Sip, Sip: Barrel Tasting

This weekend some friends and I drove north to the Wine Road Barrel Tasting event. You pay one fee and then can tour all around the area visiting wineries, sampling wine, tasting delicious food pairings, listening to live music, & enjoying the scenery. 

 

Everything seems artful in wine country, even spills.  

 

A few of us enjoying some Zinfandel.

They serve the new wines straight from the barrel, and warn you that the bottled version will taste slightly different because it will age a bit more.You can buy "futures"--once the wine is bottled it will be sent to you.

I'm loving the color of wine-stained barrels. Degin inspiration everywhere!

I'm thankful for good friends and good times. :)

I'm Enjoying...

We recently got an espresso machine at work.  Now, almost every morning my boss has prepared everything we need for delicious cappuccinos! The office is still quiet, and we sit taking small sips and checking our email. A lovely way to start a day.

Eat Your Greens, Go And Play

We had the most amazing weather last MLK Day weekend.  So awesome that I was outside the whole time and I am just now getting around to blogging about it! A few friends and I got salads from one of the awesome-est places in town, Cafe Intermezzo. As we sat enjoying them in a park near our house, I realized that I have never shared this wonder with you before.

This place has HUGE salads, for next to nothing.  Case in point: the to-go containers we are holding full of salad are actually ONE salad split in half, all for only $6.50!!!  (Dining in gets you the enormous bowl pictured below). Pair that with one of the bluest skies we'd seen in weeks, and what else do you need??

If you have visited me, I hope I took you there. If I didn't; my deepest apologies.  Come back.

Měiwèi (Delicious!)

Recently some Chinese friends helped me reminisce about the year I spent teaching English in China by teaching me how to cook some of my favorite Chinese dishes!  These aren't what you'll find at the local Chinese restaurant in America, and I love that I now know how to make some authentic Chinese food!

Chungming taught me to make Di San Chen (Three Fresh Vegetables).  This is Green Pepper, Potato, and Eggplant.

So delicious, but though it might seem healthy know that you have to try each piece of vegetable in oil!

Next we made Gong Bao Ji Din, which is chicken with peanuts, green onion, and cucumber.  Its a little spicy.

Then Bing taught me how to make Tomato & Egg (Don't know the pinyin for this one!).  It basically scrambled egg with tomatoes and a little sugar. 

What a feast!  We had a fun time talking about Shijiazhuang--which happens to be both the city I lived in and the city where they grew up!  I am reminded again and again that it is so valuable to have friends all over the world.

Yummmmmm

I've been feeling rather uninspired in regards to cooking lately.  That has resulted in quite a few quesadilla or cereal dinners.  I even made a weird version of macaroni & cheese/tuna/pea tuna helper-esque thing the other night (actually not that bad, but nothing I'd like to keep on the regular rotation!).  So today, I dragged myself to my favorite store, the Berkeley Bowl to get some ingredients for SOMETHING that I'd be excited to see in my leftover lunch the next day.

I made this roasted eggplant, tomato & goat cheese pasta salad with fresh basil and oregano from my garden!  Pair that with a glass of Pinot that I traded for some design work--yes, I will do graphic design in exchange for food & drink ;) --and I am now remembering why I like cooking again.  This was easy and cheap!  Recipe below.

Roasted Vegetable-Basil Pasta

1 3/4 cups dried whole grain rotini

6 cups chopped, peeled eggplant (1 medium)

1 1/2 cups chopped, seeded roma tomato (4)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/2 cup snipped basil

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

1. Cook pasta according to directions.  Drain; cover and keep warm

2. In a large bowl, combine eggplant, tomato, and garlic.  Drizzle olive oil over vegetables; sprinkle with salt and crushed red pepper.  Toss to coat.  Transfer vegetable mixture to a lightly greased baking pan.

3. Roast, uncovered, in a 450 degree oven about 20 min. or until eggplant is tender, stirring occasionally.  Toss roasted vegetables with pasta.  Add a little more salt, the basil, and goat cheese; toss gently.  

Sprouts, Finally

Next to Lima beans, brussel sprouts get the worst wrap of all vegetables, don't you think? But really, they are great.  As with most foods, cooking them the right way is key.  Here's what I have learned. You may know everything I'm going to say, and I don't claim to be offering a great recipe here...I mostly just want to post a photo of this GIANT stalk of sprouts!

I had never seen how brussel sprouts grow until I stopped with my housemates at a farm near Monterey, CA.  This giant log-o-sprout was only $2.79!

After getting them home we had to snap each little orb off the stalk, wash it, and remove the outer leaves.

Then we cut them in half.

Our recipe told us to place them in a pan with olive oil, pepper, and salt--flat side down.  Cover and let steam for 5 min. Then you are supposed to remove the lid and turn up the heat, and the flat side is supposed to get carmelized.

Ours seemed more burnt than carmelized...but they were still good, especially with some chevre on top!  I made more the next night, just sauteed in olive oil and garlic, then grated some fresh parmesan over them.  Also delicious! After a weekend trip with the gals (full of taffy, beer, and burgers) a few meals with these green guys felt great.