Friday, November 21, 2008

Cold Weather, Cozy Food

I’ve been lucky enough the past two weeks to get weeknight dinner invitations from friends who love to cook, and I’m still craving the food we had last night.

This friend - call her the mysterious Madame M. - knows that mussels are a great way to feed a group of friends. If mussels are exotic to you, you’re in for a treat - they’re a great dinner party choice because they’re inexpensive for shellfish, and, served with salad and lots of baguette for soaking up sauce, they’re a simple and delicious meal that doesn’t require a lot of prep or cooking time.

Madame M. made her mussels with an unusual creamy saffron, fennel and spinach sauce. After waking up this morning with a hankering of more mussels for breakfast (one I didn’t indulge in), I e-mailed her to ask for the recipe. She got the recipe from a British cookbook, A Year in My Kitchen by Skye Gingell, the chef of a cafe at Petersham Nurseries in Surrey. Sorry I didn’t take any photos last night. I didn’t have my camera. I was also too busy slurping up mussels and chasing every drop of sauce around my bowl with bread to care.

Gingell’s recipe is geared toward metric system users, e.g. in grams and the like, so after a bit of Internet tinkering and conversion, this is what I’ve come up. If you like mussels, make this recipe this weekend - it’s a warming antidote to the chilly weather. Madame M. wrote that she wants to eat them again tonight. Me, too.

Mussels with Fennel, Saffron and Spinach

Serves 4

About 2 pounds live mussels (half a pound per person)
1 glass of dry white wine
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
4 bay leaves
a few thyme sprigs
10 black peppercorns
1 medium fennel bulb
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp saffron threads
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup water
1 cup creme fraiche
1/3 pound baby spinach, well washed (a few handfuls, basically)

First clean the mussels thoroughly.  Remove the tenacious beards, then pull away any seaweed attached to the shell and wash the shells well under cold running water.

Pour the wine into a large heavy-based saucepan, add the shallots, bay leaves, thyme and peppercorns and bring to a summer.  Tip the mussels into the pan, increase the heat slightly and cover with a tight-fitting lid.  Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, shaking the pan now and then to give the mussels room to open.

Meanwhile, prepare the fennel.  Trim off the base and discard the fibrous outer layer, then slice finely.

Remove the lid from the pan and tip the mussels into a colander set over a bowl to catch the liquid.  Wipe out the saucepan and return to a low heat.  Add the butter and once it has melted, put in the fennel slices, saffron and a little salt and pepper (remembering that the mussels may be quite salty.)  Sweat gently for about 10 minutes until the fennel is soft.

Meanwhile, discard any unopened mussels.  Strain the mussel cooking liquor and add it to the fennel with the water and crème fraîche.  Stir well and bring to the boil.  Simmer for 1-2 minutes, then add the spinach and mussels. Cook for a further minute to wilt the spinach and warm the mussels through.

Ladle into warm bowls and serve with crusty white bread and unsalted butter.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Pinto Beans, Virginia Style

Patrick Manner, the owner of Mozelle’s, a new restaurant in the West End, called me this morning. He had been simmering a big old country ham bone as well as a pot of pinto beans all morning and was serving up pintos with a side of corn muffins for a lunch special.

He went on excitedly for 2 minutes about how he and his staff had saved the bone from a whole country ham that he had been serving in his shrimp and grits and other dishes, slowly simmered the pintos, and baked the corn muffins from scratch.

His offer to come down and try some was hard to refuse.

Mozelle’s was doing pretty good business when I went down there a little after 12:30. I promptly ordered the daily special and sat down at the bar.
For openers, I had a choice of a Caesar or house salad. I got the Caesar, and it was a good one.

Mozelle’s makes its own croutons and generously sprinkles its salad with good-quality Parmesan cheese. The homemade dressing was mighty tasty, and nice and creamy the way it’s supposed to be.

My only complaint about the salad would be that it was too much—just a teaspoon less of cheese and dressing would have lightened the effect, and the saltiness, and made the salad just about perfect.

But on to the main event. These were some good pintos.

