Out & About

We had planned to go over to Chris and Sirkka's place, and I had wanted to smoke a chicken, but it was pouring rain all afternoon, so I roasted it. I was late putting it in the oven, so we finished it in theirs while everything else cooked. I augmented the remaining kale pesto with the watercress purée from trout night, plus more garlic and pine nuts. This went on gnocchi (store-bought, but still good) and we had salad and steamed beets from their great garden. A perfect rainy summer dinner- we've had a lot of rain, and it lends itself to a slightly more decadent plate than the heat. Another Domaine la Millière did the job.

No picture from this one, so here's the lineup from Sunday's dinner at Milo's birthday party:

(For those of you keeping score at home, this makes two 1978 Burgundies in as many weeks, a tradition John and I hope to continue.) I found this one in Kingston for very little money, and though clouded a bit with sediment, it was delicate, funky and had that certain magic that no other region can touch. The Châteauneuf was great, too.

Roulades

Beautiful, pasture-raised veal, (fleisher's,) pounded flat and rolled around a pesto of kale, pine nuts, garlic, onion, and oil, got a good sear and then simmered in a bit of leftover rosé until cooked through. Placed on brown rice, then the liquid (wine and pesto that leaked out the sides, plus a big spoon of demi-glace) reduced and poured around it all plus chopped herbs on top. We had this with a 1999 Autard Châteauneuf "Cuvée les ronds" and a Boston lettuce salad. Simple, but deep, and a good antidote to the rain.

Trout Eating in America

Adams' in Kingston has a pretty good fish department, and I had a craving for some trout "en papillotte" so I picked up some nice ones, as well as a bag of mussels. The trout went into parchment paper with a sprig of thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and a pat of butter all inside the cavity, and into the oven. The mussels got a white wine/cider/cider vinegar broth and made a good rainy day appetizer. I also caramelized quartered endive and finished them with white wine and demi-glace, blanched and puréed some watercress, and made polenta with pepper and parmesan. This was all dreamy with a 1999 Kistler Chardonnay "Les Noisetiers" which is starting to change with age into a leaner and more complex creature than it was when younger.

¡Leftovers!

So all the remains of the dinner last night came home with us, and everyone agreed to descend on our house to finish it all. I took the guts of the red & yellow tomatoes left from the sashimi and made a salsa with red onion, lime, cilantro and a serrano chile, plus guacamole, brown rice, black beans, and the salmon became a salad with sweet potato, black olives, cinnamon, and lemon. Liz brought green beans, and John pesto, which combined after a quick steam of the beans, and Chris and Sirkka brought salad greens from their garden. There was also corn, and a ton of cheese from last night and from our neighbors Deb & Debra who also came. Everyone got a tortilla and went to town. John brought a 1978 Fixin, a 1991 Cabernet, and a 1995 Cabernet from Argentina, all of which he was sceptical about, and all of which were great, especially the Burgundy. Living up here is so far all we hoped for and more.

Chez Liz

A gathering, and in typical fashion another amazing meal. Liz marinated great salmon in a complex and smoky sauce, which reduced to a gorgeous glaze while the fish grilled. John got an enormous puffball from the market and cut it into thick slices which also went on the grill. 2 pizzas, one with chard and goat cheese, the other with pesto and caramelized onions, and Sirkka's feenel en croûte were appetizers, and I made red & yellow tomato sashimi. There was also rice, bitter greens, salsa, cheese, beans, carciofi alla romana, and probably some more too. We had two Barbarescos and a Barolo, all very good. The only one I remember was the one we brought- a 1997 Produttori Moccagatta. Dessert was Liz's coconut tapioca pudding which we combined with my wine-poached seckel pears, plus her raw banana cream pie. Wicked.

Gnocchi

Another chilly, rainy day called for more comfort: more bacon, plus a bit of shallot, browned, then a lump of gorgonzola dolce and some yogurt melted in, plus thyme, oregano and rosemary, and some parmesan bubbled away on low while the gnocchi cooked. All tossed together, with a bit of added parsley, it was as ridiculously good as it sounds. Blanched zucchini with lemon and an heirloom tomato salad rounded it out, and we had another Turkey Flat rosé.

Comfort food

Christine marinated a piece of Mahi Mahi in miso, vinegar, and honey, and After cooking it through I reduced the marinade, plus a little wine, to make a thick sauce. Also, a bunch of kale cooked with a slice of bacon and half an onion with lemon juice to finish, and mashed steamed sweet potato. Real yummy with a 2001 Matrot Volnay-Santenots.

