My first attempt at broccoli and potato soup was an utter fail.  I made it in the slow cooker and when the potatoes weren’t breaking down after 4 hours i cranked the heat up which somehow curdled the whole mixture.  Please note that some of the curdled soup was ingested by 2 unnamed fellas that had a bit too much to drink that night. My second attempt tasted yummy but I had to add more butter, cream and cheddar than my liking.  If it weren’t for my overflowing potato bin and giant head of broccoli I probably would have gave up on this recipe, but after opening a bottle of vinho verde I summoned the confidence to give this soup another whirl.

Broccoli & Tater Soup
1 large head of broccoli, coarsely chopped reserving 1/2 C of smaller florets
3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and small diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small onion, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 carton of chicken or veggie stock
2 cups of water
1 parmesan rind
1/3C grated pecorino romano
1 TBS butter
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS flour
1/4C white wine
1/8C cream
salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot saute onions and celery in the butter and olive oil.  Once softened add flour and stir for one minute, then add wine and and stir to dissolve any flour lumps.  Add a sprinkling of salt and pepper along with the stock, water, potatoes, broccoli, garlic cloves and parmesan rind.  Cover and simmer on medium high heat for a 1/2 an hour.  Uncover and continue simmering for another 1/2 hour- 45 minutes.  Turn off heat and puree mixture with an immersion blender or food processor (don’t forget to take the parmesan rind out!).  Once pureed, bring to a low simmer and add cream, grated cheese, reserved broccoli florets and grated carrots.  Check for seasoning and its ready to serve.

Since we had a bota box of pinot grigio (thank you vbar for introducing me to this) we used it as a base for the sangria.  To it we added three more bottles of wine that guests had brought as offerings, two nips of tequila and a liter of citrus flavored seltzer water.  While brainstorming what fruit to add we set our eyes on a package of cranberries and agreed it would be perfect for this winter booze concoction.  To release the flavor of the cranberries we heated them up in a saucepan with a quarter cup of crown royal for about 10 minutes, or until the berries start to open up.  We cooled them off in the freezer before adding them to the vat of wine.  In addition to the cranberries we added orange wedges and pomegranate seeds, the later I would exclude in the future since they were messy and clogged up the spicket!

Add a handful of ice, give a stir and this dangerously refreshing drink is ready for your glass.

Check out this amazing article in the NYT style section today on preserving fruit in alcohol rather than canning.

The crows do an awful lot of booze-fruit eating in the summertime when we fancy-up our white wines and simple cocktails with a little fruit garnish to be munched on at the end of the drink.  I’ve never thought to preserve fruits this way and then have them for all year long!  I love the idea in the picture of doing pomegranate with a orange peel- can you imagine adding that to a glass of sparkling wine or a whiskey tonic?  I think I just found my weekend project!

Next time you grill don’t forget to put those citrus halves on the grill for extra flavorful juices!

Also I saw a neat tip in a Food and Wine Magazine that i want to try out.  Next time you are grilling shrimp, fish, or any type of seafood, put some white wine in a spray bottle and mist it over the grilled items so they won’t dry out.  I also imagine it will add some extra flavor!

Usually, a Saturday night out in Portland Maine for me means closing the bars down in the Old Port then sneaking over to Sangillos to make their last call.  This past weekend I switched things up a bit and had a low key evening of sipping craft beer, tasty wine and munching on salty snacks all to live music in the background.  Where did this all go down?  An establishment that I have walked by countless times and finally had a reason to go in: Blue on Congress St.

The reason for my visit to Blue was to watch my boyfriend’s Uncle’s band play a set.  They go by the name of Abram Taylor and their “garage jazz” sound fit perfect in Blue’s low key lounge atmosphere.  The acoustics are not too overpowering here so patrons can either enjoy dinner from their condensed chalk board menu or lean back with some brews, munch on tasty bar bites and watch the Congress St foot traffic stroll by.

