New York Cork Report

Maybe I Could Be a (Part-Time) Vegetarian

By Lenn Thompson, Editor and Founder

This is a quick (phone camera) picture of the dinner Nena cooked tonight. On the bottom is local, organic Swiss chard from our CSA share this week. Topping that chard is a pork chop that was crusted with rosemary, oregano and chives from our own garden, with some balsamic vinegar onions on top.

What you can't see is the CSA-sourced baby summer squash sauteed with garlic scapes and a little butter.

So what does this all have to do with me mentioning being a vegetarian? Well, as I was devouring (you know, like the name of my blog) this terrific meal, I said to Nena "You know, this time of year, with the fresh, local produce like this, I don't even need the meat, no mater how good it is."

And you know what? It's true. I'm a well-documented omnivore-bordering-on-carnivore. But wow, maybe my vegan friends and vegetarian wine-blogging friends aren't so insane. I could be a summer-time vegetarian I think.

I'm not saying it's going to happen, but it could. If bacon was vegetarian.

Happy Easter from the LENNDEVOURS Team

 

Today we celebrate not only Easter but also the 2,000th post on LENNDEVOURS. And what better way to celebrate both than to post a couple pictures from those that inspire this blog the most -- Jackson, head sous chef in the LENNDEVOURS kitchen (and quite an Easter egg hunter as you can see) and, Nena the executive pastry chef in the LENNDEVOURS kitchen. A bit of her rice cereal work at right.

Our Easter egg hunt complete, I'm working on my first-ever batch of pancakes (usually the pastry chef makes 'em), shirred eggs and (of course) bacon.
Then, Nena takes over the kitchen for Easter dinner, with my only contribution the ham, smoked over apple wood.

To drink? Finger Lakes riesling and Long Island pinot noir of course. Pictures of the Easter spread to come.

Happy Easter everyone.

The Thanksgiving Plate

Well, I just finished my third or fourth round of stuffing turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc. down my throat over the past two days...because it's so delicious.

A quick run down...

The Turkey. Amazingly moist and with a texture that I'd describe as almost succulent. I wasn't sure what to expect from our first Bourbon Red, but the flavor, texture and moistness has sold me. Plus, I know where the turkey was raised, who raised it and how it was raised.

The Stuffing. I think I want to eat my wife's stuffing every day.

The Pies. Yes, plural. Nena made a pumpkin with local cheese pumpkin. I dare call it the best pumpkin pie I've ever had. The apples in the apple pie didn't quite cook down as much as she'd hoped, but the crust on both pies are her best ever. Each of the last three times she's made pie crust it's gotten better and better. I can't wait for the next batch.

The Riesling. Decided to open a bottle of Fox Run Vineyards 2005 Reserve Riesling and was blown away. Impeccable balance of citrus, faintly tropical fruit and minerals...all with terrific acidity. I wish I had a few more bottles in my cellar.

The Pinot Noir. Went with one of my last two bottles of Wolffer Estate's 1998 Pinot Noir and I'm not sure how much more time the last bottle has. Extremely earthy -- as in wet earth and mushrooms -- the acidity and silky texture are stil, but most of the fruit is gone. I like my wines dirty like this. Nena doesn't. I ended up drinking much of the bottle of the course of the night and will probably finish it tonight.

That's the quick version. I've got lots of wines to taste over the weekend, so look for more tasting notes soon. I know that I've not posted many lately, but they're coming.

Bourbon Red Heritage Turkeys from Garden of Eve Organic Farm

I've just finished ordering my Bourbon Red turkey from Garden of Eve Organic Farm for this year's Thanksgiving dinner.

As you can read on their website, they are raising 200 of this heritage breed. They are slow growing, taking up to 6 months to mature, rather than the 3 months or less needed to raise standard turkeys.

These free-range birds (they can actually fly and do escape from the enclosure) are fed an all-vegetarian grain feed with no hormones or antibiotics, which was developed specially for Garden of Eve by a local feed mill, much of which is grown here in New York state.

