Nibbles & Sips

Fun with food and beverages: recipes and opinions about what, how, and why we eat.

Meet the Whites: Pinot Grigio

Sips

Bottle of Pinot Grigio

We’re going to kick off this trip down the white wine aisle with a look at the easy-to-drink, easy-on-the pocket book Pinot Grigio.

In Northern Italy, as this bottle shows, it’s called Pinot Grigio but in Alsace, France, where it grows especially well, it’s known as Pinot Gris (pronounce GREE). And, yes, it is a cousin to my favorite Pinot Noir. This grape also grows well in California and Oregon.

What you’re looking for in a bottle of Pinot Grigio is a light color (sometimes it can go to golden yellow, but usually you want pale) and a recent year. This is not a wine that’s meant to be aged in the bottle more than 5 years, tops, and most of them should be served much sooner than that! Give it a good chill and then take it out of the fridge or cooler about 20 minutes before you’re ready to drink it.

Wine that’s too cold will taste like nothing–your taste-buds will be too busy being cold to find anything decent about the wine–you have to give it a chance to wake up a little bit.

You probably won’t smell a whole lot from this wine, even after swirling it around in your glass a few times, the nose tends to be subtle-to-nonexistent, though the French Pinot Gris will give a little bit more, as I understand it (the Alsace wines tend to be richer, even for light-bodied wines). The flavor, along with the aforementioned “light” and “crisp”, may contain hints of fruit, like pear or even melon.

Pinot Grigio falls under the heading of a light-bodied white. It pairs well with fish, such as sole or flounder, as well as clams and oysters.

Now, if you’ve ever had really good oysters on the half-shell–ice-cold, firm and clean-tasting–you know you want something light and crisp to go with them. Pinot Grigio is your wine!

In fact, most seafood, as long as it’s not covered in a super-heavy sauce (cream or tomato) will mesh quite well with the humble Pinot Grigio. You might want to steer clear of acidic (tomato, again, and citrus) foods with the Grigio as the levels of acid in both might clash.

So, you know, don’t use a Pinot Grigio in your next Mimosa, but it might make a great white-wine spritzer.

Really, though, it’s a great wine for general drinking when the weather starts to warm up and you want something refreshing. Having a cocktail party? Stock up–it tends to whet the appetite.

Cheers!

27th Annual Chef’s Sampler–Stuffed in Tallahassee

Nibbles

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Two years ago we attended and left with, pun intended, a bad taste in our mouth. Did things improve in the interim?

I think they did.

I attended my first Chef’s Sampler in 1997–pre-Culinary School–and looking back over that year’s program I see the highlights were the lavash at a now-defunct local Italian place, the char-grilled octopus from Angelo’s, and the bacon-wrapped shrimp from local steak-house favorite, Marie Livingston’s.

Back then, more than half of the attending restaurants were strictly local affairs.

That last visit, in 2010, seemed to be weighted much more in favor of chains, and was also a more casual affair with scads of kids running around.

I’m happy to report that after skipping a year, the Chef’s Sampler is back on our list of fun, foodie events once more.

With just about half of the 40 vendors present representing the strictly-local market (down from 1997’s total of 58), I’m happy to see the chains haven’t totally outnumbered the locals-only establishments, and this year was a return to the event I remember from my earlier, easier to impress days. They still had the live band I bemoaned from last time (live music in that space means you can’t hear yourself think, much less digest!), but there were more people a little dressed up and far fewer kids running amok.

Since Graphateria was a sponsor, this year, Todd and I were able to attend the VIP Reception hosted by Shula’s 347 Grill and Hotel Duval. They had the fabulous foresight to provide us with a cocktail party must have: plates with built in cup-holders and the stemware to go in them. (And for those not at the VIP Reception, they were selling the sets elsewhere along the grazing route.)

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We knew not a soul at the Reception, but close quarters make new friends in no time and a lovely couple with, wouldn’t you know it, some acquaintances in common shared our little cocktail table for the rest of the pre-party.

