Artichokes!

Finally available up here; I've been craving them since it's that time of year and the white beans we've been eating call out for them. So I bought four, and one got chopped up and added to the soaked beans along with onion, garlic, a bit of turkey bacon, herbs, and white wine, and simmered for two hours until the aromatics had disintegrated and the beans were tender. Meanwhile the other three artichokes got the standard "alla Romana" treatment and sat in their pan until the beans were ready. Finished with a bit of lemon juice, the oil from the artichoke pan, truffle oil, and celtic salt, they answered my craving handsomely. Milo liked them too (he loves beans, and even liked the artichoke raw.) This is serious winter food, and was well met by a 2000 Domaine du Gros Noré Bandol that I double-decanted when I first put the beans on. It's a feral wine and needs serious time to unwind. I have a case of the 1998 in Vermont and based on how this one tastes those should be good and ready for next winter.

On Top of Spaghetti

Turkey meatballs, with minced turkey bacon, onion, garlic, herbes de provence, and a pinch of flour, in a tomato sauce with chiffonaded kale, piquin peppers, more garlic and onion, oregano, and a splash of wine. The spaghetti in question was organic whole wheat pasta, and the wine a 2003 Raymond Usseglio Châteauneuf, which was just right, since its relative lightness kept its youth from interfering with the expression of all the nice fruit, herbs, and earth that it had to offer.

Venison Stew

Our neighbor, Kenny, is a bow hunter, and gave us some meat from an animal he killed a while back. So the stew meat from him, browned, became the base for another fridge-clearing stew. Carrot, parsnip, onion, and celery root went in, plus some tomato sauce from Friday, plus the rest of the sweet potato cakes and green curry sauce from the scallops, plus the last of the quinoa and some leftover pinto beans. It all simmered for a couple of hours until everything was tender. The random sauces, purées, and other odds and ends that end up in the fridge can really turn a simple meat and root stew into something deep, unusual, and satisfying. Plus now we have room in the fridge and a pile of clean containers for next week's remnants.

Chiles Rellenos

But with a Peruvian slant- stuffed with leftover blue potatoes and quinoa, plus grated cheese, cumin, and a bit of cayenne. On the side, a mango/avo/red onion salsa, and plantains fried in a little olive oil. I broiled the peppers for a couple of minutes first to get the skins off, than baked them for a few more to heat the filling through. Along with a nice cold beer, the winter mess outside receded pretty far away for a little while.

Colorful

Milo was asking for fish, so I bought some wild salmon, and while at the store also saw some wasabi peas. Ground up, they made a nice crust for the fish, which was accompanied by mashed purple potatoes, steamed broccoli, and a pan sauce of orange juice, red wine, soy sauce, and a drop of agave syrup. A good looking plate of food, and it tasted even better. We finished the Volnay from the night before.

Scallops &

Big, beautiful scallops were the only new ingredient in this one; the sauce was leftover collards, steamed kale, a bit of spinach, a few canned tomatoes, and the last of some coconut milk. The little cakes were red quinoa and steamed sweet potatoes mashed together. I also made a pan sauce once the scallops came out with a splash of wine and dribbled it over all once plated. We opened a 2001 Volnay "Carelles" by Paul Pernot.

Burger

Back from the city, where we did some good eating (I'll try to get to it in a future post,) and pretty tired, easy won out. Nice big burgers with shiitakes caramelized in smoked fat and spinach wilted with garlic on top, as well as just a bit of ketchup and mustard since I was too lazy to caramelize onions or make mayo. We finished the Pleiades that Christine opened while I was gone, and also had some of the Gamba zin that I brought back, also open.