At almost $7 per pound, this is going to be the most expensive turkey we've ever bought, but it is absolutely worth it to have such a healthy, humanely raised bird this year. And, I'm excited to taste this breed, which apparently has a lot more flavor than your grocery store Butterball.

Does anyone have an recommendations for cooking with a heritage turkey? I've read that brining isn't needed to retain moisture or add flavor, but any other suggestions are welcome.

We're also signing up for GoE's winter CSA, read all about it.

Nena's First Apple Pie of the Fall

In our house, there's only one baker. And it's not me. Baking just requires a level of precision and adherence to ratios and recipes that I'm simply not capable of. I always put a little extra of this or that in when I'm cooking. Do that when you're baking, and you could end up with a horrific result.

Nena, on the other hand, is quite a baker. It's one of the things that I fell in love with early in our relationship. Between my cooking (and hers as well) and her baking, we are a complete culinary set. She completes me. Cliche? Yes. But true.

And, after our trip to the Hudson Valley Saturday, we had a lot of apples laying around.

Above, you can see the delicious result of her work. I think this was her best crust yet. I say "was" because the pie is gone already, shared with friends and in my belly.

A Food Addiction: Heirloom Tomatoes

Last weekend I made an early-morning trip out to Sang Lee Farms, just hoping that their heirloom tomatoes were in.

As you can see, they were and I bought quite a few (okay, too many).

So far, I took many of the yellow and gold ones, made a sauce and froze it for the winter. We've used them sliced simply for salad and have also used them on grilled cheese sandwiches.

But this post isn't so much about what we're doing with them, it's really about the picture. Though they are delicious.

Tasty (and Local) Summer Pasta

Sorry for the blog semi-silence over the last few days. We had family in town to watch Jackson for us while we attended the wedding of some great, dear friends on Friday night. A good time was had by all. That's for sure.

Last night, having partied pretty hard the night before, we wanted a light, summery meal that we could put together quickly. A trip out east to a farm stand and we were ready to go with Nena's summer pasta.

The ingredients are simple:

• Whole wheat pasta
• Local zucchini and yellow squash that was grilled and chopped
• Local tomato that was seeded and chopped
• Local corn that was grilled and then sliced off of the cob
• Local cauliflower that we roasted in the oven for 30 minutes or so
• Real local basil (from our garden)

Toss it all together with some olive oil that is local in spirit if not geography (more on that this week), some grated Parmesan and  for Nena, her sister and her mother, some seared local scallops. They also added lemon. I had hot Italian sausage and red pepper flakes.

Simple, Seasonal. Delicious.

More on the wines we tried later this week as well.

Our New Sous Chef...the Next Food Network Star?

Jackson spends a lot of time in the kitchen. He hangs out in his Bumbo chair while Nena and I prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner, so he's probably seen us cook as much as anything else.

And he's definitely a natural. Here you can see him with his chef's had (a gift from my parents)  and a side towel.  Nena originally just hoped that he'd sit still long enough to have the frosting next to him when we took the picture. Imagine our surprise when he grabbed the whisk and even picked it up!

Can a show on the Food Network be far behind?

Maybe by the time he's ready for chef celebrity, there will be a network where they actually cook ;)

Eat Local: Garden of Eve Eggs

I love eggs. In fact, they are among my favorite foods and I eat them several times a week for breakfast.

But first time a local egg really caught my attention as something special was at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, where a slow-cooked, soft boiled egg from right outside the restaurant topped a salad and was easily the star.

Since then, I've tried buying eggs from a couple farm stands out east, but they weren't that much better than "sweat shop eggs" (Random Seinfeld reference).

But, last weekend we stopped at Garden of Eve organic farm on the North Fork and I picked up a dozen of their free-range, no-hormones, no-antibiotics eggs and they have been delicious the last few morning. I haven't taken a good "in the skillet" picture yet, but the yolks are a deep gold--much richer and darker than your average grocery store eggs--and they stand up when in the pan rather than spreading out and flattening.

