Fruit's Mexican lover: Tajin

What is your favorite fruit to put Tajin on?


Tajín Clásico Seasoning 14 Oz, Pack of 2

Brewski Reviewski- Bell's Two Hearted Ale

Bell's Two Hearted Ale is one of my favorite Midwestern beers.  It is a stellar American IPA from just across the lake in Comstock, Michigan.  You can find Two Hearted at any respectable  beer joint here in Milwaukee and Bell's has limited distribution outside of the Midwest.  It is worth seeking out even if you aren't from the area.

This is very nice IPA that will please most hop-heads.  Two Hearted pours a nice clean, copper shade with a nice white head.  The floral & citrus aromas from late addition hops have an assertive presence.  It is very well balanced IPA with sweet maltiness in the background, right where it belongs.  The bitterness carries through the finish with the same flavors of the aroma but with a little soapiness & pine too.

I love a Two Hearted after a bike ride on a hot summer afternoon, or while sitting in my favorite, very rarely climate controlled corner dive bar, basically I think it is a great  Summer beer but is delicious any time of year, so don't limit yourself.

Who says you cant grow Citrus in Wisconsin?

Our lemon tree that we have grown from seed.  It has been loving the sun & the heat we have been getting this summer.  In the winter it loves taking in the rays under our sky light.  Maybe in a year or so it will grow some tiny lemons.

In the background is our container garden that is blowing up!!! We have had green beans, snow peas and some strawberries so far.  The tomatoes are ripening up nicely and we cant wait to taste all of the different heirloom varieties we planted this year. 

The lemon tree is by far the strangest (for the climate at least) plant in our garden.  Do you have any odd plants in our garden?  We would love to hear about them!

Morels

Our stash of Morels we found this spring is sadly long gone.  Except for one, lonely dried grey morel we have leftover.  How it got overlooked, you got me...because these fungi are easily one of my favorite foods.  This spring was awesome for foraging for these tasty little shrooms.  We already can't wait for next spring!

Summer Backyard Project- The fire pit

 

Cornish game hen working hard over a stoked fire.

What's for breakfast? PIZZA EGGS!

On The Road

I am hitting the road for a month.  I am gonna be hitting the mountains for some skiing, then off to the desert for backpacking & mountain biking.

Follow my travels here Into The Mild blog.

Give me a shout if you know of some good eats along my route (posted at the link above).

Cheers!

Our new home appliance

A kegerator & a freezer....but more importantly a kegerator.

We popped the cherry with a quarter barrel of Sprecher Pub Brown Ale (homebrewed summer ale in the bottles).

Yes, they do make good beer here in Milwaukee.

 Soon it will be dispensing our homebrew.

Cheers!

We are now homebrewers!

I know what you are thinking...Beer?! Homebrewed BEER?! Not wine?!
Well, as you have read, we have been enjoying some great micro-brews lately & since it has been summer, the grape has taken a back seat the grain.  Another reason is that I am extremely impatient & beer is ready in 6 weeks as opposed to 6 months.

We have brewed four batches of homebrew so far since May & all have turned out fantastic.  We are drinking a Summer Ale we brewed with orange peel, corriander & grains of paradise that is drinking great right now, before that it was a brown ale & then a bock before that.  This past weekend we brewed a holiday ale that should be ready for Thanksgiving.

If you are curious as to the goings on in our makeshift brewery (our kitchen/closet/basement) here is a quick visual guide.

 

Ingredients.

 

Grains steeping. 

 

Wort Boiling (after hops & malt extract added).

 

After wort has boiled it is cooled & placed in 6.5 gal carboy for about a week.

 

After a day or so krausen forms & fermentation becomes violent.

 

After primary fermentation stops the beer is then racked for clarity into another, smaller carboy.

 

Our (blury) brewery on racking day.

 

Once in secondary the beer ages for at least 2 more weeks.

 

After 2 weeks or so in secondary it is time to bottle.  The bottles are primed with a little bit of sugar to induce another round of fermentation that will cause carbonation. After 3 weeks the homebrew is ready to enjoy.

PROST!

                                        

What have we been up too?

Howdy.

Long time no blog. Let me fill everyone it. We are still living & loving Milwaukee.
So yeah Milwaukee. Brew City.
Been drinking lots of beer.
Some of our favorites from Wisconsin...
Anything by Furthermore. Especially their Three Feet Deep their peat smoked stou.
New Glarus has some great offerings.
Lakefront Brewery is our neighborhood brewery & they make some damn fine beer & do a helluva Friday Fish Fry.

We have also fallen in love with a couple of local wine merchants where we quickly got on a first name basis with everyone. We are a couple of lushes I tell ya.

Waterford Wine Company is our main stop for vino & is just right down the street from us on lovely Brady Street.

Also we frequent these crazy Californians chasing their wine dreams in Milwaukee, of all places, at Thief a wine bar & shop in the Milwaukee Public Market. Phil & Aimee left their wine careers in Cali to open this place & let me say their passion for the juice is infectious & we are glad they packed up & moved to the Midwest not long after we did.

There really is a ton of food & wine stuff in this city to blog about.

We have been doing great & part of the reason you haven't heard from us is we are super busy & chasing our dream of living off the grid (not conducive to blogging). We haven't had a TV in over 3 years (funny since I work in the business) & we gave Time Warner a big F.U. & canceled Road Runner. Which brings me to where I am right now....The Garage, a bar/restaurant right around the corner from Chez CoLa, where I am enjoying a litre of Summit Winter Ale from St. Paul Minnesota.

So, yeah. We are embracing this Midwestern thing.

Aside from the whole food & drink thing we been doing lots. Skiing (cross country & downhill), playing with Jack & Roxi, trying to stay warm, shoveling snow, sewing, reading lots, & well....drinking & eating....LOTS.

We will be in from time to time. So keep checking back.

