Do you love wine & chocolate?

Thank you for your continuous support. After several requests for a weekly special featuring Vampire® Wine and Chocolate, this week I bring you; “Blood & Chocolate Special” with 6 bottles of red wine and 2 chocolate bars for each bottle.

I’d like you to tell me which Vampire® Belgian Chocolate, Milk or Dark, pairs better with each of our Vampire® red wines:

Vampire® Merlot – carefully blended with 8% Cabernet Sauvignon for added depth and structure, as well as 8% Zinfandel, which adds a spicy note on the palate.

Vampire® Cabernet – judiciously blended with small amounts of Merlot for softness, and Syrah for added structure, our Cabernet displays ripe flavor character and a lovely aroma.

Vampire® Pinot Noir – imported from France, this wine carries elegant soft fruity and subtle but powerful oak flavors.

Drink the wine, taste the chocolate, and let me know what is your favorite pairing.

This $151 value package is available to you for only $139.95 with Vampire delivery included. Please note that the chocolate will be delivered via FedEx Express mail to assure its freshness.

Eternally yours,

Nablopomo.

I’m only four days late in talking about it. You think I would have been able to pull out a semi-easy post on the fact that I have to tie myself to his here MacBook and post at least once a day this month. Daunting task, and trust me I know… I’ve already struggled through 3 days of random ramblings. Considering my past posting history of about one per week, it’s fairly obvious that every day will be a much-needed improvement. It’s not for lack of ideas that I don’t post more often, but of needing time to let things marinate – which isn’t always feasible. Ok, ok maybe that’s a lie. Sometimes it’s marinating and other times I would rather sit on a 4 hour plane ride with a teething baby than attempt to write something just bursting with witty charm. So there you have it. My first official Nablopomo. A month of self-torture.

I hope you know that I’ll be buying myself an extra large glass of wine if I make it through all 30 days. Maybe two, and a cupcake. Because I’ll deserve it, that I’m sure of. So here’s to a month of random ramblings, a tour through San Fran, and a plethora of awkward and embarrassing moments. Nablopomo 2010.

Boeuf Bourguignon

Hello everyone!  Wow what a rollercoaster the month of October has been.  Sorry for the delays on this recipe.  I’ve been doing school, going to visit my friend in the hospital when he was on life support (btw, rest in paradise JP), and attending a viewing for my uncle and then his funeral.  Oy.

Without further adieu, let me say that this recipe for the boeuf bourguignon (beef stew) took about half a day to cook; I also don’t know where my pressure cooker went otherwise it wouldn’t have taken half my day to cook.  It was worth it in the end though.   If you don’t have all of your ingredients ready for prep, it will take much longer for the recipe, so I would advise you to have everything ready (ie: veggies chopped, meat ready and cubed, bouquet garni in place, etc.).

Boeuf Bourguignon on white rice

Boeuf Bourguignon
adapted from: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Boeuf-Bourguignon-104754
Prepping time: 1hr 30 mins (may be longer or shorter depending on if all ingredients are ready)
Cooking time: 3-4 hrs 30 mins (if using pressure cooker, will be much less time)

Ingredients:

3 pounds boneless beef chuck, cubed
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup brandy (caution: emits flames) — if don’t have, can use dry red wine
2 onions, finely chopped 
1.5 tsp refrigerated chopped garlic (in glass bottle), or 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 carrots, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 tablespoon ketchup (can use tomato paste, but I ran out)
1 (750-ml) bottle dry red wine (I used Merlot)
1pound mushrooms, quartered if large
2-3 cups water (dilute red wine)
sugar, to taste (so wine won’t make the stew so bitter)

Bouquet garni:
1 (4-inch) piece of celery
garlic parsley salt, rubbed on meat
1 tbsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp powdered cloves

Accompanies a side dish of potatoes, or goes on white rice well.

Pat beef dry and season with salt (or garlic parsley salt) and pepper. Coat all sides of meat with flour.

