Friends, Meatloaf, and Three Wines

Yesterday Noel's friend from high school, Scott came over for dinner. I wanted to make something that was sure to show off my kitchen skills. I came up with meatloaf, but how could I make it special? I know what you are thinking, he used bacon. No not this time. This time I used mozzarella cheese, brussel sprouts, carrots, garlic, pink, white, green, black pepper corns and saffron. I was a little buzzed after a few beers at Savin Bar and Kitchen and a bottle of wine between Tom and I so I don't know the exact measurements of the spices probably tablespoon each pepper and three pinches saffron. First I had to figure out how to put the veggies in without there being too much water. Rebecca to the rescue. She is one of the owners to Beacon Hill Wine and Gourmet in Melrose, MA. Her and I always chit chat about food and she has taught me a thing or two. So when I had to figure out how to put the veggies in my meat loaf I knew just who to call. She came up with the idea to roast them on high heat for about 20-30 minutes. I cut the carrot up into half inch flat pieces, smashed two garlic cloves and de-leafed 6 brussel sprouts. As they were all roasting I made my meat mixture. I had the half pork, half beef meatloaf mix and added a pound of Italian sausage. I had some rolls that I got at Bacco Wine and Cheese that I had left out for a few days, perfect for making breadcrumbs. I cut up half a roll added the pepper and saffron and mixed it all up in the meat. I put half the meat in the pan then covered the meat with half the mozzarella cheese then covered the cheese with the brussel sprouts and carrots and topped with the rest of the cheese and the rest of the meat. Just before I put it in the over I sprinkled a little fresh parmesan cheese, fresh cut pepper, and a pinch of saffron. I cooked it at 350 until the thermometer reached 160. When it got to 155 I put a little or parmesan cheese on top. I wish I took a picture of this when it came out of the oven. Not only did it look good but it tasted amazing!! All the spices mixed together divinely and the veggies were perfect especially with the mozzarella.

I opened three bottles of wine yesterday. Before Scott came over my buddy Tom stopped by to unwind from work before taking the long T ride home. To help him unwind and to celebrate my trip to Chile (in three days) I opened Secreto Viognier, from Viu Manent. I love this wine!! Viognier is one of my most favorite wines. It's floral, with pears, nectarine, lime and a healthy acidity. There is nothing not to love about this wine. Secerto is a fun wine. By law a wine must be 85% of a grape to be put on the label (in California 75%), so 15% can be anything. Viu Manent ran with this and came up with Secerto. Sometimes a winery will put on the back label what has been blended in a wine, but they don't have to. Secerto does not tell you. Each variety has a different label that is painted by Catalina Abbott that shows someone keeping a secret. This is a just a fun wine from bottle to juice. The next bottle was a bottle that Scott brought to our house. I also find it interesting what people will bring to my house. He brought Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon from Columbia Valley. I love Washington State wines. This wine was great! Nice cedar, dark cherry and rose. This wine is made by Charles Smith, he was wine maker of the year 2009 and is the brain behind such brands a Kung-Fu Girl, The Velvet Devil, and BOOM BOOM . I can't wait to try more of these wines, it was a nice change of pace having someone bring wine to my house. I am going to stop telling people not to bring wine to my house. After that wine was polished off I opened Viu Manent Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon knowing that if we didn't finish it I could just show it the next day. I love being a wine rep!!!! I can open a bottle have a glass or two and just show the rest the next day. This wine is one of the best value wines in my company portfolio and may be my favorite wine ever under $15. This is a Cabernet that could battle some of the Napa Cabs that are twice the price. About a year ago I dorked out with my bestie Molner. I opened a very nice Bordeaux, a Sonoma cab and this wine. At first taste Molner asked why my third bottle was a nicer bottle than the second.  I told her it wasn't and that the Chile wine was half the price of the Sonoma wine. We both agreed that night Viu Manent Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon was the winner that night. All three of these wines are must try wines!!

Saturday at 330pm I get on a plane and go to Santiago Chile for a week. I get to visit Viu Manent and their vineyards. I will make sure to post about the wines I drink while down there and maybe a few of the dinners. I can't believe this trip is already here!!

