The Rest of Us (cont.)

[Sneakeater]

A friend is getting ready to go to Amalfi.

I think I must be more excited about her trip than even she is, since I've been compulsively cooking Amalfi food lately (along with Ligurian food, which has nothing to do with where she's going but I've had a hankering) (and Sicilian -- but I always cook that).

Tonight, a one-dish meal of Capellini topped with cucumber, bell pepper, grape tomato, scallions, dried chili, garlic, parsley, oregano, and rue soaked for a couple of hours in olive oil (this was also a crisper-clearing meal), and also some rock shrimp quick-sautéed with anchovies.  This was great.  They eat well in Amalfi.

Falanghina duh.

2022 FontanAvecchia Falanghina del Sannio

This was pretty inevitably going to be a great pairing.  And so it was.

Edited September 9, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

Am I brave enough to try Paccheri alla Genovese?

[voyager]

15 hours ago, Sneakeater said:

Am I brave enough to try Paccheri alla Genovese?

Of course you are!

[Sneakeater]

Might as well wait till after the end of tomato season (which at least here is being spectacular this year -- and with this weather ought to last long), though.  No sense to rush into making a pasta sauce that has no tomatoes in it.

It's perfect though, as it combines my two recent obsessions:  it's from Compania, but everybody thinks it's from Liguria.

[Sneakeater]

Lamburger, topped with what turned out to be a perfect lamburger topping:  this chevre torte the goat vendor at the GAP Greenmarket makes, which is essentially goopy goat cheese with pesto and red pepper layered on top.  I also slathered some Mean Old Lady chili crisps on the bun.

A grilled ear of corn on the side (this time I made some garlic chive butter for it).

And some roasted okra, tomato, and hot pepper.

Now here's this week's food problem.  The vendor that has chili peppers at the Greenmarket hadn't yet had any this year (beyond some standard-issue Serranos and Jalapeños).  This was rather mysterious:  you'd think a great tomato season as we've been having would also be a great chili season.  (This vendor also had very few Summer squashes this year, so probably they're having some kind of production problem.)  This week was the first week they finally had any chilis worth mentioning.  But it was very few:  not enough for them to sort and label.  They just sort of had the chili peppers laying out in cartons.

I grabbed some that looked appealing to me.  When I got home and really examined them, however, I realized that two of them were Ghost Peppers.  What am I going to do with Ghost Peppers?  I don't want to die like the Paqui chip teen.

Tonight I thought to mince a very little bit of one and put it into a vinaigrette in which I'd toss the okra and tomato before roasting them (the chili I was roasting obvs didn't need tossing).  But I'll tell you what:  Ghost Peppers are so potent that even putting a very few tiny pieces into a vinaigrette in which vegetables are briefly tossed is almost overwhelming.  What am I going to do with these?

Fortunately, I chose a wine that wasn't totally defeated by this.

2015 Domaine Ricard Le Close de Vauriou

You can see how this Gamay/Cab Franc blend would have been perfect with this meal if it weren't for the superhot pepper.

But what's surprising is, how adaptable it was even to that pepper.

Gamay has lots of acid and no tannin.  So it's one of the better reds with spice.  But Cab Franc, while more tannic (which a burger requires), also has distinct pepper notes (I mean pepper as in the vegetable -- actually I guess it's a fruit(?) -- not as in black pepper).  So it was pretty complimentary.

Which is not to say I'm not enjoying it more now WITHOUT that hot hot chili pepper.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

This wine is really nice.

I'm not sure Vincent Ricard even makes it any more.

[Sneakeater]

30 minutes ago, Sneakeater said:

What am I going to do with these?

I'm thinking I can invite some enemies over for dinner.

[Sneakeater]

56 minutes ago, Sneakeater said:

Might as well wait till after the end of tomato season (which at least here is being spectacular this year -- and with this weather ought to last long),

NO ONE would think the tomatoes I bought this morning -- gorgeous every one of them, and so far exceedingly flavorful -- were from the middle of September.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

Morcilla (which my high thchool Thpanith teacher La Theñora Pereth would have inthithted I pronounth Morthilla, in Cathtillan) con patatas (oopth patatath).  Out of the many wonderful ways there are to cook potatoes, frying them (parboiled) in the olive oil you just removed a Spanish sausage from is one of the most wonderful.

My hipster butcher's sausages are inconsistent.  (OK, one more and I'll thtop:  my hipthter butcher'th thauthageth are inconthithtent.)  You never know which ones will work.  This one, although a good deal denser than I ideally prefer my blood sausages, tasted very good.  (Thorry, La Theñora Pereth!)

