Food Pairing for BYOB Bliss

The BYOB Basics class at Just Grapes on Thursday night was enlightening and great. Naturally, it was primarily a food pairing class, with five fantastic dishes prepared by some of the city's BYOB restaurants to each try with six different wines. Delish! It was incredibly fun to experiment with the chemistry happening in my mouth. Here's what I figured out:

1. By far the most versatile of the varietals we tried was a Riesling, in this case O'Reilly's from Yakima Valley, Washington. It was light and drinkable, with a just barely a touch of fruity sweetness, decent acid, and a very clean, almost watery finish. Nice - but I wasn't gaga for it solo. It was absolutely stunning with maki from Meiji, picking up the sweetness in the unagi sauce in particular. Surprisingly, it paired almost as well with guacamole, contrasting the spiciness while complementing the acidity of the lime and tomatoes. It also worked very nicely with pad Thai, although I preferred a Gruner Veltliner slightly more.

2. It's wise to check the BYOB's menu online to pair your meal in advance. If you're unsure about pairing a tricky place, like say, Schwa, where they'll be throwing all kinds of innovative flavors at you (mmm...barnacles), you can print out the menu and take it into your favorite wine store for advice. You'll become an instant darling of the staff.

3. Saving that, it's usually fine to take a few bottles with you to the BYO so you can have some options. Please fetch a decent carrier, so you're not rolling in there all ghetto with your brown paper sacks. The market abounds. Just beware, a few places like Coast Sushi have a limit on the per head amount of alcohol you can bring in.

4. The most versatile food pairing wines are those with low tannin and good acid. Many whites naturally excel at this: most sparklers, Riesling, Albarino, Gruner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and a lot of Chardonnay and Roses are great. Regionally, wines from Alsace and Austria often have that clean style with decent fruit to keep things interesting. For reds: Pinot Noir, Barbera, and Beaujolais are good bets. We stocked up on more of these to have on hand when BYO duty calls, and to play with pairings at home.

5. Stick with that profile especially for anything that's kick-you-in-the-arse spicy, like Mexican or authentic Thai. Tannin and high alcohol will just throw gasoline on your already en fuego situation, mi amor. More sweetness is a great idea to cool you down.

6. Don't fear the fruit. Even sushi tastes fantastic with wine that's showing some interesting fruit character.

7. More robust cuisine with earthy flavors, like a lot of Italian, Spanish, and other Latin food can obviously take bigger tannins. This where the Old World wines of my grandfather work: big, hairy, interesting reds with some Kung Fu acid. Go for it, Don Corleone.

8. If you're in a rush or just totally overwhelmed by wine performance anxiety, grab a bottle of something from the same country as your cuisine. It'll probably work.

9. A technical note: When you're playing with pairings, make sure you have some of the food in your mouth when you actually take a sip of wine. The chemistry happens when the food and wine come into direct contact. I can't think of a better place for such magic than right on my palate.

10. Don't sweat it too much. Open the bottle and enjoy.

Cupcake Provocateur

A co-worker just breezed into my office to ask me whether I've been to the cupcake store up the street? Um. The WHAT?! Apparently a little sweet spot called Sugar Bliss opened on Wabash across from Macy's in January. She knew. Mike Doyle knew. I didn't know. This is what happens when you work 6 gazillion hours a week and walk around stressed out and sleep deprived. You miss out on cupcakes, that's what. No matter. I think fair play means that you have to let a new place get its legs before you go there once or twice and then blog all over them for not being good. Like some cupcake eaters might.

So obviously I need to ditch one of several dozen meetings and get myself there stat. While I'm at it, I'm going to pop around the corner to enjoy cup of Clover-brewed goodness at the Intelligentsia. Call me the un-Doyle.

Nigella 4-Eva

The first time I saw Nigella Lawson, she was deep-frying a Twinkie on Oprah. I was appalled and awe-stricken in the same way you might be in the waiting area of an ER or perhaps a Chicago police precinct on a Saturday morning (oh like you never did it). But then a few minutes into the segment, I felt myself succumbing to her loquacious charm, perfectly pink, pouty lips and old soul banter about needing to play to your strengths in life. And I nodded in unison with Oprah, 'So true, Nigella, so true.'

A few years later this January, I went on a Nigella spree while stuck home with a cold, watching hours of Express segments on YouTube and ordering up the cookbook on Amazon. Like any courtship, I need to live with a cookbook for a while before I decide if we're meant to be. I might fall hard in the beginning. But then it's trial by fire, baby, and you better bring your A-game. And let me just say that after two months, Nigella Express has passed the gauntlet with flying apron strings. She's my girl. Knock her at your own risk. I will cut you.

