To Recipe Test: Popovers (Test #1 = Fail)

photo from Williams-Sonoma//link

I grew up in New England eating popovers or yorkshire pudding on New Year's day alongside a beautifully rare prime rib. My father mastered the whole meal and its a combination of flavors that really brings me home.

Saul abides by the Fannie Farmer popover recipe. I always associated her with New England style cooking, and that seems like a fair assessment, but apparently she was also one of the first to include real measurements in her recipes. And Saul's FF popovers were usually a hit!

To me, a perfect popover is crusty brown and practically air filled on top but any doughy substance that IS present is soft. Then, the bottom is bit denser and eggier, almost like sheets of velvety baked custard. Obviously, you eat it piping hot and obviously, you put several thousand pats of cold butter that mostly melt, but sometimes, you get a bit that has hot dripping butter with a little globule of cold salty butter sandwiched between the custard layers. OGMOGMGGMGMGGGGGGGGGGg.

So, of course, I know that Fannie Farmer works for my father. But, I need to try it for myself. And as I was searching for popover recipes to see how they differed, I noted a HUGE difference.

To Eat Dinner @ Home: Chicken "Marsala" & Arugula Risotto

It snowed for real in DC on Saturday. (Like 5 inches? Which is a lot more than usual this winter.) And since the storm was pretty well advertised (that's what the weather feels like, an inadvertent advertisement for grocery stores--BUY ALL THE FOODZ in case you're snowed in!!!!!!!!!!!!) I thought I could spend a good chunk of the evening cooking. It was nice. I also drank so many glasses of wine, which may have been the reason this dinner turned out so delicious.

To Drink: $5 Wine Vol. 5 Blue Fin California Pinot Noir

no tunas were injured in the making of this wine. i actually don't know that for sure. i'm just guessing.

To me, pinot noir means "just order me" when I get overwhelmed by a wine list at a restaurant. And lots of people are saying to me, "choose a Wilamette Valley pinot noir!" and that's nice of them, but the glasses of that apparently golden nectar costs the same as like 2-3 bottles of this jazz. So, anyway, that can be prohibitive.

Maybe, I thought to myself, I don't even like pinot noir. But I just know its name so I think I like it. 

To Phyllo: Baklava & "Spanakopita" Pie

Have you ever made something and instantly wanted to become the expert maker of it? Like, maybe picturing yourself at a party and all the guests being all: "Whitney brought the spanikopita pie. It's amazing! We always devour the shit out of it." Or, whatever. Well, that happened this weekend TWICE & both times with phyllo dough. Despite its fragility, its flaky, delicate, breakable thin skin, it's super forgiving.

To Cook Together: Hamentine's Day

getting ready for ham.

As of our second Valentine's Day together (2011) we've had a honey baked ham to celebrate. (The first Valentine's Day we had been dating like 2 weeks and I was being a strong woman who didn't need to spend some commercial holiday with her future husband.) Why the ham? Cause, we love TV and Dwight on The Office thought a ham was a perfect Valentine's Day present for Angela. So, that.

While the ham is always the same, the sides are different. This year we had mac & cheese + collards. I was in charge of the mac & cheese. I used a Mark Bittman recipe but I accidentally bought rice based pasta (oops) and somehow despite all the cheese there wasn't a ton of flavor. It wasn't horrible, but I didn't love it. Michael killed it with the collards. I'll let him tell the rest.

To Drink: $5 Wine Vol. 4 Cabernet Sauvignon Comparison Edition

the contenders.

This was a task that was trickier than I originally imagined.

I wanted to try one grape from two different regions, each at the $5 price point. I thought Syrah from somewhere and shiraz from Australia would be fun since I've not done any Aussie wines and I love that the grape is the same but spelled differently. Didn't work out.

After frantically going from one section to the other (TJs is set up with a mix of some grape varietal sections and regional sections, making this all the more confusing) I finally found Cabernet Sauvignon from California and Argentina. I was a little bit sad because the $5 Argentine Cab Sauv (as we insiders say) was the same vineyard as the malbec we tried, but maybe that's not so bad in hindsight.

this is a very official tasting. and thank goodness one of the wines had a color in its name. made it much easier on my pea-sized brain. m for michael & w for whitney. those are our names!

ANYWAY. I bought two bottles since it was both Valentine's Day & a long weekend, so I knew we'd be game to celebrate. Also, it was our traditional Hamentine's Day (more on that later). And wine + ham = romance, duh.