Good Luck

Today I happily bought some monkfish, which we haven't seen in a while, and wrapped it in blanched collards, then put it in the iron pan with a bit of duck fat and olive oil. While it was cooking, I peeled, cubed and steamed an acorn squash. Once cooked through, the rolls came out and a pan sauce ensued: some of the carrot/burdock purée from yesterday, juice of half a grapefruit, a pat of butter, and a pinch of thyme. Today's good luck at market continued in the wine store next door; I found some 1997 Teófilo Reyes Ribera del Duero for a great price and we tried one with the fish. The extraordinary funk meshed pretty well with the burdock and grapefruit in the sauce, and the delicate lightness (it's much thinner in the middle than the Remirez de Ganuza, for example) handled the subtler fish and squash without overpowering them. Not a perfect match, but fascinating nonetheless. And DAMN what a nose this wine has.

Ersatz Ethiopian

Purée #1: kidney beans, canned tomatoes, kale pesto, collards from a few nights back, coconut milk, and some extra spices to round it out. Purée #2: burdock, carrots, and ginger cooked until soft in a bit of water with ume vinegar and two dried mushrooms. Last, basil tofu with a thick nam pla/rice vinegar/ponzu sauce and lots of basil and scallions. All of this went on my patented fake enjera, made this time with whole wheat flour, (no teff in the house) Guinness, and eggs. Far from accurate, but they do the job pretty well. We drank more Guinness.

Fettucine al Cinghiale

Chris is briefly back from tour, so they all came over for a hearty winter dinner. I put a wild boar roast in the oven at 9 AM and by 6 PM it was a divine pasta sauce. Since I had a full day in the studio, I finely minced the aromatics that went into the boar- carrot, onion, garlic, dried porcini- so they would disappear in the final sauce. Once the boar roast had browned, along with the above, in some smoked duck fat, I added a splash of wine, half a shot of espresso, a bunch of fennel seeds, water, and tomato paste, brought it back to a bubble, and threw it in a 250˚ oven for 8 hours (turning it once around halfway through.)

We made fresh fettucine with the pasta machine, and steamed broccoli and cauliflower, and a salad with avocado and onion, and Sirkka made a blueberry-apple-dried apricot bundt cake for dessert. We drank two different 1999 Brunellos: a Gorelli "Le Potazzine" and a Ciacci Piccolomini "Vigna di Pianrusso." Tarry, rich, and only just getting warmed up, these are those rarest of wines that can work with both wild boar and blueberry cake and then shine even brighter when the food is all gone.

Duck Soup

This has been a week of many soups; we all had the flu and tonight we sent the last sniffles packing with a nice finale. Previously, I had made minestrone from the fried lamb chop bones, then a chicken broth that began as something similar to tonight, but larded with copious hot sauce, ginger, and garlic to napalm the wretched microbes, then ended up as fridge soup a couple of days later with pasta, beans, kale, and brown rice all added in.

This one began with dashi, and soba, and seared duck breast, with blanched carrot julienne and frozen peas for color. Flavored with a little tamari, and with steamed kale on the side tossed in sesame oil, orange juice, ume vinegar, and tamari it kind of brought us gently back into the richer, deeper kind of food that the healthy get to enjoy while still being just a bowl of soup.

Impromptu Party

This is why we moved up here; what began as a casual plan to get together expanded into dinner for 6, plus two kids. Chris & Sirkka brought some lamb chops, and I coated them in egg and soba then deep fried them (it would have worked better with rib chops, but oh well) and served them with tapenade that included half of a preserved lemon. John brought some brown rice and aduki beans, and transformed it into risotto with the addition of some radicchio, water, smoked duck fat from the fridge, and truffle oil. We also roasted a kabocha and 2 heads of garlic, which Danny mashed up with lots of oil, and seared a bunch of venison loin with the espresso rub on it, and steamed some shredded kale.

For wine, we began by finishing our penultimate 1999 Kistler "Les Noisetiers" and then tried a 1990 Chinon by Raffault (we like their rosé in the summer, but this was 100% Cab Franc) that tasted for all the world like a second Bordeaux with about 10 years on it. Then came 3 Barolos: a 1997 Borgogno Riserva, a 1998 Clerico Pajana, and most delicious of all, a 1989 Ceretto Bricco Rocche Prapò. Just incredible.

