Pan-seared salmon served with parmesan cream sauce

The general wisdom concerning sauces is go slow. Slow heat, slow mixing, and slow preparation will enable you to create smooth, delicious sauces brimming with flavor but relatively free of lumps. This weekend I thought about making a parmesan sauce to have with grilled salmon and bow-tie pasta. It worked well, and even carried over to the next morning.

Pan-seared salmon served on bow-tie pasta with capers and parmesan cream sauce

Materials:

• A medium skillet for cooking the salmon
• A small sauce pan for the sauce
• A large pot to cook the pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 salmon fillet
• 1 box bow-tie pasta
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (approx.) parmesan cheese
• capers
• finely chopped chives

Set your water to boil in the large pot according to the directions on the pasta packaging--remember to liberally salt the pasta water as it will be only chance you have to season the pasta.

Next start on your sauce by making a roux

• Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat. Slowly whisk in 1 tablespoon flour, combining a little at a time. (if you dump in the whole tablespoon, your roux will end up being lumpy)
• Into the roux, slowly mix up to 2 cups milk. Again, just a little at a time or the mixture will end up lumpy. A good whisk helps immensely.
• Finally, slowly mix in a small handful of shredded parmesan cheese.
• Keep the mixture warm over medium-low to low heat.

While the sauce warms, your water should be ready and you can dump in the pasta. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box (generally dry bow-tie pasta should boil for 12 minutes)

• Place the skillet on a burner and heat it to medium-high. Make sure it's plenty hot before you place your salmon on it to sear.
• Liberally season the salmon with salt and pepper (and garlic, if you're a fan)
• Place the salmon fillet in the skillet and let it sit for about two minutes carefully flip the salmon using a long, flexible spatula or a combination of wooden spoon and tongs--the salmon will begin to flake at this point, and you want to keep it together)
• Sear on the other side about 1.5 - two minutes. If you look at the end of the fillet, you should see the salmon is transparent all the way through.

Combine the pasta and sauce and plate, divide the salmon fillet between two people, sprinkle with capers and a smattering of chives, and enjoy.

What to pair it with?

Muir Wood pinot noir 2005
Originally uploaded by greg.turner.

The strong flavors of salmon lend themselves to a wide variety of wines. And with a cooking method like pan searing, you can be assured of some of the strongest flavors possible. This dish would pair well with a number of wines, most notably a solid pinot noir. I paired it with the 2005 Muir Wood pinot noir. This wine has a light ruby color and produces distinct cherry and strawberry aromas with slight touches of citrus and evergreen. The platte produces a solid balance of fruit-forward flavors mixed with a cherry tartness from its light acidity. The tannins are fairly well-balanced and the finish is fairly long, producing light fruit flavors long after the sip has been swallowed.

The Puppetmaster

puppetmasterWine
Originally uploaded by greg.turner.

The few times I've visited the Albertson's liquor store, I have been tempted by the series of Sideshow wines that sit nestled in with the Four Emus and the Alice Whites. Sideshow wines, according to CheapFunWines.com are sold exclusively by Albertson's and in some restaurants, and each is an edgy, hard-hitting blend not meant for nature. Thus, the Sideshow name. This weekend, I picked up a bottle of The Puppetmaster, a blend of Syrah and Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina:

See careful manipulation of extraordinary detail. Oh, what grace, what agility...what subservience - with deft of hand, our Puppetmaster spring to life his indentured two. But, what lurks beneath this victorian façade? Was that a wink?! Can it be....are they real? Only the Puppetmaster knows.

Ominous! However, I found the wine to be strong, fruit-forward and fairly enjoyable.

Quick Tasting Notes
Sideshow Puppetmaster
Syrah and Malbec blend, non-vintage
Mendoza, Argentina

Color: dark, almost inky purple going to rose at the edges
Nose: very fragrant. Definite fruit with some complexity / confustion. Plum, perhaps a little rhubard(?). Floral notes and a little earth thrown in for good measure
Palate: Big fruit up front, settling into a smooth smokiness as washes across the tongue. Strong tannins
Finish: Nice, long finish, going through the smokiness and bringing back some of that lingering fruit

This was a solid wine, with a nice tannin structure and big fruit flavors. It's fun and not complicated. A definite burger and fries wine.

What to pair it with?
You could pair this wine with a number of things, as it has enough fruit character to blend nicely with many dishes and tannins strong enough to stand up to heavier meals.