VT

After another amazing trip to the farmers' market, and the inevitable pile of sausages (duck & green peppercorn, feta & curry, hot Italian) that followed for dinner, we had all vegetables the next night to balance it out. I made a chick pea curry, and three salsas: corn, roasted pepper and tomato, and tomatillo. Some leftover edamame from the market, puréed with wild apple and radish, became the filling for some fried wonton appetizers, and I made collards with garlic and lemon.

Fridge Soup

The apotheosis of my favorite random meal: this one began with an onion and carrots, plus half a can of black beans, the rest of the pea soup defrosted for the fancy dinner (which included big chunks of bones,) the last of the short rib meat, a head of kale, a summer squash, a sweet potato, the last of the green curry purée which began as John's soup, half a bag of annelini (O-shaped pasta,) herbs, and water to cover it all. Simmered for two hours, it became the perfect meal for our third straight day of incessant cold rain. Only made more special by a 2003 Chassagne-Montrachet Vielles Vignes by Moreau. Simple food at its best, and nothing was wasted. The fridge is empty and ready for Monday's shopping.

For those of you keeping score at home, this makes the fourth meal so far from the short ribs, and the fourth also for the pork ribs which became the base for the pea soup. There's another quart of pea soup in the freezer, and a pint and a half of demi-glace left from the beef, plus a half jar or so of the ravioli filling left. The moral of the story is USE YOUR BONES and always leave good leftovers. Both these cuts of meat sell for about 5 bucks a pound and we've eaten like royalty off of them for quite a while now.

Fried Sushi

Christine had also bought nice big scallops with the salmon, but it was too much for one meal, so I sliced them and made a ceviche with lemon, cider vinegar, ginger, shoyu, and shallot. This sat overnight in the fridge. The remaining maki got a quick egg/flour/ume vinegar batter and browned all around. Given the cold, rainy weather, I gave the ceviche a quick toss in the same pan to heat it through and thicken the sauce with the flour and oil left form the maki. This light comfort food went nicely with another Marques de Cáceres Rioja rosé which for 6 bucks is the deal of the season. It was kind of like Spanish sushi, after all.

Salmon two ways

Beautiful wild Atlantic salmon satisfied both raw and cooked cravings, as perfect fish so often does around here. First, maki of raw collar, curried greens from the night before, and brown rice. The curry added a very nice counterpoint to the rich fish and tied the fish and rice together particularly well. Then, the remaining fillet crusted with ginger, sesame, garlic, salt and pepper, seared up on both sides and finished covered, and got a pan sauce of shoyu, short rib demi-glace, ume vinegar, and honey. Last 2 heads of baby bok choy went in the same pan for a quick sautée with garlic, ginger, and a spoonful each of the demiglace and soy sauce. Amazing with a 2000 Blagny "La Piece sous Les Bois" by Domaine Matrot, which seemed made for asian-flavored salmon in a beef-enriched sauce.

"Sag Paneer"

The rest of John's soup inspired (and was added to) kale and collards, cooked until soft in coconut milk and fenugreek/cumin/fennel seeds with onion and vindaloo paste. All puréed together, and then with small cubes of tofu in place of the cheese, over brown rice with cilantro and mango chutney. Clean, green, and mean with a leftover Mendocino rosé (allegedly made by Caymus.)

Dinner for 3

John came over, just back from Japan, and brought 2 amazing old bottles so we whipped up some worthy grub to go with them. I took the remaining pie crust from the freezer, along with the kraut, a radicchio, and the one Italian sausage not cooked the other night, and made a filling for the tart that also included red onion. All cooked down, with wine, to a spicy/bitter/funky dark purple and went on the crust, with pine nuts and parmesan to finish. We ate this while sauce and pasta water cooked, and drank a 1989 Orion which had a very Southern Rhône-like character, but still tasted like a Thackrey. Beautiful, and the oldest Orion I've ever had.