Throughout the summer I have tasted a lot of delicious beers but the most memorable so far has been the Spring Peeper Ale I had at Blue (yes, the name is ironic for the season).  When I saw the name on the beer menu I knew it sounded familiar, then I remembered I had sampled it at last year’s Maine Brewer’s Festival at the Portland Expo.  My vocabulary for describing the taste of beer and wine has never been sophisticated, which is why i usually feel uncomfortable at wine tastings trying to chat the server up to be proved worthy of a heavy pour.  My laments terms to describe the Spring Peeper would be crisp and refreshing with no lingering after taste, and the best part of all is that it comes in a 22 oz bottle!

My wine list is not very extensive so I was excited to see two familiar names on their chalk board.  The first being one of my stand by wines, it’s a Vinho Verde called Gazela. It’s made with premature green grapes so it’s a bit sour and has some fizz which I enjoy because it fills the void of prosecco without hurting your wallet.  The second familiar name on the menu is another white wine called Domaine de Pouy 2005 Cotes de Gascogne (mouth full but the second half states the region of France it was produced in).  I will definitely be scouring the wine isles for a bottle of this in the future, it went down smooth and one glass just wasn’t enough!

What I can take away from my trip to Blue: a new favorite beer, wine, and a trusted location for great live tunes and service.

The night of our arrival we focused on drinking wine and catching up  so we didn’t get a chance to try any new recipes but we did get to dine at the best BBQ spot in CT, The Cookhouse Restaurant. Emily’s parents treated us all to a delicious meal of pulled pork sandwiches, cubanos and brews which were much needed after our New England traveling.  The food came out in a flash and we were all pleased with our choices.  Interesting highlights were the “flatboys” which are grilled flatbreads that they use for their sandwiches and their “Scary” BBQ sauce which Emily described as Connecticut Hot, aka mild but flavorful.

The next day was our time to cook and we kicked it off with a shopping trip to the legendary Stew Leonards.  VBar, Mo and I really had no idea what we were in store for but we got a few hints when we saw a miniature petting zoo located in the parking lot.  For those readers who have never been to Stew Leonards I would describe it as a Trader Joe’s on steroids who’s owner has a love for amusement parks.  Sounds weird but the place has fresh food, competitive prices and an abundance of free samples (fresh squeezed orange juice- who gives that out for free!?)

Looking for a protein, we set our eyes on gorgeous sushi grade tuna steaks and had the fish monger cut them in half lengthwise to get more bang for our buck.  We got other items we needed for a grill marinade and then headed across the street to the Stew Leonards Wine store because Puritan law decrees that food and booze must be sold separately!

Once we got back to the Ferrier Bungalow it was straight to the grill to make one of our trademark pizzas.  Emily had whipped up some dough before our shopping adventures and had finished rising by they time we got back.  We broadened our horizons in terms of toppings for an adventurous pizza Emily saw in a magazine: sliced potato, grapes, asparagus and goat cheese.  The potatoes were sliced thin and we rolled the dough out fairy thick so we could cook it long enough for the veggies to soften.  What sounded like such a bizarre combination of ingredients turned out to be harmonious for the taste buds and there was only a small sliver left which we saved for Emily’s dad, Dave.

Our next food challenge was to make a tuna ceviche.  None of us have ever made ceviche before so it was exciting to try it out together.  We had fresh tuna diced up so all we had to decide was what other flavors we wanted in there.   VBar took the reigns and we settled on lime juice, cilantro, soy sauce, sesame oil, hot sauce, red onion and tomatoes.  As far as amounts go we just winged it and luckily after 30-45 minutes in the fridge and after a couple mixes, it was time to dallop the ceviche on some grilled ciabatta and chow down.