Prost!

Portable wine

Collin got bota bags for backpacking. If there ever was a doubt that these are the superior vessel for porting wine, that doubt must be erased immediately. I am hooked on mine. Be forewarned though, big heavy wines suffocate and fester (I know, so dramatic) , so it's better to go the light route.

Wherein La C. takes the plunge

After over two years of pretty unhealthy eating, over indulgence and low exercise, I have received the official bill of health from my doc. At 26 years old, La C. has been diagnosed with high cholesterol.

Now I knew I was out of shape, and I knew I was eating too much fat but I didn't figure it had gotten this bad. So I've been reflecting on some things. I'm out of balance, mentally and physically. I have been in balance before, and it's nice, real nice. And I miss it. So I am going to get it back. How you ask? Don't laugh. Macrobiotics. Now I'm no nut. I'm also not really good at handling rigidity, it brings out my phobia of commitment that connects directly to my phobia of failure, but you don't need to know all of this about me.

Anyway, I have been doing some reading up on macrobiotics, the philosophy of balance and how to make the food tasty tasty tasty, so expect to see some of that popping up around here. As well, you might get to see some of my struggles as I rid myself of the demons that are sugar, dairy and *gasp* caffiene. Wish me luck.

Veggies to eat before you die: Zucchini Au Gratin

Yes yes yes, veggies to eat before you die is back with a vengeance. This one is a fabulous spin off from a Julia Child recipe. Why a spin off you say? Because as much as I love Julia, I can't take the dairy. Well, I can't take all the dairy. I wish I could.

What you'll need

2 Zucchini no more than 1.5 inches in diameter
1-1.5 cups of onion, sliced
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp of flour
1/3-1/2 cup of almond milk (you can totally use real milk)
1/2 cup grated cheese. We used three cheeses, Julia suggests swiss.
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
1/2-1 cup fresh bread crumbs

Preheat your oven to 425ºF.

First grate the Zucchini (food processor or hand grater will work). Then place the zucchini, in batches, in a hand towel and squeeze any excess juice off. Save the juice por favor.

Saute the onions in 2 tbsp of butter. I like to brown my onions slightly, I like the richness it give the dish. Add the zucchini to this mixture and continue to sautee.

In the meantime, melt the remaining two tbsp of butter in a small sauce pan. Stir in flour to make a roux. The darker the roux, the less it will thicken the final sauce, so keep that in mind. I have a hard time telling you how dark to make your roux because it is a total personal preference thing. I let mine get golden. Then stir in the almond milk and let thicken. Salt and pepper to taste (keeping in mind that you will be adding cheese, grate some nutmeg in and ...) Voilá, béchamel.

After this, take your béchamel and stir it in with you zucchini/onion mixture. Thin out to desired consistency with reserved zucchini juice. (If you forget to reserve the juice, which I did, you can thin with water, cream, milk, stock, or almond milk.) Stir in the cheese!

Transfer the entire mixture to a buttered baking dish and top with fresh breadcrumbs. Bake for 20-25 or until it is bubbling up the sides.

This dish is heaven, very rich even without all the called for dairy. Personally I think almond milk is the most fabulous real dairy sub, transferring well from everything to cereal to mashed potatoes to béchamel, so all you non-dairy folks out there give it a try. I actually think this whole dish could be done vegan with a olive oil and flour roux and vegan cheese but, seriously, that's pushing it.

Review: Folk Machine Central Coast Pinot

So I've been reading up on Folk Machine in order to give it an educated write up. I've read that its back story isn't that exotic, that there's no fancy pedigree behind it. Blah Blah Blah. The story of this wine is cool as shit. The winemaker is 31 year old Kenny Likitprakong, owner of Hobo Wine Co., part time skateboarder and snowboarder, with a history of wine making and distillation in his blood. He's got a wine making philosophy, who doesn't? Affordable wines that are crafted for taste, not to match the popular current rating system. The path he took to get to wine making is a little "Billy of Family Circus-esque" which is a definite turn on for me. I need a little "make your own way" inspiration these days. And the wine has a cool label.

But on to the wine. Oh. My. God. Collin said it best when he said "Taste this, you'll be back in Cali sucking on a beef rib in three seconds." Or something like that. Beautiful Central Coast Pinot. Super bright, full of berries. Chewy tannins (I love saying chewy tannins). A very drinkable wine. I do have one slight complaint. On its own, fabulous; With food it turned into a cherry pie. It was a little too much for the food, and the food was a little too much for it. For the money it's definitely worth a try. I wouldn't mind having a few bottles on hand.

Review: Thief Wine Shop and Bar

A little bit of California right here in the Midwest.
Milwaukee has the best downtown market- The Milwaukee Public Market. It's full of satellite stores from local businesses all under one roof. It's been a favorite spot of ours for some time now. It can be a bit sticky to negotiate on the weekends because the touristas flock so since I started working the 9-5 and the weekends are the only good time to get down there, my patronization has slacked off. I know, I digress.

One day about six months ago I was shocked to see my once favorite organic salad bar and veggies vendor gutted, poof. I prayed for a re-model, a new-and-improved, a something. And while I thought it couldn't be possible, much to my surprise we got something better. A wine bar.

Thief Wine Shop and Bar is a wine bar/vendor out of California. The owners have recently re-located to the great state of Wisconsin to live out their dream of opening a wine bar and it's off to a great start. If you've ever been to California wine country you know how fabulous it is to go in, sit down and taste taste taste. Thief offers a diverse selection of wines by the 2 oz taste, 5 oz glass and the carafe (our favorite). They offer flights of tastes, pre-picked or create your own, and incentives to keep you coming back. Buy 12 flights of wine, # 13 is free AND 10% off any bottles that you taste in house AND nightly specials AND you can bring food from any of the vendors in the market and eat at the wine bar AND the wine list is constantly rotating. The extremely helpful woman pouring for us yesterday (I have got to place a priority on learning people's names) said that they have been open a little shy of three months and they are on their fourth wine list.