John brought yellow and green zucchini from the garden, and cooked them in garlic and water, then added shiso, nama shoyu, pine nuts, more garlic, and stick-blended it into a beautiful soup with oil and chives on top to finish. Amazing. Meanwhile I took some ground beef/pork mixture from Fleisher's, and made a Bolognese that included some fantastic green beans, also from their garden, and the trimmings from various leftover heirloom tomatoes. We had it on whole wheat spaghetti, and moved on to a 1983 La Chapelle which had a beautiful strawberry nose, and was still a little tight and sour, but over time opened out into a graceful, delicious treat. We finished with a 2003 Torbreck "les Amis" grenache which tasted like red twizzlers and milk duds after the others, but in a good way(?) I'm saving my last bottle for at least 10 years to see if it gets any of the amazing grace of the others.

For dessert, John and I ate the last of the verbena ice cream standing over the sink like real men.

Feast

Kris, Ken, Mary, and David came up from the city so we had a suitably fancy feast. I kept the courses small, and we had great fun moving back and forth through the wines, trying them with different things. First, a sashimi of heirloom tomatoes with corn salad (with red onion, thyme, and grape tomatoes,) which matched perfectly with the 2004 Collio "Molamatta" that Kris & Ken brought. Dressed with sesame & olive oils, nam pla, and nama shoyu. A nice fresh raw beginning to the meal.

















Next a sort of deconstructed choucroute garni, with the "raw slaw" from ages ago cooked down with soy sauce and more vinegar into a funky sauerkraut along with a dollop of the split pea soup and a piece of local hot Italian sausage. Mustard on the side, and just right with a 2000 Trimbach cuvée Fréderick Emile. Sort of Alsace-on-the Hudson.













This was followed by a salmon tartare (red onion, chives, lemon, oiive oil) on top of a sort of guacamole (avos, lemon, cilantro, garlic) which was creamy and savory, and well accompanied by a Pleiades XIV.















Then ravioli, filled with a braised short rib/herb/pine nut mixture and with some parsley included in the dough for the top sheet for decoration. (No picture, though.) The sauce was the guts of all the heirloom tomatoes along with a bit of cream and truffle salt. With this we had David's offering: a 1976 Gevrey-Chambertin "Les Cazetiers" by Camille Giroud, for whom David now makes the wine. Fantastic, still young in a way, and after an hour open had transformed into a deeper, rounder, mature delight. We also opened a 1997 Produttori Barbaresco Riserva Moccagatta which everyone loved and which also improved dramatically over time given its youth.

I had thrown a lamb shoulder on the grill, rubbed with ras el hanout, coffee, and garlic, and it came off (a tad overdone, but saved by the sauce) and got a mixture of the short rib demi-glace and tapenade poured over it, along with a mint/rosemary/basil/garlic pesto for a note of bright green. For this we opened Mary's 1978 Stag's Leap, and my 1992 Beringer private reserve. The Beringer tasted great until we tried the Stag's Leap, which won hands down- sublime- they don't make them like this anymore.













Then cheese, which I chose to confound them: 2 from NY, one from VT, and one from VA. All were suitably impressed. Last, a blackberry tart (picked behind the garage the day before) and lemon verbena ice cream, also from the garden.

Pizza

Another spelt crust got the treatment: the two remaining merguez, along with more caramelized onions, dried tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and herbs cooked in the iron pan until nice and dark, then went on the crust with basil and a layer of parmesan. It came out crispy and fantastic, with heirloom tomatoes on the side and a Collioure "Les Clos de Paulilles" (Grenache/Syrah) rosé 2005.

Semi-Samosas

It was time to cull the leftovers, so the chick pea curry, the roasted potatoes (with remaining steak sauce,) half an onion, half a tomato, and some herbs all cooked together for a bit while I rolled out some more masa. This filling went in some admittedly funky samosas, but with oil, salt, and cumin seeds dribbled on them they crisped up really nicely in the oven. To accompany them, more slaw (there's still some left) and two sauces: yogurt and lime pickle and tamarind with rice vinegar and a little water. Sweet, sour, spicy, crunchy, and savory all mixed together with a Vincent Vin Gris rosé of pinot by Saintsbury.

Damn

This is what screen porches were invented for; Chris, Sirkka, and Nissa came over for dinner and brought incredible veggies from their garden. I had been shopping earlier, including a stop at Fleischer's (only grass-fed, organic) butcher shop in Kingston. So we began with a pizza, on a spelt crust, of storemade merguez, heirloom tomato, caramelized (in merguez fat) onion, basil, and fresh mozzarella. Awesome, especially with a Raffault Chinon rosé. Then a sirloin tip steak, after marinating for hours in rosé, nama shoyu, rice vinegar, garlic, and pepper, went on the fire along with fresh fennel from their garden, while their fingerling potatoes roasted in the oven with rosemary and garlic.

