fancy food show: redux.
(Instead of single malt scotch, single cow cheese?)
It was stinky-with a washed rind. Cheese was dunked in Farmhouse Cider.
That's milk from a single goat, they didn't make too much of it, here taste some.
Frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity-those guys don't get any older. Still tastes the same. delicious!
We don't have any more pork." 'What about that?' (I was pointing to the pile of crispy skin) I've got to have a slice of that skin... Crunchy goodness!
It was a Black Footed Iberico ham that caught my eye... I just had to have a taste sliced thinly, by hand.
Ciao Bella? My palate needed cleansing with the creamy goodness of the malted milk gelato.
Smoked Salmon from Maine with wild blueberries?
Zzzzzz Serendipitea... iced? Hot?
Popcorn with shaved Black Truffles.
Half of all imported foods are either Natural or Organic...says the NASFT
Flavored pastel colored Marshmallows are "all the rage"
Whole Black Truffles are in a basket. May I have one? No?
Korean Sea Salt...hand harvested and air dried for three years.
Mushrooms hand gathered that morning for Sid Wainer & Sons on Cape Cod
Eighty different styles of PANKO? And that was only from Japan!
Micro-greens in all varieties for the home chef or commercial chef.
Egg Creams like dad made out in the garage! Espresso Soda in a bottle!
Blue Footed Chickens on the video monitor-from kill to table in 1 hour.
Jelly Belly in flavors too many to count. Apple and Walnut anyone?
Ice Cream made from soy milk that tastes like carob.
Labeling machines, make your own labels at your restaurant. Become an olive oil superstar.
Frozen Gourmet Desserts from Morocco. Olive oil from Liberia. Olives from all over.
Next aisle, honey from Tasmania, honey from San Diego, honey from Poland, honey from Savannah, honey from New York, honey from a single hive?
Crackers, wheat, oat, groats, walnut, soy, corn, cedar (for cooking, not eating) rice, beans, etc., etc.,
Soups, I was hot just thinking about hot soup in a hot room. But I tried some anyway. Tomato Soup-milk, cream, butter, stock, and tomato.
Two Hens were at the food show- I love their chicken pot pies-they are adapting their business plan to fit a vegetarian/agrarian model and it works-the veggie pot pies have great crusts and are delicious.
Belgian Beers poured by the beer makers. Tripples, Dubbels, and Lagers. Then to Germany where they were pouring shots of peppermint schnapps from a small restaurant in the Bhurgherland... then to Mexico where they were serving little stoneware jugs of single village Mezcal. Then to England for some Ginger Beer...
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Saline
It’s amazing to me how a sip of a wine can vividly recreate a memory of a place.
I was tasting Sauvignon Blancs the other day at the wine shop CoolVines where I work part time. As soon as the crisp, cool, fermented liquid touched my lips, the resin quality and razor sharp acidity reminded me of a trip to Damariscotta, Maine about 23 years before.
We were sitting on the deck at one of the seafood pubs that graced the once-working waterfront. I was a chef at that time, working for Jim Ledue at Alberta’s one of the first gastro-pubs located in Portland, Maine. We changed our menu daily depending on what was fresh from the local farms and piers. He encouraged his cooks and all of his staff to taste food, preferably from near and also from places like Damariscotta, way Down East. We were blessed in Maine to have a wealth of some of the freshest seafood-much of it shipped overnight to Japan for waiting diners.
Jim Ledue had told me about a place up the coast a piece that served Pouilly Fumé -not the maligned “Chablis” in the box that was and still is served with every fish “suppuh” meal up and down the Maine Coast. This special place was known for its wine list, especially the French wines from the Loire Valley that went with a very specific kind of food, Belon Oysters brought over from Brittany in France to be introduced, then grown in vast beds surrounding the Damariscotta River.
In those pristine waters, many types of seafood are found living their lives far from the frantic pace of modernization. The relentless tides which churn and combine brackish mineral-laden river and icy cold ocean salt water only improves the specific terroir of the water-bound place. Tides rise and fall 20 feet or more with a frothing power.