The whites are tender and actually have flavor...but the flavor is nothing compared to the thick, unctuous yolks, which are as flavorful as any egg I've tasted. These are the kinds of eggs that our grandparents and great grandparents probably ate, before factory farms started working to remove flavor from our foods.

Nena's VERY Local Salad

Because we only had moderate success with our vegetable garden last summer (we just have so many trees surrounding our back yard, there aren't many spots with full sun), we've scaled back this year.

I'm going to plant some tomatoes next weekend in large pots that I can move around to make sure they get as much sun as possible, but for now we are sticking with herbs and lettuce--and this is the first big salad that we've made with our own mesclun.

You know it's local when you can take maybe fives steps out your back door and get the lettuce, right?

Nena added some some sliced strawberries (not local, they aren't in season here yet) and some goat's milk feta from Catapano Dairy Farm. With a light drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar and some extra virgin olive oil...what more do you need?

Latest Dinner Party: Salad Course

Saturday night, we had a dinner party with a few good friends. We call it our "Long Distance Supper Club" because two attendees live up in Poughkeepsie, NY (about 2.5 hours from our house) and my sister in-law and her husband usually come--and they live up near Albany, a full four hours away. The family wasn't represented for this party, but the usual suspects were, including T and M and M's brother K who was in town from Colorado.

I guess the "Long Distance" took on a whole new geography this time out.

We forgot to take pictures of my first course, which was a duo of small bites: a carrot shooter adapted from a Dan Barber recipe and a mini Asian meatball with Chinese black vinegar reduction.

Luckily, just before I served the salads, Nena and I remembered to take a picture and start to document the evening. There really isn't a recipe per se, but I can share the ingredient list:

• Petal Mesclun from Sang Lee Farms
• Leeks from Sang Lee Farms that I dredged in flour and fried
• Bacon from Meadow Raised Meats (thanks to Jen for recommending them)
• Fresh Goat Cheese from Catapano Dairy Farm
• A basic sherry vinegar vinaigrette (Here's FoodTV's version)

I was very pleased with how this one salad came together and even more glad to use primarily New York ingredients. The mesclun is a staple in our house, as is the goat cheese. It's one of foods that Nena truly craved during her pregnancy and it's one of Long Island's best products, bar none.

This Year's Birthday Grill

I think I make it pretty easy on my family when it comes to my birthday. I don't like huge parties (barely like birthday parties at all actually). A small affair with good friends and good wine is all I need to celebrate.

And, when it comes to gifts, I think I'm even easier. Buy me a grill.

Over the past few years I've gotten my new gas grill, a Weber Smokey Mountain Smoker and this year I went old school with a Weber kettle. We also have an outdoor fireplace that can be used as a grill in a pinch.

Now, you might think that this means I'm done with new grills...and Nena certainly thinks so (I have to give her credit for being tolerant of four fire-producers in our back yard). But I'm sure as time goes on I'll find something else I want.

Oh...and no, it's not my birthday yet. But it's kind of hard to hide these big boxes. So, I get my gift when it arrives usually!

My New Steak Marinade

It's been a while since I've posted anything about my adventures and exploits in the kitchen. Mostly that's because for the past month I've been focusing on food that I can get on the table quickly and easily as Nena and I juggle diapers, bottles, pacifiers and car seats. Oh, and did I mention Jackson?

But, I think I've stumbled upon a new "go to" marinade for steaks. It's based loosely on one I read in one of Stephen Raichlen's books (I've got three of them) and it was great on Saturday night.

Ginger-Soy Marinade for Steak

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup good-but-not-great olive oil
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon red chile flakes
Handful of parsley

Buzz it all up in a food processor and pour over the steak for at least two hours and up to six. I think that over-night is too long and eliminates any beef flavor.

A LENNDEVOURS Valentine's Day

I'm a very lucky man on Valentine's Day. Nena and I don't exchange gifts, we don't do flowers and we don't go out to dinner.

We skip the gifts because there are always much better ways for us to spend money. I don't like to give flowers on the days you're "supposed" to--that's not thoughtful in my book. And, we don't do dinner on Valentine's Day because it's amateur night--restaurants offer over-priced, under-delivering set menus and people who never go out to eat at nice restaurants show up, and it shows.