The owners, Phil and Aimee hand pick taste everything on the shelves, and are always at the store ready to answer any questions you might have. I enjoy that. Dedicated owners breed dedicated customers. It's a reversion to the way businesses used to be run and it makes me feel special dammit.

Collin and I got our first flights under our belts (tasting notes to come) and snagged a delicious central coast pinot- Folk Machine and Triebaumer, an Austrian Rosé. We plan to check out some of the mid-week specials too. For instance, Thursday nights they have specials on wines that go well with oysters, because Thursday nights are the St. Paul Fish Company's (another of the fabulous vendors in the Public Market) oyster night. The possibilities are endless.

Comet Cafe: a Photo Essay

Or: How to get your vitamins from cocktails.

Bloody Mary with Bacon & High Life Pony Chaser.
Best Bloody Mary on the Eastside of Milwaukee.

Tomato soup.

Mashed potatoes & beer gravy. Gotta get your carbs in.

Gone.

Old fashioned.

Comet Cafe
1947 N Farwell Ave
Milwaukee, WI 53202
(414) 273-7677

Not done yet!

The emails have been pouring in & when we decided to hang it up, we were more than reluctant about our decision. So fear not! We are back. There will be some major changes around here, but you can still expect to see lots of photos of great food & drink, plus some of our culinary adventures in our new town of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee is such an under-the-radar food paradise it would be a shame not to spread the word & share our favorite eateries & wonderful food purveyors. So hang in there because exciting things are to come soon!

-C & L

Indefinite Hiatus

See-Sip-Taste-Hear is on vacation. (As if it wasn't obvious) We are still cooking and drinking and eating and taking pictures here and listening (and consequently, dancing). We just kind of got tired of blogging about it. We've been busy settling in to our new home and town and having a blast doing it. Perhaps we'll catch the food blogging bug again, and if we do, perhaps we'll actually find the time to dedicate to it. Until then, thanks to everyone who kept up with us, and inspired us to cook fabulous foods and drink fabulous wines and yammer endlessly about it on the internet.

Love,
La and C

Vegggies to eat before you die: Cauliflower with Anchovies and Garlic

If you love anchovies, this is the dish for you. We've been searching for new ways to cook some of our favorite veggies. The winter is coming and veggies can tend to get boring when you can't just go to the farmers market and pick up the best tasting freshest stuff. We had some leftover salted anchovies from Collin's birthday dinner so I decided to give this recipe a go. It is fabulous, and super easy.

1/2 head of cauliflower
2 anchovies packed in salt rinsed and diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
2-4 tbsp olive oil

1. Cut the cauliflower into large-ish pieces (to prevent over cooking and falling apart) and steam for about 20 minutes or until al dente.

2. In the meantime, cook garlic and anchovies in olive oil until anchovies begin to break down. I think this took about five minutes.

3. When the cauliflower is done, toss in the anchovy/garlic mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. You won't need to much salt thanks to the anchovies.

Restaraunt Review: Anodyne Roasting Company

A couple of days ago we decided to check out one of the seemingly hundreds of local roasters in Milwaukee. Anodyne is conveniently located a block away from our house, so we decided to start there. We picked up a pound of Ethiopian Harar, and while we were waiting in line, couldn't help but notice their enticing menu. The menu is full of coffee house-esque light breakfast and lunch selections, and a large selection for vegetarians and homemade waffles. With a vegetarian mother(in-law) coming in to town at the end of the week and a waffle fanatic in the family, we decided to come back and check out the food then.

What we got-
The Heidi on Rye
Waffles with syrup
The Spinach Mushroom pie, Grits scallion cake and biscuit platter.

How was everything? Fantastic. The Heidi was a cold sandwich with lettuce, tomato, sprouts, swiss cheese, Anodyne's house made almond spread. It was served with tortilla chips from El
Rey, boasting the best tortilla chips in town. The sandwich was great, like a salad between two pieces of really good bread. The cheese comes from Glorioso's Italian grocery, down the street. The almond paste was fantastic and I have to figure out the recipe.

The waffle was fantastic. Collin got his plain, but you can get them with the works: walnuts, bananas, syrup and butter. The waffle was made with a hearty batter, but not dense at all. It was super flavorful with cinnamon and nutmeg. It was perfect, not greasy, or two thick. I generally have issues with calling a waffle a meal but this one was for sure.

The spinach mushroom pie and grit cake platter was a ton of food. The grit cake was made with white (hominy) grits. It has celery and scallions in it making it reminiscent of thanksgiving stuffing, drool. the spinach and mushroom pie was a creamy blend off spinach and cheese and the mushrooms added a nice texture and meaty appeal. The cheese biscuit was heavenly, seeing as how I don't think we've had a decent biscuit since we've been here, or any biscuit at all. And don't get me started on how difficult it is to find grits around here.

We had coffee and tea. Their coffee is really good, my favorite since we've been here. I got a glass of Rishi white tea rose melange that was beautiful, rose blooms and white tea spooned into individual tea bags to order, with a wonderful perfume and hint of mint. It was heavenly.

The whole meal ran us about 20 bucks, including tip which made it perfect for an affordable breakfast or lunch on the go. The atmosphere was very relaxed. It's a no smoking facility which is appreciated. As we were leaving it had begun to fill up but was still very low key, and quiet.

The service was friendly and fast. (I ordered off the lunch menu before they actually served lunch but they made me a sandwich anyway.)

We enjoyed it a ton. It got our mom's seal of approval too which was nice. Nice mix of people, good tea and coffee, quality affordable food and good dub reggae, what more can you ask for.

