Category Archives: Wine

The Dating Game: Beef and Root Vegetable Tagine

Tagine 2

She Said:

Wine’s at temperature, the aroma of exotic spices fills the kitchen, and the music is a playin’. An ideal Saturday date night at home.

It was our first full day in the house post-holidays sans guests. I could think of no better way to spend a few hours than breaking out the tagine my husband gave me for Christmas and taking her for a spin. Thanks to Hollygrove Market’s weekly produce box we had some fresher than fresh ingredients to toy around with. 

If you google tagine, you’ll find it means two things: both the traditional covered clay vessel used for slow cooking in North Africa and the meals that are the result. While in Marrakech last year we were fortunate enough to take a hands-on class in the technique, but the clay pots were to heavy and unwieldy to pack and bring back. And if you don’t have the actual clay pot, you can use a dutch oven to similar effect, so don’t cross tagine off your list for want of equipment. What I like about tagine cooking is the long slow braise, well-suited not only to blending the flavors of the dish, but also producing a relaxing at home event. Think comfort food at it’s finest. Continue reading

I Stole a Recipe and I Liked It: Shrimp and Mango Ceviche

Shrimp and Mango Ceviche

She Said:

This was never the way I planned. Not my intention.

I got so brave, wine in hand. Lost my discretion.

Perhaps it was the 5 days spent at a conference in Orlando this week. After arriving home Friday evening to say I was ass-kicked would be an understatement. And the idea of a scale after 5 straight days of conference food left me searching for the nearest bottle.

Lucky for me, while I was away Steve attended a wine tasting of the Top 10 Summer Wines at Whole Foods. I often wonder how we get invited to these from time-to-time, and then I see my credit card statement detailing the aftermath of said tastings. It is much safer for the male half of this relationship to attend because the last time I brought along a girlfriend and ended up with 18 bottles of what was sampled that evening.

Never before this night have we tried the recipes accompanying the featured wines. But after the week I had this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Steve had specifically mentioned a Greek wine that he tasted, Kyklos Moschofilero. Per Whole Foods description: This light straw-colored white has melon, white rose, and citrus flavors with some fresh vegetable notes, providing a zingy, pleasant finish. A great pairing with seafood, this is a fun substitute for chardonnay or pinot grigio.Our take was slightly less refined and simply put, it reminds me of a sauvignon blanc in that it is both light and crisp. This is a great summer wine and pairs very well with seafood. Suggested as a pairing with a calamari pasta, we opted instead for an alternative recipe of shrimp and mango ceviche.

We both loved this dish, so much so that we felt we needed to share it. It is perfect on a 90 degree plus summer day when you don’t want to heat up the house and are vying for something light, fresh and delicious. In other words, perfect for every day for the next three months. The ideal combination of cilantro, lime, shrimp and mango left us yearning for immediate transportation to the Caribbean. Try this and serve it to friends. You won’t be disappointed.

We followed the recipe exactly and opted to serve it over a bed of a baby Asian lettuce blend. I thoroughly enjoyed the crunch of the lettuce and imagine that this would also be fantastic with some tortilla or pita chips as a dip.

Whole Foods Shrimp and Mango Ceviche:

Serves 6 to 8

This fully cooked, brightly flavored ceviche is good enough to eat all by itself, piled into bowls over shredded lettuce and served as an appetizer or light lunch. But don’t hesitate to scoop it up with tortilla chips, too.

Ingredients

3/4 pound (about 30) medium peeled-and-deveined shrimp
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
6 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1 large mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
1 tomato, cored and chopped
1 or 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded (if desired) and finely chopped
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Method

Bring a medium pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add shrimp and cook until pink and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold running water and drain again.

Chop shrimp into 1/2-inch pieces and transfer to a large bowl. Add onion, lime juice, cilantro, mango, tomato, jalapeño and salt and toss well. Cover and chill until cold, about 1 hour.

Nutrition

Per serving: 80 calories (10 from fat), 1g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 75mg cholesterol, 330mg sodium, 8g total carbohydrate (1g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 10g protein

Drink Up! Whole Foods Holiday Wine Tasting

Derek Gavey

She Said:

Will you be having Chardonnay or Claret, Riesling or Rhone?