Instead, we cook for one another to celebrate the Hallmark Holiday.

Usually, Nena makes me my favorite breakfast, he banana-chocolate chip pancakes for dinner on Valentine's Day and then I cook a special meal the following weekend. But, with little Jackson here this year, she made them for me yesterday morning and then I cooked a scaled down meal for dinner. Instead of five or more courses, I just roasted potatoes, cooked some green beans and grilled (in the freezing rain) some strip steaks. I did make a bacon dressing for the beans and some Gorgonzola butter for the steaks, but it was nice to just have a meal together.

This year, of course, we both had a new Valentine, little Jackson, who fell asleep just in time for us to eat. Nena even sipped a little wine last night--a 2000 Tulocay Zinfandel and 2005 Banfi Rosa Regale (with warm brownie sundaes). She only had a couple sips of each, but it was an important bit of normalcy I think.

Baby Food Cookbooks -- Any Recommendations?

As you all know, Nena and I are expecting our first child in early February.

With that in mind, I've asked Nena to buy me a baby food cookbook for Xmas and she was happy to oblige...until she looked around. Apparently there are hundreds of them and shopping online, they all look pretty much the same.

Can any of the parental types who read LENNDEVOURS offer some suggestions? Tasty and healthy are what we're going for here.

Curry-Seared Scallop with Spiced Green Pea Puree

Tomorrow is my sister in-law Kim's birthday. She, along with my in-laws, were here this weekend to help us paint the nursery so we did a little dinner Saturday night to celebrate.

The last few dinner parties we've thrown, I've done something as an amuse bouche -- for a couple reasons. First, by skipping this course myself, it allows me time to get organized and caught up in the kitchen for subsequent courses. And, as in the case of this scallop, it's an easy way for me to cook some seafood for my guests...but I don't have to eat it.

This is super simple. Get the freshest scallops you can find...sprinkle with curry powder, salt and pepper and sear in a hot pan with a little oil and butter.

The puree is blanched frozen peas, fresh parsley and cilantro, ginger, garlic, cumin, curry powder, salt and pepper and a little olive oil all buzzed in a food processor.

I was shocked to discover that I don't have a single bottle of gewurztraminer in my cellar (the horror!), so I served Wolffer Estate Vineyards' 2003 Brut Sparkling Wine with this. Sparkling wine is so amazingly versatile with food...and it worked out just fine.

First Day of Fall Wine Dinner Menu

Saturday night, our friends M and T came over for dinner -- a dinner that ended up being a celebration of the first day of fall. We served all local wines along side a lot (but not all) locally sourced ingredients. And, while I don't have any pictures or recipes to share, I thought I'd write a bit about the menu anyway...

Proscuitto-Wrapped White Figs with Toasted Pine Nuts and Balsamic Drizzle
Wine: Peconic Bay Winery 2005 Riesling

This was borrowed from an appetizer Derrick served when Nena and I were out in the Bay area. Instead of speck, I used Prosciutto di Parma and added the drizzle and pine nuts. Of course, I don't have a "crazy fig lady" to get my figs from. I had to use grocery store-bought ones. They turned out very good though...and this wine was even better than I expected. Peconic Bay makes a decent riesling in most years, but this one...this is definitely a riesling for riesling lovers.

Pumpkin Soup with Cider Syrup
Wine: The Lenz Winery 2004 Gewurztraminer

The cheese pumkin that I picked up at the farmers market was actually the impetus for this entire meal. You can find a million recipes for pumpkin soup but I picked and chose from several to come up with my own (which I didn't write down). I also bought some fresh, local apple cider, added some real maple syrup, allspice, cinnamon and ginger and reduced about two cups to half a cup. I just drizzled a little on the soup before serving. The wine, while not as good as some of Lenz's previous efforts, worked well here.