Overall the food was what we’ve come to expect from Tallahassee’s restaurants: good quality and a lot of common elements. Everyone and their cousin has their own version of Spinach-Artichoke Dip and any place that had any ties to southern cuisine has a shrimp and grits offering they like to trot out for these things. One surprisingly nice touch was the presence of smoothies and snow balls available in a couple different locations. You might think a syrupy snow-ball might be overkill in the middle of small-plate heaven, but it acted as an amazing palate cleanser.

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Some stand-outs of the night were the Fried Chicken Soup from Andrew’s 228/Andrew’s Bar and Grill,

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the sushi from Masa,

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and Jim and Milt’s mix of pulled beef and pork

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But, by far, we saved the best for last–accidentally. We got to start the grazing about 30 minutes before the event officially opened (again, thanks to that VIP early entry) and some places were still getting set-up. On what was our beginning route, one of the local food truck’s that we’ve not had a chance to try, Mobi, were in that boat and we made the point of looking for them on our way out.

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What you’re looking at, here, is Barbecue Pork Rangoon over Siracha cole slaw. Folks, even after all the rich food we’d eaten (and the 3 glasses of red wine that went with them), the flavor of this stuffed wanton were amazing. The richness of the pork cut by the cream cheese inside a very well-fried (crispy, but not greasy or heavy) wanton skin were amazing. On any other day I’d love a plate of these for supper.

Which means I’ll have to track them down at one of the Food Truck Thursday events and hope they’re serving it that night.

See the full photo gallery in my Chef’s Sampler 2012 Flickr Set.

Celebrate | National Margarita Day

Sips

La Pinta Pomegranate-Infused TequilaThe best days, I think, are when I come home to a liquor delivery on my doorstep.

What made last night’s delivery even better was that is was a new tequila to try out, just in time for National Margarita Day.

First things first, y’all know how much I adore good packaging and this bottle of La Pinta from Casa Tradición ultra-premium tequila line delivers that in spades.

But looks aren’t everything, how does it taste?

Smooth. Sweet and savory. The unmistakable scent and flavor of tequila and the tart, sweet taste of pomegranate.

I would (and did) drink this straight. And I don’t usually drink liquor straight.

It was that good.

But it’s National Margarita Day, so it’s time to put this tequila to work!

According to Margaritaville (and who better to ask), Jimmy Buffet’s favorite Margarita goes like this:

The Perfect Margarita (Jimmy’s favorite):

1 oz Margaritaville Gold Tequila
.5 oz Margaritaville Silver Tequila
.5 oz Triple Sec
.5 oz Orange Curacao
.5 oz Lime juice
2 Lime Wedges

Rim margarita glass with salt.  Combine ingredients in a shaker filled with ice.  Squeeze limes and add to tin.  Shake vigorously and pour into a margarita glass and enjoy.

Now, we all know what I think about triple sec (just say no!) and I seemed to be somehow out of limes–the horror!

But when you have a fabulous tequila like the La Pinta around, a missing lime is so far from the end of the world it’s not even worth worrying about.

La Pinta Pomegranate MargaritaInstead, I concocted my own cocktail which I think shows off the tequila to great advantage.

La Pinta Pomegranate Margarita

1.5 oz La Pinta Pomegranate Infused Tequila
1 oz Cointreau
juice of 1 Clementine or Mandarin orange
salt for rimming the glass

Salt the rim of your chosen cocktail glass and add a few ice cubes to it. Combine all ingredients and half the clementine in a shaker over ice and shake like a maraca! Strain into the prepared glass and garnish with a wedge of clementine.

It’s got the sweet, it’s got the salt, it’s got the tart and that not-really-sour but more of an umami flavor that just says tequila and without which you can’t call it a margarita.

And if you don’t have La Pinta handy, combining a high quality tequila with some pomegranate liqueur and you might be able to get close.

How are you celebrating National Margarita Day?

I was provided a sample of La Pinta Pomegranate Infused Tequila for review, all opinions are my own.