Seafood Soup

A broth of shrimp shells, dried shrimp, dashi, garlic, and ginger was the base for this meal, since Christine had bought shrimp and tilapia and the harsh cold demanded something tropical. I puréed half the tilapia with ginger, sesame oil, coriander seeds, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper, then formed it into little balls. The rest of the fish got dusted with curry powder and crisped up in a pan while the balls and shrimp bodies simmered in the broth, and rice noodles softened in a bowl. All together, with scallions, cilantro, and sesame seeds, and good beer, it did the job nicely.

Quick Fix

This one didn't even get a garnish, but time was of the essence and the sauce made up for the lack of elegance. Good wild salmon, with a celtic salt/pepper/cinnamon/sesame mix, seared up nicely while a halved kabocha got nice and soft and caramelized in the oven and a pot of brown rice bubbled away. I added only oil, lemon, and salt to the squash purée, since it was so sweet already, and made a pan sauce with blood orange, soy sauce, wine, honey, and a shake more cinnamon. Very basic, but a 1998 Pommard "Les Grands Epenots" by Vincent Girardin kind of took it to another level.

Chili

Pretty straightforward, but with a couple elements that I think made it more interesting: first, using dried kidney beans which required cooking it for 3 hours, and second, a good dollop of smoked duck fat at the beginning to get the aromatics going that worked as an excellent substitute for smoking the meat. A bit of goat cheddar, scallion, and lime juice on top, and a 2003 Faugères by H&B (since I didn't make it too hot for Milo's sake.) Pretty damn hearty.

Curry

First, a pot of brown rice (with plenty extra for leftovers.) Then, dal of red lentils with fenugreek, coriander, cumin, and mustard seeds. Last, a tomato-based curry of tofu, carrots, onions, the last of some sheep yogurt, and various powders and pastes. The dal is really worth te few extra minutes; dried lentils keep forever and it adds so much to the plate to have a rich, creamy counterpart to the much sharper curry. Perfect with great beer from Wolaver's- winter can't touch us.

Liz's Birthday

A fantastic party, up at Allaire studios, on top of a mountain, on a freezing night. Colin from The Tasting Room in NYC came up to make about 20 of us a crazy dinner, and we brought wine to go with. The meal began with oysters, then crostini of smoked trout, accompanied by Sine Qua Non's "Backward and Forward" which tasted like mutant Sherry, as well as some Kistler Chards, and then we sat down. The first course was a lightly pickled winter vegetable salad, followed by a parsnip and black truffle soup with popcorn (that stayed crispy unlike every crouton I've ever made.) Phenomenally sweet from both the perfect parsnips and the local milk. We had worked our way into a Kistler pinot noir, as well as other things.


















Next came mushrooms and pea shoots on grains, and two enormous whole roasted sea bass, so we cracked John's magnum of 1995 La Landonne, which tasted like a smoked version of the 1996 Chave Hermitage John had stashed in the kitchen for Colin (and a few lucky others.) Liz and I had each brought a 2000 Orion, which was the perfect, deep, hedonistic close to this epic meal. There was dessert, but I honestly don't remember much except that it was carrot cake.

Borscht

In honor of my Grandfather, J. Howard Beck, on his 100th birthday, we made an updated but still honest version of borscht and blini (he was born in Poland, specifically in the shtetl of Rozvadof) that I think he would have enjoyed. Having beet salad and red cabbage already in the fridge, I added the last half pint of lamb demiglace from the freezer, as well as some broccoli stalks, and simmered it for an hour or so and then stick-blended it into a nice smooth purée with buttermilk. While it was cooking, I made some blini (not with buckwheat flour, but still good) with the rest of the buttermilk, parmesan, and lemon zest. For the blini, a sauce of yogurt creamed with anchovy, truffle salt, and pepper, which did a decent job of substituting for caviar and sour cream. Lacking Slivovitz, we cracked a 1999 Turley Moore "Earthquake" vineyard zinfandel, which was fitting juice for the architect of our family. Sort of like Maneschewitz by way of a Côte-Rôtie. L'Chaim.

