Curry

A multi-course meal tonight: first, a pot of brown rice. Second, collards cooked with mustard, fenugreek, cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds plus lemon and onion. Third, carrots, sweet potatoes, onion, and a whole head of cauliflower with coconut milk, tomato paste, and two kinds of curry powder. Fourth, tilapia filets with a vindaloo paste/yogurt marinade, seared in the cast iron pan and finished under the broiler. Really, really good, and enhanced by a 2004 Trimbach Gewurztraminer.

Duck Soup

This one was really simple, but really satisfying. First, a dashi broth, supplemented with the sauce from the night before, and miso at the end with the heat off. Julienned carrots blanched, then udon cooked in the same water. All in a bowl with sliced duck breast on top and gomasio over all. The smoky dashi and smoky duck were a pretty powerful harmony, and done very well by a 2003 Chèze Saint-Joseph.

Smoked Duck

Back from the city, where work alas precluded any fancy eating, and planning on guests who alas then couldn't make it, I defrosted a beautiful duck (fleisher's) and fired up the smoker. The apple wood from Vermont has been sitting outside, and it's not really dry. This makes it really smoky, but not enough to sustain a fire by itself, so I put it on top of the hardwood (beech, ash, and maple) we use for firewood up there and let it go, with a pan underneath the bird to catch the fat.

I also threw halved acorn squash in the oven to roast. When the duck came inside, I poured off all the liquid that had accumulated in the cavity, tented the bird with foil, and put it in the still-hot oven to keep warm. All the liquid combined with cranberry juice, the last of the BBQ sauce, demi-glace, chicken broth from before, and honey, and reduced. Skimmed and strained, it went on a leg on a dollop of puréed squash. Beyond having almost an entire smoked bird to play with this week, and a carcass to make broth from, I caught a pint of smoked fat which will be pure alchemy in the weeks to come.

We drank a 2002 Monthélie by Nicholas Potel which had a gorgeous nose but was still a little tight and sour; another couple of years would be a good idea.

Osso Buco

The chicken carcass from last night became a broth, while Fleisher's beef shanks seared then braised in wine and some of said broth, and more demi-glace. Instead of simple saffron flavor, I stirred in more of the pesto, again from last night, and some local sheep feta at the end. The meat liquid reduced to a yummy thick pan sauce, and I steamed up some broccoli in the meat pan towards the end. Yellow tomato, cucumber, and radish salad helped keep a late-summer feeling to what is really an early-fall meal. Tomorrow such semantics will be irrelevant. We drank a 2000 La Dame de Montrose, which despite being a second wine was still young and tight, needing a few more years to relax; after an hour in the decanter, beautifully integrated fruit and leather flavors began to emerge and escape the tannins' grip. It augurs well for the beauty and longevity of the greater Bordeaux from 2000.

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.