Wine Curmudgeon's 2015 $10 Hall of Fame is published!

One of my favorite wine bloggers, the Wine Curmudgeon, has just published is 2016 $10 Hall of Fame.  Some of the wines on the list that we enjoy everyday are:

In the words of the Wine Curmudgeon himeself:

" Château Font-Mars Picpoul, a French white that “is everything picpoul is supposed to be.”

• The $5 Rene Barbier Mediterranean Red: “All I can say is that the Wine Curmudgeon is as surprised as you are.” I drink this wine so often, and marvel at how it does for $5 what others can’t do at $10."

The Picpoul is available at A Taste for Wine and Spirits, in Cohasset, MA (only place I have seen it).  The Rene Barbier is found at our grocery store and Trader Joe's,

The Wine Curmudgeon also lists these wines we consistently buy and enjoy:  

- Bogle brands. Always well made, consistent, and inexpensive.  Available most places.   

- Little James Basket Press wines - available at Whole Foods (at least here in Charlotte).  

Anyway, enjoy searching for these wines. Wine-Searcher.com is a great web site to start!  Many are not available in North Carolina, so I have not been able to try as many as I have wanted.  

Dream Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinners (Food only)

I have come to the realization recently that I will probably not have the opportunity to host a holiday for a very long time.  The husband and I are grateful that we still love our families and enjoy spending our holidays with them. Since, thankfully, we still have grandparents in the picture who spend holidays with our parents, we must travel to our childhood hometowns to break bread and give thanks with those we love.  And while I am not going to complain about the fabulous rib roast and mashed potatoes I devoured at my parents' house, I will always be taking notes for the time when I get to host a holiday meal.

Therefore, here is my "present" dream Thanksgiving menu:

Beautiful Brussels Sprouts - The Pioneer Woman - Brussels Sprouts, butternut squash, red onions, roasted. What more do you need? - oh - maybe some pomegranate seeds!  No more green bean casserole.

Turkey - obviously. Simply made, perhaps following the instructions on the store-bought turkey. Might spring for an organic turkey, but will have to settle on ogling the stack at Whole Foods.

Gravy - via Mark Bittman. Simple, perfect gravy. Little fuss.

Cranberry Sauce - a simple, fresh, recipe, perhaps from the back of the Ocean Spray Cranberry package.

Party Mashed Potatoes - I need to do a whole post on these. Old school recipe of my Mother's.

Dressing - I would have to peruse many recipes - but it would have to involve fresh (stale) bread, and mushrooms, or maybe apples and sausage. I have NEVER made dressing before. And that is because I have NEVER hosted. I will say one thing though, it will NOT be that Pepperidge Farm gray dung calorie bomb.

Two pies - Apple and Pumpkin. Preferably bought. I don't eat pie crust. With HOMEMADE whipped cream. If you don't have time to do this, you should not be hosting Thanksgiving at all.

And, that is it. Maybe, some roasted squash, or sweet potatoes, if I can be convinced.

Dream Christmas Menu: 

Beef Tenderloin:  I have never had the opportunity to roast one of these. Though, the rib roast we had this Christmas made me question this decision.  I have never roasted one of those either.

Mashed Potatoes:  Lots of butter.

Roasted Vegetables - either squash, Brussels sprouts, root vegetables. Whatever looks the freshest.

A salad with feta, nuts, and dried cranberries, with homemade dressing.

Chocolate Cake with whipped cream for dessert. Just because.

Caveat for Christmas Menu:  If I was hosting a large group - ie - 10 or more people, I would probably do a baked ham with individual rolls, a squash casserole (most likely this one - from the NY Times), good ole' party mashed potatoes, and a big salad.

Wine choices will have to be a completely different article entirely!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Sunday night dinner in the Putnam house has traditionally included either a pizza or a store-bought rotisserie chicken.  We have made the preparation for this meal either extra easy, by picking up pizza, or eating a plain rotisserie chicken, or "more difficult", by grilling pizza or making an entree with the chicken.  Last Sunday, we chose a "more difficult" route, and prepared Chicken BBQ Pizza.

