The Rest of Us (cont.)

[voyager]

I’ll see your ham and cheese and raise you a couple of slices half-sours.

[Wilfrid]

I solve that by not having them.

[Sneakeater]

Bay scallops with scallions and sesame seeds.

Smashed potatoes with herbed beurre blanc and smoked swordfish roe (there's a story behind this dish).

Steamed purple bok choy dressed with some of the stuff you'd use to dress Addictive Cabbage.

Another meal where the wine choice used few brain cells.

2021 Julien Brocard Petit Chablis "Les Plantes"

If ever a meal screamed for Chablis, it was this one.  Sharp but full-flavored.

Julien Brocard's entry-level Chablis has been enchanting me.  So I needed to try his Petit Chablis, which sells for about $10 less.

It's not as good.  Maybe it needs more time, but it's much less integrated than its big Chablis brother.  It's just too sour (at least at this point).

Edited December 11, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

It is traditional for My People to eat fried foods over this holiday.  (It is NOT traditional for us to eat the pork and shellfish I seem to otherwise have been making every night till tonight this Hanukkah.)

Fried blowfish tails.  I think the reason I enjoy cooking these so much is that they come with a pre-installed handle for dredging and flipping.  It makes me forgive the internal central bone that I'd otherwise find disqualifyingly annoying.

This being a Jewish holiday and all, I  heavily seasoned the coating with Old Bay.

With Comeback Sauce.  I LOVE Comeback Sauce.  Especially mine.  People in Mississippi should be ashamed how good my rendition is.

On the side, some leftover kale that had been sautéed with capers. served cold as a salad.  It is very lucky I had this (I didn't remember till I happened to notice it while looking for something else):  the capers made it kind of perfect with the fried fish.  Finding stuff already made in your refrigerator that is exactly what you need is TIGHT.

SCORE on the wine pairing!

2021 Domaine Julie Benau Picpoul de Pinet "Chichois à La Baraquette"

Julie Benau makes a very good straight "classique" Picpoul -- but this is her gonzo Natural cuvée.  Same grapes as her flagship (props for that), but with extended contact and no sulfates.

As you'd expect, this is one lively wine.  The acid is poppin' -- but that's just what you'd want with a fried light fish like those blowfish tails.

Otherwise, this is all grapefruit and salt.  Delicious.  And perfect.

Edited December 12, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

Coffee/bourbon MIssissippi Roast piled high on milk buns.  I can now say pretty definitively that the only thing wrong with this variation is that, good as it is, it isn't as good as OG Mississippi Roast (not that people in Mississippi would say that the Siftonized recipe I follow is OG).

What with last night's Comeback Sauce and tonight's MIssissippi Roast, I'm really on a Mississippi roll here.  So of course I made some collard greens to have on the side.  I'm not sure I'm comfortable calling a dish with that much meat in it a vegetable -- but I'm not complaining!

Also, the end of that squash and beans thing.  Tonight I bothered with the balsamic/honey/rosemary drizzle.  It's so good.

A season-appropriate thing happened.  I very consciously made just enough Mississippi Roast for two meals.  But after I very generously filled two sandwiches with leftovers, I had enough left for another meal.  A Great Miracle Happened Here.

I went with an obvious pairing.

2013 Domaine Le Roc des Anges Segna de Cor*

More than half Grenache, for the friendly fruit and the coffee notes.  Some Carignan, for the mellow spices.  And some Syrah, because this rendition of Mississippi Roast reminds me a bit of barbecue.

As I always say when I drink their wines, Le Roc des Ange is a good demonstration that wine can be biodynamic but not Natural.  This has no funk.  It's rather elegant, very smooth.  But as an example of This Kind Of Wine, it's excellent.  Not overbearing in the least -- and obviously not remotely spoofed.  A very good expression of a Côtes Catalane wine, the old way (they'd deny it's the old way, of course).

________________________________________________________________

* "His name is an anagram." -- Rosemary's Baby

Edited December 13, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

No question this is near the end of its window.  But it's certainly not past it.

[Sneakeater]

Carignan is not the majority grape in this wine.  But it really makes itself felt.

[Sneakeater]

Leftover Pizzichi di Farro with squash, sage, guanciale, and ricotta salata.

The contorno wasn't idiomatic.  But I have like three shit-tons of collard greens in a tub in my refrigerator -- and I happen to love them.  Anyway, the smoked ham hock in the collard greens made an interesting comparison to the cured-but-not-smoked guanciale in the pasta.