The Bunny looked more like a Pilgram

Easter came late this year, Warren and Curtis came early. Noel had invited them to an Easter dinner this year. We never really get a holiday with them, Thanksgiving and Christmas is divided by my parents and her mom's. So I wanted to cook something big. Noel wanted to come up with a "menu" last week, I wanted to wait until we went grocery shopping. Turkey was on sale, so it was an easy choice. Two Thanksgivings ago I made a turkey at my parents house that was awesome!! Turkey with Herbs de Provence and Citrus. It was so good then and I knew I it would be good now. Funny story- the first time I made this I almost burned down my parents' house. There is a lot of chicken stock and butter used in this recipe and the pan I used was a cheap pan that folded as I took it out of the oven. As it folded in half, the liquid spilled in the electric oven, hit a coil and instantly caught on fire. As everyone was running around looking for a fire extinguisher it came to me shut the oven door. Fire went out in a few minutes but the stove shut down. I learned this time to use a cookie sheet under the cheap style roasting pan so that wouldn't happen again, especially in my gas stove.

This Turkey with Herbs de Provence and Citrus is so tasty and so easy to make. We found it on Foodnetwork.com, we find a lot of recipes on there. It takes about three hours, 30 minutes are prep. Need to cut an orange, lemon and onion into quarters, get fresh rosemary, thyme, sage and stuff it in the bird. *Make sure the neck and giblets are taken out of the bird and put in the roasting pan. Melt two tablespoons of butter with one tablespoon herbs de provence (you can find this anywhere), one tablespoon pepper (I used pink,black, white, and green pepper corns), and one tablespoon salt. Instead of using a pan I have a stainless steel bowl that I melt butter in, I find at a low heat the big bowl makes it easier to melt and not burn!! Take the melted butter and brush it all over the bird, making sure to get under the skin as much as you can. Let it stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes and preheat oven to 400. This is where I like to open the bottle of wine and pour myself my first glass. After 30 minutes tent some tinfoil over the breast and roast 20 minutes. The kitchen should start smelling like heaven!! Now add three cups turkey stock (it ask for chicken but I found turkey) and a few more sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage. I also melted two more tablespoons of butter mixed with the same herbs and pepper mixture and brushed it over the turkey again. Let roast another 40 minutes, reduce the heat to 350, remove the tinfoil and add one more cup of stock. Let it roast until the thighs reach 165, every so often you want to basted the turkey(I did about every 15 minutes). Your house is going to smell so good!!

After the turkey is done you want to let it rest about 30 minutes. This is the perfect time to make any veggies, potatoes, and the gravy. This recipe has a gravy it tells you to make and it is so good Noel was dipping chips in while we were watching t.v. that night. First, melt six tablespoons butter, whisk in one-third cup flour, make sure to break up any chunks, and start to blend in four cups of the juice the turkey was sitting in. Cook about 10 minutes and whisk often until thickened to your liking. A gravy that people would kill for!! Wait what about that bottle of wine I opened, where did I use it on the turkey? I didn't, I drank it. I picked Viu Manent Reserva Carmenere knowing it would go well with the turkey. 

I did make two sides. Mashed potatoes and a veggie medley, Noel calls it a hash. It's kinda like a cooked salad. I started with bacon...BIG SURPRISE THERE!! I cut about two cups of small chunks of bacon. Put them in a skillet over low-medium heat to melt down some fat. While that was going on I minced two cloves garlic, diced a medium shallot, chopped large carrot, one celery stock, a red pepper, and about dozen or so brussel sprouts. After the bacon was cooking for five minutes or so, I tossed in the garlic, shallot and celery, and cooked until they smelled good(about minute or two), then added the carrots and cooked for about another two minutes. As the carrots were getting soft I added the red peppers and topped with the chopped Brussels sprouts. I then added a tablespoon of the gravy and a dash of herbs de provence to the veggies and covered the skillet to let steam. As the veggies were steaming, I was able to make my mash potatoes. I didn't know what to do with them, but as I was just about to give up and serve them plain, I saw my cayenne pepper and saffron. A light went off in my head and I added a dash of pepper and two pinches of saffron. I didn't tell my guest what I had done I wanted to hear from them what they thought. Everyone was in love with the taste. The gravy made them a little more playful. 