Just north of the town of Damariscotta the products that are raised in tidal inlets produce whelks, lobster, clams, sea urchins, peeky-toe crabmeat and Belons. These were the usual fare at the restaurant we were sitting in. A stainless steel plate of oysters sat in front of me amid a swirl of locally collected and very colorful Dulse Seaweeds. The oysters were set haphazardly over the plate overflowing with roughly cut ice were lemon chunks, a red wine mignonette, and freshly ground horseradish.
I could smell the seaweed, saline-sweet and fresh. It stung my nose the moment we arrived having just been delivered from a local fisherman. An ancient wooden skiff was tied roughly to the deck. Wooden boxes of local seaweeds and urchins were being off-loaded.
I ordered a bottle of a mineral-tinged Sauvignon Blanc. Our feast was to be a few plates (then a few more) of several local varieties of oysters. I raised my tiny seafood fork to my mouth. All at once the taste of cool icy briny salt water rushed into my palate, cleaning it of the wine, immediately followed closely by deeper foam, all framed by a brackish sea-charged, living finish creating a vivant tabla rasa for the next taste. This oyster was deeply creamy with its liquor tasting of freshly raked grey fleur de sel- more liquid saline and life spilling out.
This stirred some of my deepest cravings. There is no wonder to me that crisp, acidic steely Sauvignon Blancs we drank that day were the perfect foil to this primal food. I dipped my oyster into the shallot and cracked pepper-infused mignonette, squeezed fresh lemon over it and chewed - breathing in the tang of the sea, then the softly yielding creaminess of its texture, its very soul so to speak, as this oyster was alive, unable to escape from my tongue and teeth.
I devoured every morsel on my plate and ordered another dozen, then another… Seagulls yelled for handouts. Sipping more of the wine I took in the day around me-a salt infused breeze that blew in as fog off the coast.
Behind the counter at CoolVines, I took another sip of Sauvignon Blanc reluctant to leave the realm of a perfect memory.
I was tasting Sauvignon Blancs the other day at the wine shop CoolVines where I work part time. As soon as the crisp, cool, fermented liquid touched my lips, the resin quality and razor sharp acidity reminded me of a trip to Damariscotta, Maine about 23 years before.
We were sitting on the deck at one of the seafood pubs that graced the once-working waterfront. I was a chef at that time, working for Jim Ledue at Alberta’s one of the first gastro-pubs located in Portland, Maine. We changed our menu daily depending on what was fresh from the local farms and piers. He encouraged his cooks and all of his staff to taste food, preferably from near and also from places like Damariscotta, way Down East. We were blessed in Maine to have a wealth of some of the freshest seafood-much of it shipped overnight to Japan for waiting diners.
Jim Ledue had told me about a place up the coast a piece that served Pouilly Fumé -not the maligned “Chablis” in the box that was and still is served with every fish “suppuh” meal up and down the Maine Coast. This special place was known for its wine list, especially the French wines from the Loire Valley that went with a very specific kind of food, Belon Oysters brought over from Brittany in France to be introduced, then grown in vast beds surrounding the Damariscotta River.
In those pristine waters, many types of seafood are found living their lives far from the frantic pace of modernization. The relentless tides which churn and combine brackish mineral-laden river and icy cold ocean salt water only improves the specific terroir of the water-bound place. Tides rise and fall 20 feet or more with a frothing power.
Just north of the town of Damariscotta the products that are raised in tidal inlets produce whelks, lobster, clams, sea urchins, peeky-toe crabmeat and Belons. These were the usual fare at the restaurant we were sitting in. A stainless steel plate of oysters sat in front of me amid a swirl of locally collected and very colorful Dulse Seaweeds. The oysters were set haphazardly over the plate overflowing with roughly cut ice were lemon chunks, a red wine mignonette, and freshly ground horseradish.
I could smell the seaweed, saline-sweet and fresh. It stung my nose the moment we arrived having just been delivered from a local fisherman. An ancient wooden skiff was tied roughly to the deck. Wooden boxes of local seaweeds and urchins were being off-loaded.
I ordered a bottle of a mineral-tinged Sauvignon Blanc. Our feast was to be a few plates (then a few more) of several local varieties of oysters. I raised my tiny seafood fork to my mouth. All at once the taste of cool icy briny salt water rushed into my palate, cleaning it of the wine, immediately followed closely by deeper foam, all framed by a brackish sea-charged, living finish creating a vivant tabla rasa for the next taste. This oyster was deeply creamy with its liquor tasting of freshly raked grey fleur de sel- more liquid saline and life spilling out.