I immediately noticed two things decidedly different about them, compared to the typical pintos served in our area. First, there was lots of meat among the beans—thin strands of tender, long-cooked country ham. Second, next to the chopped onions and Texas Pete served alongside the beans were a few chopped green bell peppers.

It turns out that the meat and the side of green peppers harken to the Southern Virginia roots of both Manner and John Phipps, one of his sous-chefs. (Mozelle’s has three sous-chefs!)

The corn muffins were interesting, too. They had a nice, sturdy crust and flattish dome across the top. They have a touch of sugar, but aren’t overly sweet. More important is their dense texture. That texture and crust come in part from the high proportion of cornmeal to flour.
Manner pointed out that these are dense because his family would always crumble them into the bowl of beans, instead of eating them separately.

I didn’t learn about how to eat the muffins until I was almost finished the pintos. I did try the green peppers with the beans, and the moist, crunchy raw vegetable made a nice contrast to the soft, hot beans—more of a contrast than I get from chopped raw onions.

So that was my lunch today, and I have to say it was a darned satisfying one. Filling, too.

Thanks for calling, Patrick.

Monday, November 17, 2008

More Alcohol, Please

Continuing, the boozy theme, as Esbee commented, I thought I’d add a few comments to Laura’s post about Thanksgiving wine.

I absolutely agree that beaujolais is a good choice with a traditional turkey menu. And, champagne does the trick, too.

The cru beaujolais come from 10 different villages, and offer some great values, almost always under $20 a bottle. Those villages inlude Morgon, Fleurie, Julienas and Moulin-a-Vent.
The Georges Duboeuf brand is by far the easiest to find. Among the cru Deboeuf beaujolais, I like the Morgon Prestige, $18 at Total Wine.

I also think a Barbera d’Alba from Italy can be a nice choice: medium-bodied with plenty of acidity to work with sweet and tart flavors.

Pinot noir can go well with Thanksgiving, too, though not all kinds. I’ve had the best luck with the fresh but restrained—sort of quasi-French - pinots from Oregon.  Argyle and Elk Cove are good producers.

Though from California, not Oregon, I’ve always liked Acacia pinot, about $22.

Some Cabernet Francs can work at Thanksgiving, too.

A good rule of thumb for choosing a red is to find one that has good acidity and low tannin. Think refreshing and light- to medium-bodied.

My favorite white for Thanksgiving is most definitely riesling. Both the German off-dry styles or the Alsatian or Australian dry styles work well with the all the meat/veg, savory/tart/sweet flavors being passed around the Thanksgiving table.
Rieslings have another plus: Many are low in alcohol, a good thing if you have a long and drawn out day of feasting.
A great German bargain is the Loosen Bros. Dr. L Riesling, about $12 at Whole Foods or Total Wine.
City Beverage was selling a decent Alsatian riesling in the front of its store recently for about $14—sorry, the name escapes me.
West Cape Howe dry riesling from Australia at WIne Merchants is also nice. Think it goes for about $15.
Or you could even dry the party-favorite easy-drinking from Shelton Vineyards, about $12.

Have you had enough to drink yet?

Friday, November 14, 2008

If Life Gives You Apples ...

If Life Gives You Apples ...

I’ve been stocking up on apples each week at the farmers market. Every fall, I learn to love the crunch and flavor of freshly picked local apples all over again.

This fall, I’m enjoying Staymans, Jonagolds and Arkansas Blacks. I’m also putting some of the latter away for December, at which point they will have mellowed and actually improved.

Though I mostly eat apples as afternoon snacks, I’ve been thinking of making homemade applesauce again.

Basic applesauce contains just apples, sugar and water. A pinch of salt helps enhance the apple flavor, but it’s optional, as are such accent flavors as cinnamon, lemon juice or zest, ginger and cloves.

I like such medium-sweet varieties as McIntosh, Jonagold, and Rome for applesauce. Sweet Golden or Red Delicious apples will make a respectable applesauce, too.  I avoid tart “cooking” apples.

