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Thursday, February 13, 2014

Lamb...& Deep Fried Soft Boiled Egg


I rarely blog on the day of the creation, but it’s a snowy night (it was a snowy day - again), and I made some fun things today, and I can’t help but share some recipes.

In keeping with my posting lately what I’m listening to while I write, it’s Boccherini.

I felt like making a cool appetizer tonight before dinner, but I had to use only ingredients that are already in the house, since there was no venturing out in that snow today.  There are usually more than enough fun ingredients in the kitchen anyway but still, I had to choose something that involved only ingredients that were already here.

I chose something new that I’d never made before - deep fried soft boiled eggs.

If it sounds amazing, it is.  I chose a basic Bordeaux blanc for it.  I boiled a few eggs for about 7 minutes and then let them cool in cold water.  After peeling them VERY carefully, I rolled them in flour, and then in beaten egg and then rolled them in panko crumbs.  Into a small pot of very hot oil and remove them just a few moments later with a slotted spoon once they’re just golden brown and ever so slightly crispy, and that’s it!  They’re runny and delicious and I’d do that again in a heartbeat.

For dinner, it was lamb, a green leafy salad, and baked potatoes.  The lamb was awesome.  The chops are pan seared medium/medium-rare.  And then just when the lamb is almost cooked, I deglazed the pan with just a bit of basic Bordeaux rouge.  Once the lamb was removed from the pan, I drizzled it with just a bit of what was left at the bottom of the pan, plus a little balsamic vinegar.  The topping I made for the lamb was minced garlic sauteed a bit, with kosher salt, black pepper, some lemon zest, and fresh chopped rosemary and parsley.  Once it’s all cooked down and mixed together, I just applied it and pressed it a bit into the lamb.  And that’s it.

The lamb was paired with the 2009 Grgich Hills Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.  To me, it’s an old school style, almost Bordeaux type of California wine.  Reminiscent of dark plum and plum flesh, blackberry, raspberry, and black currant, with dark chocolate, subtle vanilla, herbs, lilac, and what I like to call “pencil shaving” - the wood and the graphite minerality - quite delicious anyway, with a soft texture, smooth, dry, clean, and balanced, with a lengthy finish.  I could not have been more pleased.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Coq au Vin & Snickerdoodles


California Pinot Noir and some American jazz standards on this snowy evening...

Snowy day today
Actually, it snowed all day.  So what did I do?  Well, I did the grocery shopping early this morning, and after a very slippery drive home, I did my work from home today, and then baked snickerdoodles, and made coq au vin for dinner, and opened a bottle of Pinot Noir.  And enjoyed a few more chapters of a wonderful book this evening, which was a Christmas gift - George Washington’s Secret Six, by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yeager, about the Culper Spy Ring that was secretly a tremendous part of the American Revolutionary War.  It’s something that fascinates me since a great deal of it took place right here where I live.  Literally.
Snickerdoodles

But about what I made...

I’m really into cookie recipes.  Usually I’m undertaking something difficult or working to perfect recipes I’ve been working with for years (see some of my Christmas cookie recipes back in December posts), or enjoying a classic.  But there was one cookie I really wanted to try (especially since I’d never even tasted one before) - the snickerdoodle.  Don’t ask me why, but I really wanted to.  So when I saw it was snowing this morning, I decided it was a snickerdoodle sort of day.  And it was.

And it’s fun using the new Kitchen Aid stand mixer too.  I blended together butter, sugar, and eggs, and then added flour, salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda.  And after chilling the cookie sheets and the dough (which was easy as I just left them out on the covered porch for a few moments in the winter air), I rolled the dough into small balls and coated them with cinnamon sugar, and baked them.  It’s really as simple as it sounds!  And they’re delicious and fun.

Coq au vin going into the oven
Coq au vin - finished!
Coq au vin is not nearly as intimidating as it may sound.  I’ve made it a bunch of times but each time it seems to get better.  I use chicken thighs since I strongly prefer dark meat, but obviously you can use any and all chicken parts.  I heat some olive oil in a dutch oven, and brown the chicken thighs a bit, until they’re golden, and season them with kosher salt and black pepper.  I then remove the chicken pieces and deglaze the bottom of the pot, and add some sliced onions, and cook them until they’re softened.  I return the chicken to the pot, and then cover it with the rest of the bottle of Pinot Noir (I used a Romanian Pinot) and some chicken stock, and finished it off with a bit more kosher salt and black pepper, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and several cloves of popped and roughly chopped garlic.  I simmer it for about 10-15 minutes, and then into the oven, covered, for another hour or so, at about 375 degrees F.  It really isn’t difficult at all.  And it smells amazingly good, and pairs very nicely with Burgundy, Bordeaux, and the like.

Tomorrow night’s menu promises to be easy and fun too - creamy roasted red pepper and basil sauce on macaroni, and a caprese salad, with (in all likelihood) a nice Italian red.