This stirred some of my deepest cravings. There is no wonder to me that crisp, acidic steely Sauvignon Blancs we drank that day were the perfect foil to this primal food. I dipped my oyster into the shallot and cracked pepper-infused mignonette, squeezed fresh lemon over it and chewed - breathing in the tang of the sea, then the softly yielding creaminess of its texture, its very soul so to speak, as this oyster was alive, unable to escape from my tongue and teeth.
I devoured every morsel on my plate and ordered another dozen, then another… Seagulls yelled for handouts. Sipping more of the wine I took in the day around me-a salt infused breeze that blew in as fog off the coast.
Behind the counter at CoolVines, I took another sip of Sauvignon Blanc reluctant to leave the realm of a perfect memory.
Carmel Haifa
I worked at one time as a cook for a Middle Eastern man in New Hope, Pennsylvania. He did classical French food in his restaurant, not Middle Eastern foods. I've worked in many white table cloth restaurants and a few soul food restaurants, I know a bit about good ingredients, either Middle Eastern in origin or locally gathered, what's fresh, like homemade Harissa sauce made with olive oil, garlic, roasted hot red pepper and lemon juice, plus, rotisserie spun marinated lamb, veal and beef, or chicken or vegetarian kebab, cooked over smoldering hard wood coals. All prepared with love and smiles... That energy alone is what brought me to this several month old restaurant in Morris Plains, New Jersey. I was hungry and wanted to taste the heat that surrounded the place.
Set on an ambiguous street, directly across from the bustling NJ Transit station, this likeable restaurant boasts Middle Eastern comfort food without saying a word. The scent of natural wood charcoal is evident in the un-air-conditioned space of about 150 square feet. The grill is my focus here, although large hunks of lamb and veal turn on spits, giving off little bursts of fat and natural juices, which collects in a pan under the rotating meats. The front window is spotlessly clean and the open kitchen shares in a thorough cleaning when I walked in this afternoon. The owner was carefully cleaning the refrigerator case and each internal section making sure it gleamed. I often stop here because the restaurant is that clean. In the past, I used to drive down to Paterson, NJ for Middle Eastern food and a glance at the Great Falls... but that food, although delicious at the time never sat well with my stomach. This little gem of a restaurant in Morris Plains uses good local fatty lamb for their shish kebab sandwich. It is grilled over natural hardwood coals that I smelled from the street and then more so the moment I entered the restaurant. There is a sign on the menu that reads just that: "we only use real natural charcoal". The scent of lamb fat on hardwood charcoal is familiar to me. Recently I grilled some local baby lamb rubbed with garlic and thyme. The spices were different, but the smell of baby lamb is the same. The owner, like an old friend, greets me warmly although I only recognized the kerchief-veiled woman. She looks up at smiles at me, I smile, her husband who is cleaning by the window smiles too. They all know why I am here. I usually order the meat that is swirling so enticingly in front of me. This rotisserie cooked meat is then stuffed into a pita which, when sliced open is added with lettuce, pickled onions, Harissa paste, tahini sauce and the slices of veal and beef... but today, I want a grilled lamb kebab sandwich. Sizzling hot marinated lamb, cooked over hardwood coals, oily hot pepper paste, tahini, lettuce and chopped pickles.... Yum.
