Bison

Up until last night I would have said these salmon fish sticks were the best thing I've had to eat this year. They're delicious. Loving salmon and growing up on Mrs Paul's, finding salmon inside my fish stick is crazy good.

I surf the web looking for recipes all the time. I try to have something new every week. Which is easy enough when you first start playing that game but becomes more challenging as time passes. I came across a grilled bison steak recipe that set the wheels turning. I've had bison but it was so long ago I don't remember whether I liked it or not. I've seen it at the local supermarket but the thought just never occurred to me to buy it.

Because bison has almost no fat it cooks quickly and overcooks easily. You want to sear it but you want less heat than you'd use for beef. These bison medallions are pretty widely available so that's what I decided I'd have.

I marinated my bison medallion (basically it's a loin section) in a chimichurri all day, dried it, seasoned it, skewered it and put it under a broiler suspended across a cast iron pan. Like this:

Skewered, under a broiler, over a cast iron pan
I expected it would be about 3 minutes each side. I probably should have preheated my broiler longer. Ended up taking 6 or 7 minutes each side.

Hands down the *best* thing I've had to eat this year
It was moist and flavorful. A little bit chewy. I like chewy. I was never a fan of really tender beef. Those are little red potatoes roasted in duck fat alongside and chimichurri spooned over the top.

I had a French Pinot Noir with it
I think a Cabernet Sauvignon would have been just fine and I read somewhere that the Presidential Inaugural Luncheon's second course served a California Merlot.

Choosing wine

I collect teacups.

Royal Crown Derby (made sometime after 1890)
What does that have to do with choosing wine?!

Well. There's a saying in the antiques and collectibles world: "buy things you like". I think art collectors say the same thing.

I think the same phrase applies to wine.

Good stuff
This is a much "nicer" wine than I'd normally have. Well. It's a more "expensive" wine than I'd normally have. I liked it. But I couldn't help but wonder how it really stood up against my favorite. Carlo Rossi Chianti.

I'm a *huge* fan of blind taste tests. I like Top Chef but I'd really rather see blind judging. We just can't help our biases and preconceptions.

I often blind taste test things. Sometimes I need help with that and sometimes, if things look similar enough, I can label containers and shuffle them around enough so I don't which is which. And that's what I did here. My hands down favorite? Well I probably wouldn't write about this if it was the expensive one! Yes, I preferred jug wine to the Fancy Pants Stuff. I was a little surprised with how easily I made my decision. I didn't have to go back and forth to think about it.

Maybe I just have an untrained palate. Maybe genetically I can't really tell. No that's not it. Because I can tell one from the other. I just prefer my wine from a jug. Mostly. Food will often have something to do with what I prefer.

So here's my advice when choosing wine. Pick something different now and then and if you *really* like it a lot, make a note of it. I have several favorites. But most of the time? It's more like Pepsi vs. Coke.

Never mind expert opinions. Every time I read a review where the author comments on the "quick legs" and what's "on the nose" and the "peppery" or worse..the "grassy notes" along with poetic descriptions of the "finish" I'm sorry, I just want to gag. I want the kind of wine old men drink from water glasses on hot dusty days with people dancing in the street.

Pussy willows are out! A week or so earlier than last year.

Tuesday 13 March 2012
I actually first noticed these on 7 March while out walking.

Get out the good stuff

I've been saving this...
I look forward to my friend T's fishing trips as much as he does.

I have salmon fillets and a brown trout fillet. He had a *huge* steelhead fillet I just didn't have room for in my freezer.
I always do a simple maple syrup or teriyaki glaze on my grilled salmon so I decided I'd try a mustard glaze for a change.

A treat money can't buy
Did you know wild salmon turns mostly white when you cook it? Farm raised salmon gets its coral pink color from dyes in the food pellets. It keeps most of its pink color when it's cooked. So I'm told anyway.

I mixed up a honey Dijon mustard sauce with a splash of soy sauce.

