There are 2004s on the shelf, and the glorious 2005s (greatest ever vintage) are languishing.

So, be patient and when this wine dips below $40bt...buy it all.

The Lesson of Sous Vide

There's my boy doing his rendition of tuna, sous vide, complete with plastic orange letter "w" in the preparation.

I thought it was so cool that he started playing around with this thin slice of tuna and then he noticed that if he submerged it into hot water it changed color- it was cooking.

Sous vide is some what controversial, but any great chef I've talked to has said it's THE way to perfectly cook food. It concentrates better. It cooks perfectly uniformly. It allows for so much more control in the professional kitchen. Will it eventually make its way to the household kitchen? Well, it would guarantee that your chicken is properly cooked- your whole chicken.

But, I (and many of my chef friends as well) wonder if sous vide takes away some of the soul of cooking. It brings into play the 'perfection' question and whether being slightly imperfect is actually a better thing.

I guess it's summed up like this: is it better to be consistent or to have character?

Funny, that the business mind of me says consistency, but the humanity of me wants character- in food, wine, and at the table.

Malliouhana

One of THE super great, under the radar resort destinations based in Anguilla. I recommend it because I'm desperately feeling the need for a vacation, but with a baby girl coming this Fall...well, I'm not going anywhere. Probably the best high caliber food and wine destination I've been to in all of the Caribbean.


If you do ever make it here, make sure to have the lobster omelet with a bottle of Raveneau (multiple wines for amazingly only around $60+bt)!?

The Brilliance of Dried Oregano

I worked hard yesterday. Fully cleared out a third of my backyard. Laid seed and organic fertilizer. And where's the rain I was supposed to get? Ah well, the weather is funny. I was tired and I was very happy when after getting out of the shower my wife had takeout pizza ready to go for me.

As a traveling salesperson I eat a lot of pizza. In fact, I would go to say that the finest pizza connoisseurs in the world simply have to be traveling salespeople. It just makes sense. So, as a pizza connoisseur you become highly sensitive to the subtle taste of the sauce, the texture of the crust, the integration of the cheese, sauce, and crust. And salt- you can literally measure the salt of each component of the slice.

Last night's pizza? Pretty forgettable. But, as a sales person I also succumb to a lot of very forgettable pizza. My trick is to dress it up with dried oregano. It's amazing how a teaspoon of dried oregano can freshen up a pretty bad slice of pizza. Fresh oregano would have been even better. Ah, the incredibleness of fresh herbs.

I downed a couple glasses of white lambrusco. Dry. Very saline. Was excellent and pretty cool considering you never see this wine in the States. And all was right in the world...

Pain Grille

Go get a big 'ole hunk of Tuscan peasant bread. Slice into 1/2 inch slices. Open your outside grill and prep to high heat. Before putting each slice of bread down use a brush and lather thoroughly with olive oil- both sides!

Cook like you were cooking a piece of tuna fish. Watch for the lovely grill marks, and don't burn the sides too much. Immediatley after you pull the slices of bread from grill spirnkle with kosher salt and cracked pepper.

Serve along side salad and grilled meat.

Arguably one of the best accompaniments to any Summer dinner.