But let's say you spent most of your Saturday painting the living room. Let's say you finish up and are looking for something quick and easy. Something that doesn't require a trip to the store. You're looking at a pantry meal, and The Puppetmaster might be just the thing to bring a little whimsy and a little rough-hewn elegance to the party. A party where the featured meal is the poor man's pasta carbonara

Ingredients:
Fettucini
1 Egg
1/4 cup half and half
1 large handful of sliced ham cut into small pieces
A healthy shake of grated parmesan

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. While it's cooking, mix and whisk the egg and half and half. When the pasta's done, drain it, return it to it's pasta pot and toss in the ham. Mix in the egg and half and half, but be careful. You don't want to stir too vigorously as you'll end up with scrambled eggs, and that's not what you're after. Just carefully fold in the egg mixture. Shake on the parmesan and you're done. Delicious!

200 Calories

200calories Originally uploaded by greg.turner.

What does 200 calories look like? Wise Geek will show you.

When you consider that an entire plate of broccoli contains the same number of calories as a small spoonful of peanut butter, you might think twice the next time you decide what to eat. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average adult needs to consume about 2000 - 2500 calories to maintain their weight. In other words, you have a fixed amount of calories to "spend" each day; based on the following pictures, which would you eat?

Sprawl contributes to obesity

It's kind of a no-brainer:

U.S. children who live in expansive suburbs may start to pay for it with expansive waistlines, new research suggests.

Using data from a national health survey, researchers found that teenagers living in sprawling suburbs were more than twice as likely to be overweight as teens in more compact urban areas.

The findings echo those of a 2003 study by the same researchers that focused on U.S. adults. The researchers believe the same factors may be driving the link between suburban living and teenagers' weight -- the major one being reliance on cars. more...

In urban or truly rural areas, exercise often is part of people's everyday lives. They exercise walking to the store, up and down stairs, or, in the case of rural residents, down to the back 40 to check on the cows. Next time you're heading out, think about whether or not you can walk or take a bike. If you do, you might work off enough to have an extra serving of fried Coke.

Lazy Sunday

One of the best-kept secrets among cooks is that there is no such thing as a bad cut of meat. The French, especially, have a long tradition of taking the cheap, the cast-off, what others believed was inedible or beneath them, and creating magnificent, succulent dishes that many now consider delicacies. The secret is time.

Take a cheap, tough piece of meat, cook it long enough, and you'll end up with tender, delicious food that will have you returning for seconds, if not thirds. And there's no better time to go low and slow than Sunday afternoon.

Beer Braised Ribs

The dry:

• Begin with about three pounds of Chuck flanken style ribs (whether or not that's a real cut of meat is up for debate; I'm just quoting the package), well seasoned with salt and pepper
• Three to five cloves of garlic, crushed and peeled
• About four thin slices of fresh ginger--1/8th an inch by about 3/4 of an inch

The wet:

• Three tablespoons vegetable oil
• Three tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 12 oz brown ale (I used a large, single-serving pint of Newcastle Brown Ale for my recipe, which worked out great because I was able to drink the remainder)
• 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (not too sweet!)

What you do:

1. Place the oil in a heavy stew pot and heat to medium-high
2. Brown the beef in the bottom of the pot, between 1 - 2 minutes per side
• DON'T overload the bottom of the pot. Work in batches; It will prevent the heat from dropping too drastically.
  As the meat is browned, move it off to a bowl on the side.
3. Toss in the garlic and ginger and give it a vigorous stir
4. Add several splashes of the ale to de-glaze the pot's bottom
5. Return the meat to the pot and pour in enough of the ale to just cover the beef
6. Add the rice wine vinegar (for brightness), give everything a good stir and lower the heat to a simmer.
7. Cover and let stand for approximately 1 hour--you don't have to stir, touch, mess with, enhance, or any way do anything with the meat except enjoy the aroma as it fills your house and watch the game on television.
8. After an hour, begin preheating your oven to 350 degrees
9. After another 30 minutes, remove the pot from the stovetop, stir in the barbecue sauce and place the pot into the oven for another 20 to 30 minutes

Serve with mashed or roasted potatoes and a good, bright tasting vegetable, like peas or green beans. Makes two heaping servings with enough left over for a couple delicious midnight snacks.

Pairing
Depending on the amount of barbecue flavor you end up with, you might want to pair the dish with a good hoppy Ale. However, if you go the wine route, any well-structured wine with fine tannins will be able to take the succulent gelatin that coats the ribs when they're served.