Loose ends

The remaining barley with the addition of milk, agave syrup, and bananas, simmered this morning into a yummy breakfast for Milo. For lunch, we all had tortellini in a classic fridge sauce: the stuffing from Xmas, which Christine puréed last week with a can of tomatoes into soup (like a chickeny pappa al pomodoro) mixed with the kale pesto left over from a recent pizza, plus the last of the short rib liquid and the last of the frozen peas. Great sauce, and the fridge is pretty efficiently cleaned out for a shop tomorrow. Tonight we go out, and for the kids I made mac and cheese but with whole wheat pasta, buttermilk, parmesan, cheddar, and kale pesto mixed in as a stealth vegetable that also turned it a nice green.

Short Ribs

I got home later than I had hoped, but still had time to get these pretty tender. Browned, then simmered in wine, tomato paste, soy sauce, onion, dried porcini, and chard stems, served on barley with the strained and reduced cooking liquid and red cabbage braised in more wine and soy, they found a special place between beef-barley soup and corned beef & cabbage. We tried two different 97 Bordeaux: a Pavillon Rouge de Margaux and a Talbot. We both agreed that the Margaux was better; I think the second wines are the best deals in Bordeaux, especially from an underrated year. But the next day the Talbot was the clear winner- still elegant and pretty rich while the Margaux was flat. It's always so much more fun to compare two than to have just one.

Pretty Colors

I made beet salad the other day, and saved the cooking liquid for something else; it's not as strong as actual beet juice, but a decent substitute. So I reduced it with soy sauce and honey while I seared up some nice wild salmon (I also made the rubbed shrimp like we had before Xmas as an appetizer) and refried some brown rice with cherry tomatoes. Broccoli raab with smashed garlic and lemon cleaned up the pan after everything else was done.

Simple Soup

The shrimp shells left from making the shumai yesterday became the base for tonight's dinner; along with an onion and garlic, plus some white wine, they simmered into a really nice broth. Bean thread noodles and blanched baby bok choy rounded out the soup, and scallions and cilantro finished it. We drank the rest of the cheap white- a 120 Sauvignon Blanc- which for 6 bucks was peachy, had good acidity, and went well with the soup. Hard to argue.

New Year's Eve

I spent the day making various finger foods for John and Debi's party; he and I had worked out a vague plan so I contributed 4 things to what turned out to be an incredible night of food, champagne, and dancing. We made pie crust, and with my half I used a muffin tin to make little shells. These got filled with grated gruyère, then caramelized onions, then a pinch more cheese, then pine nuts and finished baking at their place. I puréed shrimp with ginger, garlic, sesame oil, and soy sauce, then assembled and steamed the shu mai at the last minute so they'd be nice and hot. Blanched chestnuts, aduki beans, and uneboshi paste also became a purée, and it went into little wontons that I fried in coconut oil- crazy good- like little vegan bean donuts. Last I made duck sushi; 2 seared breasts that had marinated in clementine juice and soy sauce, sliced and put on John's sushi rice, then finished with the marinade reduced in the same pan (fat poured off) along with sliced kumquats and honey.

John made kabocha purée with ricotta salata in his mini tart shells (their muffin tin is smaller, so they were really little) as well as tofu sushi with BBQ sauce, tuna spread on toast with tomato, rice balls with black tahini baked until crispy, and two fillo rolls: one with the tuna filling, one with radicchio and truffle oil. We drank a lot of champagne.