Carmel Haifa 682 Speedwell Avenue Morris Plains, NJ 07950
(862) 242-8918
Set on an ambiguous street, directly across from the bustling NJ Transit station, this likeable restaurant boasts Middle Eastern comfort food without saying a word. The scent of natural wood charcoal is evident in the un-air-conditioned space of about 150 square feet. The grill is my focus here, although large hunks of lamb and veal turn on spits, giving off little bursts of fat and natural juices, which collects in a pan under the rotating meats. The front window is spotlessly clean and the open kitchen shares in a thorough cleaning when I walked in this afternoon. The owner was carefully cleaning the refrigerator case and each internal section making sure it gleamed. I often stop here because the restaurant is that clean. In the past, I used to drive down to Paterson, NJ for Middle Eastern food and a glance at the Great Falls... but that food, although delicious at the time never sat well with my stomach. This little gem of a restaurant in Morris Plains uses good local fatty lamb for their shish kebab sandwich. It is grilled over natural hardwood coals that I smelled from the street and then more so the moment I entered the restaurant. There is a sign on the menu that reads just that: "we only use real natural charcoal". The scent of lamb fat on hardwood charcoal is familiar to me. Recently I grilled some local baby lamb rubbed with garlic and thyme. The spices were different, but the smell of baby lamb is the same. The owner, like an old friend, greets me warmly although I only recognized the kerchief-veiled woman. She looks up at smiles at me, I smile, her husband who is cleaning by the window smiles too. They all know why I am here. I usually order the meat that is swirling so enticingly in front of me. This rotisserie cooked meat is then stuffed into a pita which, when sliced open is added with lettuce, pickled onions, Harissa paste, tahini sauce and the slices of veal and beef... but today, I want a grilled lamb kebab sandwich. Sizzling hot marinated lamb, cooked over hardwood coals, oily hot pepper paste, tahini, lettuce and chopped pickles.... Yum.
Carmel Haifa 682 Speedwell Avenue Morris Plains, NJ 07950
(862) 242-8918
What to drink and with what foods?
A primer on summer grilled foods and the wines that go with them।
It's turning into a lovely summer, albeit a wet one-but I'll take summer any day over winter. Open windows, bed sheets dried on the line outside... I'm getting hungry for barbeque..... Anyone?
Here is a list of some backyard friendly grilled foods and the wines that complement them.
Grilled Vegetables in Phyllo pastry - We all love the crunch of Phyllo Dough hot out of the oven. The creamy texture of grilled vegetables with a layer of melted fresh goat cheese makes for a crunchy sandwich of sorts. I suggest using a dry Vouvray for this dish. Why? The crisp texture and bright acidity of the Vouvray acts as a foil for the smoky flavor of the grilled vegetable and caramelized goat cheese. The Chenin Blanc grape is very forgiving to grilled vegetables.
Hamburgers on the grill- Wait! STOP! Don’t just open a beer to go with your burger. This is just too easy to mess up. Find a wine from Germany. The grape isa a red variety is known as Dornfelder. This stuff rocks. The one I remember is about 15 dollars and is delicious with a hamburger that you should be able to grind yourself, composed of Beef Cheek, Brisket and Short Rib. Or throw some fatback in there for good measure. Even a good ole' American style Chuck Burger would work in a pinch.
Grilled Salmon. It doesn't get any easier than this to open your icebox and take out a tray or two of ice cubes. Add the cubes to a bucket filled 1/3 with water. Take a bottle of Pinot Noir from Oregon. This bottle shouldn't cost more than $ 20 or so. Place the bottle in the bucket of ice and water. Let sit for about 30 minutes while you prepare a grill. Rub a fillet of Salmon well with Kosher Salt, Pepper and fresh Thyme from your garden. If you don't have the Thyme then plant some! It will come back year after year and give your garden the scent of Southern France and the region of Provence. Grill the salmon until just done and set aside to "firm up". Open that bottle and dig in. Serve with Cole Slaw, Potato Salad and a glass of the Pinot.
Fried Chicken... Fried Chicken has a special place in my stomach usually reserved for foods that speak of the Southern United States. Not that fried foods only hale from the South, but I have had the very best Fried Chicken ever at Martha Lou's Kitchen in Charleston, South Carolina. Martha Lou would serve her fried chicken with a cup of sweet tea, but I serve mine with a wine from Australia, a crowd pleaser if you will. To my palate, Aussie Chardonnay vinified in Stainless Steel without any oak is most pleasing to me. This wine is crisp, inviting, easy to drink and very inexpensive, with most types priced less than Twelve dollars.
Watermelon- Wine with watermelon? Why not? I suggest a Vermentino from Corsica in Italy. Grown in volcanic rock outcroppings, this lively and fresh tasting wine is not complicated to drink. Usually these wines are served with seafood, but why should you have them with watermelon? The lively almost melon-like flavors of the wine, coupled with the refreshing quality of the watermelon speaks volumes of what tastes great with many different types of food. Close your eyes and sip. It reminds the drinker of being on an island, tucking into a bowl of watermelon gazpacho on a steamy summer night.