The only actual cooking this meal required (as opposed to reheating) was crisping some sage leaves to use as a garnish.  (I assume that slicing additional pieces of ricotta salata for the same purpose doesn't count.)  Win!

Another obscure Piemontese white for the pairing.

2018(?) Nebraie Timarosso "Bertume"

This is another Piemontese white grape recently pulled from the edge of extinction.

A problem with these obscure grapes is that, since you've never tasted them before, you can't really know what they'll be like until you drink them.  Which makes it hard to come up with accurate pairings.

Here, I relied on my understanding that Piemontese whites tend to be round, often to a fault.  That's what makes them good pairings for squash 'n' sage, which is the kind of thing they eat in the Piemonte.

This wine isn't really like that, though.  It turns out to be rather sharp.  I'm actually enjoying it more on its own after dinner than I did with the food.  Because in and of itself, it's really good.

I'm tasting a lot of apricot in this.  I love apricot. 

Another flavor element deserves some independent discussion.

The producer of this wine believes that Timorossos need to age, so they develop some petroleum accents like Riesling.  So he holds his still Timorosso for release.  The label on this bottle is a little coy, but the wine appears to be from the 2018 or possibly the 2017 vintage.  The petroleum notes are certainly there.  Which obvs I love.

I'm trying to think what this delicious wine would be good with.   Vitello tonnato suggests itself.  Maybe the famous snails of Cherasco (although the Cherascans themselves bizarrely prefer Barolo with theirs -- and let me tell you, I tried it there and they're wrong).

Edited December 19, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

I was internally hypothesizing that the reason there are so many obscure Piemonetese white grapes is that their red grapes are so famous they outshine them.

That hasn't held back Chardonnay, though.

[Sneakeater]

Did I slurp down the collards' pot likker out of the bowl?

Yes I did.

[Sneakeater]

The other half of my pork pie. Brown sauce and Branston Pickle.

More cabbage and peas with it, cuz why mess with perfection?

Syracuse salt boiled potatoes.  Using the Designer Nicola Potato, which as far as I'm concerned is to salt boiled potatoes what the Upstate Abundance is to smashed.

If you're having wine with a pork pie, I think most would agree that Beaujolais is the way to go.

2019 Domaine de Robert (Patrick Brunet) Fleuri "Cuvée Tradition"

And most are right!

This wine is in a nice place.  The fruit is still up front, but now it's coming through a lot of secondaries.  Spicy herbs (or herby spices), minerals.  But the fruit!

I LOVE Beaujolais.

Edited December 15, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

(Don't worry:  tomorrow's dinner will involve some actual cooking.)

[Sneakeater]

I want to make clear once more that when I say something I made came out really well, I am not patting myself on the back.  My cooking is so inconsistent that I can't take credit for the successes.  They come from . . . somewhere else.

After a Bruckner performance at Carnegie Hall that is still spoken of as miraculous even now, nearly 35 years later, Herbert von Karajan -- normally one of the three or four most egotistical people on the planet -- was heard to mutter, "I don't know where that came from.  Certainly not from me."

That's the way I feel about this dinner.

Elk porterhouse with an Amarena cherry/rosemary pan sauce.  Collard greens.  Jerusalem artichoke chips.

Everything somehow came out perfect:  the elk charred on the outside but rosy on the inside (as it has to be to avoid becoming jerky) (the unbelievable thickness of this cut -- elk are fucking huge -- helped in that regard).  The simple marinade I used mainly to soften this very lean meat (I just didn't have it in me to sous vide today) turned out to add just the right flavor as well.  The pan sauce I improvised -- I put in a little Banyuls vinegar to deglaze, and a lot of balsamic to counterbalance the sweet cherries -- was amazeballs.

I really don't know what happened.

I had thought to drink a grand old Barolo with this.  (My first thought was, elk are indigenous to North America; I'll have a Norton.  But I'm not gonna insult a beautiful piece of meat like that.)  But it turns out I've drunk all the grand old Barolos on-site.  So I had a less-grand but still pretty old Langhe Nebbiolo.

2007 Cavallotto Lange Nebbiolo

Cavollotto is one of my absolute favorite producers in the Barolo region.  Their wines don't give the Natural thrills of Luca Roagna's.  They're just solid down-the-middle beautifully made wines, sold at reasonable (for the Barolo region) prices.  They're more "traditional" than "modern", but they don't taste doctrinaire.  They just taste good.

This wine here has the tar-and-roses thing going in spades.  There's a major smoke component, great with the charred meat.  The fruit doesn't belie the wine's age; rather, it tastes like 16-year-old fruit should taste:  forthright but slightly recessed.