Old Burgundy

John came over to make pie crust for their party, so we opened a couple of old Burgs I bought for a song in Kingston: a 1976 Drouhin Clos des Mouches and a 1978 Geoffroy Clos Prieur. The Gevrey-Chamb was the favorite, but over time the Beaune gained some sweetness. John left before we ate another Moroccan chicken stew with preserved lemon, olives, and sweet potatoes. By the end of the night the wines were tied: over the hill, but elegant in their way. There's no faking the age, and when that's what you want, nothing else will do.

Almost vegetarian

Our friend and neighbor Mimi came over, and I made Indian food (or an approximation thereof.) Chick peas simmered in coconut milk, tomato paste, spices, and capon broth I made the day before from the carcass had broccoli added at the end so they would stay bright green. I also sautéed Kale with onion, garlic and lemon, and mashed sweet potatoes with ginger and cinnamon. The burdock/shiitake gravy had many spices added to it and reached the end of its run as a wonderful side (for lunch we had supplì of the carrot risotto with smoked gouda and bacon in the middle, and the gravy, plus canned tomatoes, was the sauce.) We drank organic Vermont beer by our favorite brewery.

VT post xmas

Alan had to go home, but the rest of us schlepped up to Vermont for more eating and occasional walks with the kids. The first night we had more steaks, which had marinated since before Christmas in a bit of soy and rice vinegar, then got a rub of coffee, garlic, pepper, salt, and grated dried Chinese mushrooms (the intensely chocolatey ones, which were the inspiration for the cappucino-mushroom soup that I'll get to someday) and seared up just right in an iron pan. With various sides, including a 2001 Dead Arm, to my taste the most French of Aussie wines, except maybe for Grange, which is 3 times the price.

The next night we had carrot risotto, Mat marinated (sesame oil, soy sauce, tabasco, lemon) and grilled salmon and swordfish (amazing, especially the swordfish) asparagus, and Andrew's salad. A Sine Qua Non pinot noir #6 took this already fantasic meal to a whole other level. I'm very glad that I have two more of them in store.

Xmas

Mat & Emily, Andrew, and Alan joined us for Christmas dinner. We roasted a capon, stuffed with our version of her Mom's stuffing: whole wheat bread, onion, celery, shiitake, Moroccan lemon, smoked pork broth, lots of herbs, and that which did not fit into the bird got well basted with fat and baked in a pan separately.

Along with the bird came roasted kabocha squash, gravy made from a purée of burdock and dried Chinese mushrooms whisked into a roux made from the hot bird fat, cranberry sauce (sweetened only with maple syrup) and kale. We began with yet another Pleiades, and finished with a 2002 Sirius. Dessert was a pretty perfect pear tart (the glaze was strawberry wine cooked down with orange whiskey and honey to a syrup) and vanilla ice cream. Fantastic.

Christmas Eve

As per Christine's family tradition, we had pea soup for dinner. This one was pretty great, since it had layers of flavors due to its composition; the last of the frozen smoked rib-based soup from the summer, plus smoked pork broth from the huge hunk that ended up as pulled pork, plus a new batch that began with bacon and finished with Fleisher's homemade kielbasa. All added together, and simmmered until the new peas were just right (and the older ones were a perfectly smooth velvet) this one was a real symphony of pork flavors suspended in a creamy substrate of peas. With crusty bread and creamy, funky cheese, it was a perfect beginning to a week of family and more or less constant eating.

Warmup

Chris, Sirkka, and Nissa all came for dinner before their trip, and I had gone shopping for Christmas so we had lots of good stuff in the house. First, the last of the cauliflower soup, increased a bit with more milk and butter, then served in little cups and finished with pepper and a drop of truffle oil.

Then, big shrimp, cleaned but with the shells on, dredged in cumin, cinnamon, pepper, salt, curry, garlic, and oregano, then seared in an iron pan and finished with a bit of wine.


