Pork Ribs slow cooked on the grill. I love pork. Although it surprised many people, I was born with a slice of bacon in my hand. Nothing says to me summer more than pork ribs, cut Chinese-Style (across the rib) from Hoeffner's Prime Meats; Butcher Shop in Morristown, New Jersey. Steve and his brother Martin brine their pork in a proprietary 10 % brine solution for a few days until the pork has "given up its secrets" and yielded to a softer tooth. Then grilled in a simple marinate of Ginger, Soy, Garlic, Nam Pla (Vietnamese fish sauce) and a dash of Mirin (Japanese sweetened rice wine vinegar) for a sultry, dark finish. I marinate my ribs in this mixture overnight. The wine should be something inky and rich, such as a CDR (Cotes du Rhone). The element of charred oak barrels coupled with the Mouvedre grape with a dollop of Syrah and a smaller dollop of Cinsault or Grenache make for a perfect grilled food wine. The flavors of dark in color, grade B maple syrup, the terroir of the earth, and dried leaves complement pork to a turn. Expect to pay no more than 10 or 15 dollars for a very delicious and most serviceable bottle.
On the subject of ribs, I have found that beef short ribs, when grilled "low and slow" for about an hour, just off the fire (in this case over hard-wood coals in a 10 year old Weber Barbeque grill) can be every bit as pleasing as short ribs cooked in a braising liquid in the oven for hours. In fact, I prefer the flavor of short ribs on the grill, as they don't dissolve into nothingness after a few hours. Plus, the smell of the char and smoke make for a lovely summer drink of wine. I'm getting thirsty just thinking about this combination. Which wine? Beef commands the use of Malbac from Argentina, or Carmenere from Chile. These almost syrupy wines can be considered better for beef on the grill than the old standby, Cabernet. And.... they cost only about 15 dollars a bottle. Try to find a decent Cabernet at this quality level at this price? Good luck!
Hot Dogs-What goes with hot dogs or even tofu dogs? Let's look at the components of a great hot-dog. First the roll, I prefer a Potato Roll, lightly toasted so the bread remains soft and generous. The roll will soak up any juices that have oozed out of a perfectly cooked snappy hot dog. Grainy German-style mustard? Dijon? Regular yellow mustard? Ketchup? Heinz only of course... This would be excellent resting on a Hoeffner’s' house-made beef, natural casing hot dog. Relish? Of course, made with nuggets of fresh sweet corn. And the wine? I might suggest a full-bodied Soave, made in the old style in lightly aged oak cask. The uncomplicated nature of Soave is a perfect foil to the snap and pop of a freshly grilled hot-dogs. Or Tofu Dogs if you will.
Rib Eye Steak-Say the word "Rib Eye Steak" and imagine charred bone and fat bursting with mineral beefy flavor, sizzling on a smoking hot, well-seasoned grill. Heat doesn't even start to consider the flavor of aged Prime Beef on the grill. Again, seek the consult of an old-style butcher (Like Hoeffner's in Morristown, NJ) who ages their meats for a minimum of 28 days. If your butcher does not age his meats, find another butcher who does. What wine with Rib Eye? Think of charred flavors, sweet and smoky...crunchy almost on the tooth. My favorite wine with grilled Rib Eye is Red California Zinfandel or a Rhone Ranger composed mostly of Mourvedre or Syrah. Red Zinfandel is similar to Primativio from Sicily. The Cali-Centric highbred of Old World and New World wine making techniques is perfect with grilled aged beef. Expect to pay about 15 dollars for a serviceable one. The aged beef will be expensive, but worth it.
White Zinfandel is not really wine, but it is a marketing concept. I suggest passing over that liquid fantasy, but drink in its stead, a fantastic lively Rose from Province.
Grilled Chicken-the sweet tomato tang of barbeque sauce (your choice) is perfect with a Rose from Province in France. Grill the bird as usual over hardwood coals. Serve with sweet corn-fresh snipped steamed green beans and homemade slaw. Expect to pay about 12 dollars or so for a wine that with its scent and racy acidity will create memories all on its own.