After all of this food I don’t know how we had room in our stomachs for dinner but a long stroll through the neighborhood and some more wine helped get our appetites going again.  We grilled the remaining tuna steaks in a marinade that mirrored the ceviche recipe and roasted some miniature sweet bell peppers to top off a fresh garden salad.  Emily’s mom, Lynn, made a delicious and comforting risotto with asparagus and lemon that had us all spooning for seconds.  It’s a shame we didn’t get a picture of the dinner table because it was quite the spread but that just goes to show that sometimes the food overtakes you and the thought of snagging a photo never enters your mind.

perfect flip- no stickage and beautiful grill marks

Usually we grill pizza for a crowd but last week Mo VBar and I got to enjoy our two creations all to ourselves.  We’ve been trying to get alot of these JP Crow dinners in while we can because by the end of the month Mo will be moving to NYC to start a new crow outpost there.

We put on some tunes from brooklynradio.net, decided on our toppings and followed our standby pizza grilling technique outlined in a previous post.  Since we all have similar tastebuds it didn’t take us long to come to a decision:

Pizza #1: garlic oil, mozz, sliced tomatoes, and artichokes topped with a sprinkling of pecorino romano and freshly chopped basil.

Pizza #2: pesto, diced chicken sausage, caramelized onions, diced red pepper and a combination of mozz and goat cheese.  This was a play off a panini that the three of us enjoyed a couple months earlier that proved to be simple and satisfying.  We washed it all down with some Sauvingnon Blanc from one of my favorite wine producers, Root:1.

We were too busy that night to take any pictures of the finished product but here is a grilled pizza i made a couple days later with the leftover half a dough.  For toppings i used fire roasted tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, diced kalamata olives, fresh mozz, pecorino romano and chopped basil.

We’re all anxious to try new and excited pizza toppings and techniques so feel free to share some interesting combos with us!

Lacking a cute little fondue set and a bottle of kirsch we were destined to wing it, which more often than not, turns out better than following a recipe to a T.  Our vessel was a smaller dutch oven which we thought would keep the heat longer, and instead of skewers we used, forks, cocktail picks, and the best tool of all- our hands.  Since we winged it, it’s hard to supply accurate measurements but this was the approach we took led by our Fondue Captain, Mo.

Melt butter in fondue vessel, add minced garlic and sautee until fragrant.  Pour in about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of white wine (can substitute with beer).  The amount of wine really depends on how much cheese you have so this measurement varies.  Cook until the alcohol evaporates and stir in the mustard then the cheese.  We needed to thicken our mixture with a tsp of corn starch dissolved in a splash of water to achieve our desired consistency.

Winging the cheese mixture was a little stressful but the fun part came when we picked out the tasty dipping items.  Here is what we chose: thyme roasted potatoes, mushrooms and onion, medallions of crisped up chicken sausage, sliced apple, red bell pepper and toasted baguette.

Although delicious, the salad was an after thought and wasn’t touched until the vat of gooey cheese was empty.  The salad contained diced beets, dried fruit, almonds, red onion and sliced carrots.  It was dressed with a vinaigrette of honey, lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Once we ate our fill we cleaned off the table, opened some more wine and pondered over a game to play.  We decided to switch it up from rummikub and go with the regular version involving cards.  At first it was hard to get out of the kubbing mind set but after a few rounds we were all pros again.

Anyways, I was searching the bottom shelves and I found this:

A entire BOX of Pinot Evil.  For $20.  Plus, there was this little handy graphic on the side that explained that 1 box= 4 bottles.  I was sold.  Any you know what?  The wine tasted just as good, saved me eight dollars, and stayed fresh until the last drop*.  It was like having a second faucet in the kitchen, only this one spurted wine.  I had plenty of wine for me and whatever guests came through, all for a bargain price.   What could be better?  Boxed wine:  Not just your Grandma’s Franzia.

*Disclaimer: by the end of the box I was so sick of this Pinot Evil that I will not be buying that brand for a long, long time.  Thank goodness there are other boxes out there to try!

Wildekrans Cabernet Franc Merlot 2007- Inexpensive and delicious! I wish I could effectively express the taste, but I don’t want to complicate matters. Just sit back and enjoy it.

Check out Ten Tables website at www.tentables.net to make reservations for next Tuesday’s wine dinner!