Pear and Prosciutto Risotto Cakes With Sage, Fried Prosciutto and Creme Fraiche
Wine: Martha Clara Vineyards 2004 "50" White Table Wine

If I had to do this meal over, I would have sucked it up, ignored my guests and just made regular risotto just before serving. Instead, I made it ahead of time, formed it into cakes and then had some trouble keeping them together when pan frying. The flavors were still good, but the presentation wasn't what I wanted. I thought that the wine, a white blend, was overpowered by the fried bits as well.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Brussels Sprouts, Pancetta and Cipollini Onions
Wine: Wolffer Estate Vineyards 1998 Pinot Noir

I don't like brussels sprouts -- or at least I didn't until I tried shredding them and frying them with bacon and onions. I had hoped to get local sprouts, but I wasn't able to find any. Turns out that they need a few cool nights before they really come out, so mid-October is their best guess out east. I did a three-hour maple brine for the tenerloin and then rubbed it with some basic bbq rub. Nena thinks that the pearl onions didn't work here (usually I just put a little sliced onion in) and I think she's right. They just weren't as sweet as expected. This wine is delicious and I'm glad I have a couple bottles left.

Assorted Cheeses
Wine: Sherwood House Vineyards 2001 Merlot

M brought cheeses from his local Whole Foods (which is also the one nearest our house...about 45 minutes away). I honestly don't remember much about them other than I loved the hard Italian cheese. Maybe he'll see this post and enlighten us? The Sherwood House merlot is a wine that doesn't get enough fanfare...it's a house favorite.

Riesling-Baked Pears with Fresh Whipped Cream
Wine: Macari Vineyards 2004 Block E

Simple dessert -- luscious nectar of a wine. The wine was the star of this course and that's no surprise. Macari's Block E is typically one of my favorite ice-style wines each year.

The First Batch of North Fork Red Wine Vinegar

My first batch of AVA-designated red wine vinegar has been siphoned off and bottled.

I haven't actually used it in any cooking yet, but I can tell you this -- the flavor is so much more intense than anything you'll buy at any supermarket or even specialty shop.

For my next batch, which will be ready in time for holiday gift giving, I'm going to use only merlot from the North Fork of Long Island AVA.

I know that I've been a bit lax posting lately, but that's only because real work has gotten in the way. Stay tuned for a bunch of new tasting notes as well as some reports from local wine events and other fun stuff.

Oh...and my tasting of Michigan riesling for "50 States. 50 Wineries." will be posted soon as well.

Basil- and Bacon-Wrapped Florida Bay Shrimp with Sang Lee Mesclun, Parmigiano Reggiano, Raw Tomato Sauce and Balsamic Syrup

After the watermelon cube amuse, I wrapped some fresh (never frozen) Florida shrimp with a basil leaf and a half strip of bacon and tossed it on the grill. Once cooked (the bacon did a great job protecting the shrimp...I got a little distracted and would have burnt them otherwise!), I put them on a bed of mesclun from Sang Lee Farms, drizzled with some of the same balsamic-blackberry syrup, fresh tomato sauce and parm reg cheese.

The picture isn't great (looks like the syrup is all over the place) but Nena and her parents loved the course.

Watermelon with Blackberry-Balsamic Syrup, Petit Basil, Grana Padano

Last weekend I cooked a little dinner for Nena and her parents, and this was the amuse bouche -- a cube of fresh watermelon, balsamic vinegar syrup made with local blackberries, a petit basil leaf and some grated grana padano cheese.

I've wanted to make some version of this for quite a while after seeing it over at Obsession With Food, and I'm glad I finally did, with a few modifications of course.

I'm a Butt Man -- Pork Butt Preparation

This morning I got up early to do a little BBQ prep work before heading to the office. (Okay, so maybe Ben got up at 5 a.m. and had to go out, so I got up to take him, regardless, I was awake early.)

The first thing I did was make the rub for these two delicious chunks of well-marbled pork. I think there's 15 lbs total, so we'll have more than enough for the party, which means pulled pork tacos, omelets, fried rice...whatever all next week. No complaints here.