Chris also made a salad from everything in their garden- as alive and vibrant as it gets, with a simple mustard vinaigrette. For a steak sauce, I reduced the marinade along with a glug of Elyse Nero Misto that Chris brought over already opened, then finished with truffle oil and goat butter. We had moved on to another Turkey Flat rosé, much richer and more fucshia, and then to a 2004 Gachot-Monot Côtes de Nuits Villages which was light but great for the price and did the dance with the meat and sauce. For dessert some fantastic chocolates- cayenne, salt, raspberry and DARK from Lucky Chocolates in Saugerties. We finished with the last drops of the Elyse, which has some of the remarkable cream cheese frosting flavor that Marquis Philips always seems built around.

Tortellini

These from a few days ago- just sautéed summer squash and frozen organic cheese tortellini with a goat butter/tomato paste/truffle oil/herb sauce. Nuff said.

Multi Culti

Soaked a bunch of chick peas, and mixed up some masa and water with a little oil. Threw the peas in a pan with mustard, cumin, fenugreek, the remaining coconut milk, tomato and vindaloo paste, yellow pepper, herbs, and a lot of water and covered. While this was cooking, I rolled out a bunch of tortillas and browned them in the cast iron skillet. As with pancakes, it takes a while for the pan heat to get perfect, and the masa does much better if you can let it sit for a while to absorb the water.

So curry, with lime and Thai basil added, went on crispy thick tortillas along with a variety of chutneys (lime, mango, chile) from the fridge. Accompanied by now-marinated and thus much better slaw, and all washed down with a Marques de Cáceres Rioja rosé which for 6 bucks crushed this 21st century mélange right out of the park.

Raw Slaw

Having bought some realy nice looking cabbage, daikon, radishes, and rainbow carrots in Kingston, and having then sweated all afternoon in the woodshop, I had a hankering for something raw and energizing. So all the aforementioned went through the shredding blade, along with ginger, garlic, and herbs, then got a dressing of balsamic and cider vinegars, olive and sesame oils, lemon juice, salt and pepper. The radishes made it nice and hot, but in a clean way. I also made a peanut butter/coconut milk/lemon/nam pla/sriracha sauce for some sliced tofu. This went with a 2005 Sauvion Touraine "Les Genets" that Mila and Joey brought last week but that we didn't get to since we were wandering in the pink part of the spectrum.

Another feast

Mat left, and John and Sarah arrived, bearing Champagne. Various vegetables became a broth, which went into an asparagus and shiitake risotto finished with grated Taylor Farm garlic gouda, made by our friend and neighbor Jon Wright and his family. I also blanched some purple carrots, peeled them, and tossed them in salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar, and we had more corn, and another Andrew salad, which he makes like a combination of our Mother and Grandmother: lots of dill and herbs like Claire, but also a bit of soy sauce in the dressing like Trude. We began with rosé, then had their lovely, toasty bottle of Piper-Heidsieck.

We grillin' tonight

Meatwad was very much in the house; we hit the farmers' market and loaded up on 4 kinds of Pascal's sausages, plus some organic ground beef, and a huge pile of veggies, corn, and tomatoes as well as cheese (including the Woodcock Farms marinated feta that's so incredible.)

So first I grilled sliced red potatoes and eggplant, all brushed with oil, then all the sausages, then last the soaked corn. Andrew made salad and we had another Borsao. Awesome. Very little remained.

Vermont

Upon arrival, not much in the pantry; Andrew and I bought a few things at the store and thus penne alla puttanesca, salmon tartare with lemon, olive and sesame oils, ponzu, and finely minced red onion and basil. All with a Borsao rosé. Good summer eatin'.

Mas Maki

Leftovers became sushi tonight: crispy salmon skin and Thai basil, the last of the carrot "fettucine," and BBQ chicken with crumbled feta, all in the remaining brown rice. Enjoyed with the last of the Soter vin gris. Light, but deep, and a perfect hot weather dinner which neatly tied up a bunch of loose ends.

Keeping cool

Mila and Joey came over to visit, and I had marinated a bunch of chicken in rosé (Marques de Caceres Rioja- 6 bucks!) plus vinegar, soy, salt, herbs, and lemon juice. While that sat I made more of the BBQ sauce and transferred some of the pea soup into oiled ramekins and rechilled it. Finely shredded raw kale got the pinenut dressing treatment and sat for a bit while we opened a sparkling 2005 Vieux Pressoir Saumur as an apéritif with chips and olives.