Chilean Sea Bass (currently not endangered) is all the rage at the local Whole Foods Market near us. This firm fleshed fish stands up to smoke and fire extremely well, but you may want to cook it in a basket so that it doesn't please the "grill gods" by falling through the grill grates eventually burning your supper. I suggest a firm, acidic-tropical fruit tinged, dry, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. These wines are crisp, refreshing and vinified only in Stainless Steel. These zesty wines carry through the flavors of grilled stone fruits and lip puckering lemon candy.
The same holds true for Red Snapper or 'head on' shrimp on the grill. On the topic of shrimp, never peel the shrimp before they go over the coals, the flavor will be true to the sea if you leave them unpeeled. Split them up the back with a knife (carefully!) to expose the dark vein. Remove it if you can. As a bonus, the color and flavor of the shells once they are grilled brings style to your plate. Once grilled, Shrimp are so easy to peel. If your fishmonger can supply the shrimp with their 'heads on' this added a lovely dimension of flavor almost unknown to the "normal" back-yard grilling palate, I'd love a plate right now of Grilled Shrimp n' Grits. The wine for this little endeavor would clearly speak of Pouilly Fume. The Loire speaks to me of minerals and scallop shells, dusky lime tinged wines with haunting personalities. They cost fewer than Twenty Dollars.
Turkey Burgers. What can be served with Turkey Burgers? Turkey as a rule is usually served with a number of different wines from Pinot to Dry Rieslings and everything in between. Expect to add a light chill to the wines, either red or white. Serve on a freshly toasted roll, lettuce, tomato, red onion, Heinz... you get the picture?
Lobster on the Grill screams for a rich white. A Rhone Ranger (Roussane) from California would be well matched with natural acidity to cut the mineral tang of the sea flesh. Split the lobsters in half, clean and grill with lemon zest, finely chopped shallot, finely chopped garlic, a splash of good Spanish Olive Oil and a splash of the wine you are drinking. Garnish with chopped Italian Parsley. You should not have to spend a bundle to get something delicious. Think 15 dollars (don't pay any more) and that is a bargain compared to what you will pay for the lobsters!
Peaches on the grill with vanilla gelato. It's almost Jersey Peach season! Slice these Stone Fruits in half, sprinkle with sugar and a shake of sea salt. Grill just off the heat in a grilling basket until caramelized and their color takes on a brownish hue signifying juicy and sweet. Scoop some Vanilla Gelato into a dish and spoon the hot grilled fruits and a homemade shortbread cookie over the top. Garnish with fresh spearmint. Serve this with a "dessert in a glass", a Spanish Oloroso sherry. These "forgotten" dessert wines shouldn't cost more than 10 or so dollars for a 1/2 bottle. There is more than enough for dessert, and they are delicious on their own, right out of the fridge.
A primer on summer grilled foods and the wines that go with them।
It's turning into a lovely summer, albeit a wet one-but I'll take summer any day over winter. Open windows, bed sheets dried on the line outside... I'm getting hungry for barbeque..... Anyone?
Here is a list of some backyard friendly grilled foods and the wines that complement them.
Grilled Vegetables in Phyllo pastry - We all love the crunch of Phyllo Dough hot out of the oven. The creamy texture of grilled vegetables with a layer of melted fresh goat cheese makes for a crunchy sandwich of sorts. I suggest using a dry Vouvray for this dish. Why? The crisp texture and bright acidity of the Vouvray acts as a foil for the smoky flavor of the grilled vegetable and caramelized goat cheese. The Chenin Blanc grape is very forgiving to grilled vegetables.
Hamburgers on the grill- Wait! STOP! Don’t just open a beer to go with your burger. This is just too easy to mess up. Find a wine from Germany. The grape isa a red variety is known as Dornfelder. This stuff rocks. The one I remember is about 15 dollars and is delicious with a hamburger that you should be able to grind yourself, composed of Beef Cheek, Brisket and Short Rib. Or throw some fatback in there for good measure. Even a good ole' American style Chuck Burger would work in a pinch.