Would You Mind Bringing a Little Something?

Nibbles
Pot Luck Party- New Zealand

image via Flickr user kangotraveler, aka http://scoutabout.com/

For those of us who like to entertain but are on a tight budget, hosting a pot-luck party is certainly an option if your fellow party-goers are the helpful type. But with the lowered cost to the hostess comes a bit more work on the organizational side.

Recently we were invited to a friend’s home for a night of casual gaming. It was to be a pot-luck with a specific meal in mind, and I was requested to bring “something awesome.”

Granted, something awesome is not all that hard to achieve, but it was a little vague and it took a lot of back and forth to determine what she really wanted (or, rather, needed) us to bring.

This got me thinking. Which, of course, got me writing, and I’ve come up with some helpful (I hope) guidelines for hosting a pot-luck party of your own. Some might seem pretty common sense, but you might be surprised at how many would say ‘oh, I hadn’t thought of that’.

Start With a List

It doesn’t have to be a long list, just things like how many people you’re invited, how much food will be needed, and is there a theme to the meal or gathering, that sort of thing.

Know Your Guests Strengths

Does someone on your guest list have a specialty that everyone loves? Play to their strengths as ask them to bring that!  On the other hand, if someone isn’t much of a cook, paper products, ice or drinks are always good options for them to bring; these options are also good for folks coming straight from work or some other event. People are busy and, really, most don’t want to show up to a pot-luck empty handed.

Assign Tasks or Items

Don’t be vague, be specific! It’s like a guy asking ‘would you like to go out sometime’ instead of ‘would you like to go out Friday night at 7’, the first generates a vague response, the second an easy yes/no. Once you know what you need, and know what your friends are capable of, time and talent-wise, make your requests. If you’re providing the main course, ask for a side dish (or a salad, casserole, or appetizer); you can even be ingredient-specific (a green vegetable, something starchy).

And it doesn’t hurt to ask your guests in a sequence, giving the earlier ask-ees the option of bringing A or B and then narrowing down the list as you go.

Plan Ahead

If you call up (or email) your guests only 4 days before, you run the risk of some having prior committments or just not being able to fully participate. Give at least a week’s heads up or, if you know your friends are the very busy type, 2 to be on the safe side.

Follow Up

If you email or send written notes (a charming habit that many have forgotten about, a little hand-written note on nice paper is fun to get in the mail amidst the bills and fliers usually in the box), set a date you want to hear back by and, if you haven’t heard back by then, follow up!

This happened with this last party, I replied to her email twice with questions but the hostess never got my responses, so when I texted her the day before the party a bit flustered (okay, more than a bit) it was a bit awkward on all sides. If you haven’t heard from someone by your drop-dead date, call them up (or check your spam folder) to see if you missed their reply.

Pot luck parties can mean more frequent entertaining and are great for a group that meets regularly in one spot. By being the organized hostess, though, the party gets the benefit of flowing as smoothly as if you’d done everything yourself.

Almost Mardi Gras, Are You Ready?

Nibbles

I know this week’s highlight is Valentine’s Day (aka Singles Awareness Day for those not coupled-up), and while I’m still deciding what sweet treat to make for Tuesday night, my mind keeps wandering a week forward and thinking Mardi Gras.

Which means, of course, that next weekend will be time to start up the dough for King Cakes.

a trio of King cakes

Last year's small, medium and large King Cakes for home and work

from a post way back in 2009:

The King Cake is a coffee cake decorated for the occasion in green (for faith), gold (for power) and purple (for justice) and with a wee plastic baby, silver or gold coin or bean of some such inside. Why? Well, it’s heavy on the Christian symbolism: the prize inside is supposed to be the Baby Jesus. Whoever finds the baby, coin or bean is, traditionally, the King or Queen of the week and is supposed to host the next party or, at the very least, supply the next King Cake.