The first course was a "flan" of pea soup unmolded and topped with a mound of the kale salad, with a 2005 Turkey Flat rosé of Grenache/Shiraz/Cab/Dolcetto (yum) and then on to the chicken, well slathered in the sauce and reduced marinade mixed together, along with corn from around the edges of the grill. This washed down very well with two vins gris of pinot noir: the first from Saintsbury (Carneros) and the second a 2004 Soter Firefly from Oregon.

Fish & Bubbles

The heat demands light food, and raw crunchy things are best. So I soaked a bunch of pine nuts and puréed them with miso, nama shoyu, cider vinegar, pepper, and ginger. Nice long carrots peeled into "fettucine" and tossed with the pine nut dressing went in the fridge to marinate while I took some beautiful salmon and made sashimi and maki with brown rice, lemon, pepper, and chives. Nice orange colors all over the plate, and the flavors sang with a bottle of Moët we've been saving to celebrate the move in. Champagne and sushi are such a wonderful match, and the brown rice made it even better, playing off all the nice toast while the bubbles cut through the oil in the fish.

Plan B

I was just about to light the grill, and cook burgers and veggies, when the wind suddenly jumped up and sheeting rain came hard behind it. So the burgers- seasoned with truffle & sesame oils, balsamic vinegar, onion, cumin, garlic, and herbs- cooked instead in the cast-iron skillet. The yellow & green squash got cut smaller, along with red onion and garlic, and browned in the pan post-meat. Once soft I threw in plum tomatoes and a bit of paste, salt, pepper, and covered. Toasted pita, spread with mustard, then a burger, then filled with the ratatouille. We opened a 2002 Sirius which is lighter than the 2001 (a feral, opaque black beast of a wine) and is drinking nicely now especially after a little while in the decanter.

Pea Soup

Back from Brooklyn. All the rib bones went in a big pot with sweating onion and carrot, plus herbs from the newly planted herb garden, then garlic, water, and 3+ pounds of dried split peas (there were a lot of bones.) Cooked low, adding water as needed, for a couple hours and served with truffle oil and black pepper. Well-suited to a rainy day, and the perfect use for such yummy bones. Throwing bones away without making soup firom them first should be a crime. We had no wine because I was too tired; if we had opened one it would have been a Turley zin.

Kris strikes again

Back in the city for a few days, I called Mary and we decided to impose on Kris for a dinner; he was happy to oblige. We began with a 2001 Erdener Riesling Kabinett, which was candy, then had a luscious morel risotto with the 2000 Altesino Brunello Mary brought (beautiful nose, but a bit thin.) Then seared foie gras with quince chutney on toast, alongside 2 1990 Vouvrays: a Domaine des Aubuisiers Vielles Vignes and a Clos Naudin demi-sec. Liquid honey and caramel with the creamy foie and crunchy toast.

Back to reds again for lamb chops crusted with herbes de Provence and mustard, accompanied by my 1998 Cathiard Vosne-Romanée Les Suchots. We also had a 1999 Vosne-Romanée Les Beaux Monts by Clavelier and a Guyard de Changey 1999 Hospices de Nuits Nuits Saint Georges Les Murgers to go with the cheeses: a Piave and a Robiola. The consensus was that the Cathiard was the most ready to drink, and that the others needed more time. All quite masculine, they showed the astonishing variety Burgundy has to offer within a tiny area.

Dessert was first a deconstructed gin and tonic: lemon sorbet, gin gélée, and juniper syrup with shiso (transplanted from our deck) and then coconut ice cream (unbelievable) with fresh berries. Wow. And this on a night when we called last minute.

New House

The move is done. After two days getting the kitchen and lots more unpacked, I finally got a chance to forage in the field and returned with wild garlic and mint, of which there is a ton, plus other treats for later. Two big slabs of ribs didn't stay frozen during the trip up, so they went on the grill, with the customary secret spicy espresso rub, and got a good slather with the BBQ sauce from before, augmented with more of the same. I usually let the rub get a good char on it, then move the meat off the heat and start basting with sauce. Once moved off the coals, I added a bit of hardwood to give it some smoke, and threw on some bell pepper, onion, and tomato, which were all cut up from earlier meals.