This is the kind of wine where if you love Nebbiolo, this just sends you to heaven.  In a way, even more than a grand old Barolo would:  there's nothing distractingly "grand" about this wine; it's more like it's essential.

People will tell you Nebbiolo Langhes shouldn't age this long (not that 16 years is that long).  I think they mean that mediocre Nebbiolo Langhes shouldn't age this long.  I wouldn't put a wine like this aside for 35 years, like a Barolo.  But if you think what I'm drinking now isn't wonderful, I just don't know.

Speaking of wonderful, I was given this bottle by Giuseppe Cavollotto himself, at the estate (I think he just gave it to me to shut me up and get me on my way).  It was worth the trouble of carrying back to Brooklyn.

Edited December 19, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

So I see now I might have jumped the gun a little on the collard greens.

I now see that collard greens are a traditional Southern "good luck" dish for New Year's:  they provide the folding money to go with red/black-eyed peas' coins.

I need that luck this year.

But OTOH, considering how much of these collard greens I have on hand, I'll probably still be eating them the following New Year's.

[hollywood10]

2018 Viticcio Chianti Classico Riserva.  Legitimate stuff.

[Sneakeater]

Mother and Child Reunion:  flounder and its roe poached/sautéed in butter, which was then made into a butter/tarragon sauce.

I'd actually tried @small h's recommended method of poaching/sautéing flounder roe in butter, but after talking to her (online) I decided (a) I hadn't used enough butter and (b) I hadn't cooked it on low enough heat.  Also, (c) I hadn't drowned the roe in the butter afterward, on the plate.

This all solved the dryness problem I've previously had with flounder roe.  It didn't quite solve the boringness problem.  There's a reason Cole Porter didn't ask if flounder do it.

The flounder itself was, well, flounder.  My madeleine fish.

On the side, a lazy person's version of the Persian dilled rice dish Sheveed Polo.  I realize now that I didn't put nearly enough dill in:  the real dish must be almost half dill.  (I'll put more dill into the leftover portion when I reheat it.)  Also, the steps I removed robbed my version of any Persian character (although they did make it a lot easier to make).  Nevertheless, this was actually very good.

Also, some minted peas.

The odd thing is that these disparate dishes actually kind of made sense together.

I knew just what I wanted to drink with this.

2022 Anders Frederik Steen & Anne Bruun Blauert Hold me closer

I was a little unfair to Anders Frederik Steen last time I wrote about this wine when I said he had no training as a winemaker.  I mean he started out as a chef, and self-identifies as a visual artist.  But he left the kitchen to become a Somm at Noma, no less, which he then left to become the opening Somm at Relae and Manfreds, no less.  And he did bring in Jean-Marc Brignot, no less, to work with him on his first few vintages (although Brignot is long gone).

Anyway, I adore this wine, just wubwubwub it.  And its tart pear fruit was an intriguing companion to the butterfied fish.  (I mean, in theory a Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc blend would be perfect for this food.  But although that's what this is, it doesn't taste like it.)

Edited December 19, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

People say that the Zojirushi isn't that good on long-grained rices like Basmati.

But, while cooking it in the rice cooker, even with minor adjustments, robbed this dish of its essential Persian character, this was nevertheless far and away the best Basmati rice, just as rice, I've ever made.

Maybe the Zojirushi is better at short-grained rices, but as this (and the tons of Charleston Gold I've made in it) shows, it makes long-grained rices better than they otherwise are, too.

[MitchW]

1 hour ago, Sneakeater said:

People say

Fuck people.

[Sneakeater]

Bay scallops with scallions and sesame seeds.

I don't know about you guys, but it usually takes me two tries to get a recipe right.  So I decided to repeat this dish I had last week.  And while it was perfectly OK last week, this week's rendition was like 50 times better.

I got this recipe off The Times app.  It takes no time and almost no work -- and it's really really delicious.  I recommend it to you all.  (In terms of portion control, be aware that I found the serving they say makes two small main courses to make one adequately sized main course.  But you might be less of a pig than I am.)

I had the scallops over mustard greens dressed with lemon juice.  Since the scallops were then drizzled with a butter-lemon sauce, this ended up sort of approximating JGV's butter-blanched mustard greens recipe -- a dish that I have never been able to make work.  Interesting.  Anyway, I think the mustard green base worked so well that it ought to be considered almost part of the recipe.