While I "worked pizza" at Bertucci's almost twenty years ago (gulp!), the brick-oven pizza chain introduced the "Polomatch"* pizza, toppings being chicken, diced tomatoes, BBQ sauce, cheese and scallions, This pizza was on the cusp of the fusion food movement, at least for me. The pizza was great! The fuse was a hit!

A few weeks ago, we had an "easy" pizza Sunday. I bought two frozen California Pizza Kitchen pizzas for dinner, which included one of their BBQ Chicken pizzas. It had been awhile since I had last had a BBQ Chicken pizza, but the husband demanded protein on his pizza. It was not as good as the Polomatch, but devoured.

Last Sunday, we had a "more difficult" dinner. I finally tried that Cooking Light recipe for BBQ Chicken Pizza that uses rotisserie chicken (I wrote about it in this post).  There was a bit more work involved for a Sunday than I thought, namely sauteeing the onion with the marinara and BBQ sauces.
Here is the before shot:

 Apparently, the grocery store does sell pre-baked, seven inch pizza crusts?!  










After 10 minutes at 450, here is the after shot:

Cut up scallions definitely add flavor and color!










These were considerable better that CPK's version, and worth it if you are a BBQ Chicken pizza connoisseur. These pizza crusts were also good, and much easier to handle than fresh dough. Still, not as good as fresh dough, but better than Boboli/Pillsbury pizza dough.  Worth remembering!

*The Polomatch is now called the BBQ Chicken pizza. Booooo Bertucci's.  

The New Roast Chicken Sunday

It is a tradition in the South for families to share a chicken dinner together after church. Currently, our after church tradition consists of leftovers for lunch, followed by naps for all (except for a certain, special four year old). But now, for dinner, we have "New Roast Chicken Sunday."  This is because on Sunday, Harris Teeter puts there already cooked rotisserie chickens on sale for $4.99.

Cooking a roast chicken to perfection is supposed to be the penultimate challenge for a home cook. There are numerous recipes and methods touted by chefs, most notably Thomas Keller and Julia Child.  I usually use Simon Hopkinson's recipe in How to Roast Chicken and Other Stories.  But, when you have two hungry* kids and a week of meals to plan, the grocery store rotisserie chicken is an easy win, and the price is right - cheaper than buying an uncooked chicken and preparing it yourself.

Also, there are numerous recipes that you can make using the cooked meat from a rotisserie chicken. So, after giving the kids their bits of white meat, you can make an "adult" recipe . All of these meals are "deconstruct-able", meaning that the ingredients can be eaten on their own to everyone's individual tastes.

Here are some recipes for the cooler weather that I have had some success with:

King Ranch Chicken Soup.  From the November issue of Southern Living. This is a riff on the famous Texan casserole, King Ranch Casserole.  Other ingredients include onions, peppers, tomatoes, and corn tortillas.

Chicken Enchiladas.  I currently use Pioneer Woman's recipe.  But, this is so easy to adapt to your tastes.  Make it as difficult or as easy as you like.

Tortilla soup. The husband's favorite. Avocado is a MUST. It took me forever to find hominy in the store. Tip: it is in the canned corn section.

Parmesan Pasta with Chicken and Rosemary. I only eat pasta every few weeks, and rarely want to combine roast chicken night with pasta night, but sometimes it has to happen.

Here are some recipes for warmer weather:

Chicken Ceaser Salad.  Buy a ceaser salad kit, and a rotisserie chicken. Make sure there are extra croutons on hand.

Chicken and Peaches Platter.  Chicken, peaches, almonds, blue cheese - ingredients that don't need any further preparation.

Curry Chicken Salad: Always a favorite!

Here are some recipes I plan to try:

Fresh Fettucine with Roasted Chicken and Broccoli Rabe. Giada usually has her recipes fairly well tested. This also contains pine nuts and parmesan. Combining roast chicken and pasta makes me want to fast for a few days.