Anodyne Roasters
1208 E. Brady St
Milwaukee WI 53202
(414) 276-8081

Birthday Dinner: Clams in Tomato Broth and Caesar Salad with Homemade Dressing

Well, here I am, making a conscious effort to post more often. (Really, I have just been scrubbing down this salvaged table and I am trying to find something else "productive" to get me away from that mess.) So Collin had a birthday, one of those pesky mid-week birthdays, that makes it kind of tricky to celebrate. So in order to lighten the blow of him having to work on the 30th anniversary of the day of his birth, I made him dinner. I have been craving clams for a while, and since I was cooking, that's what we went with.

Clams in Tomato Broth
2 lbs of Little Neck Clams
2 lbs of Italian plum tomatoes peeled, seeded and chopped ( I cheated and used canned)
1 Tbsp Anchovies packed in salt, chopped
2 Tbsp Garlic chopped
2 Tbsp parsley chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp cream
2 Tbsp Olive Oil


1. Soak the clams in cold water for 15 minutes to help remove sand
2. Place clams in a skillet over medium high heat and cook for 5 minutes. Discard any clams that do not open. Remove clams from skillet and reserve broth. (It's surprising how much liquid comes out of these clams)
3. Heat Olive oil, parsley, garlic, and anchovies in skillet over medium heat, stirring continuously for 5-7 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, clams and broth and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir in cream.
6. Serve with slices of crusty bread (or linguine, like we did)

Caesar Dressing
1 Anchovy Fillet Chopped
2 Eggs
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
3/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Clove Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1. Cut garlic in half, rub around the inside of salad bowl and discard.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Poke a small hole in the broad end of each egg. Drop into boiling water and let cook for 60-90 seconds. Remove immediately.
3. Crack eggs into garlic rubbed salad bowl,making sure to scrape out the whites on the inside of the shells. Beat eggs, slowly add in olive oil, anchovy, and lemon juice. Stir in Parmesan cheese salt and pepper to taste. I like lots of cracked pepper in the dressing.
4. Toss with lettuce and croutons if you like. Sprinkle more cheese over salad and serve immediately.

Personally, I think that Caesar dressing is to greasy, so I cut out quite a bit of the olive oil, just adding enough so that the dressing began to thicken up a bit and it was perfect.

The clams and dressing both turned out perfectly. It was one of the best meals that we have had in a long time and it got us super excited about cooking again. It's nice to have a decent selection of seafood at our finger tips here. It keeps that cooking morale high.

Reasons we love Milwaukee: Grocery Edition

We are finally getting settled in. I lie, we've been settled in, and we've been quite busy getting to know our little area in Milwaukee. The biggest perk to our location is how "in the city" we are. We are walking or cycling distance to almost everything we have wanted to do and see so far. The second biggest perk to our location might be the close proximity to the lake, but it might also be the million and fifty diverse groceries/bakeries/sausageries (NEW WORD!) we are so close to. Did I mention how close we are to everything.

I guess I'll start with the place we frequent the most, Koppa's. Koppa's is a family run Polish grocery store/deli/Atari arcade...yes, you can play some free Atari while shopping or waiting for your sammich from the Fulbeli Deli. They're the corner store with the most and have everything you could possibly need to keep yourself from having to run anywhere else. We take a walk there almost nightly for wine, but have yet to even try the deli with a giant list of some tasty looking sammiches!

Next up is Glorioso's, around since 1946, and serving the needs of anyone looking for specialty Italian foods. According to the lady running the meat/olive/prepared foods counter, they do all their own olive curing and sausage and cheese making. There is a huge meat and cheese selection, and a wine selection that has got us hooked on Italian wines. Anchovies packed in salt, olive oils and vinegars out the whazoo and some of the friendliest folks behind the scenes that we have met since moving here. Glorioso's is another one of our short walks to get wine. They are on to us though, and after welcoming us to the neighborhood the other night, informed us that they DID sell more than JUST wine.

Moving on to my secret get away. It's not so secret, but every time I walk in the door I am teleported to LaLa Land, this really cushy, warm, smell goody place in my head, The Spice House. This is the original Penzey's Spices, started in 1957 by Ruth and Bill Penzey and carried on by their daughter Patty and her husband Tom Erd.(Noticing the trend of family run businesses, I love it!) This place is housed in a building that 150 years old and was a German bakery/apartment originally. It's located on Old World Third street and seriously, stepping through the door is like walking into a fairy tale. Not that you need to step through the door, because you can smell the spices out in the street. All of their spices are very fresh and reasonably priced, because The Spice House is the source and you don't get all that extra costs for shipping (or the Penzey's Spice label) tacked on.

Across the street is Usinger's. Usinger's is a family owned (big surprise) and run operation that has been around since 1880. 1880!!! They offer over 70 varieties of sausage that they make themselves. We weren't big sausage eaters when we moved here, but that has changed rather quickly. Their brats are fantastic! The decor consists of wood carvings of elves (or are they gnomes) and lots of football stuff (we may have made the switch to sausage lovers but I don't think the football thing will ever catch on). They've got a seconds table (those funny shaped sausages that just didn't make the cut) that has the best deals on the face of the planet. Really, who cares if you've got a bumpy wiener?

There are tons of other places that we haven't even touched on. An Italian bakery, a handful of co-ops, The Milwaukee Public Market, that will be getting a whole post all to itself, farmer's markets, a fantastic Pick n'Save Metro Market (the BEST run of the mill grocery I have ever seen), as well as several other groceries in other neighborhoods that we haven't even been to visit yet.

This place is a food and wine lovers dream. There is wine in every grocery, and thus far, the selection seems to vary greatly from grocery to grocery. There is good, quality food every where you turn. And the best part really is, it's all so affordable and accessible. The love for food and wine in this city is not pretentious. Good food isn't this new trend here. Good food isn't treated like something that needs its own organizations and meetings. Good food is backed by a family name and pride in the craft of making quality food. Good food is tradition, the way it should be.