You can peel the apples or not. I like to leave them unpeeled, as the peels add a depth of flavor. Then I strain out the peels after I cook the sauce. A sieve will work for this, but a food mill gives a much better texture.
A good rule of thumb is to use very little water, about 1/2 cup, for every six apples (2 to 2 1/2 pounds), plus 2 tablespoons sugar and a small pinch of salt. If desired, add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or ground cloves or a teaspoon of lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon of lemon zest. Make sure you wash and core the apples first.

Simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Mash the apples and strain the sauce if the peels are in it, then you’re done.

Fresh applesauce will keep about a week in the fridge.

Apples also are great diced and sauteeed with butter and cinnamon or raw in pancake batter.

Anyone have any other good ideas for apples?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Wine and the Bird

So Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and we’re spending the day on my aunt’s farm, north of Durham. There will be goats and draft horses, and since we’re a family can’t decide on anything, probably ham in addition to turkey. I’m planning on bringing some kind of side, my favorite boozy cranberry relish laced with Cointreau, and some bottles of wine.

Thanksgiving is sort of an intimidating meal. There’s a lot of things going on - cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, the big bird - and then there’s the pressure of choosing something festive on top of it all. I used to advocate for American-only wines, too, in sort of a patriotic fit, but I’ve dropped that rule in recent years.

One reason? Beaujolais is one of the most turkey-friendly wines you’ll find. It’s also from France. I’m not talking lightweight beaujolois nouveau, here, by the way.

A lot of beaujolais from large winemakers (Georges Duboeuf, among them) has this distinctive fruity-banana flavor - it makes beaujolais “drinkable,” but if you’re looking for something more interesting in your glass, it’s worth seeking out some of the smaller producers at your local wine shop (look at the importers, too, usually on the back label: I like Louis Dressner) “Cru beaujolais” is from wine from the highest catagory of beaujolais classification and is much more age-worthy. The wine is darker and more substantial, too, but you’ll pay more.

Another choice to consider: rose (dry, not sweet white Zinfandel) is not normally a popular choice when the weather gets cold but it also goes well with turkey. It’s not too heavy, and perhaps a good compromise and something new to try for someone who prefers white wine. You may also be able to get a good deal on rose this time of year because they’re typically drunk young and wine importers get antsy with a bunch of rose in their warehouses once it gets chilly, so see if any wine shops are passing cheaper prices on to you.

And then there’s Champagne. My family likes to a glass before the meal, and if yours does, too, you might look for some more affordable and fun choices from Spain (cava) and Italy (prosecco). I’ve even had sparkling red, a shiraz, from Australia.

Of course, not everyone even eats turkey on Thanksgiving. I know of one family that makes a special meal revolving around a country each year - this year they’re making cassoulet, the hearty, rib-sticking dish of beans and duck confit southern France. Can I come?

In any case, choosing wine for a fun family meal is not really a bad problem to have…it’s just one I like to obsess about, being geeky that way.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Quality at the Right Price

The other day I tasted a bottle of the newly released 2006 Robert Mondavi 2006 Napa Valley Chardonnay.

It’s a good wine. It has luscious tropical aromas, with some peach in there, too. In the mouth, the rich fruit is well-integrated with moderate oak, and the fruit and oak mingle all through the finish.

It’s a little lush, but a nice bottle. Maybe not 90 points on a 100-point scale but close. Say 88.

Still, I couldn’t help thinking that I wish it costs less. The suggested retail is 20 bucks. Not outrageous, and I’ve had worse wines that cost more. Still, it’s not a price I shell out for easily. Not at my salary.

The week before, I tasted a much cheaper grocery-store wine, the 2007 Blackstone Monterey County Chardonnay, which sells for $12.

This one has a toasty aroma with hints of apple. In contrast to the Mondavi, it’s much less fruity, but does have some slightly tart apple flavor, and a decent balance. It’s not nearly as distinctive as the Mondavi. In fact, it isn’t complex at all, but it is well-made. It’s also a bit more food-friendly than the rich Mondavi chard.

The Blackstone would make a good party wine — versatile, inexpensive, easy to drink. It’s not a 90-point wine, either. It’s not even an 88. I’d say it’s maybe an 85.