Using the wild garlic, I made some mashed new potatoes, and blanched some bok choy, then tossed it in oil, cider vinegar, and sesame oil. Garnished the meat with a chiffonade of the wild mint and ate it with a 2000 Domaine de la Terre Rouge Ascent Syrah which is still young, but decanted and with meat softened up into a real Rhône Ranger; I think I have another one in VT and I'm excited to try it in five more years. It lacks a certain leathery, herbaceous quality, but damn if this isn't in the same league as some top Châteauneuf.

Note the size of the ribs in relation to Milo. (He loved them.) One of the best things about the new place is being able to use the kitchen table I grew up with again; it had been relegated to the role of lowly studio work table in Brooklyn. Continuity, even of furniture, is a good thing in families.




















* Warning: these ribs are powerful and should not be undertaken by those with a limited tolerance for ecstasy.

Still grillin'

A beautiful piece of salmon got the BBQ sauce treatment (I made a lot) and thrown on the grill with all the leftover polenta. We enjoyed it with the rest of the grilled veggies from last night. The salmon skin shielded the fish from the heat of the fire and crisped up perfectly, leaving the fish just cooked through; I saved the skin for something tomorrow and there's a bit of polenta left too. We had this yumminess with the first of the 2001 Domaine la Millière Châteauneuf that Mary delivered, which, though lacking the fat middle palate of a great wine, is mighty yummy and brilliant for the price.

BBQ 2

Mary came by, and her friend Camille, so I threw something together based on what we had in the fridge. Thus more grilled chicken, with a similar molasses/tamarind/cider vinegar based sauce, and polenta with parmesan, lemon thyme, and truffle salt, and grilled summer squash and onion.

We began with De Meric Champagne, which had a strange Sherry/almost corked thing going on, so we moved on to a 2004 Wagner Stempel Riesling which was very nice, but we quickly abandoned it once the food was ready for the 1997 Laurent Gevrey-Chambertin "Les Cazetiers" followed by Mary's fabulous, velvety 1984 Stag's Leap Cabernet. Now I've had the Laurent a couple of times recently, and it's good, and funky, but light on fruit and a bit unbalanced. Comparing it to such a rich, old, and beautiful wine as the Stag's Leap wasn't fair, but it sure was fun. After the meal, the Champagne was toasty and beautiful, and the remaining Riesling was a perfect dessert- so good that we forgot about the figs in the fridge.

BBQ

A hot, sweaty day, so rich comfort food was required, all done outside to keep the house cool. Huge organic chicken legs & thighs got a quick salt/pepper/cumin/chile rub, and went on the grill along with rounds of acorn squash tossed in oil, salt, and pepper. I made a BBQ sauce from molasses, cider vinegar, tamarind, ketchup, sambal oelek, chile powder, maple syrup, ponzu, and pepper, and liberally basted the chicken with it throughout. The fire was so hot and burned so long (hooray for natural charcoal) that I made tortillas from masa to finish and also grilled halved zucchini and charred some red peppers for tomorrow.

We had all this sticky, smoky goodness with another H&B Faugères which handled the fruit and heat well, and now reveals the same cherry-licorice alloy that seems to constitute the major aspect of so many wines' finishes.

Sesame Noodles

Soba tossed in tahini, cider vinegar (out of lemons), nama shoyu, nam pla, grated ginger and garlic, pepper, chopped mint and chives, lemon thyme, and olive and sesame oils to coat, then a pan full of sautéed garlic scapes to finish. This was lunch, so we just had a splash each of the Beringer Chard ('02 Sbragia) left over from the night before.

Burrito Supreme

Christine made a pot of brown rice, and procured a jalapeño in anticipation of another leftovers festival. Onion and cumin seeds browned in the big pan, then garlic, then remaining kidney beans from Milo's dinner, plus a can of pinto beans. Cider vinegar and the garlic scapes from last night finished it off, and it thickened while I made a salsa of grape tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño, scallion, olive oil, and rice vinegar.

So the rice went on a tortilla, then beans, then a bit of smoked derby cheese, then the remaining steak, then salsa, and the last of the red pepper sauce. (Pictured below just before rolling up.) More Sinskey, because we're out of the others and it's still hot, despite the rain.

Steak au poivron

I worked my last shift at the Coop today, and I'll miss shopping there. The garlic scapes are in, so I bought a big bunch (they're the new ramps, don't you know) along with some flatiron steaks, red bell peppers, and all the other things we needed. So for today, the 4th of July, in addition to updating this neglected blog, I dutifully fired up the grill and got busy. First, when I got home, the steaks went into a marinade of Nama Shoyu, rice vinegar, Nam Pla, Jo's ginger dressing, water to cover, and then into the fridge.