Good Grief

Nothing published since August! We've been crazy busy. We're in a new city now, and our foodie fire has been reignited.

Saturday we went to a Sausage Fest (far more enjoyable than it sounds) thrown by a local grocery store, Koppa's Farwell Foods and Fulbeli Deli. Besides having some wicked sausage, they have an Atari station set up in the store complete with tacky vintage furniture and wall paper. To top it off, THEY DELIVER BEER AND WINE!!!!!!!!!!!! (not that we need it, they are about five blocks from our house) Fabulous!

With a million new things to see, sip, taste, and hear you will be hearing more from us, promise.

Herb & Cheese Angel Hair Fritatta

angel hair fritatta

The other day we were craving a lite lunch that would be quick to prepare but also a lunch that was tasty & satisfying. I was struck by the memory of a recipe I read in Pasta Verde by Judith Barrett not too long ago. Carnivores beware this is a vegetarian cookbook & of course a meat free dish.

We have since given up our vegetarian experiment, but we still enjoy having many veggie meals. It is so easy to fall into a veggie-centric eating pattern this time of year, with the local produce being as fresh & delicious as it is. Plus, who really wants to be weighed down with a steak or any heavy meat dish in the middle of the day anyway?

Here is our version of the dish (adapted for two & using what we had on hand).

6 oz. angel hair pasta

salt

2 large eggs

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, chives & parsley

4 oz. shredded fontina cheese

1/4 cup finely minced onion

butter

olive oil

First boil your pasta in salted water until firm al dente. Drain & rinse with cold water. Lightly beat eggs then add cooked pasta, ,herbs & cheese. toss thoroughly. Heat oil & butter in frying pan until bubbling subsides & scoop pasta mixture into the pan & spread in an even layer. Cook for 10-15 minutes until bottom is golden brown & then flip & remove when the other side is done. garnish with shredded parmesan.

We enjoyed this with a nice "farmers market" salad with mesclun, fresh peaches, tomatoes, & balsamic vinegar. As much as hate sauvignon blanc I have to admit this would go excellently with one, particularly a Bordeaux blanc, known for their assertive acidity.

Cupcakes <3

I love surprises & one thing I love more than surprises is a sweet surprise. Last week I came home & found several hand drawn notes leading me through the house to find a plate full of yellow cupcakes with Tia Maria icing with a heart shaped note sticking out of one reading "Sweets for my Sweet", made by my lovely wife. The cupcakes are long gone but not the sweet thought.

Seven Things

Ahhhhh.....Finally some internet access (still not at home though). We are finally settled in the new place but still have lots of work to do, but everything is coming together.

About a month ago the Squirrels tagged us to participate in 'Seven Things About Us' where you are supposed divulge seven random factoids about yourself. Laura has already made her list so here is mine.

1.) I just had a 6 week foray into vegetarianism (well, I ate seafood) & enjoyed it a lot. I don't think I will make it a part of my lifestyle for good but I definitely don't think I will go back to eating meat as much as I did before the experiment.

2.) I used to HATE tomatoes...HATE THEM. Now....I can't get enough. I LOVE THEM. I have been enjoying every ripe 'mater I get my grubby little hands on. I especially like getting the heirloom's from the guys from Mississippi at the Memphis Farmer's Market. I can't explain the sudden change but I am embracing it.

3.) I have had Crohn's Disease for most of my life. What irony for a foodie & wine lover, huh?

4.) I want to quit my job to go back to school to study foreign languages (Spanish & French).

5.) Despite being in the business, I do not own a television.

6.) I started eating jalapeños whole at age 5 & have loved (very)spicy food ever since.

7.) I eloped (sorta...) with Laura to get married in Vegas (sorta...) 3 years ago on the year's Summer Solstice. We got hitched with our families there with us, outside of Las Vegas at the top of Bootleg Canyon, where after a champagne toast, we rode down the canyon on our mountain bikes. Our "reception" was hanging at the pool at the Hard Rock all day afterwards & then dining at Nobu. Best. Day. Ever.

Stay tuned...

We have recently moved & are without internet access, but rest assured we will be connected in no time. We have lots of posts to catch up on, so stay tuned!

-Collin & Laura

Garlic Harvest

We are moving at the end of the month so we have been digging up any & everything to transfer to our new yard. Last weekend I figured I would dig our garlic up & see what it was looking like. I was surprised to how much it had grown. A few stalks were even as tall as Laura. We even had a few monstrous full heads as well as a nice cache of young garlic, all this despite the fact that we had no idea what we were doing.

We got the 'seeds' (I am sure that is not the proper term but I am not sure what the are really called) from Laura's Grandmother's sister about three years ago when we moved into our ,then, new house. She has since passed away, but her garlic still grew.

I love plants like this that have a history & are passed from person to person & generation to generation. While unearthing the garlic I collected the 'seeds' & had enough to give to our friends & neighbors The Squirrel Squad, my Mom in Florida & enough to plant at our new house. I am sure Laura's Great-Aunt would be proud to know her crop of garlic is going to be perpetuating for sometime now & in two states.

If you have never had fresh, young garlic you should hunt some down pronto. I have seen quite a bit at the Memphis Farmers Market. Young garlic has such a different flavor than the dried cloves you get at the super market. It is mild with no bite & full of flavor. It is so mild, you could even eat it raw. Since we have so much we are trying our hand at drying a few heads. We will let you know how they turn out when ready. But until then, if you like garlic (what foodie doesn't?!) you owe it to yourself to get your hands on some fresh young garlic.