Also on the side, some green beans flame-roasted with garlic and Aji Amarillo.  (Can you tell I just got a közmatik?)  The Aji Amarillo seemed almost wimpy after last night's Ghost Chili.  But it was nice to deal with a chili pepper I could touch without feeling intense pain.

What do you THINK I drank with this?

2004 R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva

Well THIS wine is in a good place!

Tangy but by now recessed cherry/berry fruit at the start.  A very slight hint of tobacco, and I'm also tasting a little chocolate.  Some eucalyptus.  A LOT of acid (nice when olive oil loomed so large in the preparation of the food).  The fruit may be recessed, but it laaaaaasssssssttttttssssss!

What a good wine to go with a very enjoyable dinner!

Edited September 11, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

SHIT I forgot the glass of Sherry I was gonna start with!

[Sneakeater]

23 hours ago, Sneakeater said:

(Can you tell I just got a közmatik?)

Thanks to @MitchW for pointing me to an inexpensive Turkish direct import in place of the overpriced one Chris Kimball sells on Milk Street.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

Something that always interests me is that a good Rioja's descriptors are almost always exactly the same as you'd expect for a good Bordeaux.

But the wines don't taste the same.

[MitchW]

6 hours ago, Sneakeater said:

Thanks to @joethefoodie for pointing me to an inexpensive Turkish direct import in place of the overpriced one Chris Kimball sells on Milk Street.

We're so over that guy.

[Sneakeater]

Normally I wouldn't write up a total retread dinner tonight, where even the wine was a leftover.

Except it wasn't a total retread.

Leftover Positano-style pasta topping on (fresh) cappellini (believe me, "fresh" isn't a given in my house when it comes to leftover pasta dishes).

I was in some doubt as to whether this topping of uncooked vegetables and barely cooked shrimp soaking in oil would improve the way cooked sauces/ragus do.  It seemed like it might get worse, even kind of disgusting.

I'm relieved to say it improved.  The flavors really melded.

Also, I've become a rabid fan of rock shrimp.  They taste even more lobstery to me than langoustines (do I feel a scampi coming on?).  Do they have rock shrimp in Europe?  Are there French and Italian names for them I'd know?

But the reason this gets a write-up is that I added a contorno.  I'm not sure whether I've ever previously roasted radicchio.  But it turns out to be really good.  The caramelization tames the bitterness (as does drizzling it with some balsamic at the end) (and topping it with Parmagiana cheese).  I roasted an orange aji amarillo alongside it, which was just perfect, as those peppers have a sweet flavor component alongside their mild heat.  (This roasting occurred in the oven:  I wasn't sure the Közmatik would work well here.)

The remainder of Friday's bottle, started then along with the original iteration of the pasta (I only drank a couple of glasses on Friday because I went out to a concert after dinner).

2022 FontaAvecchia Falanghina del Sannio

Unfortunately, unlike the pasta topping, this wine did not benefit from sitting in my refrigerator since Friday.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Sneakeater

[Sneakeater]

And then, after dinner:

Germain-Robin Viognier Grappa

I hate to praise anything coming out of California, but we really lost something when Germain-Robin stopped distilling.

A really first-rate grappa is smooth, but with a bite at the end.  This lacks that final bite.  But the variegated flavors up until the finish are having a major -- if overly polite -- party.

[hollywood10]

9 minutes ago, Sneakeater said:

And then, after dinner:

Germain-Robin Viognier Grappa

I hate to praise anything coming out of California, but we really lost something when Germain-Robin stopped distilling.

A really first-rate grappa is smooth, but with a bite at the end.  This lacks that final bite.  But the variegated flavors up until the finish are having a major -- if overly polite -- party.

We've waited so long for your praise.

[Sneakeater]

I'll still never forgive you for The Eagles.

[Sneakeater]

French dips are great, though!

[hollywood10]

27 minutes ago, Sneakeater said:

I'll still never forgive you for The Eagles.

No problem.  I'll never forgive you for Blue Oyster Cult.

[Sneakeater]

First few years, Blue Öyster Cult were GREAT!

[Sneakeater]

How many screaming dizbusters were in The Eagles?

Not seven, I'll tell you THAT.

[Sneakeater]

Tell me what's not great about this cut?

 

[hollywood10]

1 hour ago, Sneakeater said:

Tell me what's not great about this cut?

 

The vocals are tepid.  The guitar work is okay.  But a better performed drug inspired song would be "Life in the Fast Lane" with stellar work by Walsh.

1 hour ago, Sneakeater said:

I'll still never forgive you for The Eagles.

 

[Sneakeater]

"Life in the Fast Lane" isn't ironic.

[hollywood10]

I think the few remaining Eagles are on their farewell tour.