Over the next week and a half, we’ll be thrust into the maelstrom of ‘the most wonderful time of the year.’ Whether you intend to spread the cheer or say bah humbug, one thing is for certain, you’ll likely be doing so with a glass in hand. Well, that is if you are anything like me.

For some the holidays can be a bit stressful. There are parties to attend, families to endure, and cash flying out of our bank accounts faster than Kim Kardashian unwinds an I Do. The social obligations abound and along with that is a constant necessity to show up bearing gifts. I hope we all agree that it is not socially acceptable to show up empty-handed.  I’m pretty sure I have finally converted even my father to this premise, which is no small feat.

So the challenge is, what to bring? Everybody has their own culinary traditions, and you know what dishes are your stars, so who am I to project my personal food fetishes on you? (well unless you happen to be gracing any of the events that I will attend) Instead, I’ll suggest you bring wine. It’s always a safe bet. If you are a wine novice, or are simply seeking easy options, I have the perfect event for you.

This Thursday, Whole Foods Arabella Station and Metairie will host Whole Foods Market in-store Twitter Tasting of Top 10 Holiday Wines.  Beginning at 7pm, guests will be invited to taste and tweet their thoughts on global wine buyers Doug Bell and Geof Ryan’s top 12 picks (I guess they wanted a little lagniappe). 

Each of these wines are in the solidly affordable range from $8.99 to $14.99 and will be on special over the next two months in stores. If you can’t get there, check out the live twitter feed at: Twitter.com/WFMWineGuys

I was fortunate enough to attend an advance tasting last week (producing delicious envy from my otherwise committed husband) and my ‘research’ produced seventeen bottles to take home, which ought to get us at least to Thanksgiving. A few tips: If you’re lucky, you just might get to taste Whole Foods exclusive Camembert Herve’ Mons cheese while enjoying your vino! Be sure to try the Cantora Carmenere Cab and the Innovacion Malbec-Tempranillo blend, which were among my favorites.

Remember, a house without wine for the holidays is a sad house indeed. Santa does not live on milk and cookies alone, so act like a barfly boyscout and be prepared!

Drink Like a Grownup: Patrick’s Bar Vin

Patrick's Bar Vin

He Said:

Want a side of history with your glass of wine?

What if I told you that you could go out for some vino (or a cocktail) and be 100% guaranteed to learn something interesting you didn’t know before? Not a bad proposition, right?

As of yesterday, you can.  Patrick’s Bar Vin, New Orleans’ newest wine bar, opened its doors Tuesday, giving wine geeks like me another compelling option. We’re in a kind of golden age of the wine bar in NOLA these days, and lovers of the grape have choices that suit almost any taste, from the Bywater funkiness of Bacchanal to the Riverbend luxe of Oak and everything in between. But Bar Vin offers something the others will find hard to match. Continue reading

Memories of NOWFE

She Said:

My first time was 6 years ago.  It all started one Thursday evening strolling down Royal Street with my eventual husband (I like the fact that we experienced the inaugural indulgence as a couple).  I am talking about the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience’s Royal Street Stroll of course!

We enjoyed the stroll so much that the following year we added a Vintner Dinner. That night at the Windsor Court changed my life, perhaps not cosmically, but certainly regarding  my approach to food and wine. To this point in my existence, I had never had a truly mind-blowing dinner, much less one paired with fantastic wines. I had no idea what I was getting into (other than $250) and was completely blown away. What stood out to us was not only the indulgent atmosphere but also the fact that this NOWFE dinners were like some secret life of which we’d been blissfully unaware for years. By the end of the evening NOWFE, and the vintner dinners in particular, were on the must-do list.

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Meet us at MiLa: New Orleans Wine and Food Experience 2011

Fields of Pinot in the Willamette Valley

He and She Said:

You are going to dinner with us, right?

We’re winos, ok? Let’s just get that out of the way first. We know what a good wine dinner is (and what it is not, but no hating today). The Wednesday Vintner Dinners at the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (NOWFE) are on our non-negotiable must-do list each year, and they should be on yours as well.

But, there’s a small problem. All of the dinners are on the same night (May 25 this year) so you have to choose which restaurant to grace with your commerce. There are many good alternatives, but the breadth of the list can be a bit overwhelming, and who wants that?

Overwhelming sucks, when you really get down to it. We’re going to MiLa, and we think you should too.

