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(305) 451-5958
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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Chard No Way?

Weary of the same aromas and flavors that have made Chardonnay seem so… common? It can get very tiresome with the usual routine. That’s why we agree with those rascally winemakers at Vinum Cellars. Their tongue in cheek titles for their wines reflect the playful attitude they keep. Chenin Blanc grapes appear to be the medium for them to create some of California’s most unique and delicious white wine. The fun and delicious Vinum Cellars Chenin Blanc “CNW” Cuvee Clarksburg, California is a shining example of just how new, different, and fun wines other than Chard can be. Crisp and clean, fresh apple and light floral aromas make this Chenin Blanc immensely easy to enjoy. Traditionally a grape from the Loire Valley in France, Chenin grows extremely well in California, especially in Clarksburg with it’s hot days and cool nights.
Skip the Chard and go with Chenin.CNW! Chard– NO– Way

Fresh and Clean

Culley Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, New Zealand
Lemon zest, sweet pea blossom, mineral, and lime aromas with a wee hint of tropical fruit like guava and kiwi. Fantastic balance and a springlike freshness give this wine immediate appeal. The grapes come from the Yarrum Vineyard, in Brancott Valley. Picked in the cool morning to preserve the crispness that is so desirable in Sauvignon Blancs from the Northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. All stainless steel fermentation and bottled a quick three months after harvest. Snappy!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

IT’S TATERS!

Colcannon (Cal Ceannan)

3 pounds o’ potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
2 pounds o’ leeks, white parts, rinsed, chopped
2 sticks o’ butter
2 big bunches o’ kale, washed
1 1/2 cups milk, warm
1tsp fresh nutmeg (IMPORTANT)
Fresh pepper and sea salt to taste
OPTION: sauté the leeks with added diced bacon in step two...


Boil the taters and mash ‘em with a stick o’ butter, add 1/2 the nutmeg. Keep warm...
In a large saucepan, sauté the leeks in 2 tbsp butter and start adding the kale, a handful at a time, it will cook down to fit. Grind a lot of fresh black pepper in when you feel like it.
Relax, have a Guinness.
Combine everything you have now cooked together, stirring in milk and remaining butter. Don’t beat the mixture to death or it will turn into glue. Go easy and it should remain nice and light.
Another Guinness.
Add the rest of the nutmeg at the very end and you will realize why it makes the dish that much better.
Relax and have another Guinness.
Serve as a side instead of plain potatoes with a spice rubbed rib eye steak, DA's Perfect roast Chicken, or Lamb Loin Chops With Garlic, Cilantro, and Saffron.
Just relax...

Lamb Loin Chops With Garlic, Cilantro, and Saffron

Pick out some rosy, well marbled lamb loin chops and season them with sea salt and pepper. In a large zip top bag, smash and peel as many cloves of garlic as you can handle. Add a teaspoon of good saffron*, a handful of roughly chopped cilantro, and a half cup or so of good olive oil. Let marinate at room temp for two hours, or all day, turning to coat chops often. Remove chops and sear in a hot skillet or grill about a minute or two per side. Serve on a bed of mixed greens with a side of mashed potatoes. A delicious meal to share on one plate, just use your fingers to eat the chops, way more romantic and fun when you share.

*check out http://www.saffron.com/, a WHOLE OUNCE of the finest saffron runs only $69, it’s the best deal and will last almost a year.

Pretty Wine

Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley, Oregon
They say, “It’s Will-AM-ette, dammit!” in Oregon, and dammit this Pinot Gris is soooooooooo good. This wine has been so consistently refreshing and wonderful year in and year out, it deserves a place in everyone’s refrigerator. Not a wimpy, thin, tart, grapefruity pinot grigio. Although the same grape, it shares little with some of it’s Italian counterpart’s… um… boring– ness. Pinot Gris from the Northwest US is serious white wine, and extremely easy to drink at the same time. It won’t confuse and befuddle the standard Pinot Grigio drinker, and won’t disappoint anyone else either. This one brings crispy, citrusy, floral richness with a tiny hint of gentle spice to the party. Chill, serve, and repeat...


a.ferguson
Inama Soave Classico, Veneto Italy
Crisp Gravenstein apple, white tea, and light citrus zest aromas pair with cool, polished, mouthwatering acidity. We love this wine with crustaceans, grilled fish and poultry. Simply grilled veggies and bruschetta are another good match. Lip-smacking good, clean and crisp, not the austere style of Soave that flooded the markets in the late 1970’s and 80’s. One of the best white wines... ever, at any price, for our money.

Monday, July 28, 2008

DA's Perfect roast Chicken

The chicken needs flavor before roasting so:
Place chicken in a large bowl and add 3 bay leaves, 1/4 cup cracked black pepper, 1/2 cup salt (don't worry),1 cup white wine, and 2 tbsp honey, cover with warm water to dizzolve salt. Set aside for 2– 3 hours or refrigerate overnight.

Remove chicken and stuff with lots of fresh whole rosemary, 3 lemon halves, and a whole head of garlic.
Don’t preheat the oven! Put the chicken in at about 375º and pour yourself some Pinot.

Then make a sauce.

