It was nice today... I made some good Mai Tais.
Had seconds.
My wife made a delicious pork in green chile, from scratch.
I was sooo buzzed. ;-)
I got a $100 gift card to our local High End meat shop...
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-butchery-quality-meats-costa-mesa-2
I think I'll go get a nice cut of meat for the weekend. Two hours in the sous vide, finished on the grill with a good bottle of Santa Ynez Valley Malbec...
No, not marbled like Wagyu.. IMHO, that kind of beef must be sliced thin and cooked over a table top grill... otherwise it's actually too fatty and turns out as if it has been deep fried.. not good.
Mostly a good Prime cut, two pounds, rib eye with good marbling. No need for aging when cooking it in the sous vide. Sliced on the bias, perfect for three people. Nice simple tomato and cucumber salad, sparkling mineral water..... YUM YUM YUM...
You know, I got a lot of really good wines from the Santa Ynez Valley that go perfect with beef... Central California is actually Ranch Country.
...
Dang it, those were awesome Mai Tais.
Had seconds.
My wife made a delicious pork in green chile, from scratch.
I was sooo buzzed. ;-)
I got a $100 gift card to our local High End meat shop...
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-butchery-quality-meats-costa-mesa-2
I think I'll go get a nice cut of meat for the weekend. Two hours in the sous vide, finished on the grill with a good bottle of Santa Ynez Valley Malbec...
No, not marbled like Wagyu.. IMHO, that kind of beef must be sliced thin and cooked over a table top grill... otherwise it's actually too fatty and turns out as if it has been deep fried.. not good.
Mostly a good Prime cut, two pounds, rib eye with good marbling. No need for aging when cooking it in the sous vide. Sliced on the bias, perfect for three people. Nice simple tomato and cucumber salad, sparkling mineral water..... YUM YUM YUM...
You know, I got a lot of really good wines from the Santa Ynez Valley that go perfect with beef... Central California is actually Ranch Country.
...
Dang it, those were awesome Mai Tais.
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Santa Ynez and the central valley is great for Spanish style wines. I'm 10 minutes from Lodi and a lot of great Zin and Tempernillo styles, Tokay grapes are abundant up here. The Alexander Valley area is putting out some great stuff, too.
But, the whiskey! Oh man. Sabbatical actually studied which corn varieties give the flavors they want, grow their own corn, barley and rye, distill on site and produce some fantastic product! I found them about 4 years ago when they first hit the local market. Been a fan ever since!
But, the whiskey! Oh man. Sabbatical actually studied which corn varieties give the flavors they want, grow their own corn, barley and rye, distill on site and produce some fantastic product! I found them about 4 years ago when they first hit the local market. Been a fan ever since!
Hmmm... I'm honestly not much into whiskey anymore... I do enjoy a bit of bourbon though. But I'm not a connoiseur, mostly Bulleit from Costco.
Not much Zin anymore... it used to be one of the big grapes in the late 70s and early 80s... Yes, Alexander Valley is very good.
Heck, have you gone on the Salinas Valley along the 101... I swear half the place is wine grapes.
I've seen Garnacha in Santa Ynez, but not much Tempranillo - both are actually pretty old grapes grown in Iberia by my Roman/Iberian forebears!
Yep..."What have the Romans done for us?"... well, besides peace, roads, medicine, running water, literature, toilets, architecture... they gave us reasonably good wines!". Have you noticed how much effort the Franciscan Missions made for their wine making? Yep, my man, Junipero Serra! Yo, My Man!!!
In Spain they have a saying: "Con Pan y Vino Se Anda El Camino"... those monks had to walk a lot.
Not much Zin anymore... it used to be one of the big grapes in the late 70s and early 80s... Yes, Alexander Valley is very good.
Heck, have you gone on the Salinas Valley along the 101... I swear half the place is wine grapes.
I've seen Garnacha in Santa Ynez, but not much Tempranillo - both are actually pretty old grapes grown in Iberia by my Roman/Iberian forebears!
Yep..."What have the Romans done for us?"... well, besides peace, roads, medicine, running water, literature, toilets, architecture... they gave us reasonably good wines!". Have you noticed how much effort the Franciscan Missions made for their wine making? Yep, my man, Junipero Serra! Yo, My Man!!!
In Spain they have a saying: "Con Pan y Vino Se Anda El Camino"... those monks had to walk a lot.
It's "Spargel Fest", spargelzeit in Germany. They use a vegetable peeler to remove the woody lower part of the white asparagus. Serve with hollandaise or butter.1st crop today from the front garden
Ginger and green onion (four stalks onion to four good sized chunks of ginger) is minced in the food processor.
Add 3 tbsp. coarse salt and stir well.
Stir every 30 minutes for about 4 hours.
Add 2 cups of water, stir well and drain through a flour sifter. You can keep the salty ginger water for other things.
Leave in the sifter for 12 hours to continue to drying, stirring occasionally
Put it in a jar and cover with oil. I use canola with a hint of sesame.
Let stand for 24 hours. Stir each time before use.
Add 3 tbsp. coarse salt and stir well.
Stir every 30 minutes for about 4 hours.
Add 2 cups of water, stir well and drain through a flour sifter. You can keep the salty ginger water for other things.
Leave in the sifter for 12 hours to continue to drying, stirring occasionally
Put it in a jar and cover with oil. I use canola with a hint of sesame.
Let stand for 24 hours. Stir each time before use.
We have a grocery store called "Spice World" which caries West Indian food. I have been sampling some of dishes from the prepacked and frozen sections. They tend to be head sweat/nose dripping hot. The Chicken Vinadaloo was using a spice packet, the Okra Masala was pre-packaged. Naan is home made as there is no reason to buy it frozen. Easy to fix and fry in a cast iron skillet.