Any oval coffee cake will do and many, these days, deviate from the cinnamon brioche tradition and use danish pastry filled with cream, fruit filling or chocolate. Yum! I tend to stick with the eggy brioche because it’s just so good the way it is, and the crunchy sugar on top is the best!

According to Rima and Richard Collin’s The New Orleans Cookbook, the King Cake should be made with a coffee cake dough of choice that uses about 4 packages of active dry yeast. So, the first time I made it I went to my go-to brioche recipe from Nick Malgieri’s How to Bake, which uses 2 packages of yeast. So I doubled the recipe. Despite the fact that Malgieri’s recipe makes 2.5 lbs of dough. I made 5 lbs of brioche. I ended up with 2 ginormous king cakes that overflowed my sheet pans, not to mention my counter space. Use only a single batch of the recipe below and you’ll probably still have enough for 2 normal size cakes.

Brioche Dough
(by Nick Malgieri with my paraphrased directions)

Sponge
1 c milk
5 tsp (2 env) active dry yeast
1.5 c all-purpose flour

Dough
12 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
6 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 lg eggs plus 1 egg yolk
2.25 c all-purpose flour

For the sponge: Heat the milk until warm (seriously, you don’t want it over 110 or you could kill the yeast, so just slightly warmer than body temperature) and (off the heat) whisk in yeast and then the flour, cover with plastic wrap to protect against drafts and let sit for 30 minutes.

For the dough: Cream the butter until it’s very soft and fluffy, beat in the sugar and then one egg. Alternate flour and the remaining eggs, one after the other, until everything is incorporated. Mix in the risen sponge then knead for 5 minutes (or let the dough hook of your mixer go at it for 2 minutes). Cover with a piece of plastic wrap, let the dough rise for about an hour, punching down the dough periodically.

Punch down the dough once more, then place it in an oiled bowl, turning the dough over so the surface is lightly coated. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 4 hours or overnight. It’s going to rise so use a big enough bowl to accommodate it and don’t be surprised if it goes all ‘blob’ on you and pushes the top of that super-large rubbermaid container completely off–just means your yeast was really healthy!

After four hours or overnight, take the dough out, punch it down and knead it a bit to get the extra air out, and divide the dough into 2 pieces for one big cake or 4 pieces for 2 normal sized ones.

Now, if you want to fill your dough with anything, that’s up to you. Filled or not you want to roll out each piece of dough into a log shape and twist two of them together and then arrange the twist into an oval, gently pressing the two ends together. Sprinkle the ring with colored sugars and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the bread is golden and done (thump the bottom of the loaf and if it sounds hollow, it’s ready).

Alternately, you can simply sprinkle the dough with cinnamon sugar, bake, and then drizzle the cake with a powdered sugar icing and then top with the colored sugars. (But the crunchy baked sugar really is one of the best parts!)

After the cake has cooled, insert the bean, baby or coin in through the bottom of the cake (make sure no one is looking) and serve to a group of friends. Sure, you can bake a bean or coin inside, but I usually don’t. It’s just as easy to wait until it’s cool (and make sure you clean that coin well before adding it to any food!).

Now, if you’re serving this cake in the morning, coffee will work well enough to wash it down (but at least go for a good, chicory blend or an all-out cafe au lait) but if you’re off for the day or out for the evening, wash your King Cake down with the quintessential New Orleans drink: the Hurricane. You can find a mix in many liquor stores or specialty shops, but Chef Rick has a from-scratch Hurricane recipe that will most likely treat you better than any powder ever could:

Hurricane Punch

1 ounce white rum
1 ounce Jamaican rum
1 ounce Bacardi 151 proof rum
3 ounces orange juice, with pulp
3 ounces unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 ounce Grenadine
Crushed Ice

Combine all ingredients, mix well (shake or stir). Pour over crushed ice in Hurricane glass. Garnish with orange or pineapple ring and drink through a small straw for maximum wind speed.

Also, his olive salad recipe is the best I’ve found short of taking a trip to Central Grocery for a jar, which isn’t exactly convenient when you’re 4 states away and craving a Muffaletta