To begin, cabernet sauvignon is the baby grape birthed from cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc. I didn't know that! But, it sure does make sense. It is also very popular throughout the world with many different characteristics depending where it was born. Jancis is telling me that the grape is better when its matured and can stay tasty for many years. We've got 2013 vintages on our hands, so let's just keep that in mind.

CabSauv and California, apparently, make for a dynamic duo. The grapes are often ripened quite a lot before being pressed into the juice. The super-ripe quality of the California CabSauv will likely be prolific for a long time. (Virginia is also a decent breeding ground for CabSauv-- I like going to VA vineyards, I'll report back!) For my own knowledge, CS (I'm getting lazier by the second) grown in the bourdeaux style in California are called Meritage. Let's see if we can remember that.

South American CS can be enjoyed when they are younger, Jancis was talking about the Chilean wines, but maybe that can be applied to Argentina. She says Chilean CS can even be like chocolate milk. She says Argentine CS can be velvety and explosive. An explosion of velvet reminds me of crushed velvet. 

Jancis goes on about the grape with words like this: powerful, blackcurrants, cedar, cigar boxes, deep purple.

Now, one thing that might have been interesting had my options been greater would be to do an old world versus new world comparison. Basically, the new world are copy cats of the old world who maybe have taken more risks or used technology in different ways (this is based on a little bit of reading, I assess this with medium confidence). That will be a different comparison for a different day, for now we are comparing New World CS.

The Wine Folly is telling me to expect new world CS to be black cherry, licorice, black pepper with an overall vanilla quality.

Also, China has started growing CS in the Gobi Desert! That's weird! And unexpected.

i used glass safe markers to label everything. this would be a great party technique. reusable, personalized glasses so you don't get mouth diseases from your palz! also, buy that candle. it's amazing.

So, how was the wine?

First, we tried the 2013 Green Fin Organic CS from California. The label told us it would have a red hue with black cherry and plum flavors. You guys! It's definitely red. At first, he smelled meaty beef smells, which I didn't experience. I was getting more of a raspberry scent. We determined it was a soft flavor and initially really liked it. But it didn't have that BIG juicy flavor we would want to have, probably.

Then, we stuck our noses in the 2013 La Finca CS from Mendoza and were like "WHOA! This smells SO different!" It was smoother and nicer. It was not as alcoholy. The label told us red berry, slightly oaky, with sweet pepper. He got a cherry flavor and all I could taste was chocolate.

oskar = wino.

As we switched back and forth and as time went on, it was more and more clear that the Green Fin was too sweet. It had an almost saccharine vanilla fake cookie flavor to it. While La Finca just got better and better! It, like, had a lot of nice & different & complex flavors. I really liked it! Like, I liked it like I've liked real (good, non-$5) wine.

Final thoughts, Green Fin:

Was it true to its grape? I mean, they said vanilla. So, there's that.
Would I drink it again? Nope.
Would I bring it to a party? If I thought the hosts were idiots who like sweet, stupid wine. Big dumb idiot wine drinkers.
Anything to remember? Don't buy that one!

Whitney's Wine Score (1-42): 10

choco covered strawberries to go with the winning chocolately finca CS.

Final thoughts, La Finca:

Was it true to its grape? Chilean CS is reminiscent of chocolate milk, and this had a deep chocolate flavor to it. And I could get behind a crushed velvet sort of texture.
Would I drink it again? Hellzya.
Would I bring it to a party? Sure thing. I might even bring it to one this weekend.
Anything to remember? La Finca is better at CS than Malbec.

Whitney's Wine Score (1-42): 36
The Meaning of the Points:
1-10: Hellllllllllllllll no.
11-19: I mean, no thank you. But. Eh.
20-27: Fine. That was fine. Fair enough.
28-34: Sure. Ya. I can drink that again. Soonish, even.
35-40: Oh! How delightful. Yes, please, again!
40-42: Amazeballs. Completely lovely. Excellent. Can I have another bottle, now?

To be a Cliche: A Bowl of Stuff for Dinner

It's been a while, but when I told my husband I'd be making a "bowl of stuff" for dinner I knew I'd be chastised. It's sort of my go to dinner. I love the freedom of it. It's just so much stuff! In a bowl! It's all together and magically, it always tastes good.