The peppers went on the grill until nice and charred, then into a covered bowl to steam and rest. Scapes chopped and tossed in browned butter with salt and pepper- sweet, crunchy, and great. Onion, garlic, cracked pepper, and herbs sautéed, then cognac flamed, then yogurt cream stirred in and bubbled. The skillet came off the heat while I peeled and seeded the peppers, saving their juice, and then they, their juice, and the sauce all went in the blender. Strained through a seive and finished with truffle salt, it was sweet, tangy, velvety, and peppery.

Pooled on a plate, with sliced meat, scapes, and grilled summer squash, this sauce had summer lightness wedded to subtle structure and richness; I opened a 2000 Gaja Magari which is an interesting fusion of Tuscan Brunello notes (tar, cherries) with Barolo-like tannins and a hint of licorice. It's almost like Barolo by way of a super-Tuscan. I kept it in the fridge to compensate for the muggy heat, and it worked, but only now is it opening up to its full self.

Week Remix

Sort of a combination of things we've been eating recently; the rest of the brats needed eating, and polenta is really working right now in the hot weather. So more herb polenta, grilled brats, and a head of Boston lettuce tossed with grated carrot, scallion, and some of Jo's bottled ginger dressing which you get in on your salad in almost every sushi joint in town (for a reason- it's yummy, and sometimes there's a thrill to be had in getting one of those store-or restaurant flavors in an otherwise homemade meal.) Lots of mustard, and more Sinskey vin gris.

Potato curry

We had some leftover tofu, and a few different veggies (peas, carrots, spinach, zucchini) in need of cooking, so they all went in the big pan along with a lot of quartered new potatoes, onion, water, curry pastes and powders, salt, basil leaves and coconut milk. It all simmered until the potatoes were just tender. Finished with a few scallions and cilantro. No prizes for guessing what we drank.

"Paella" Pasta

Raffetto's on Houston makes fantastic fresh pasta, and their saffron is one of my favorites. So I got fettucine, and then some fresh scallops and squid on the way home. Seared the seafood, then threw in onion, garlic, and herbs, then deglazed with wine, followed by a whipped mixture of greek yogurt and avocado. Let bubble for a minute, then tossed the pasta to coat and stirred back in the seafood and their juices. Finished with parsley, and enjoyed with more rosé (I forget which one.)

Sausage pasta

The rest of the uncooked saffron pasta got a simple sauce made from a bratwurst, onion, garlic, herbs, and a can of tomatoes. Simple, but pretty deep; I cooked the sauce for a while to deepen the flavors and thicken it up, and the sausage and onion had caramelized really well. I love the creamy richness of the fresh pasta, and saffron has such a wonderful perfume which melded nicely with the sausage flavor. To celebrate a cooler, rainy night, this was beautifully accompanied by another 1997 Gevrey-Chambertin "Les Cazetiers."

Sorta Southern

Kind of a lighter take on fried chicken, grits, and greens: pan-roasted chicken, rubbed with herbs, went on polenta laced with more herbs, parmesan, and pepper, and a pile of purple kale blanched and tossed with lemon, olive oil, and ponzu. Really simple, and just right on a hot day with a chilled Sinskey vin gris (100% Pinot Noir.)

More Boar

Another boar roast, this time brined in red wine, maple syrup, salt, pepper, rice vinegar and water for most of the day. It went on the grill while the marinade reduced on the stove. I recooked some brown rice in some of the lamb broth, which made it all creamy and risotto-like, and folded in some scallions and chives with truffle oil at the end. Sautéed watercress in garlic went alongside and we drank a 1998 Guado al Tasso which tasted more like a wild boar than the meat did. A great wine, and a great pairing.

20th reunion

In honor of 1986 and Jody's safe return from Iraq we drank a Lynch-Bages from said year after dinner and a cocktail party with our former classmates. A fun night, and it was a treat to enjoy something so subtle, fascinating, and delicious in such a context. Wine is always best with the right people at the right time.