When the skin is a crispy deep golden brown and the internal temp is about 150º, take the bird out and let her rest for 10 or 15 min.
Drizzle with olive or truffle oil, a squeeze of lemon, and grind some fresh pepper on it. Carve the bird and spoon the warm sauce over each serving.
Serve with garlic mashed potatoes, crusty bread, and a hearty green like calo nero or broccoli rabe.
Have more Pinot and enjoy!

a.ferguson

Roasted Corn Sauce with Rosemary for Chicken and Fish

Roasted Corn Sauce with Rosemary for Chicken and Fish
This is quick, simple, and delicious.
Saute 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp olive oil with half a package of frozen corn, and 1/4 cup minced shallots until corn turns a light golden brown. Then add 1/4 cup of white wine, fresh rosemary leaves, salt and pepper to taste, the rest of the package of corn, and another tsp butter. Let thicken slightly and serve over Roast chicken, or fish like salmon or halibut.
Drizzle with olive or truffle oil if you have it.

Fresh corn kernels work best, especially with sauteed, golden brown wild mushrooms, sliced...
This is hard to mess up, so adapt it to your needs.

a.ferguson

Missing Mollydooker?

2006 Marquis Phillips Shiraz Southeastern Australia
Chris Ringland took over as winemaker from Sarah and Sparky Marquis without messing with the EXTREMELY high quality of fruit, now sourced entirely from Mclaren Vale. 92 parker points and 100% full on delicious Shiraz. We think that this brooding, black raspberry, almost chambourd– like scented, spice inflected, juice injected, vinous projectile, is utterly gratuitously fruity and fun to drink! Never fear, there’s plenty of silky tannin, and balanced acidity here to carry all the thrill packed into this Aussie gem! Another underpriced, killer value.

a.ferguson

White Wine for Sipping and Grilling

Dutch Bill Creek Chardonnay Sonoma County, California
Another stunning wine from one of the best growing regions for Chardonnay, Sonoma County. The Heintz family grows some of the most sought after, and therefore expensive, Chardonnay fruit in California. How this delicious wine came to the shelf at under $40, we might never understand, but who are we to argue. Crisp apple, chamomile, ginger, lemon zest, this has everything one could ever want in a chardonnay, without too much. Utterly delectable and balanced, crisp and lively.

a.ferguson

Sea Scallop Recipe

Served on a light bed of chopped spring greens.
1 lb package Bomster’s Scallops, thawed, rinsed and cleaned, and patted dry with paper towel
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, smashed
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 sticks of butter (NO CREAM!!!)
1 vanilla bean, pod and all, split and scraped OR 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp saffron threads
Sea salt to taste


Saute shallots in a saucepan in 1 tbl olive oil, until translucent. Add wine and reduce until thickened, adding saffron towards the end to infuse color and aroma, and finally the vanilla.
Add all but 1 tsp butter and whisk lightly until smooth and creamy, DON’T cook it, melt it on low lest it separate. Remove garlic clove and vanilla bean pod if used.
While reducing, heat a sauté pan with 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp olive oil and when hot add scallops face down. Cook over medium high heat until a golden brown crust is formed on the bottoms, and they are easily removed from the pan, and just cooked through.
Scatter chopped spring greens lightly over a white plate and arrange 3 or 5 scallops per. Make sure your sauce is thick and warm and DRIZZLE over and around the scallops sparingly. (Use a spoon for control.) Don’t be afraid to garnish with a few saffron threads. A few drops of white truffle oil wouldn’t hurt, either.

Bomster’s
Stonington Seafood Harvesters
Town Dock, Stonington Borough
Stonington, CT 06378
(888)-486-8404

a.ferguson

Pinot Envy

Everyone is jealous about everyone else’s Pinot. Some like it Noir, some Blanc, some Gris. Some like it thicker, some thin. Often people will argue about size, others will say it’s about style. I say everyone’s right about Pinot, because it’s all about which Pinot fits a person best, with whom one shares the Pinot, and what’s on the menu for the evening.
Pinot Noir, food friendly Pinot Blanc, and that little tart Pinot Grigio all have their seductive sides. One Pinot Noir in my little black book comes from California, way, way out and up the Sonoma Coast. It not a big wine, but styled and crafted in an elegant and voluptuous frame. It’s come hither aromas of Bing cherry jam, warm Asian spices, subtle jasmine or Earl Grey tea, and seductively subtle hints of French oak marry well with balanced acidity and perfect body to produce a mouthfeel as smooth as silk. Did I mention that I love this wine?
It’s the Fort Ross Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast, Fort Ross Vineyard and it is so beautifully delicious that you’ll fall in love with it too. Snuggle up with a glass of this Pinot with your sweet one. Pairs well with fireplaces, thick rugs, and roast chicken with rosemary and roasted corn sauce.

a.ferguson

Wine Suggestions

I may have tasted thousands and thousands of wines in my time, but there is no way I can guess what tastes good to another person. Wine is suggestive. I have to get to know all of your individual tastes to focus on what you like to drink. I might like wines that others don’t, and that’s fine, it doesn’t make anyone “wrong”.
Having tasted so much stuff, it’s easier for me to zero in on wines that you MIGHT like. Sometimes I get it the first time, sometimes it takes a few tries.
It’s up to you to express your vinous likes and dislikes to me, not the other way around. I already know what I like, it’s up to you to tell me what you are looking for. I am here to facilitate not dictate. My wine preferences and tastes are guides, not gospel, for not everyone agrees.
Wine publications and critics may give their opinion in the form of ratings and/ or reviews. My opinion comes in the form of recommendations based on what I might know about the buyer and what they tell me regarding their wine wants and needs.
I do enjoy having people try different wines that they might not usually pick for themselves.
I think there is a place for every wine that celebrates the different tastes of every person. If one wine was truly better than another, there would be only one wine, and that would bore me to tears.
Come and share your preferences with me, I will try and learn what YOU like and suggest wines accordingly.
Remember if it tastes good, it IS good. Only you know what tastes good to you... I can only guess.

a.ferguson