Grilled Salmon. It doesn't get any easier than this to open your icebox and take out a tray or two of ice cubes. Add the cubes to a bucket filled 1/3 with water. Take a bottle of Pinot Noir from Oregon. This bottle shouldn't cost more than $ 20 or so. Place the bottle in the bucket of ice and water. Let sit for about 30 minutes while you prepare a grill. Rub a fillet of Salmon well with Kosher Salt, Pepper and fresh Thyme from your garden. If you don't have the Thyme then plant some! It will come back year after year and give your garden the scent of Southern France and the region of Provence. Grill the salmon until just done and set aside to "firm up". Open that bottle and dig in. Serve with Cole Slaw, Potato Salad and a glass of the Pinot.
Fried Chicken... Fried Chicken has a special place in my stomach usually reserved for foods that speak of the Southern United States. Not that fried foods only hale from the South, but I have had the very best Fried Chicken ever at Martha Lou's Kitchen in Charleston, South Carolina. Martha Lou would serve her fried chicken with a cup of sweet tea, but I serve mine with a wine from Australia, a crowd pleaser if you will. To my palate, Aussie Chardonnay vinified in Stainless Steel without any oak is most pleasing to me. This wine is crisp, inviting, easy to drink and very inexpensive, with most types priced less than Twelve dollars.
Watermelon- Wine with watermelon? Why not? I suggest a Vermentino from Corsica in Italy. Grown in volcanic rock outcroppings, this lively and fresh tasting wine is not complicated to drink. Usually these wines are served with seafood, but why should you have them with watermelon? The lively almost melon-like flavors of the wine, coupled with the refreshing quality of the watermelon speaks volumes of what tastes great with many different types of food. Close your eyes and sip. It reminds the drinker of being on an island, tucking into a bowl of watermelon gazpacho on a steamy summer night.
Pork Ribs slow cooked on the grill. I love pork. Although it surprised many people, I was born with a slice of bacon in my hand. Nothing says to me summer more than pork ribs, cut Chinese-Style (across the rib) from Hoeffner's Prime Meats; Butcher Shop in Morristown, New Jersey. Steve and his brother Martin brine their pork in a proprietary 10 % brine solution for a few days until the pork has "given up its secrets" and yielded to a softer tooth. Then grilled in a simple marinate of Ginger, Soy, Garlic, Nam Pla (Vietnamese fish sauce) and a dash of Mirin (Japanese sweetened rice wine vinegar) for a sultry, dark finish. I marinate my ribs in this mixture overnight. The wine should be something inky and rich, such as a CDR (Cotes du Rhone). The element of charred oak barrels coupled with the Mouvedre grape with a dollop of Syrah and a smaller dollop of Cinsault or Grenache make for a perfect grilled food wine. The flavors of dark in color, grade B maple syrup, the terroir of the earth, and dried leaves complement pork to a turn. Expect to pay no more than 10 or 15 dollars for a very delicious and most serviceable bottle.
On the subject of ribs, I have found that beef short ribs, when grilled "low and slow" for about an hour, just off the fire (in this case over hard-wood coals in a 10 year old Weber Barbeque grill) can be every bit as pleasing as short ribs cooked in a braising liquid in the oven for hours. In fact, I prefer the flavor of short ribs on the grill, as they don't dissolve into nothingness after a few hours. Plus, the smell of the char and smoke make for a lovely summer drink of wine. I'm getting thirsty just thinking about this combination. Which wine? Beef commands the use of Malbac from Argentina, or Carmenere from Chile. These almost syrupy wines can be considered better for beef on the grill than the old standby, Cabernet. And.... they cost only about 15 dollars a bottle. Try to find a decent Cabernet at this quality level at this price? Good luck!
Hot Dogs-What goes with hot dogs or even tofu dogs? Let's look at the components of a great hot-dog. First the roll, I prefer a Potato Roll, lightly toasted so the bread remains soft and generous. The roll will soak up any juices that have oozed out of a perfectly cooked snappy hot dog. Grainy German-style mustard? Dijon? Regular yellow mustard? Ketchup? Heinz only of course... This would be excellent resting on a Hoeffner’s' house-made beef, natural casing hot dog. Relish? Of course, made with nuggets of fresh sweet corn. And the wine? I might suggest a full-bodied Soave, made in the old style in lightly aged oak cask. The uncomplicated nature of Soave is a perfect foil to the snap and pop of a freshly grilled hot-dogs. Or Tofu Dogs if you will.