I painted the glaze on the salmon for its last minute in the oven. I drizzled a couple of tablespoons over the salmon on the plate. Some fresh dill would have been excellent with the honey mustard but I just happened to have some fresh cilantro I wanted to use.

I think honey glazed carrots with parsley is *perfect* for salmon but I didn't want to overdo the honey so I had peppermint peas with it. Good choice. In the wintertime I always have a red wine with salmon. Sometimes in the summertime I'll have a white wine with it.

I have two recipes I want to try. One is a parchment baked treatment. I've never done a parchment baked fish. And the other is a simple baked treatment. I've wanted to try the simple baked recipe for I don't know how long.

Field Trip!

Of course you know I just loved this.

Fermenters and...wine barrels!
Did you know wine barrels can cost up to $1500 each?! I had no idea.

We went to visit Nashoba Valley Winery and toured the winery.

Just as luck would have it..we enjoyed a private personal tour! We were the only ones there. How cool is that!

Nashoba Valley Winery is a 52 acre orchard in Bolton Massachusetts that's been making fruit wines for many years now. Before you think "Boone's Farm" - Nashoba Valley is highly regarded and they produce lovely premium wines.

For dessert their raspberry wine with dark chocolate truffles is an all time personal favorite dessert.

They distill their own spirits now! With the first (and only?) - legal - farmer's still in Massachusetts.

Cute little still
The still yields 5 gallons. I tasted the single malt whiskey that came from that still and it was holy crap good.

We enjoyed our visit. Our tour guide, Laura, I think was her name, was warm and gracious and we tasted several wines during our tour. I thought the Vidal Blanc would go really well with some white fish, like flounder or haddock and I'll buy it sometime. The Riesling was very good but it was a little sweet for me. The St. Croix I thought was interesting and I can't decide about the Stawberry dessert wine. I might have to sample more of that!

And they brew beer at the orchard. In some cases they use their own hops they grow right on the property.

A trellis of hops. I love hops!
So it turns out this visit was about as bad as going to a tack shop! Just once I'd like to go to tack shop and leave without spending a hundred bucks!

I had to get some of their grappa. I love grappa. And some elderberry brandy (that will help chase away the cold), and some Dry Blueberry wine. And a small assortment of beer and hard cider. Their shop has very nice wine racks and very nice hand made glassware. So I had to get a nice martini glass as a memento.

We had a really good time although I don't think the personal private tour is at all common. I understand that normally the tour group size is limited and there are typically quite a lot of people. And they can be lined up 7 or 8 deep at the tasting bar. I don't think I'd like that.

But we had a great afternoon here!

I'm celebrating

With lamb chops!

Fairmount Fruit Farm has pasture raised lamb free from any added hormones. This is just delicious lamb! These are loin chops. I fixed creamy polenta and steamed green beans to go with them.

I got some shanks too for lamb stew.

Now, I realize this is every day stuff for some people but this is a big treat for me. It went really well with my lamb chops.

Vacation wine

Some people have wine like this every day.

Not me. Actually, I think "not I" is grammatically correct. Whatever. This is special. This is ..."vacation wine".

I can't believe it's Labor Day. Where did the summer go?

I lost almost 80 pounds...to improve my riding. I gave up cigarettes. Just because I didn't want to do it (smoke cigarettes..) anymore. But the one thing I wanted to do for my good health was acquire a taste for red wine.

I'd been chugging white wine for years but I never really liked red wine.

Then..maybe 4 years ago, my friend and colleague Rui, gave me a bottle of red wine for Christmas. It was something from Abruzzi if I recall correctly. I had it with some marinara and pasta and...it was..*delicious*. The wine made the marinara taste better. The marinara made the wine taste better. I *really* enjoyed them together. The little things that people do that have a huge impact on one's life. Soon afterwards I tried some chianti. I remember chianti from Italian dinners when I was younger. Hasn't everyone had a nice Italian dinner with that chianti in a basket?

Well it turns out I just love chianti. I say... when in doubt? Try some chianti. Goes with just about everything.