This was one of my favorite holiday meals to make. First, I made it in my own kitchen. Second, it was a recipe I had  conquered a few years ago, so I was able to make a few changes to show my personality. Next time I make this I may even blend my own herbs de provence, it looks pretty easy. 

Whoda thought rotted grapes would create magic??

Been a busy last few days! I said that I would have back to back post and I lied. I am sorry to my adoring public, all 3 of you. Tonight I had two different  tasting, the first one was at a grocery store and I sold a few boxes but it was hard, the second was a wine store and it was dead. While at the wine store I spied a magical little bottle. The gold label glimmered in the light and almost blinded me. I walked over and found a 2005 GrandVin de Sauterns from Cru d'Arche-Pugneau. So most of the time I will be talking about wine that is of good value, everyday wine, wine that in no way would be the difference between rent and a bottle. This is not one of those nights. This bottle of wine is a 375ml that is a half bottle of wine. A 375 you say, there is no way a half bottle of wine could cost a lot. False I say. Sauternes are a magical wine. They turn rotting grapes into the WORLD BEST SWEET WINE. This one was cheap, cheap at $37 a bottle, they can go for hundreds of dollars for a 375ml. WHAT??!!!?? Hundreds of dollars you lie you say. NO, sadly it is true.

Sauternes is a region in Bordeaux, France. In order for a wine to be labeled Sauternes the grapes Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, and Muscadelle MUST go through Boyrytis cinerea better known as Noble Rot. What a way to make something so gross sound so good Noble Rot, it's the king of rot.

VINCYCLOPEDIA

BOTRYTIS CINEREA is a fungal disease that can blight many species of plants, including flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Depending upon weather conditions, Botrytis can take one of two forms in grapes, one as destroyer, the other as enhancer. As "grey rot" it appears and grows during lengthy periods of humidity early in the season. Settling in on immature grapes, it multiplies rapidly. The bunches seem covered with a grey powder and the berries eventually darken and drop. Yields are greatly reduced and wine made from this fruit will taste moldy and oxidize easily. In some climates, grey rot is a severe problem with most all grape varieties. In certain white grape varieties, such as Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Furmint, an infection of Botrytis can be so beneficial, even critical, to the production of dessert wines like Sauternes in France, Tröckenbeerenauslese in Germany, or Tokaj in Hungary, that the mold is called "Noble Rot" in these locales (La Pourriture Noble in french, Edelfaule in German). Dessert wines made with botrytised grapes are prized and somewhat rare, because weather conditions must be just right for "Noble Rot" to occur. Ideally, a short period of humidity or rain in mid to late season, when the grapes are more ripe than green, will be followed by a sustained period of cool, dry weather, where daytime temperature hovers near 60° F. Under these somewhat rare conditions, the Botrytis fungi penetrate the grape skins with mycelia to feed and take water from the grapes, which shrivel. Overall acidity decreases. Gums form, along with glutinic and citric acids, and the grape sugars become very concentrated. This intense sweetness partially inhibits yeast and fermentation can be very slow, lasting for months. High concentrations of glycerol develop during these extended fermentations and the resulting wines can be fragrantly enticing, exceptionally smooth, and extremely long-lived, cellaring well for decades.

This wine has great sweet apricot, toasted honey and fig flavors. A little young ( a white wine of this style can age decades) showing a little more syrup and stronger acids that will calm down with age but still delicious. This helped make my week. I bought it in mind of drinking Easter but decided to drink it by myself, well I tried to get Noel to have some but she said she hated the smell. WHAT A SIN!!!! 

So the other day I said I would have back to back salad post. I missed my post and I am sorry. I had a busy Thursday and came home just in time to make a quick meal and run to a wine tasting. I did make a salad but it was nothing special. It was a seared tuna salad. Yummy but then again as long as you only sear the tuna and leave a lot of pink it's going to be good. I seared the tuna about two minutes a side then added a can of Italian diced tomatoes (had some Italian herbs blended with tomatoes). After about two more minutes a side I took the tuna out of the pan and added enough balsamic vinegar to change the color of the juice in the pan. I then reduced by half. I cut the tuna into slices plated over a salad mix and topped with the tomato mixture. It was pretty tasty but had I had more time I would have added a few more things. I enjoyed every bite as I stuffed it into my face as quick as I could before my tasting. Not only was this good for me but it only took about 12 minutes to make. Quick easy and tasty I have to say I liked this salad better than the taco salad. 