What the World Eats

During my morning blog round-up I stumbled across this super interesting photo-essay from Time magazine, on Green L.A. Girl's blog. The subject of the essay is 16 families from around the world, what they eat weekly, and how much is costs them. The photos are from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio (which I now have to get my hands on). The book basically chronicles what the world eats and explores global forces that are affecting diets around the world, or something along those lines. It also gives a detailed breakdown of the food that each family eats so that you don't have to spend all morning scrutinizing the pictures, like I have (Do those Sicilians eat a lot of persimmons, or are those just really persimmon colored tomatoes?) Prepare for a full review once I get my hands on it.

Anyway, I absolutely love pictures, especially pictures that capture culture. Since food, and foodways are fundamental elements of culture, a whole pictorial essay of how people eat is bound to get me a little excited (an inner-anthropological-dork glow if you will.)

So here is the essay.......right here. I am most intrigued by the disparity between the African family living in a refugee camp who spend approximately $1.23 a week on food and the German family that spend over $500 dollars a week on food (mmmmm, beer). And please don't get me started on the lack of vegetables in the U.K. family's and the U.S. family's weekly stash. And Jesus H, some cultures really like their frickin' Coke. And can I just, for a second, point out the STRONG correlation between a higher processed foods and boxed meals content and larger grocery bills (juice and Hamburger Helper ain't cheap, eat your grains). But I digress. Check the essay out. It's interesting, especially if you are like me and thoroughly enjoy grocery day because you get to visually pick apart baskets in the check out line, just to see how other people eat.

New Orleans Wine and Food Experience: The Seminars

We had the fortune of being able to catch the whole five day extravaganza this time around for NOWFE. I was excited because the meant that I would get to go to as many seminars as I could handle. And we did.

In true New Orleans fashion, our first seminar, sparkling rose's started at 9.30 in the morning. And what a lovely way to start off the day. Six different sparkling rose's presented by Ziggy the Wine Gal, some farm fresh Vitner's cheese and rose petal jelly from Sheana Davis at the Epicurean Connection that is to die for. (I've got the recipe somewhere). My favorite was the Taittinger Prestige Cuvee'. I think Collin liked the Moet Chandon Rose' Imperial.

After swooning over the cheese at the Rose' seminar, I had to learn more about the Epicurean Connection so we headed over the the seminar on Sonoma Wines and Food. My favorite cheese lady, Sheana Davis was back with cheese and compotes to match with some killer wines from Sonoma county. I love these seminars because I love to hear the wine makers talk about their wines, and I like hearing people talk about things that they are really passionate about, especially if it is something I enjoy too.

The last seminar we hit up on Friday before the Grand Tasting was the Malbec seminar. Eight different Argentinian malbecs for us to try. I thoroughly enjoyed this seminar. The wine makers brought some fantastic (and pricey) wines to show off. But the reason I love malbec so is that you can buy a 8 dollar bottle and be in wine heaven. Frankly, for the price, I was a little put off by some of the wines showcased.

Saturday we were not so aggressive in our seminar-ing escapades. We attended the rabbit seminar first thing. This was hands down, my favorite seminar. Chef's from local restaurants prepared signature rabbit dishes from their menus and then talked about their favorite ways to prepare rabbit. I don't even remember where the wines came from. If you haven't had the chance to try rabbit, DO IT. It was lovely, white meat that is lower in fat than chicken, turkey, pork and duck. We had it stewed (in a chicken and dumplings type dish that was amazing), rabbit terrine, rabbit salad and gumbo. Tablas Creek wines were poured & the whole line up they brought all complimented the dishes in their own way. Ah, rabbit and wine for breakfast, can't beat it.

The final seminar we attended was the Blind Tasting Tactics seminar. I was crazy about this seminar too. I love tasting wine but don't have the vocabulary to describe what I am tasting. (This is why most of my tasting notes read something along the lines of "tastes like rubber, you know that rubber taste that you get from sucking out of the garden hose, that taste. Kicks you in the back of the throat, it's that big. That is one sassy wine", and on and on). This seminar was helpful because it really helped me identify some of the things I was tasting in a wine and the origin of those tastes (ie. what acidity really is and where the tannins come into play.) There was also useful information about characteristics in wine in regards to the geography of the vineyard. At the end of the seminar, our host tasted a wine blind for us to see if she could use her skill to tell what the wine was, and where it was from. After years of training her palate, she couldn't guess the type of wine or the origin. It made me feel a little better about my rookie wine tasting abilities.

And there you have it. Seminars in a nutshell. There were many more to choose from but we couldn't possibly attended all the seminars and the grand tastings. I think If we go next year, we will try for more seminars and then take it easy during the grand tastings. the seminars are full of fabulous information, great wines (the don't generally show up at the grand tastings, and fantastic people who are really passionate about food and wine.

We are back: Begin New Orleans Wine and Food Expirience Recap

Well, we made it back alive, but barely. Five days of over indulgence of wine and food, in New Orleans of all places, is enough to kill a weaker person. I am not going to go into details right now because I have about one million things to do on my last day of vacation buuuuuttttttttt.......

Wednesday night was a total veg out night, nothing going on with New Orleans Wine and Food Experience known henceforth as NOWFE.

Thursday was the V.I.P. party and the Royale Street Stroll. What fun! The V.I.P. party was held at NOLA. The food was fantastic and they served Cambria wines. Then we headed down to the Royal Street Stroll which was basically a HUGE South Main Trolley Tour type thing. It was awesome. I have never done anything like that before and it was an absolute blast. All of the wineries that were at the Grand Tasting were there, set up in various galleries. Man does New Orleans have some galleries!

Friday we got up at the crack of dawn to hit up the Rose' Champagne seminar at 9.30 am. What a way to start the day. After some time recharging we attended the Sonoma county seminar and the Malbec seminars before hitting up the Grand Tasting that evening. Talk about a long day.

Saturday morning we crawled out of bed to make the Rabbit seminar at 10.30 and then the Blind Tasting Seminar afterwards. After that, it was on to the Grand Tasting, again.