Rib Eye Steak-Say the word "Rib Eye Steak" and imagine charred bone and fat bursting with mineral beefy flavor, sizzling on a smoking hot, well-seasoned grill. Heat doesn't even start to consider the flavor of aged Prime Beef on the grill. Again, seek the consult of an old-style butcher (Like Hoeffner's in Morristown, NJ) who ages their meats for a minimum of 28 days. If your butcher does not age his meats, find another butcher who does. What wine with Rib Eye? Think of charred flavors, sweet and smoky...crunchy almost on the tooth. My favorite wine with grilled Rib Eye is Red California Zinfandel or a Rhone Ranger composed mostly of Mourvedre or Syrah. Red Zinfandel is similar to Primativio from Sicily. The Cali-Centric highbred of Old World and New World wine making techniques is perfect with grilled aged beef. Expect to pay about 15 dollars for a serviceable one. The aged beef will be expensive, but worth it.
White Zinfandel is not really wine, but it is a marketing concept. I suggest passing over that liquid fantasy, but drink in its stead, a fantastic lively Rose from Province.
Grilled Chicken-the sweet tomato tang of barbeque sauce (your choice) is perfect with a Rose from Province in France. Grill the bird as usual over hardwood coals. Serve with sweet corn-fresh snipped steamed green beans and homemade slaw. Expect to pay about 12 dollars or so for a wine that with its scent and racy acidity will create memories all on its own.
Chilean Sea Bass (currently not endangered) is all the rage at the local Whole Foods Market near us. This firm fleshed fish stands up to smoke and fire extremely well, but you may want to cook it in a basket so that it doesn't please the "grill gods" by falling through the grill grates eventually burning your supper. I suggest a firm, acidic-tropical fruit tinged, dry, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. These wines are crisp, refreshing and vinified only in Stainless Steel. These zesty wines carry through the flavors of grilled stone fruits and lip puckering lemon candy.
The same holds true for Red Snapper or 'head on' shrimp on the grill. On the topic of shrimp, never peel the shrimp before they go over the coals, the flavor will be true to the sea if you leave them unpeeled. Split them up the back with a knife (carefully!) to expose the dark vein. Remove it if you can. As a bonus, the color and flavor of the shells once they are grilled brings style to your plate. Once grilled, Shrimp are so easy to peel. If your fishmonger can supply the shrimp with their 'heads on' this added a lovely dimension of flavor almost unknown to the "normal" back-yard grilling palate, I'd love a plate right now of Grilled Shrimp n' Grits. The wine for this little endeavor would clearly speak of Pouilly Fume. The Loire speaks to me of minerals and scallop shells, dusky lime tinged wines with haunting personalities. They cost fewer than Twenty Dollars.
Turkey Burgers. What can be served with Turkey Burgers? Turkey as a rule is usually served with a number of different wines from Pinot to Dry Rieslings and everything in between. Expect to add a light chill to the wines, either red or white. Serve on a freshly toasted roll, lettuce, tomato, red onion, Heinz... you get the picture?
Lobster on the Grill screams for a rich white. A Rhone Ranger (Roussane) from California would be well matched with natural acidity to cut the mineral tang of the sea flesh. Split the lobsters in half, clean and grill with lemon zest, finely chopped shallot, finely chopped garlic, a splash of good Spanish Olive Oil and a splash of the wine you are drinking. Garnish with chopped Italian Parsley. You should not have to spend a bundle to get something delicious. Think 15 dollars (don't pay any more) and that is a bargain compared to what you will pay for the lobsters!
Peaches on the grill with vanilla gelato. It's almost Jersey Peach season! Slice these Stone Fruits in half, sprinkle with sugar and a shake of sea salt. Grill just off the heat in a grilling basket until caramelized and their color takes on a brownish hue signifying juicy and sweet. Scoop some Vanilla Gelato into a dish and spoon the hot grilled fruits and a homemade shortbread cookie over the top. Garnish with fresh spearmint. Serve this with a "dessert in a glass", a Spanish Oloroso sherry. These "forgotten" dessert wines shouldn't cost more than 10 or so dollars for a 1/2 bottle. There is more than enough for dessert, and they are delicious on their own, right out of the fridge.
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