"Fried" chicken

Took a bunch of chicken thighs and rolled them in cornmeal/curry/salt/pepper/cinnamon/oregano mixture and cooked them in a pan with almost no oil; their rendered fat and careful heat crisped them up just right. Then zucchini, celery root, and leeks into the same pan to brown in all that fat, and grape tomatoes plus balsamic vinegar to clean the pan and finish. Yummy with a 2002 Andromeda, which we tried along with the last of the Siduri from the night before. This is the same sequence we had recently, and the result was the same: Thackrey always wins, and it's because of that divine middle palate. The Siduri is damn good, but the Andromeda is so seamless and sexy it's irresistible.

Meal in a bowl

As is so often the case, the next day everything is better. The lamb went back in a pot with water, herbs, and more to make a stock; this got strained and further enhanced with miso and wakame, then had rice noodles, pea shoots, and remaining lamb meat added back into it. Finished with gomasio and scallions, it had all the depth one could want. Leftovers rule. We had it with a 2004 Siduri Sonatera Pinot Noir, which starts out tangy and funky and ends up a cherry-licorice sundae.

Rainy dinner

Kris and Ken came over and I tried to do justice to the time I had at their place last month. It was raining, so we ate inside, and I tried to make things that straddled rainy-day comfort food and spring freshness. We started with seared scallops, shiitake, endive, leeks, and fiddleheads in a simple pan sauce. We had a Sine Qua Non Albino which was delightful with the caramelized winter vegetables and the sweetness of the sauce.

















Then smoked duck breast on blanched yellow beets with a yellow beet juice/turmeric/ginger/saffron sauce and a croquette of brown rice and hijiki with some steamed lamb's quarters. No picture f this one, but it was pretty. The rain threw the smoking off a bit by pulling too much heat from the chamber; a bigger fire would have made it perfect. This we enjoyed with a 1999 Domaine de la Mordorée Cuvée de la Reine des Bois, which was much better the next day; it needed more time.

Then, braised lamb shoulder with a coulis of pea shoots and fresh green peas, done my usual way; it could have been deeper but since it's different every time this comes with the territory. We ate it with a 1998 Beaucastel which really jumped out of the glass and tasted more like Barolo than Rhône.



Last, an Epoisse and a Robiola, both very ripe but the Robiola sweet and creamy against the profound feet funk of the other. These we enjoyed with their bottle of 1989 Cuvée du Papet, which proved definitively the value of a good cellar over time. The young wine we mostly have can never go to the places these older ones get to after 15 years or so- so always leave a few for later.

Saturday

Today for lunch, something I call the Thai peanut butter sandwich: on good bread, a layer of good peanut butter, then a few drips of sesame oil, smoothed around, then hot sauce (here Sambal Oelek) and lime juice, then scallions pressed in, then basil leaves. Awesome, and with a salad of Vermont mesclun with herbs from the rock garden and a glass of Il Mimo Nebbiolo rosé, a perfect lunch on a perfect day in the nicest place in the world to spend Memorial day.

For dinner, some of Pascal’s sausages from the farmer’s market, specifically the chicken and wild mushroom and the pork and porcini (he was out of the duck wrapped in caul fat.) Dude makes some serious sausages. I whipped up some more ketchup, this time with tomato paste, cider vinegar, maple syrup, and hot sauce. Along with grilled sweet potato and zucchini, brown rice, plus the rest of the rosé and then a Sine Qua Non #6 Pinot Noir that is sublime and to my taste one of the very best New World pinots along with the Andromeda. Having said that, I have been missing those Old World flavors and can’t wait for the incredible juice in the basement to be ready.

Country cookin’

Upon arrival in Vermont the last thing we wanted to do was go shopping, so instead we played with Milo all over the place and made do with what we brought and what the house had to offer from the cupboards (and cellar) for dinner. A can of tomatoes plus dried porcini, dried tomatoes, a few dried herbs, onion, wine, and chives from the garden became the sauce, and I went out and picked a bunch of dandelion greens which I cooked in a pot with sweated onion, dashi, and grüner vetliner (left over from September- really.) One of the great pleasures of this house is the ability to walk out the door and pick things to eat; granted dandelion greens are not that exotic, but later in the summer when the fraises de bois and then blackberries are ripe there’s nothing on planet Earth that’s better.

We had this simple feast with a Hollerin’ E by Sine Qua Non which tasted for all the world like candied pineapples and hazelnuts- like a great white Hermitage but without the minerality and with some of the California decadence that the great Chardonnays have, then we followed it with a 2000 Gemstone which despite its expansive fruit still has a cedary structure which sets it apart from your average high-end Cali cab.