2016
I've always liked the idea to record my cooking and drinking adventures for posterity but it's been 9 months since my last update and I've missed out numerous achievements.
There was the summer of caponata. Umami explosion, always welcome. The key is the balance of sweet with sugar and sharp with red wine vinegar. You need to cook the veg separately so that when you put it all together to simmer with the tomatoes, everything is at the same stage (esp nice chunks of aubergine and celery, which cook very differently). For extra Med veg, I prefer red peppers to courgettes and red onions to yellow. Goes without saying that good olives and olive oil is a must. More contrast with toasted pine nuts against raisins. Salted capers are welcome and a touch of chili spice -- not too much -- also works. Garlic is unnecessary. Finish with basil, oregano, parsley or even (almost preferably) mint! Serve with any crusty bread handy, I dare you to stop before it's gone.
There were also two sets of fabulous tacos. More carnitas, but the star was the vegetarian option. Dried black turtle beans, cooked with with aromatics and a tin of corn stirred in at the end. Served with corn tortillas, soured cream (or similar), a slice of avocado, and some sort of homemade salsa. It was the salsa that kicked off the taco fest - I found tomatilloes here. So a salsa verde, but then also a roasted tomato salsa and a fresh pico de gallo. All were good, but I would have been proud to serve the bean ones to anyone on earth.
By the way, the cooked salsas involved roasting the tomatoes or tomatillos in the oven with onion, garlic and chilis, then blending with fresh lime and seasoning. Cumin adds an interesting dimension - good with or without, just different.
There was also a pork and kale dish I knocked together that I was particularly proud of, again I'd have happily served it to anyone. I should have recorded it at the time, but basically slowly roasted belly pork, on like a stew of kale and barlotti beans, deglazed with a bit of vinegar. That might be a bit vague as a recipe, even for me... :-/
Lastly from my notes for the year, I see I've really fallen for white rhones. Had a delicious CdP Blanc (Ch St Michelle - later bought a case from another vintage) as well as a Croze Hermitage blanc. Not the easiest to get a hold of, unfortunately.
There was the summer of caponata. Umami explosion, always welcome. The key is the balance of sweet with sugar and sharp with red wine vinegar. You need to cook the veg separately so that when you put it all together to simmer with the tomatoes, everything is at the same stage (esp nice chunks of aubergine and celery, which cook very differently). For extra Med veg, I prefer red peppers to courgettes and red onions to yellow. Goes without saying that good olives and olive oil is a must. More contrast with toasted pine nuts against raisins. Salted capers are welcome and a touch of chili spice -- not too much -- also works. Garlic is unnecessary. Finish with basil, oregano, parsley or even (almost preferably) mint! Serve with any crusty bread handy, I dare you to stop before it's gone.
There were also two sets of fabulous tacos. More carnitas, but the star was the vegetarian option. Dried black turtle beans, cooked with with aromatics and a tin of corn stirred in at the end. Served with corn tortillas, soured cream (or similar), a slice of avocado, and some sort of homemade salsa. It was the salsa that kicked off the taco fest - I found tomatilloes here. So a salsa verde, but then also a roasted tomato salsa and a fresh pico de gallo. All were good, but I would have been proud to serve the bean ones to anyone on earth.
By the way, the cooked salsas involved roasting the tomatoes or tomatillos in the oven with onion, garlic and chilis, then blending with fresh lime and seasoning. Cumin adds an interesting dimension - good with or without, just different.
There was also a pork and kale dish I knocked together that I was particularly proud of, again I'd have happily served it to anyone. I should have recorded it at the time, but basically slowly roasted belly pork, on like a stew of kale and barlotti beans, deglazed with a bit of vinegar. That might be a bit vague as a recipe, even for me... :-/
Lastly from my notes for the year, I see I've really fallen for white rhones. Had a delicious CdP Blanc (Ch St Michelle - later bought a case from another vintage) as well as a Croze Hermitage blanc. Not the easiest to get a hold of, unfortunately.