Some observations:

Linguine with Lemon, Garlic, Thyme and Mushrooms - Sweet Jesus, the brilliance of this sums up the genius of the entire book. Here's a combo of familiar ingredients that you can literally throw together while all cranked out and exhausted after work. And not only is it simply delish, it requires no more actual cooking than boiling water. Magic.

Ginger Passon Fruit Trifle - How is it that we don't have more cookbook authors advocating for the free-form, non-bake, high wow-factor dessert orgasm that is the trifle? How? 'Gella even encourages us to skip the work by acquiring our "sponge" at the store. Her version of dessert perfection calls for none of the patience, all of the pleasure. And it's gorgeous. Yes. Please.

Moonblush Tomatoes - I love three things about this: 1) It's an old idea dusted off, and a damned good one at that -- roasting tomatoes by shutting off a hot oven and leaving them to gradually reduce overnight. 2) She understands that for those of us who are brain dead after a typical workday, "easy" takes different forms. You can't get much lower effort than walking away from the kitchen and going to bed. 3) The results are bloody great. I mixed them into the mushroom pasta above, and a choir of Italian ancestors appeared in my living room to hum sweetly as my husband and I snarfed it down like starved wolves.

Cheddar Cheese Risotto - Imagine what would happen if creamy Arborio rice had sex with mac n' cheese. Now imagine it some more. Keep imagining....I'm not going to tell you it's wrong.

Caramel Croissant Pudding - Are we back to dessert already? Imagine that. Forget food porn, just reading the name of this thing put me in a tailspin. After all those years of turning my nose up at the notion of English puddings, I realized that I'm a big dumb dork. I now have a new outlook: I don't trust people who don't like dogs, or this pudding. Because who wouldn't adore being handed a bowl of this? No one I can hang out with long, I assure you.

And as for the fried Twinkie, I'm defending it as a genius publicity stunt. Got her on Oprah. Beat that.

Sazerac Theatre

Yesterday as a colleague and I enjoyed a walk downtown in the gorgeous sun and dry weather, he asked me if ever I'd had a Sazerac. He's a big fan, I'm a big fan, and this delicious drink is definitely enjoying the huge resurgence in popularity it deserves after being relatively obscure in most parts of the US for ages. For this, we have to thank the group of many new "bar chefs" revolutionizing the cocktail world, most of whom at one point have worked in the bartending captial of the country and home of the Saz, New Orleans.

There are over a dozen videos on YouTube to teach you to mix it, all of them featuring a fairly hefty history lesson -- it's the George Washington of cocktails after all. This is the best one I found, once you get past the intro. Cheers!

Michelle Obama: Lovin' America with Risotto

The IFA blog posted a piece this morning on the state of the American corporate cafeteria. Having worked for the non-profit sector all my career, the thought of having such an employee amenity at my disposal is as foreign as Christmas bonuses or office parties not preceded by the word "potluck."

Even so, IFA makes a great point. How can we even pretend to care about the quality of the meals we feed kids in public schools when most corporate cafeterias - the Beemer of high-volume lunchrooms - sell adults swill smothered in cheese? My observation has been that European companies do an amazing job of offering cafeterias with impressive food - a truth illustrated by the change that happened when my husband's Dutch employer was bought out by an American company last fall. Literally overnight, the employee cafeteria food went from fresh fish grilled to order to coagulated meatloaf sitting under a heat lamp. And the meatloaf was more expensive.

I was inspired by another news item this morning that occurred in a cafeteria setting most consider to be even below the standards of a public school: Michelle Obama volunteered at a soup kitchen in DC yesterday. Rather than serve their usual menu, she brought with her mushroom risotto and broccoli from the White House kitchen. That kind of respect for how we nourish other people's bodies and spirits in even the most basic of ways isn't the norm, which favors efficiency, convenience, and cost containment. This makes me like Michelle even more.

Lighter Reds with Moves

You know how you're always buying the same little black dress over and over again ... only to realize that your prized new booty has 7 clones to cavort with in the closet? Or maybe it's the same black turtleneck or snakeskin fuchsia clutch (my, my, I can't imagine who would do THAT). Whatever form it takes, when we really like something we tend to fall for it again and again. This is a rut, people, and it can even happen with wine.

My honey and I are a New World, fruit forward couple. I know that's awfully personal, but it's true. So we often end up lugging home more than a few bottles of big, sexy, fruit bomb wine, only to wonder why we never have anything to go with the veggie pizza I like on a weeknight. We finally got wise a few months ago and started reigning ourselves in at the wine store...FOCUS! We need light reds! Bold whites! Step AWAY from the Shiraz and Barolos!