Tonight I kept up with the need to lose weight and I made a very healthy meal. Baked chicken breast and steamed broccoli. Sound boring but I bought some cumin and pink pepper corns today so I was itching to use them. I took white,black,green,and pink pepper corns, grey sea salt and cumin seeds put them in the pestle and mortar, ground them up and covered the chicken breasts. Baked them at 375 till chicken was 160 (I use a digital thermometer that you can read from outside the oven, best $12 ever!!), as the chicken reached 140 I started steaming the broccoli so it would be done with the chicken. It was tasty!! So good and I could tell it was good for me! I did have a wine other than the Sauternes with my meal. I was tasting Stolpman La Coppa Sangiovese. This wine is very tasty and a lot different from the Chianti style. Lots of bright fruit and layered texture. But not a value wine, it's a little pricey at $19.99. If you have the money this vineyard is great but if $19.99 is your special day wine I know a few wines I'd tell you to try first.  

If you can't handle the heat...STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN

As winter ends, and what a winter it was, I look in the mirror and have noticed I have a few extra pounds I would like to shed. Noel came up with an idea...eat salads. There is a reason I married this woman, she's wicked smaht!! But how do I make a salad that I a self-proclaimed "meatatarian" would want to eat? So in the next two days I will make a salad and blog about them. That's right people you will get a back to back salad blog post.


PART 1 Taco Salad
Last night [Tuesday] Noel and I finally get to go grocery shopping, we usually make a morning out of it, but this week we were busy Sunday. First we go to Red Bone in Somerville for some "BBQ". My mom taught me if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. The water came in a mason jar as did Noel's Coke. That's cool, right? The sausage we got was good but as soon as I get my Kitchen Aid Mixer I will be able to make the same thing. SIDE NOTE I GOT A KITCHEN AID MIXER, I GOT A KITCHEN AID MIXER. It is the the best of the best kitchen tools and I CAN NOT wait to get all the attachments!!! Back to our late week grocery trip. Since it was 8pm Tuesday night we decided we only had the energy to go to Shaws, even for our produce. Sorry Russo's I feel like I have cheated on you once again and I hang my head in shame. We wanted to make simple meals this week since Sunday is Easter Sunday and I will be cooking Easter dinner. I figured what is easier than Tacos from a Taco kit? Well Noel reminds me that I am look to lose some inches from the winter gut. Thanks Honey I love you too! So I figured it would be better to make a taco salad. Brilliant. Lettuce(which I bough a pre-mix, come on buy one get one, and hence the two salad post), green pepper, yellow pepper...This already sounds healthy...plus I get my MEAT. Again Homer Simpson "Mmmmmm MEAT". We checked out the spice mix package but it was more than a buck and we have every spice in the package, so I didn't buy one this time. I did pick up large tortilla chips.

Flash Forward to tonight. I get home from work, do some dishes and start cooking my dinner. In a frying pan I put swirl of oil, one large shallot and two minced garlic cloves. Cooked until it smelled good (about a minute or two), then I added the meat. As the meat was cooking I made the spice mixture and cut up a yellow and green pepper(wish I remembered there was a red pepper too. Would have looked better with more color.) and threw them in with the meat.I know wait a second what was in the spice, I wasn't going to leave this out I swear. I mixed pepper flakes, paprika, cayenne pepper, peppadew (what is peppadew? It is a sweet piquante pepper and garlic seasoning I got at Beacon Hill Wine and Gourmet in Melrose), sea salt, green pepper corns, black pepper corns and white pepper corn (thats right I uses the mortar and pestle) fresh herbs,basil, oregano, parsley, sage and thyme. As it finished I realized I was missing tomatoes. Oh the humanity, I didn't have tomatoes. Again my wicked smaht wife comes to the rescue, "Don't you have canned diced tomatoes?". Brilliant, I opened the can, drained some, not all of the juice,tossed it in the meat and cooked for another minute. As that was cooking I tossed the lettuces and chips together, should have cut up the lettuces a little more but cest la vie. I plated lettuces/chip mix, scooped the meat mixture and toped with cheese. Some where there has got to be a healthy meal here. I didn't make a dressing and I drank water. The salad was great a little spicy but good. Noel didn't like the heat but then again she's pretty picky!!