I hadn’t given the Blackstone much more thought until I tasted the Mondavi. Comparing the prices, the Blackstone started to seem more attractive.

Here’s a rundown of how I typically look at price and quality in wines.

$12 and under: A 90-pointer would be a rare steal. An 82 to 85 is satisfactory: decently made, uncomplicated, easy to drink.

$12 to $15: A 90-pointer is a darn fine deal, case-worthy. Look for 86 to 89 scores as well worth the money: well-made, nicely balanced, with good character.

$16 to $20: A 90-point wine should be expected (though it too often is not the case): Well-made, well-balanced with complex character.
$20 and up: Don’t bother unless it’s a 90-plus wine: Well-made, perfectly balanced with so much character that practically every sip brings a new appreciation.

Tasted any good values lately? Please share!

Friday, November 07, 2008

Presidential Vino

Life is good for the president-elect. I just got a press release from Kendall-Jackson Winery saying they are sending Barack Obama two cases of Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay.
OK, maybe you don’t think Kendall-Jackson is the hottest winery out there. But their reserves can be good. And even if they weren’t, when is the last time any winery sent you a couple of free cases?

Kendall-Jackson got the idea after a media story reported that Obama had a bottle of Kendall-Jackson sitting on the kitchen counter. So it’s pretty certain Obama will like the gift.

It got me thinking. If I were president and privy to all kinds of free wines, who would I want to send me some cases? Or if I didn’t get any freebies, what wines would I serve in the White House?

I’m still working on that list. When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, I’m wondering if Obama will return the gift.

Food For Fines

Forsyth County Library has figured out a rather clever way to get people to pay back their DVD and CD fines and collect food for a good cause - throughout the month of November, bring in cans or other non-perishable foodstuffs, and get $1 taken off your bill for each item. All food will be donated to Second Harvest Food Bank.

Beans for Beethoven, anyone?

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Bread Therapy

I had a great therapy session last weekend. And it didn’t cost me $150 an hour.

In fact, I figure it cost me less than $2.

Once upon a time, I made bread about every other week. I fell out of the habit a while ago, though.

But I’ve been thinking for months that I wanted to make bread again, at least once if not on a regular basis.

I finally got my chance last weekend on a day when I was hanging around the house without a long list of chores.

It was nice to drop right back into the rhythm of kneading after so much time: push, fold, turn, push, fold, turn.

Working yeast dough just feels so good in your hands. It’s not a bad workout for shoulder and arm muscles, either.

I just made a simple whole-wheat bread. My kids were not terribly impressed because it wasn’t sweet bread. And here I thought they’d be all over bread-making!

That’s OK, though. I actually would have been bummed if they had wanted to do all the kneading themselves.

Now I’m thinking about what to make the next time I need a little bread therapy.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Election Day Eats

Even while I was waiting to vote this morning, I was thinking about food.

That’s because in honor of Election Day, Krispy Kreme and Starbucks* are giving away (not together, but in their individual stores) donuts (star-shaped) and coffee to anyone who comes in and asks for it today. If we had Ben and Jerrry’s in Winston-Salem, we could free scoops of ice cream, too.

I don’t buy a cup of coffee every day, and when I do, I think Krankies is the best in Winston-Salem. I’ll especially go out of my way to get an iced coffee there in the summer. But free OK coffee is free OK coffee. Also, beyond the allure of free stuff, there’s something festive about Election Day and this one especially. Maybe it’s because so many people are participating. At my polling station this morning, I saw college students, neighbors, parents with their kids, a woman who had roused her brother out of bed, a cross section of races, ages and classes. I waited in line about 45 minutes, and I after I voted, I felt absurdly silly with pride as one of the precinct workers slapped an “I Voted” sticker on my coat. Now, I wonder how many of those people I’ll see at Starbucks.

*except the downtown Starbucks, the one located closest to the Journal’s newsroom. Apparently that one is owned by the Marriott and they’re not participating in the patriotic giveaway. So I bought my coffee - elsewhere.