For this dish, I went with a 2004, Nine Stones Barossa Shiraz. This luscious, smoky wine has aromas of candied fruit and chocolate with berry overtones that hinted to the black. The wine exhibits definite fruit across the palate, but has tannins and body enough so as not be overwhelming. The finish is long and delicate, leaving traces of mocha and berry. Definitely delicious and a wine that might just be worth cellaring.

French wine too complicated?

The French seem to think so:

Forget about things improving with age. Some officials here are saying French wine needs to be made more appealing to their not-so-vintage countrymen.

Lawmakers said Wednesday that young people in France need better education on the tradition of wine-drinking, according to a report aimed at getting the country's storied but struggling wine industry back on track. more...

James Kim found deceased

I remember watching James' segments on TechTV years ago. I remember his camera reviews often featured pictures of himself with his children. He seemed like a kind and good person, and he clearly loved his family deeply. This is very sad news, but I hope his family and friends can take comfort in his courage and the good memories of James they must have. My thoughts are with them.

Quick tasting notes

The holidays are upon us, and I'll write up some afterthoughts on Thanksgiving wine pairings soon (as an aside, you can't go wrong with a solid Gewürztraminer or, even better, the Beaujolais Nouveaux that supposedly brings good luck for the coming year. It's fruity, light and pairs excellently with the traditional Thanksgiving spread).

To hold you over, I've got some quick tasting notes on a ridiculously inexpensive pinot I picked up at the local wine merchant.

Baron Philippe de Rothschild Pinot Noir, Vin de Pays D'oc, 2005

This wine boasts a lustrous, luminescent ruby color that fades to bright pink at the edges. The color is lively and inviting. The nose is heavy with fruit--cherry, raspberry and a hint of strawberry--and teases with slight savory aromas of sage and other herbs. The wine offers balanced acidity with a supple mouth feel, but blasts the palate with fairly heavy tannins. It could do with a little mellowing in that arena. The finish seemed short as the strong tannins swept clean most lingering flavors.

Food's evolution

KFC describes their new KFC Famous Bowls as "layers of your favorite flavors." In the Potato Bowl, they

"...start with a generous serving of our creamy mashed potatoes, layered with sweet corn and loaded with bite-sized pieces of crispy chicken. Then we drizzle it all with our signature home-style gravy and top it off with a shredded three-cheese blend. It's all your favorite flavors coming together.

Essentially, they've taken a bucket and dropped in mashed potatoes, corn, chicken pieces and cheese scraps and covered it all in gravy. Not long ago, things like this were referred to as table scraps, and we fed them to hogs.

Happy eating!

An autumn pair

A few weeks ago I posted about a wonderful find, the Domaine La Garrigue 2004 Cotes du Rhone Cuvee Romaine, which quickly sold out at my local wine merchant. Its absence had me considering another French wine, the 2004 Cuvee Reservee Vin de Pays Des Coteaux de Bessillies from Domaine Saint Martin de la Garrigue. This garnet red provided a subtle combination of strawberry and plum aromas coupled with a hint of earthiness. The palate was fairly balanced, with good structure and moderate tannins and acidity. The fruit was less noticeable at first, though the wine did open up and could probably do with decanting. The overall mouth feel was lithe and delicate.

I initially paired the wine with a hearty, delicious beef stew my wife had made in small celebration of fall's arrival in Florida:

• Approx. 2 lbs cubed beef for stew
• 2 - 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 2 carrots, chunked
• 1 lb potatoes, cubed
• 1 medium to large onion, chopped* 2 to 3 pounds cubed beef
• 1 carton low-sodium beef stock
• Water as needed
• salt and pepper to taste

Take the ingredients (minus the flour) and place them in a crock pot set for medium-low. Add beef stock, and add water until the ingredients are nearly covered. Let the ingredients cook over medium-low heat for approximately 6 hours. When the cooking time is done, remove the solid ingredients from the stew and slowly stir in the flour to thicken. When the liquid reaches your desired thickness, replace the beef and vegetables and serve with thick-crusted peasant bread.

The wine was a near-perfect pairing, its lithe tannins and subtle acidity providing a nice counter-balance to the stew's hearty flavors. Each bit enabled the wine's flavor to shine, and each sip prepared the palate to fully enjoy the stew's subtle, rich flavors.