Sunday morning we had the best intentions of making the Bubbles and Brunch (I can't say no to champagne) but after a weekend of wine and food, and some food and wine, and spending the last two days drinking for about eight hours straight, we were dead on our feet. So we hit up the Whole Foods to pick up our take home wine (because you can buy alcohol any time in New Orleans) and we headed home.

I am going to type up more detailed posts about the seminars and Grand Tastings later so stay tuned. And let me just say that if you ever ever have a chance to attend NOWFE, DO IT!!!!!!! It is a absolute blast. The seminars are informative, the wine selections are fantastic, getting to meet the wine makers is awesome, the food is amazing and the city is one of the most entertaining, hospitable places on the planet. We love it and will try to get back every year that we can.

Veggies to Eat Before You Die: Sauteed Zucchini Done Right

Right now I should be packing for theNOWFE this weekend but we had another awesome veggie last night that I had to share before I disappear for a long weekend. We get the great magazine called Cook's Illustrated from Collin's Mom and it rocks. It reminds me a lot of Good Eats on FoodTV. It covers the in's and out's of all things cooking related, its highly informative and most of the pictures are hand drawn, hence the name Cook's Illustrated.

Anyways, every time I read Cook's Illustrated I learn something new. Like why my zucchini turns out to be a soggy flavorless mess when I sauté it. Evidently zucchini is 95% water. On a grill, the water drains off, leaving you with highly condensed zucchini flavor. In a pan the water does not cook off and the zucchini turns into a flavorless soupy mess.

Cook's Illustrated says that this can be avoided, so I had to give it a try.

First thing you have to do is get as much of this water out of the zucchini (already tired of typing that word) as possible. To do this you either need to grate it by hand, or, if your in-laws rule and got you a brand-new bad-ass Cuisinart for your graduation from graduate school, you can use that to grate the zucchini in about 3 seconds. (If the zucchini is large and has large seeds, cut it in half and scrape out the seeds before you grate it.)

Then you take that zucchini, you put it in a colander and you sprinkle salt on it. About 1.5 teaspoons for 10 cups of zucchini. Let it sit about ten minutes and then ring out the zucchini in batches in a kitchen towel. You would not believe the amount of water that comes out of that stuff. Now you are ready for the recipe.

Sautéed Zucchini with Garlic and Lemon

10 cups drained zucchini

couple of garlic cloves minced

olive oil

1.5 teaspoons lemon juice

salt and pepper

1. Toss the zucchini with the garlic and about 2 teaspoons of oil

2. Add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. when it starts to smoke, add the zucchini in a thin layer on the bottom of the pan with tongs. After the bottom layer has browned (about two minutes) stir the zucchini with tongs and allow the new bottom layer to brown (about 2 minutes).

3. Remove from heat and add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.

This zucchini was so flavorful. Still kind of mushy (I didn't use a high enough heat, or have the zucchini spread thin enough I think) but the flavor of the zucchini was rich and the browned bits were caramel-ly. I definitely see what I am supposed to be aiming for and I am definitely going to try it again. I give it three thumbs up. Way up.

Veggies To Eat Before You Die: Boiled Potatoes with Brown Butter

I know I know I know what you are thinking. Boiled potatoes, Must eat? Yes, you must eat these potatoes before you die. We eat potatoes at least three times a week. That being said, every now and then potatoes get boring. Last night we decided to have potatoes, again. I was feeling lazy and didn't want to get in to mashed potatoes, which was ok with Collin because we didn't have everything I needed for the gravy. (Note to self, Please make chicken stock THIS weekend). So we decided on boiled potatoes, again.

Now we have developed a new tradition of hanging out in the kitchen all the time. Most of the time we read cookbooks, because we are food geeks. Collin was going through one last night and mentioned something about using brown butter on veggies instead of plain ole raw butter. This got me excited. I love new twists on old side dishes. And thus a new veggie to eat before you die was born.

You'll need-
As many small waxy white potatoes as you think you can eat. About 1-1.5 inches in diameter.
Water and salt for boiling
Butter

1. Boil the potatoes in liberally salted water until they can easily be pierced with a knife. (I can't for the life of me remember how long that took.)
2. Drain the potatoes and return to pan
3. Add as much butter as you would like to the pan and crank the heat up to about medium high.
4. Stir continuously until butter begins to brown. Coat the potatoes with the butter.
5. Dish the potatoes up, cut them open and drizzle with remaining browned butter.

These potatoes were amazing. The butter was nutty, and almost had a caramel-y quality to it. The waxy potatoes were nice. (I hate that water logged mealy crap that you get when its hard to find those baby potatoes later in the summer.) And this dish was super easy. Nothing to it.

Sandwich Night: Pseudo BLT's

After a trip out east yesterday, we swung by Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana for a late lunch. Thanks a million Squirrel Squad, you make the best suggestions for good eats. Since we polished off a chorizo tortuga and elephant ear tacos around three in the afternoon, we weren't really feeling dinner. But I hate to wake up hungry so as it got later I started jonesin' for a snack. Thus Sandwich Night was born.

We wanted BLT's but we didn't have all the BLT stuff and I just HAVE to spice everything up. Best part, the only dirty dishes were two knives and a cutting board. Sandwich Night, YOU RULE!!!!!!!!

Pseudo-BLT Checklist-

• Bacon
• Arugula (home picked from our backyard plot of greens)
• Tomato
• Avocado
• Caramelized vidalia onions
• Mayo
• Toasted whole wheat bread

As far as direction for assembly are concerned, I'll let you use your imagination.

Weird Things I Eat for Breakfast #1

Rice with scrambled eggs, fish sauce and mango salsa.

We had a delicious pan fried Tilapia dish with some killer mango salsa (because right now, the mangoes at Viet Hoah market RULE!) And we had rice for dinner. And do you know why I love rice for dinner? Because it means leftover rice for breakfast. And I love rice for breakfast.

