Since moving out to California, I've developed a better appreciation for wine. I think it's just one of those things that happens when you're surrounded by great wineries. It also doesn't hurt that in the past few years, wineries have been producing great wines at much more reasonable prices. I'm not at a point where I notice specific flavors in a wine (such as kiwi or red plum) but I'm getting to the point where I can tell when a wine is more interesting than another. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a lightweight so more than a glass and I'm tipsy.
Zeb's cooking tonight. We're having Pan-Fried Salmon with Pinot Noir and Thyme (Williams-Sonoma Pacific Northwest, pg. 40) and herbed mashed potatoes (mashed potatoes with a package of herbed cheese mixed in). My first day back from vacation and I just really didn't feel like cooking. Sounds like I picked a good one to skip from the sounds of Zeb yelping from the splattering oil. That should be a fun meal to clean up!
Tomorrow night we're having friends over, Lisa and Jason. They're the ones that really got me thinking that fabulous food could be made at home without all of the processed out of a box crap. Their cookbook collection makes me drool. Literally, when they lived in the area, I would spend visits just perusing their collection. Jason makes his own curry from scratch and Lisa's got a recipe for these delectable glazed carrots that I've never been able to duplicate. Anyway, we're going to have Apricot Glazed Chicken and couscous (Ainsley Harriot's Barbeque Bible). I hope it turns out well!
Just finished dinner. The salmon was SO good! It had this delectable crust, peppery and sweet all at once. Williams-Sonoma cookbooks are pretty consistent with delivering delicious recipes without too much fuss. The recipes are more involved than Rachel Ray's but not as hard as say Julia Childs'. Zeb used a Pepperwood Grove 2002 Pinot Noir in the dish and we drank the rest. While I said above that I couldn't pick out specific flavors, with this wine, I was actually able to notice a deep fruit flavor before the spicy bite. According to the website, it was cherries. All I know is that I'll pick this one up again. It was less than $10 at Raley's.
One thing I HATE about cooking salmon indoors is that the whole house reeks afterwards. While I enjoy the smell when I'm eating, after I'm full, it just makes me ill. And it seems to linger for days. I tried a bit of air freshener but oftentimes that can be even worse! I'm a big fan of grilled salmon. Maybe next time this recipe comes around, I might be able to talk Zeb into making it on the outdoor grill's burner. Would save on the oil cleanup, that's for sure!
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The lingering reek of salmon is a childhood memory for me -- my father apparently won't eat rare or, more honestly, anything other than burned-all-to-hell salmon. Because of this, my mother broils the salmon wayyyyy to long and resulting stink is impressive indeed (there's a D&D spell called "stinking cloud" ... I think it's patterned after my mom's salmon cooking).
Anyway, it took many years (and Zeb's mom's salmon recipe) for me to be able to eat salmon. I think that I still prefer it raw or very rare to cooked ... but I will at least eat it cooked now. I'm going to try steaming it w/ some rosemary ... it might work.
Oh, and salmon season opens on April 2 -- Renee and I will be out on a boat as soon as we can. And this time, I actually know how to filet the damn things properly. :-)
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