Quick BBQ Chicken Pizzas. Combine pizza and chicken night. But, this is a Cooking Light recipe, so you should feel better while eating it, right?

* If my children ever said they were "hungry," I would fall over dead.

Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone and Marsala Sauce

I didn't take a picture of this, because we ate it too fast. The husband and I actually bickered over who would eat the leftovers for lunch. It is extraordinary.

Giada De Laurentiis has been the source for many fabulous meals in our house. Everyday Italian inspired me to cook with many new ingredients, including pork tenderloin.  This particular recipe is from her Family Favorites cookbook.

I have never liked Fettucine Alfredo, mostly because it is, from the get go, not a healthy choice. I visualize my stomach expanding even as I read it on the menu (Note: this doesn't happen as I order the cheese plate, or my third drink).  The mascarpone is a lighter and just as flavorful replacement to Parmesan and cream (is that was Alfredo sauce is?).

We paired it with my "All Time Favorite Wine" - Allegrini Valpicello.  More on that later.

Eat at your own risk:  Chicken with Mustard Mascarpone and Marsala Sauce

Preschool Thanksgiving Turkey

I have roasted three turkeys in my life....all for the annual preschool Thanksgiving.  Each year, there has always been a small bit of drama associated with this donation.

The first year, I learned how long it took to defrost a turkey. My husband carried the turkey from the oven and into the church kitchen to carve. When the first turkey was eaten, ours came out and was devoured. I had counted on leftovers for dinner. Clare must have been there?

The second year, I bought the turkey at the last possible moment, and defrosted it outside of the refrigerator for a large chunk of time.  I woke up at six in the morning to put it in the oven. It finished at 10:30. I let it rest, and brought it to the church kitchen uncut (apparently uncarved it not a word.....). I cut it up and had it ready to serve as Ms. Lillian said the blessing.  We didn't get seats and ended up sitting along the edge of the hall,  One of the preschool substitutes told me how her husband had died from heart attack a month before during choir practice in the choir room down the hall. Meanwhile, Clare was crawling all over the floor.

This year, I decided to cut the drama and cook it the day before. (There was also an email from the preschool director stating that "All turkeys must be cut up ahead of him."  I took the hint).  It was still partially frozen the day before.  I read the instructions on the turkey wrapping, and it stated not to defrost outside of the fridge (whoops)  But, apparently, you can just cook it longer if it is still partially frozen.  After five hours, it came out great, and the kid had some "chicken" for dinner.  I put it in the fridge overnight, carved it up the next morning, dribbled it with chicken broth, warmed it up, and the husband carried it into the church hall before Rebekah's dance performance.  After her stellar dance, we went upstairs to the church hall, and didn't get seats again. All the turkey meat from all the turkey's were mixed on one plate, so who knows what we ate.  The kids ran around in chaos. Clare ate two pieces of pumpkin pie.  I am still hungry for some reason.

Meanwhile, here is the cutest example of cultural appropriation ever! Currently, she is making a "Native American" pie????

"Chili" Saturdays

We have had chili for three Saturday nights in a row.  This means that we have been extremely lucky to have spent the last Saturday nights in the company of our family or friends.  It also means the temperature has dropped, which in North Carolina means to a chilly 60 degrees.

Three weeks ago, my father-in-law made his special chili for our family's visit.  It is always fantastic.

The following Saturday, Halloween, I made beef chili for all of my in-laws.  We ate it while handing out candy. This chili was, by far, my least favorite.  It was also my first time making a beef version of chili. I will spare you my analysis of the failure and just tell you that everyone managed to slurp it down.

Then, this past Saturday night, I had the healthiest/best chili I have EVER had at our friends' new house.  Our friend sent me the recipe.  It apparently had chia seeds in it? and butternut squash? Remember to pass the Fritos! (this was a whole new revelation.)


 
Thank you, Kim!

Wishing you all have a "Chili" Saturday soon!