I took a picture but it was pretty boring so I'll leave it to the imagination. The beauty of "weird things I eat for breakfast" posts is that no recipe is needed. Scramble your eggs, put em on top of the rice, fish sauce to taste (I like the fish sauce made especially for spring rolls, another Viet Hoah gem) and top with the leftover mango salsa that was an afterthought, but really pulls it all together. See, no real recipe needed. Unless you want the recipe for the salsa. FINE!

Mango Salsa
2 mangoes peeled and diced
2 tbsp sweet onion diced finely (Schnucks has vadalias but they are looking kinda rough)
juice of 1-2 limes
cilantro to taste
salt and pepper to taste
(And I think Collin put vinegar in it this time because the limes weren't as acidic as we had hoped.)
Mix it all together and eat it on your eggs.


And just a heads up, I have started running again. The more I run, the weirder my breakfasts get so be prepared.

Carrot Orecchiette

Un-Frickin'-Believable. This is a spin-off of a carrot orzo dish that I found in Bon Appetite. Since Schnucks only sells orzo in those ridiculously priced seven dollar containers (it's pasta for christ's sake) I opted for some orecchiette and tweaked the recipe to fit.

Carrot Orecchiette
6 oz carrots, peeled
2 garlic cloves sliced
2 tbl fresh rosemary chopped
2 tbl butter
1 cup chicken stock (homemade if you've got it, the dish is so much more rich with homemade)
1/4 cup parmesan grated.
10 oz orecchiette pasta
3 tbl green onions chopped

1. Start you water for pasta, salt it pretty generously. Cook pasta according to directions.
2. Chop the carrots up pretty fine, see photos for guidance. ( I used my brand new cuisine art because I love it and it makes everything easier).
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the carrots, garlic and rosemary, sautéing until aromatic. Add the chicken stock. Let this reduce until only about 1/4 cup of the liquid remains.
4.Toss carrot reduction with pasta and stir in cheese. Stir in green onions. Add extra stock if the "sauce" is too thick.

This turned out sooooooo good. It's the best pasta dish that we have tried in a while. Super easy and full of flavor.
We served it with braised bok choy and bacon, and Collin's fabulous Chicken Provençal.

Weird Things I Eat for Breakfast: The Series

One of the highlights of my day is rummaging through the fridge to come up with my "power breakfast". I have not been a fan of conventional breakfasts for quite some time. Honestly, I don't see how anyone survives from breakfast until lunch on a pop tart or a bowl of cereal. So about 4 or 5 years ago I gave up on the bagels and pancakes and waffles and cereal and started making "Power Breakfasts".

My basic rule of thumb is, if you add eggs to it, it is breakfast food. It started off with an obsession with Bob's 8 grain hot cereal . I couldn't just eat it like oatmeal, I needed my protein dammit. So I started mixing in eggs. Then I decided I needed some veggies with it too. (The easiest way to get in all those veggie servings is to start off with two or three in your breakfast). I came up with over 100 ways to eat this cereal in the months that I was addicted, my favorite being sweet and hot curry with peas and onions. Collin said that my B.O. smelled like curry for months.

Then I switched to soup. Soup every day for breakfast. Broth based and always with eggs and tons of veggies. But when it is hot outside, soup for breakfast is no good so I switched into the burrito mode. Nothing is the fridge is safe from one of my breakfast burrito recipes. This morning's installment is an open faced pink eyed pea "burrito" on corn tortillas with fried eggs.

Because we have a surplus of salad greens growing in the back yard, my latest kick has been breakfast salads (no eggs) which I will post a recipe for soon enough.

After 5 years of being intrigued by my odd breakfast choices, Collin thought it would be a good idea to start documenting them, lest these culinary wonders be lost forever. So I guess I will. Although I feel a little self conscious about the whole thing. So far, my strange ways of breaking the fast have been our little secret.

New Orleans Wine & Food Experience

It is that time of year again. Memorial Day Weekend May 23 - 27, 2007

Last May was our first time to attend the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience & we had a blast. We knew we would be back down for the event this year, where 15,000 glasses of wine will be poured from 1,000 different wines from 200 different wine makers. That is a lot of juice......oh, and the food. You can't even mention the NOWFE without salivating. There will be 100 local Crescent City eateries stepping up to show off their best stuff.

The five day event kicks off Wednesday night, May 23rd with the Vintner's Dinner, where chefs from premiere New Orleans' restaurants partner up with featured winmakers & create tasting menus pairing each course to a wine picked by the winery's winemaker.

The festivities continue on Thursday afternoon with a new event to the NOWFE, the The 1st Annual “Vinola”. Muriel’s Jackson Square, will host 30 winemakers pouring their most revered and highly rated wines. This tasting is a rare opportunity for 150 wine enthusiasts to mingle with notable winemakers, while sampling up to 120 elite wines from around the world.

Later on that night the Royal Street Stroll kicks off on Royal Street where you can meander & view rare antiques, fine art, live jazz and historic architecture with outstanding wines being poured in your glass.

Friday & continuing into Saturday are many food & wine seminars that cover topics from Rosé to local Louisiana Gulf caught shrimp to the wines of Sonoma County. Last year we thouroughly enjoyed the duck seminar at Galatoire's.

Friday & Saturday night after getting your fill of food & wine knowledge at the seminars The Grand Tastings kick off with a wide array of wines from around the world & food being offered by the cities best restaurants. It is best to hit these tastings with a plan because there is so much to choose from.

Sunday if you still have room for more food & libations there is the Bubbles & Brunch a traditional New Orleans Champagne brunch featuring Perrier Jouet Champagne.

We will be there blogging from the event & are so excited. If you want to check out our coverage from last year check it out here.

For more info on the NOWFE visit their website at www.nowfe.com.