I wilted a big bunch of spinach with garlic and oil, mashed a pile of steamed sweet potatoes, and finally seared a big top sirloin steak that had a coffee, garlic, salt and pepper rub liberally worked into it. This meat (from Fleisher's, of course) is really like land sushi; I just seared both sides for about 3 minutes each and then let it rest for 10 to heat through. Gorgeous.

We drank another new Pleiades (see what I mean?) and then a 2003 Cheze St.-Joseph Ro-Rée, which also represents a great mouthful of wine for the price.

Sweet Latkes

As a sort of Hanukkah meal I made sweet potato latkes, pan-seared salmon, and kale. The latkes really worked; while much less fatty than traditional ones, they had a lot of flavor and covered the full spectrum of texture from crunchy outside to creamy farther in and still a bit al dente in the middle. The salmon got an apple cider/honey/soy reduction and we washed it down with another Pleiades.

Cauliflower soup

This started off as a roasted cauliflower with a cheese and porcini enhanced béchamel poured on it, the product of a rainy day and some boring cheddar in the fridge. The next day, I threw it all in a pot, added some more mushrooms, buttermilk and water, and once it was totally soft stick blended the whole thing into this creamy goodness. Mushrooms and cauliflower really get along, and the combination of cheese, milk, and buttermilk really elevated the earthy flavors.

Back

Upon return from Miami, I found some lamb chops in the freezer, and since I had eaten pretty badly on my trip got excited to make some home cooking. So parsnip and sweet potato purées, steamed kale with lemon and garlic, and the chops crusted with mustard and herbs. We drank one of the new Pleiades (XV) which just arrived, and it's a particularly good one. It will be fascinating to see how it ages, but I doubt we'll be able to keep it around long enough to find out. For the money, I think it's the best wine made in America.

Thanksgiving

In Chicago, with Christine's Mom, Aunt, & Uncle, a smaller gathering called for a more modest meal and thus turkey was not on the menu. Instead we had a roasted pork loin, stuck with garlic, and a cranberry/red wine reduction with ginger and lemon, and mushrooms cooked in the pan drippings then flamed with cognac to finish. Along with this lovely roast, which had brined all day and was really juicy and flavorful, we had roasted roots (carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, onions, red and yellow beets, celery root, garlic, and apples) and puréed roasted red kuri and kabocha squash, plus kale and Arlette's roasted asparagus. We began with Susana Balbo's Torrontes, then moved on to a 2000 Carver Sutro petite sirah which is finally hitting its stride.
















For dessert we had a pear tart I made earlier in the day (with a passion fruit/clementine/cointreau/honey glaze) and Arlette's chocolate cake. A good simple Thanksgiving- not a big blowout, but better for the quality of people and food, and the space to enjoy both.

Dim Sum

Fresh from a shopping trip to Chinatown in the city, all the new treats inspired this inaccurate but damn tasty dinner upon my return. It's hard to find gai lan and long beans anywhere else, so I loaded up on them, as well as baby bok choy. The long beans sautéed in the last of the pork belly, then had garlic, sambal oelek, rice wine and ponzu added to finish. The gai lan tossed with tons of garlic and ginger finished with rice wine and the last of our soy sauce (I wish I had bought some more on my trip; it's so much cheaper down there.) We had two kinds of dumplings: shu mai with a filling of puréed lotus root, black beans, and umeboshi paste, and gyoza filled with shredded bok choy, carrot, and onion. I fried the gyoza and steamed the shu mai, and the dippng sauce was ponzu with some heat added.

Kofta-esque

Sometimes we get lucky, and my evening survey of the fridge immediately suggests a plan. This was one of those times. We liked to order malai kofta from our local Indian place back in Brooklyn, and I saw the makings of a mutant variation in the remnants of recent meals. So, for the balls, leftover steamed Brussels sprouts, parsnips, and cauliflower puréed along with brown rice and sweet potatoes as well as onion that I cooked fresh with oil, various seeds, and a thumb of ginger all went in the food processor along with half an egg an a bit of flour. These fried in a pan to firm them up, then went into a mixture of black beans, coconut milk, tomato paste, eggplant, spinach and spices which I stick-blended into a gorgeous thick sauce. Garnished with cilantro and lime, it tasted pretty authentic considering it was made of scraps and I have no idea how it's actually made.