Also, some reheated leftover simplified Sheveed Polo, the Persian dilled rice dish.  I way augmented the dill -- and also, the reheating process (I put some butter in the water I put in to freshen up the rice) made the rice more Persian than it was last night straight out of the non-Persian rice cooker.  This isn't supposed to be a Tahdig or anything, but in my experience all Persian rice has a nutty quality coming from slight crisping.  And reheated it was more like that.

I thought a nice Chenin Blanc would be good with this.

2022 La Familie Mosse Chenin

Mosse is one of my favorite producers.

They make the kind of Natural wines you can serve to your straight friends, but are vibrant enough for us, too.  I especially like their imaginative blends.  But this straight Chenin Blanc is delightful.

It's a little sharper than a mainstream Chenin Blanc -- which, with scallops, was all to the good.  But it still has that Chenin Blanc roundness -- which, with scallops, was definitely all to the good.  Especially scallops with sesame.  (One of the many improvements of this week's rendition of the scallop dish over last week's is that last week I was too shy with the toasted sesame seeds.  You want to really taste those suckers!)

I love Chenin Blanc.  But you don't usually go to it for tingling energy.  It is the accomplishment of this wine to have that -- while still tasting like Chenin Blanc.

Drink Mosse wines!

Edited December 20, 2023 by Sneakeater

[relbbaddoof]

18 hours ago, Sneakeater said:

I love Chenin Blanc.  But you don't usually go to it for tingling energy.

Keep this up and you'll get your MacArthur yet.

[Sneakeater]

I'm waiting.

[Sneakeater]

The end of my coffee/Bourbon Mississippi Roast variant.  Over PA Dutch noodles.  (Meaning made by some PA Dutch housewife/entrepreneur, not by the PA Dutch Noodle Co.®).

On the side, roasted cabbage.  Cuz I'll have what @Wilfrid's having.

My wine selection was a little bit fancy for this.  But boy was it good.

2006 Masi Campofiorin

Well, fancy in a way.  Because the strange thing is, this wine cost less than $20 when I bought it upon release.  But it was clear that it was meant for aging, and I had no compunction about putting it away for years (I could swear I had another bottle -- but I don't see it anywhere).  Meant for aging FUCK.  This wine is now phenomenal -- among the best <$20 I ever spent.

Campofiorin was one of the first Ripassos, wines that fall between Valpolicellas and Amarones.  As someone who (you'll be shocked to learn) finds Amarones overbearing, I think that's a great development:  you get more than the Beaujolais-like crushability of a Valpolicella (not that there's anything wrong with Beaujolais-like crushability, God knows), but less than the heavy brooding ostentatious grandness of an Amarone.

For purposes of tonight's dinner, the thing to note is that Ripassos develop mocha notes -- just what you want in a wine to go with this coffee-crusted Mississippi Roast variant.

So what do you get here?  You get some very refined cherries, definitely cherries but definitely refined.  Then that mocha pours down your tongue.  Some baking spice.  Raisins of course.

But what's most notable is that all of this is smooth as silk.  Both in the transitions and in the flavors themselves.

This producer used to rate its vintages.  That's immediately suspect of course -- but the fact is, they were very chary of giving their highest five-star vintage ratings.  2006 got five stars.  Which was why I bought this wine (not that the outlay was very significant) and why I declined to drink it till now.

You read people on the internet now saying this vintage of Campofiorin is past it.  To me, that's just more evidence that a lot of people don't understand aged wine.  Because to me, this almost has to be near its absolute peak.  You don't often enough get to taste wines this integrated and this harmonious.  Sure, if  you want fruit to slap you in the face you'll find this wanting.  But if you insist that a wine's fruit slap you in the face, I'm afraid you just don't get it.

And you certainly don't often get to taste ones like this that cost less than $20 upon release.

Should somebody tell this producer?

Edited December 19, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Wilfrid]

The first serving of roast cabbage with the coppa was good. The second serving (with salmon last night) was even better because I tossed some crispy lardons with it.

[Sneakeater]

Tossing lardons onto something will do that.

[small h]

On 12/18/2023 at 12:23 AM, Sneakeater said:

I had the scallops over mustard greens dressed with lemon juice.  Since the scallops were then drizzled with a butter-lemon sauce, this ended up sort of approximated JGV's butter-blanched mustard greens recipe -- a dish that I have never been able to make work.

I am gonna make this except with shrimp instead of scallops. And also with the scallion-esque things growing out of a red onion in my fridge instead of scallions. Because I have all that, plus balcony mustard greens, which I hope survive this cold night. (I bet they will. They are survivors.)