Heat 1‚ tablespoons oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a wide 6- to 8-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown beef well on all sides in 2 or 3 batches, without crowding, adding remaining ‚ tablespoon oil as needed. Transfer to a bowl.

Pour off any excess oil from pot, then add brandy (or 1/2 cup red wine) to pot. Deglaze by boiling over high heat 1 minute, stirring and scraping up brown bits, then pour over beef. **Caution: with brandy, there will be flames**

Optional to tie celery and bay leaves together with kitchen string to make a bouquet garni.  You can fish them out later too. 

Heat 1 tablespoon butter in cleaned pot over moderately high heat until foam subsides and add chopped onions, garlic, and carrots, then sauté, stirring, until onions are pale golden, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste (or ketchup) and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the rest of the wine, 2-3 cups of water to dilute wine flavor, sugar to taste, meat with juices, and bouquet garni and simmer gently, partially covered, until meat is tender, 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Heat remaining tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then saute mushrooms, stirring, until golden brown and any liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir mushrooms into stew and cook 10 minutes (while still simmering). Remove bouquet garni ingredients and skim any fat from surface of stew. Season with salt and pepper.  (Fat is easily removed after refrigeration as it will be more visible on surface)

 

Phew!  It took long to cook but was highly enjoyable.  I pared this dish with a side dish of irio, which is a Kenyan side dish that consists mainly of potatoes and green vegetables.  In the picture, I pared the boeuf bourguignon over white rice.  Either is acceptable and delicious in their own way.  In the next post, I will include the recipe for irio.  Until then, happy eatings!

Hosting the vintner - with Timo Mayer at Patara in Bangkok

I admit, we take all our friends traveling through Bangkok to our favorite Thai restaurant if time permits. Patara is Thailand’s best restaurant and was awarded the corresponding price for this achievement in 2009. We just love to dine there.

When Timo Mayer and his two daughters came through Bangkok we were pleased to have them for a couple of days and show them around. The Mayers’ came from Germany where Timo was helping with some wine-making in his native village near Stuttgart. He was also selling some of his Australian wine in various places (London for instance).

He was loaded with different bottles of very unique wines some of which we tasted together at various occasions. But one evening was reserved for fine Thai cuisine. Patara sent his tucktuck taxi service to pick us up from our home in Thonglor.

The colorful entrees

We decided that we would order the food and Timo would choose the wine. As always we started with the three colorful delicacies shown above. Somehow I had problems taking clear and crisps shotsf the food that evening. But you can look up earlier posts in this blog where you can find some more photos of the various Patara signature dishes.

Happy diners

Timo selected the ‘2007 “Hugel” Riesling’ the classic wine from Hugel & Fils from Alsace. Jean Hugel, the senior vintner and wine-maker of this pioneer family of wine-making in Alsace was a legend and had passed away only in June this year.

I had never tasted their wines before and was very excited about the choice. Hugel and Fils maintain not only a very informative website but also an entertaining blog. I had visited Riquewihr, the picturesque Alsatian village where the winery is located many years ago (actually decades ago).

As a high-school student I had visited Alsace and its villages with my school and tasted my first Gewuerztraminer ever. A couple of years later I had seen a play at my “alma mater”: the Bonn University music and arts festival telling the story of the Alsace in three languages. After that my fascination with Alsace was complete. I had the chance to visit several times but mainly the north of the region. Our favorite destination was a restaurant, Au Cheval Blanc near Wissembourg but this is another story.

The ‘2007 Hugel Riesling’

The ‘2007 “Hugel” Riesling’ is a very fine wine, young and vibrant. 2007 was a good vintage because the grapes had the opportunity to ripen for the longest time ever and therefore the grapes were very healthy. As a consequence the wines show great elegance and balance. The wine is fruity with mineral notes, a typical Alsatian Riesling with the characteristic petrol note. I love Riesling with Thai food.

After we “demolished” the food

Our evening was great fun. The culinary delights of Thailand are just “breathtaking” for the palate. I can only highly recommend the restaurant. I love the atmosphere and the professional and friendly service.