Return of the revenge of the son of fridge soup

I've always been a fan, especially in colder months, of keeping a pot of soup going day after day by adding leftovers or new ingredients to it every day or two (reheating it fully every time) so that it remains a work in progress- hitting certain plateaus of completeness but then undergoing slight or radical changes based on the nature of what gets added and subtracted. This particular version had its genesis back in the lamb shanks, and the leftover stew (plus quinoa and black radish) on subsequent nights had cabbage, kale, tortellini, pesto, chicken broth, and ultimately the rice and beans from 2 nights ago added to it. Milo had the penultimate bowl for breakfast this morning.

The rice and beans from 2 nights ago: pork belly (and INSANE mole-flavored sausage from Salumi that Andrew sent me as part of a birthday sampler from Seattle) rendered, then onion, celery, and carrot, plus cumin seeds and powder, then soaked black beans plus their liquid bubbled for 3 hours until al dente and perfect. Served on brown rice with grape tomato salsa, avocado, and "Margaritas" made from strawberry wine that Mike brought on Friday, orange-infused Scotch from Mary, tequila and lime juice.

Pre-birthday

3 couples came to dinner the night before my birthday, so I bought a bunch of good things and figured out how to put them together. I knew I wanted slow-cooked lamb shoulder, so that morning I put a 4-pound beauty into a big pot with the usual aromatics plus lemon, cumin, kombu, dried porcini, wine, soy, and vinegar and, once bubbling, put it in the oven for about 8 hours at 225˚. Then I strained the liquid, pulled the meat apart, and put it into a smaller pot with just enough of the liquid to cover and simmered it on the back of the stove for another 2 hours until it was time to eat it.

The first course was smoked trout that I made earlier, made as before into little soufflans but with the recipe tweaked a bit due to an egg shortage. They went with sautéed local oyster and shiitake mushrooms, shredded kale quickly tossed in a pan with oil and lemon, and a chopped radicchio/butter/wine sauce poured over all of it.
















Next the lamb, on whipped parsnips with yogurt and truffle oil, and Danny's roasted vegetables, with a dab of mint/rosemary/garlic chive pesto on top. And then pear tart, along with amazing local blue cheese and a Montbazillac that, for the money, is a worthy substitute for sauternes without breaking the bank.

Indian Summer

An unbelievably beautiful day today; I spent some of it moving rhododendrons to make room for the garden, which is tilled and awaiting a fence. I went shoppping too, to get things for tomorrow's dinner, and I picked up some wild salmon among other things. Crusted with sesame seeds, and seared, it sat on mashed sweet potatoes and kale sautéed with a bit of pancetta and garlic. Just right for the cool evening; the richness of the pork fat brought this dish firmly into fall despite its inherent lightness, especially without a sauce. A 2000 Joblot Givry "Cellier aux Moines" bonded nicely with the fall themes, including that magic leaf-must smell.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Tonight, in honor of the rain, good hearty fare that hit all those exalted kid-food notes while still being refined and healthy. Instead of breading and frying the slices, I usually bake them with a little oil and salt, or sautée them so they're soft. Grilled is best, because then you get the amazing alchemy that fire works on eggplant combined with the whole bubbly cheese and tomato sauce context, but the rain tonight precluded grilling. I did add layers of spinach as well, and the mozzarella was the real deal, the herbs were fresh from outside, and a little truffle salt really amped up the tang of parmigiano reggiano. Another rich, earthy, and affordable 2001 Domaine La Millière worked with the spectrum of simple flavors that intertwined so satisfyingly; there's a magical sweetness that results from the baking of tomato and mozzarella.