Alas, the trick to any rehab program is finding a few solid standbys that work over the long haul. Here are two we've begun to warm up to:

Makor Merlot, Bien Nacido Vineyards, Santa Barbara County "Westside," CA - Aside from the obviously cool gangland terroir, Makor isn't your average soft, flabby Merlot. Tea, tar, chocolate, and black cherries with great structure and balance have me all over it.

Graziano Zinfandel 2005, Mendocino, CA - Some wines are just totally drinkable and delicious, and this is one of them. It's filled with red fruit, white pepper, and smoke, so it's ideal with anything grilled.

Sexy Vocab 101

My brilliant friend Janet forwarded me a new word that I love so much, I have to share it. Art, wine and literary geeks, rejoice with me.

vinaceous - \vye-NAY-shus\
adjective

Meaning
: of the color of red wine

Example Sentence

Matisse's The Red Studio painting at MOMA is a moving example of a vinaceous interior that seems to fill the entire gallery with its vibrancy.

Cue the Civic Minded Cake Consumption!

Today is Chicago's 172nd birthday, and I can't imagine she's ever looked or tasted better.

I mean seriously.... We have a sparkling, gorgeous lakefront; a twinkly Bean in Millennium Park; and the Art Institutes' absolutely stunning Modern Wing opening in a matter of months (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), and that's just within a few square city blocks. We have Grant Achatz and Michael Carlson keeping the entire culinary world guessing what's next. We have dozens of home-grown boutiques dedicated exclusively to shockingly exotic truffles, gourmet cupcakes, and organic cookies for dogs. We even have cult-status gourmet cocktail bars so rarefied, no one can get into them. Oh, yes, and there's certain former Senator in the White House, and a very promising bid for the Olympics brewing.

So I don't want to hear any boohooing about the economy or the weather today, people! Today, I want to see cake and candles and puppies frolicking. May I suggest something luscious from Sweet Mandy B's on the way home? Or a cocktail named for our fair city?

Chicago Cocktail
A classic after-dinner drink from the city of big shoulders

2 oz. Brandy
1 oz. Champagne
Dash of Angostura Bitters
Dash Triple Sec

Use a cocktail glass with a sugar rim (make by rubbing a lemon around the rim and then dipping in powdered sugar). Then combine ingredients (except the champagne) in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into the glass. Finally, add the champagne.

The Clueless Urban Farm Chick

Last Christmas, I decided 2009 is my year to plant a rooftop garden. Maybe it was reading the Blue Zones book, which told that me that planting any garden is one of the healthiest things a homo sapien can do to grow old gracefully. Maybe Mayor Daley (aka Mayor Flowerpot) and his Green Mafia finally got to me. But more than likely it was the crap tomatoes at the grocery store. That, and the fact that I have a 900 square foot rooftop deck that I share with only my husband and a Chihuahua. I'm a lucky girl, and there's definitely room up there for a few veggies to take root.

I definitely want herbs. I definitely want tomatoes. I know there's going to be some big containers with some nice, happy dirt. Aside from that, I'm clueless. Ironically, my family has owned a company that has sold horticultural products to garden centers for over 20 years, so...it seems like some knowledge by osmosis should kick in. But there's something that feels so different about an urban rooftop environment at the 41st North latitude. It's not a greenhouse in the Rocky Mountains.

What I have learned from the past two summers on the roof is that it's exposed to blazing hot sun and some occasionally fierce wind over the relatively short Chicago growing season. I need hearty stuff that can take full sun.

All forms of advice are welcome. So far, I'm starting to study up with the Mayor's green roof guide. I can just picture him sleeping with a copy of it under his pillow, dreams of radishes dancing in his sweaty head.

Jugo Verde for the Soul

We returned last night from a perfect long weekend in Mexico to... well, the regularly scheduled Chicago winter starring sleet, snow, and their cranky bed mistress, the blahs. Ay carumba, I miss the Yucatan. By the time I trudged my way into work this morning, I wanted to smash my computer with a hammer. Instead I settled for a cup of tea and scratched at my itchy, sunburned shoulders.

What would cure this funk is a nice tall glass of the happiness I discovered on the brunch buffet Saturday morning - jugo verde. After chugging my third or fourth glass of its delightfully sweet, green goodness, I realized that I 1) felt awesome, and 2) had no idea what it was. Exotic tropical fruit? No, mamacita. Turns out it's simply jucified parsley, maybe with a little pineapple juice mixed in. That's it. I could actually spelunk into the depths of a cabinet right now, dig out my juicer and whip up a batch of the stuff tonight.

In Chicago. Where my soul has once again become encased in a layer of icy winter discontent.