Once I trimmed some fat (just a little, fat is good!) from the butts, I rubbed them down with the spice-salt-brown sugar blend and they are sitting in our refridgerator curing a little before they go on the smoker tonight for their 10-12 hour cook. That's a long time, but man is it worth it.

I also whipped up a BBQ sauce with onion, garlic, green apple, rice vinegar, ketchup, cayenne, black pepper, yellow mustard, cider vinegar, brown sugar and apple juice.

Tonight I have some other prep work to do...but it's going to be some party tomorrow.

The Planning of a Pyro Party

I absolutely love cooking with fire and this weekend, Nena and I are hosting what will probably be our biggest party of the summer. It's only 13 people, but with all that we have going on these days, it seems pretty big anyway.

Now, I don't plan dinner parties that are anywhere near as ellaborate as the Obsessed One, but I do try to introduce our sometimes culinarily-challenged friends to some new things every time out (while keeping some old standards around as well). So, I do a fair amount of menu planning ahead of time -- and one certainly has to when one of the centerpieces of the meal will require 12-14 hours to cook.

So as I started to let the menu bang around in my head, beginning with appetizers, I knew that I had to make my famous-in-my-own-circle grilled wings. Oddly enough, I don't think I've made them with the same sauce twice (and I've made them at least 20 times in the past couple years).

I'm also going to experiment a little with some grilled tacos filled with mashed potatoes and Manchego cheese. I seem to vaguely remember reading about something like this somewhere, but I can't find the recipe anywhere at home. So, I'll be branching out on my own -- which is normal. I often draw inspiration from cookbooks, but rarely follow recipes.

I'll be rounding out the appetizers with grilled pizza of some sort -- though I don't know what kind just yet. May be a last-minute, pantry-cleaning pizza.

For entrees, I've only made pulled pork once in my smoker, but I I want to work towards perfecting it. So that is a must for this gathering. The first time around, I used rub/technique advice from WhiteTrashBBQ, but this time I think I'm going to change a few things up. Okay, I'm going to change everything up just to see how it turns out.

Unfortunately we have a few attendees who don't eat pork (I know...it's crazy). For them, I'll be making some sort of burgers.

The sides will be pretty traditional for BBQ. Nena is making macaroni and cheese, I'm going to grill some corn on the cob. But, Nena is also making this tasty broc-walnut salad we had at her parents' house once.

Dessert -- that's in Nena's more-than-capable hands.

For a change, I might actually take pictures of the preparation and the party itself. No promises though. Once the local beers and wines start flowing...I'm easily distracted.

LENNDEVOURS Garden Update

The LENNDEVOURS family garden isn't doing as well as I would have liked. Unfortunately (for gardening anyway) our back yard is mostly shaded, and I am not sure that our tomatoes are getting enough sun. They are growing fine, but they don't have any buds/flowers yet.

On the other hand, our cukes are doing okay so there may be some pickles in the future.

What might be the most interesting part of the garden is something I didn't even plant. We have a ton of wild raspberry bushes along our fence line.

So Nena picked one over the weekend and volunteered me to taste it.

I'm not sure if wild raspberries are just super tart or if they just aren't ripe yet...but yowza...it was really tart. Does anyone know anything about these little gems?

Come to think of it, we have a lot of birds and if they were ripe and sweet, I'm sure the birds would pick them clean. I'd just like to have a few ripe ones later in the summer to toss onto salads or on my cereal in the morning.

Update: Making Vinegar

Just a quick picture update on my vinegar making endeavour. Here I am pulling a thick slab of cellulose off of the first batch, which is a combination of merlot and cabernet sauvignon from the North Fork of Long Island AVA.

My first attempt at pulled pork...

Friday night (more on that in a moment) I smoked my first pork shoulder. I bought a 9 lb. picnic shoulder not knowing that most pit master prefer the "butt" portion of the shoulder to the picnic.

But (pun intended) I had what I had...and it turned out delicious.

I started by trimming off quite a bit of fat (not all of it mind you) and the skin on the lower portion of the roast. I don't have a scale that goes high enough to weigh this size roast, but I'm guessing I took at least a pound or two off of the bone-in piece of meat.