Wait isn't this the love of WINE and cooking. You got me. After the water I drank I got "thirsty" and opened Durnberg Gruner Veltliner Select. If you don't know Gruner it is a white wine from Austria. It's like Pinot Grigio had a baby with Sauvignon Blanc. Dry, crisp with granny smith apple and hints of lemon citrus.. This is a great summer wine, and a must try if you don't already know it!!! This bottle would have gone better with tomorrow nights dinner. This dinner with the meat and spice could have stood up to a red wine like carmenere, malbec or petite sirah or a rose.

Too much food, too much oil, too tired to care

So its been a long month already! Work is good, but busy. I busted my ass today! I skipped eating lunch and was hungry when I got home. Over the weekend Noel and I bought jumbo shrimp again. I was thinking of making the jerk shrimp again. After a day I decided I had to make something different. So I took out the cook books and looked up shrimp. I found bacon wrapped shrimp. Yummy. I shaved my bacon way too thick and it was real hard to wrap. Sure there are somethings I would do different but it was still good. Easy to make just need shrimp, bacon, toothpicks and a skillet. Wrap the shrimp, use the toothpick to keep bacon on the shrimp and cook for 15-20 minutes in the skillet. Easy and tasty!! These would be great at a party. Maybe make a dipping sauce for them.

As I said I didn't have lunch today. So my eyes became bigger than my stomach and I made more food. We had bought two streaks and I saw a recipe that I thought would be good in an AARP magazine. Noel may think I act like I'm in my 60's by listening to NPR and playing golf but this issue was my grandparents not mine. This looked good so I'll had to copy the recipe after all it called for rib eyes(which I didn't use I had a cheaper cut). Salt and pepper the steaks to taste. In a large skillet add 1/8 inch of oil (now this is the first screw up, I had too much oil!!!Next time I'll just put enough to layer the bottom of the pan.). When the oil starts to smoke sear each side of the steaks about a minute each  side then cook three minutes each side (again I should have cooked more like four minutes and less oil). Take the steaks put them on side and add a cut up shallot and a tablespoon rosemary. SIDE NOTE I always use FRESH herbs!!! I get the fresh herbs from Russo and hang them in my kitchen. They don't cost that much and they make a MAJOR difference from the crap in a jar (ok jars are ok when you can't get the real deal) When the shallots are soft add 1/4 cup red wine. Tonight I used Pennywise Petite Sirah. Back to that in a second. After you add the wine use a spatula to get any brown "yummy chunks" and bring to a boil . Take off the heat and mix in two tablespoons of butter. Pour the sauce over the steaks, pour yourself a glass of the wine and enjoy. Well kinda enjoy if you do it right. Mine came out tasting of oil, the sauce was ok, the greenbeans I made were weird(thats the last time I get a mix that you steam in the microwave! I didn't know you had to use the microwave I hate using my microwave, it's just not the same!). Steaks, bacon wrapped shrimp and shitty greenbeans made for a Monday night meal that was a good as the Red Sox game that I watched while I ate. Oh if you don't know the Sox got their ass handed to them by the Rays. Way to go Dice-K glad you're on the team.

So the food was bla, the game was shit, the wine was a beverage. That sounds mean. The wine was alright. I like Petite Sirah. They tend to be big, jammy, fruit forward wines. Pennywise had a interesting smokey, gamy thing going on which I liked but lacks a tad in fruit. As it opened some fruit found its way to the party but nothing special. Sorry folks tonights meal and wine weren't what I had hoped for. But thats the way the cookie crumbles. Some nights you expect Bourdain to ask you to fill in and some night you couldn't cook for the 99.

When life gives you lemons, drink Carmenere!!