Why MiLa? The world as we see it pretty clearly breaks into two categories: Those who have been to MiLa and can’t wait to return, and those who have not been and should go.

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Into the Madness: Mardi Gras 2011 begins

She Said:

‘When are you going to get the hell out of this God-forsaken shit-hole of a town?’

Getting sideways at Krewe of Cork

I bequeath to you an excerpt from a conversation had with my boss two weeks ago.  It’s like Groundhog Day each time we discuss my interest in a move to Houston so we can ‘grow the business.’  Those who know me just a little can imagine how much the whole ‘New Orleans is a shithole’ angle incentivizes me.  Kinda like telling a parent her kid is ugly. But there are times in life when you have to throw in the towel on an issue and agree to disagree. I like my job, so perhaps this is one such instance, one in which it is in my  best professional interest to politely decline rather than try and yet again defend NOLA culture  versus that of Houston.  (Yes, we truly have had this conversation and it went something like…’New Orleans has Jazz Fest and Mardi Gras and Houston has..?’)  I digress here, but seriously?

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The Prettiest Tree in the Forest: Oak

She Said:

Listen up Pretty People, this one’s for you: Oak.  This is yet another of the Gastropubs popping up around the city. There are at least four newbies in this genre. In addition to Oak, there is Boulingy, Three Muses, and Sylvain. We’ve spent time at each, and you can click the links for reviews of the others. Opened last year and billing itself as a ‘sexy and sophisticated new bar and eatery,’ Oak was initially managed by former Restaurant August sommelier Michelle Geuydan and occupies the Carrollton end of the street of the same name in Riverbend.

Go here for: The drinks, plain and simple (not the drinks, but the directive). Appropriately enough for a sommelier’s creation, there are 34 wines by the glass. That is a phenomenal list, perhaps the best in the city. Also, if you spend any time at the bar, you will soon learn that cocktails here are an art form as well, an approach fast becoming standard equipment in any upscale NOLA venue.

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2011 French Quarter Wine Festival: Survival of the Fittest

He Said:

Maison Dupuy  just announced the wineries on the schedule their 2011 Wine Festival. Unless we receive word that significant changes have been made, we won’t be attending, and neither should you.

Strong words, I know. We are restaurant fans and apologists at this blog, as well as dedicated oenophiles, and we do not write very negative posts without much forethought. In this case, the justification exists.

The lineup of vintners for 2011 is very strong, including Opus One, Duckhorn, Cakebread, Hess, Chateau Palmer, Sliver Oak, and WillaKenzie. For those unfamiliar, Meritage, the hotel restaurant, designs a menu around (usually) a single vintner, pairing dishes around the various releases, including some of whatever the flagship cuvee that winery produces and often bottles that do not get wide release. Representatives from the winery are on hand, and you get an opportunity to learn about the story behind the wine. We think it’s a great way to dig deeply into a producer’s offering, and Maison Dupuy offers fourteen such chances for the 2011 festival. The New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (NOWFE) holds similar dinners, but they are all on the same Wednesday night, so you must pick one.

We live part-time in the Quarter, we love the grape, so this should be right in our sweet spot, right? Not exactly.

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Sylvain: Chartres Just Got Better

He Said:

We may have to rethink our list of the coolest places to dine al fresco in NOLA:

We dropped in on Sylvain last night, the new place at 625 Chartres, just down the street from the Cathedral, in the space formerly occupied by La  Marquise pastry shop. Sylvain is marketed as a gastropub, “historic, yet thoroughly modern,” as their tag line puts it. It’s new, it’s in our hood: We had to check it out.

The interior space is dark and cozy, with a bar along one side and tables down the other, but the killer app here has to be the very large courtyard. Really, stinkin’ nice!  Because it was, like, 80 degrees last night, we opted for inside dining. But, once it cools down the outside space is worth a visit for its own sake.

First things first: this place is loud. Loud as in, raise your voices a little bit to have conversation at your table loud. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into. I would never suggest this as the quiet romantic place ideal for the whispering of sweet nothings. But, so what? NOLA’s got lots of those places if you want them, and this is after all a pub, even if you put the gastro-tag on the front of it. Within that context, we think the volume worked. This is a great place to bring a crew, and in fact there was a group of ladies celebrating a birthday at the table next to ours. My wife said the vibe reminded her of some places in Spain: so, think old-worldish, fun, lively, and energized.

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