We talked a lot about Timo’s German visit, his impressions, the adventures and, of course, wine. But when friends from afar visit, time flies. That’s how it was. Hours shrink to seconds and in a blimp of the eye it’s gone.

Address:
Patara Fine Thai Cuisine
375 Soi Thonglor 19 Sukhumvit 55, Klongtonnua Vadhana, Bangkok 10110
Tel. +66-2185 2960-1 Fax. +66-2185 2962
www.patarathailand.com

I'm no expert, but here goes...

This blog is somewhat like an ADD puppy, joyously sprinting around this way and that, smelling everything in sight.  The puppy doesn’t really know where he’s going, but he’s having a good time taking it all in.

I’ve been drinking wine extremely casually for quite some time now.  My knowledge about wine was limited to what you can learn from the movie Sideways.  That’s why, until recently, I just knew that I had to hate Merlot and have an undying love of Pinot Noir.  Don’t get me wrong, I do like Pinot, but I’ve found that I actually don’t mind a little Merlot now and then either.

A while back a friend of mine introduced me to Gary Vaynerchuck and his Wine Library TV podcast.  I started watching and became really interested in expanding my palette and trying out some different things.  I decided that it was about time that I try something besides Pinot and Shiraz.  Shortly after that my wife and I visited my father-in-law in Kennewick, Washington, which is right in the middle of the Washington state wine country.  I had the opportunity to visit several wineries and learn more about the process of wine-making.  Right away I was hooked.  I got my first wine tasting experience, which included some great Merlot.  All of the enthusiasm that had been building up prior to that trip exploded into a genuine passion that I have been gently nurturing ever since.  I am still very green, but I thought that this blog would be a great way to chronicle my growth in wine.  I plan to blog about every last wine that I drink.  I hope that over time my palette will become more refined, but for now you can get the perspective of someone who just loves good wine.  You will also have the added benefit of the input that I get from my beloved wife, who seems to have a much more talented natural palette than I do.

Drink up, and enjoy!

Boating on the Bay, Crab Dip and Crusty Bread

The Cackling Crone and Sawhorse Marilyn aboard the Boston Whaler

Back to the report of the Cackler’s visit. A Sunday lunchtime drink and a bracing walk home still hadn’t exhausted the Cackler. When Sawhorse Marilyn offered a trip around the bay on her Boston Whaler she jumped at the chance,  donned her fleece and her kagoule, and was at once ready to ride the waves.

Home just before dusk, the sisters decided to remain rugged and outdoorsy and lit a fire in Andy’s firepit in the Crone’s front yard. The Crone collected kindling while the Cackler got busy with the matches.  Sawhorse Marilyn turned up with some crab dip and crusty bread and it seemed as good a time as any to open a bottle of wine and watch the sun go down over Itchy Ankle.

Sagrantino - Berlin

The Sagrantino grape makes one of my favourite wines. It has strong tannins and tends to be low yielding, producing wines that are rich, dark, complex and long-lived. The classic area where it is grown is the small town of Montefalco in Umbria.  The Sagrantino di Montefalco denomination has a maximum yield of 48 hl/ha and needs to be aged for 30 months before being sold, 12 of which must  be in wood.  Traditionally it has been used to make a wonderful passito style wine, made from partly dried grapes, but in recent years a dry secco has been introduced.  The Sagrantino grape is also used in making a cheaper, lighter style of wine, dominated by the Sangiovese grape and usually blended with some Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, known as Rosso di Montefalco.

So, when I came across a small restaurant and wine bar called Sagrantino in Berlin in February this year, I was determined to return to see the extent to which it captured the essence of Umbria! Friday evening provided just the opportunity – and I was not disappointed.  Tucked away on Behrenstrasse, just to the south of Unter den Linden and to the east of Friedrichstraße, Sagrantino is certainly worth getting to know.  With several different Rosso di Montefalco wines, as well as the wonderful passito made by Arnaldo Caprai, it is a great place to chill out at the end of a day. Guess this might become one of my favourite places in Berlin!