So last night after a long day of work I came home to cook a new recipe out of my new book The Spice Bible, page 208 three pepper steak. I couldn't wait it was a three pepper steak with a cream sauce. A really cool recipe that required white pepper, black pepper and green pepper. This meant I HAD to buy whole white and green pepper corns. So I get home change and got to the fridge to get the steaks out and the steaks had already gone bad. Weird because I had only just bought them on Sunday and it was only Tuesday. When I went back to the fridge I realized it didn't work anymore. This pissed me off. I had to call the management company tell them what was wrong and now I have to wait until they find the time to get me a new fridge. It's 24 hours later and still no fridge. But when life gives you lemons, drink Carmenere!! It's something about the mocha, bell pepper and dark fruits that makes me feel much better. So after a quick glass I calmed down and started to think about what to do. I came up with go to Whole Foods and rebuy steaks and try my adventure. First Whole Foods is expensive but it is the only store near my apartment. Second they didn't have what I was looking for. I had to buy thicker steaks.

So I get home get the book out, start the prepwork. I got to use my new mortar and pestle. When I saw it at T.J. Maxx I knew had to have it, plus it was only $9. So I grind up my peppers and sea salt coat the steak, fill the skillet with oil, put the heat on med-high and start to cook my steaks. Now the recipe says for med-rare to cook two-three minuets on each side. I figured that meant four because my steaks where thick. So the steaks are on the stove I quickly cut up some bacon and cut the ends off some white asparagus small amount of salt and stick them into the broiler. I love white asparagus, it has such a different taste than green asparagus and when it's grilled or broiled it kind of has a candy flavor to it add bacon and watch out. So I go back to my steaks and flip. Now I prep the sauce two-thirds cup beef broth, third cup whipping cream,two tablespoons brandy (I know I should be cooking with wine but brandy does come from grapes so it like a cousin to wine), large garlic clove mashed, shallots diced, two tablespoons butter, two tablespoons green pepper( I got to use my mortar and pestle twice this recipe, I was in home chef heaven!) and parsley to taste. After four minuets I take the steak off the stove throw in the garlic, shallots and butter cook for a minuet or two. Now the book said to be careful with the brandy and take the skillet off the heat before you add it. I followed the rules because I didn't want to burn down my kitchen. So you put the skillet back on the heat bring to a boil add the broth, cream, green pepper and cook for four minuets, add the parsley and pour over the steaks. As I finish that up the asparagus is just about done. This looked like I had just got a dish from Abe and Louies. Except I forgot the small red potatoes and when I cut into the streaks they shout ouch that hurts. I did not take in to account the thickness of the steaks they were more on the rare side of med-rare. No big deal just took a sip of the carmenere threw the steaks in the broiler for a few more minuets and started to watch the Red Sox go 0 and 4. After all that I opened another carmenere.

So what is this carmenere I speak of? Just like Malbec it is originally a Bordeaux blending grape. At one time it was a major blending grape however in recent years it has been torn up for other varietals and now makes up for less than 5% of vines in Bordeaux. How ever in Chile it has really has had a chance to shine. It wasn't always that way however. So when the French, Italians, well I guess anyone from a wine drinking society decided to immigrate to new lands they always bring clones with them. So why would it have been any difference in Chile?? They planted vineyards and made great wines. Well tough times came to the Chileans and wine making kind of went a way for a few years(decades even). Then years later things start to get a little better and they wine industry starts to make a come back. But the wine they make was not that good, especially the merlot. So I have heard this story two different ways, they get to the same end but for this blog I am going to go with more the "Cinderella Story" ending. This guy is walking one of the vineyards and is checking out the  vines. He tells the owner that the vines that he thinks are merlot are not merlot but carmenere. A much later harvesting grape. In a perfect world the Chilean people would have hoisted this guy on they shoulder and renamed the country after him. But then again we don't live in the land of Disney. Instead the wine growers start harvesting these grapes later in the year and the wine makers make a wine that in silky dark fruit, with mocha and green bell pepper. Now some of these wines can be a lot of bell pepper. The best ones have it as a finishing note that last on your palate long enough to make the wine drinker smile. Where can I get this wine you say. Well any good wine shop should carry at least one carmenere! Which one should I look for? Well I personally I love, love, love the wines from Viu Manent . These guys are the rock stars of the Chilean wine world. They have been a family owned and run vineyard since 1935. The really put their hearts and souls into every bottle they make!! They have a few levels of quality in wine and every quality is well worth their price. My favorite level is their reserva level. These wine retail around $12.99-$14.99 a bottle and the quality is more like a Napa $25 bottle. What are you doing still reading this post go out and buy a bottle. You wont be disappointed. Not sure you like carmenere? Go try their Cabernet or Malbec. You really wont be disappointed.
    

