Happy Anniversary

Wow, I can't believe it's already been a year. When Noel first told me to start a blog I thought who would care, but I have found there are people out there. Thank you so much for sharing great meals and amazing wines with me!!

I was trying to think about what I should cook and blog about for my first year anniversary. My very first post was about meatloaf. I love meatloaf!! Over the year, anytime I have made my own tomato sauce I have used some of it in a meatloaf. I've got pretty good at making meatloaf. Thanks too our friends SamiJ and Erik, I still have some venison in my freezer. I decided to make a venison meatloaf for this very special occasion. The best part of using the venison in my freezer, I got to grind up the meat myself. Noel and I bought a Kitchen Aid blender on Ebay a while ago and it came with the meat grinder attachment. How gourmet!!! I cut up the steak into cubes so it would be easier to put it through the grinder, and seasoned the meat with salt, thyme and rosemary. Venison is not a real fatty meat. When I was at Russo's I bought a slab of double smoked bacon. I cut off a large chuck from the fattiest side and ground it up with the venison to add a little fat and flavor. Bacon makes everything better!!

After I had the meat ground up it was time to make the meal. I wanted to make a meatloaf with a gravy so I went online to find a recipe. What an age we are in!! My grandmother, even mother had to rely on cook books. I have a few cook books but I mostly rely on the internet. I found a great recipe for venison meatloaf on Georgia Outdoor News. The recipe calls for a red pepper chopped, small onion chopped, celery chopped, cup of bread crumbs, two eggs beaten, cup of tomato puree, BBQ sauce, and brown sugar. I didn't have enough regular bread crumbs so I used panko bread crumbs. I mixed all the ingredients and the meat together formed it in a loaf shape and stuck it in a 375F oven for about an hour, when my meat thermometer reached 135F. I found a quick recipe on line to make a mushroom gravy. The recipe called for a mix of mushrooms but I only used baby shiitake, figuring they would pair best with the venison. When I first tasted the meatloaf I couldn't believe it was venison. There was no gamy flavors at all and the gravy made the meal!!! I served it with mashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts, garlic, onion and carrots. It was such a great meatloaf, I would serve this to anyone who told me they hated venison, and I wouldn't tell them it was venison until they had licked their plate clean. And trust me they would lick the plate clean!! Noel and I did!

While the meatloaf was in the oven I went over to my wine fridge and picked the perfect wine for this meal. A while back I was doing a wine tasting at Bacco's Wine and Cheese in downtown Boston. I love this place. It's the kind of wine shop that I would one day love to own myself. His space is small, so his selection is small but it is GREAT!!!! They carry wine from every region and because they are limited on space they are very selective on what wine they bring in. All the employees try the wine (even the Cheese Wiz) with Bob and the sales rep. They only take in wines that they all agree on. Bob does have the final say, but he really cares and trusts what his employees think. He only hires employees that know their shit. One of his wine guys has lived all over the world and has a real strong passion for wine and food, and his cheese wiz always brings in crazy good cheese!! It's the kind of store that you could go to everyday and always see something new. They have a wine and cheese tasting everyday!! Well except Tuesday, when they have a beer and cheese tasting. 

After my wine tasting I told Bob I wanted something different. He went right to this wine from Portugal. This is a country that is so often over looked. Most people only think of Port when they think about wine from Portugal. I love Port, but they really have so much more to offer in wine. Espirito Lagoalva was perfect for my meal. A blend of Castelao and Touriga Nacional, the wine had beautiful raspberry and blackberry fruit, a nice hint of spice and great smooth tannins. What a perfect pairing to a venison meatloaf!!!  My mouth is getting excited just thinking about the wine. If you haven't had a wine from Portugal then you need to put your computer down and run to your local wine shop. If you find Espirito Lagoalva then it's a must buy!! The best part about Portuguese wines, they are not expensive, you can find great values under $15. Thanks Bob! I don't think I could have had better wine with this meal!!

There has been some great recipes and even better wines over the past 365 days and there are still many more to come. I want to start blogging more recipes, I would love to have at least one a week. Right now I average about three a month. If there  is anything you cook or any wine that you drink that you think I need to try please contact me here or email me dangazaille@gmail.com. Together we can make the next year that much better!!! 

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.