To Eat while Traveling: New Orleans Golden Birthday, Part 3

Saturday! Our final day. On that day, all moments were leading up to creux de vieux (a politically charge and satirical parade that many people claim is their favorite night of mardi gras--lucky us!). We started with a hearty breakfast at Elizabeth's. I had poached eggs on artichoke hearts with grits. And, I ordered a side of praline bacon. OMGOMOGMOG. It was sweet and salty and the best.

To Review: Menu as of February 6th

I'm a little late on this! But, we had some really good food last week that I'll want to remember.

To Recycle Foods: Roast a Chicken; Use the Bones & Leftover Meat

see? those tips are a little burnt. woops.

I get great pleasure from not wasting any of the food. When we have leftovers that aren't somehow used (ie: eaten or re-purposed) my heart sinks. Sometimes, I yell at Michael WE HAVE TO EAT ALL THE FOOD WE CANNOT KEEP WASTING FOOD. It feels slightly better. It's just that there were a lot of stories last year (that I was paying attention to) saying horrible things about how much food is wasted in America: food farmers grow that isn't used, food we make then throw out, good but past date food thrown away from grocery shelves. ANYWAY, it's sad. Cause some people don't have ENOUGH food. Supply/demand/inequality/etc.

So, when I get the opportunity to make the most of my purchasing power by making something that can be used from skin to bones and continue to nourish us through the week-- I get SUPER excited.

To Eat while Traveling: New Orleans Golden Birthday Edition, Part 2

We awoke the following day to celebrate my golden birthday. #golden30. I took the opportunity to wear all the patterns I owned in my suitcase because, if I were not confined by society's expectations (or the desire to be respected by colleagues), I would probably wear all the patterns all the time. Perhaps, even every garment polka dotted.  

i love this coat. and so many different types of people compliment me on it. i like that about it, too.

To Eat while Traveling: New Orleans Golden Birthday Edition, Part 1

the grounds of the NOMA.

During the last week of January we headed down to New Orleans to celebrate my birthday, the golden one! (I turned the same age as the date, specifically, 30 on the 30th.)

This is the first installment of 3. We were there for 3 full days. So, like, a post for each day.

To Drink: $5 Wine, Vol. 3, La Mano Spanish Mencia Roble Edition

I love putting wine in different bottles. This makes me feel very bistro-chic.

All the time this wine research is making me feel better about myself, which was certainly an unintended consequence when I set out to become a $5 wine sommelier (a word I must look up every time I type it). 

To Reciprocate Generosity: Make Treats to Say THX!

Sometimes, I like to be like, gracious and stuff. I like to say THANK YOU for bein' a friend. Travel down the road and back again. Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidante... Shit, sorry. I often break into the Golden Girls theme song. 

But, so. To me, the best way to say thank you (for any number of things! Here are some examples: "Thank you for hosting me at your party!" or "Thank you for being nice front office staff in my apartment." or "Thank you for taking me out to a birthday dinner." or "Thank you for coming to my party." or "Thank you and here's something I made to show off how adorable I am." The last one is a bit spiteful, but let's be honest, we've all been there. Not you? Liar.) is by giving people some foods that have been wrapped up real nice. 

To Re-purpose: A Plant in a Jar

Jars are still cool, right? Don't answer that. Unless your answer is yes. But, also, I don't care, because look how cute it is! Ivy in a jar. With some rocks on the bottom for drainage. That is a gross word. But, it's important for plants because then their roots don't drown, or something like that.

As you can surmise based on the backdrop, I'm a fan of plants. I kill a fair number of the ones I buy, but not because I don't love them. Sometimes, I wonder if we love them too much. Like, we assume the MORE water, the better. BUT! The number one cause of plant death is from over watering, did you know? That is likely hyperbolic, but not wholly untrue. That's why! This time, I added rocks at the bottom.

We also struggle from not getting enough sunlight. But, mostly, while they're still alive, they bring me immense pleasure. Isn't the sunlight through the leaves some bit of magic? Put a plant in a jar! Or, in a tea cup! I did that once, also. No stones, though and it died : ( Or, in a mug! Just, I love the idea of putting plants in things that aren't mandated plant holders.

This last photo has nothing to do with jars or food, in fact it falls under the category of "mandated plant holder". But, whatever! I'm just going to show off a little bit. The combo of that planter from Anthropologie + that Angel Tears plant is pretty perfect. It's like a fancy chia pet; something I now know I was missing from my life.