Arrrrr Matey

Over the weekend Noel and I cleaned the apartment and I found a cook book that I totally forgot we even had, Seduced by Bacon by Joanna Pruess,thank you Mikey. If you read my first post you would know that I LOVE BACON!! So I went through the book and found a few recipes I wanted to try. The first one that caught my eye was on page 105; Jamaican Jerk Shrimp, Mushrooms and Tomatoes. I couldn't wait to try this out. Just a few weeks ago I bought some really nice Jamaican Jerk seasoning rub; Busha Browne's I think I only paid about $5 for it at my favorite store ever, Russo's Market in Watertown, MA. When I got it I knew I needed it but I wasn't sure what I needed it for. Well obviously it was for page 105 in this book!!

So this recipe is wicked easy to do. Cut up about half pound of BACON in half inch strips. I used the double smoked bacon that Noel and I get every week at Russo's. It's so good but a little pricey, I am sure that regular thick cut bacon would work. Dice a large yellow onion, four ounces of shiitake mushrooms destemmed and thickly sliced. So need a side note and there will be a lot of these in posts to come cause Noel does not like mushrooms, Noel doesn't like a lot of things, she is a WICKED PICKY EATER! So I used less than four ounces of mushrooms and it still came out fine. Back to the meal you are going to need two large garlic cloves, minced, two pounds jumbo shrimp. Now I used pre-cooked from Shaws but that was because they didn't have raw jumbo shrimp. I hate the store in Lower Allston but it's close to my apartment and most of the time it's adequate. Now the next ingredient is Rum, that's right I know this is "the love of wine and cooking" but sometimes and, I can't believe I am saying this, but sometimes you don't need to cook with wine. Noel had seen the Kraken black spiced rum in a store looked it up had ever since wanted to try it out so we went to a few of our local liquor stores and finally found it at the Wine Emporium on Columbus Street in the South End. It's actually reasonably priced rum and tastes pretty damn good, plus it has an octopus on the bottle and looks like the kind of bottle Black Beard would have drank from. Again, back to the recipe. Finish up with a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes 3 teaspoons of Jamaican jerk paste, one teaspoon fennel seed (this recipe was great it allowed me to buy yet another spice for my kitchen. I LOVE when that happens) salt and fresh ground pepper and last quarter cup of fresh chopped cilantro. Oh how I LOVE the smell of fresh cut cilantro!!

Now time to cook. First take a shot of rum. Why not, it's been a long day hasn't it? You deserve a quick shot of rum. Take the bacon put it in a heavy casserole (I used my new favorite thing ever, my dutch oven) and over medium heat render half the fat. In words of Homer Simpson "agagagagaga bacon fat". After you have drooled over the bacon fat, add the onion, mushrooms, and garlic and saute until onion is slightly colored and make sure to stir this so nothing burns. By this time your kitchen smells great!!  Add the shrimp over med-high heat and cook until pink on both sides turning over often. Now take another shoot of rum..... come on, why not? This is why we cook isn't it? Pour the 1/3 cup of rum and scrape the browned bits. Cook for about a minute or two just long enough to slightly reduce the liquid. Stir in the tomatoes, jerk paste, fennel seeds, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add in the cilantro and simmer for five minuets. Now your whole house should smell amazing!!

I served this with rice noodles to give it a more interesting look, and a quick brussel sprout/bacon mash. This is so easy to make. Cut up bacon in small pieces, render some fat off, add diced carrots and let cook for two maybe three minuets just enough to soften the carrots a little. Add the diced onions, diced celery and a little minced garlic and cook just until you can start to smell goodness. Now add the diced brussel sprouts. Cook for about five minuets and just before you think they are done I like to cover and let them steam for another minuet or two. This is an awesome side dish that I like to put with everything.

Since I cooked with Rum this time and not wine, I made a rum drink to go with our meal. This one was not only easy but quite tasty. Two ounces rum, one ounce amaretto and a splash of coke. When it comes to mixed drinks, I eye ball everything. An ounce is about a two second pour.

Serve the Jerk Shrimp and sauce over the noodles and plate the mash. Viola a meal that pirates and land lovers can both enjoy.