Curry, but different

We've been enjoying the combination of cauliflower and tofu in a coconut-based curry, so I revisited it, but this time the sauce had the rest of the kabocha and gravy added to thicken and deepen it. Broccoli, peas, and a nice mix of seeds and pastes rounded out the flavors. It's important to let this kind of thing simmer a bit to really reduce and marry the flavors; it also greatly benefits from having the already-deepened leftovers added since they have so much to offer already.

More Rockin' Chicken

Sort of Moroccan, with a Southern twist: a whole chicken slowly stewed with lemons, olives, cumin, ras el hanout, onion, celery, carrot, sweet potatoes and herbs until it was falling-apart tender, then all solids removed to bowl & board while the liquid thickened with some flour to make a fantastic gravy. Meanwhile baby spinach wilted with garlic and more lemon, and gave a nice tangy counterpoint to the rich sauce. A Pleiades XIV couldn't have worked better with the dish; it matched the acid of the lemons, and the sweet spices, and even the tangy spinach. This one really worked on all levels.

Another Visit

Noah and Deanna came up for a night, so we had crispy tofu in a pungent peanut sauce (PB, sesame oil, vinegar, lime, umeboshi paste) as well as faux BBQ tempeh (molasses, ketchup, tamarind, vinegars, hot sauce) rice, roasted kabocha, and the last of the red cabbage from rib night. We drank a 2003 Turley Keig vineyard zin and a 2003 Siduri 2003 Sonatera vineyard pinot noir.

Lamb Shanks

Cooked slow, until they fell off the bone, with onion, celery root, carrot, riesling, cumin, shiitakes, garlic and herbs, and served over quinoa. Chris made an amazing salad from their garden, and cooked Richard and Susan's black radishes in sake and soy until they were perfectly tender. We started by finishing the riesling, then had a 2002 Marquis Philips cabernet S2.

Supplì

The paella rice (after having been made into maki for lunch the next day) now became supplì, or arancini, with bacon and mozzarella inside and corn meal outside since we had no bread crumbs. A very simple tomato sauce, salad, and Susana Balbo's Syrah/Bonardo blend. Comfort food for the fall.

Paella

For the second night of their stay we made paella. 5 kinds of sausage from Fleisher's (one each of what they had) plus scallops and clams, plus chicken legs, all in arborio rice with saffron and a broth made from earlier chicken bones and carrots, celery root, onion, and parsley. I browned the chicken, sausage, and scallops in the same pan, using their rendered fat, then threw in the onion and rice to start the main dish. Once arranged, brussels sprouts went in, and I added peas and the scallops just before serving so they didn't overcook. We drank a 2000 Guigal Condrieu, then a 2003 Cocodrilo cabernet from Argentina (first time- well received all around), then a 1996 Remirez de Ganuza Rioja Riserva which was as elegant and deep as ever.

Ribs Again

Jody and Anna came to visit, and they had requested the ribs we made last time in Brooklyn. So we had them, and red cabbage kraut, and mashed roasted butternut squash, and roasted blue potatoes with garlic. We drank three different 2002s from Thackrey: an Andromeda, an Aquila, and a Sirius. Surprisingly enough (although maybe not, given their youth) the Andromeda, which is the least pinot noir-tasting pinot noir I've ever had, won for its pure and seamlessly complex finesse. The others were no slouches, but doubtless will improve with time. It's remarkable how he can make any grape taste like his own.

Post-Polish

The green soup became little pancakes with the addition of a couple of eggs and some flour, and half a red cabbage simmmered in spices and wine until nice and soft. Combined, they were sort of like blinis and kraut- a strange homage to my Eastern European ancestors. Finished with a yogurt sauce in place of sour cream, they satisfied pretty well that autumnal craving for hearty food, as well as the need for simple, healthy, leftover-using dinners. We also had bean thread noodles in a miso-dashi soup with cilantro to start.