The Wine Jukebox--Wine Gallery Part II

The most intriguing (and fun) attraction at Wine Gallery in Brookline is the Music Jukebox, where one can sample up to twelve wines at one time with just the push of a finger. And, best of all, it costs nothing. (To participate, one must obtain a key card from the staff. They request that jukebox users temporarily deposit their driver's license or credit card while they are sampling wines. Wine Gallery staff just want to get the key cards back.) Then one grabs a wine glass and begins selecting wines to sample. The wine bottles and their labels are all visible. Place the key card in the jukebox and push the button for each wine one wants to taste.

Ken and I found it an entertaining and informative way to buy wines we know we'll enjoy. I'm very reluctant to purchase a wine I know nothing about. A salesperson's opinion is nowhere near as helpful as actually sniffing and savoring the product.

Wine Gallery

Last evening Ken and I had a marvelous experience at the Wine Gallery on Route 9 in Brookline. This summer we've visited a number of metro Boston wine and liquor stores that have excellent wine departments at discounted prices: Kappy's in Somerville, Martignetti's in Brighton, Marty's Fine Wines in Newton, and several others too unnoteworthy to mention. I must say I had the most fun and the most pleasant experience at the Wine Gallery. And the wines--I must've tasted at least twelve. But let me tell you:

It all started yesterday morning with a phone call to the store (on the corner of Route 9 and Cypress, near Brookline High School) to ask about parking and to get information about several wines. I spoke with the store manager, Wes Narron, who answered all my questions thoroughly and in an unrushed, kindly manner. I started to look forward to the wine tasting, an event the Wine Gallery holds every Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. (Beer tastings on Thursday evenings.)

When we arrived, we headed straight for the tasting area, near the back of the store. I liked the spaciousness of the bar area; so many stores crowd their tastings. The wines were all pinots: a Pinot Gris from Alsace was my favorite

The first of four wines for the tasting was a Pinot Grigio from the far northern reaches of Italy, in the foothills of the Alps. St. Michael Eppan 2004. Robert Parker in the Wine Spectator commented, "A serious white, with floral, apple and mineral aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, with layers of fruit and a long finish. Lots going on. Delicious..." He rated the 2003 a 90. I couldn't find a rating for the 2004. I'd agree with Parker's assessment, particulaly the mineral notes. Ken strongly disliked this characteristic, but I found it bracing and quite pleasing. I can't remember its price, but it was the least expensive of the four. Alsace Willm was next--I found it refreshing, still with mineral properties, but with a delicate sweetness and a complex rendering on the palate. Lots to contemplate while on the tongue. (This was our fave.) Alsace Zellenberg, a Pinot Blanc, 2001, was our next sipping. I loved this as much as Willm, but it was a bit more expensive, but not by a lot. Last was Elk Cove Vineyards' Pinot Gris 2004. This wine was the most expensive of the four, and I liked it the least. It stung my tongue after the smoothness of the previous three, to begin with. And, although it had the superficial qualities of the other pinot gris and grigio, I found the elements combined in a discordant medley that was jarring, to say the least.

How could I have saved the best for last? Now I don't have time to blog about Wine Gallery's Wine Jukebox. Up to 12 tastings any time you visit the store! I will describe in my next post.

Pan-Fried Trout

For months and months, I've wanted to experiment with the pan frying of thin fish fillets. Yesterday while on a humungus food gathering trip, I bought some fresh trout fillets at Whole Foods near Newton Highlands. I studied The All New Joy of Cooking and the 1974 Joy of Cooking, and both books made it seem so complicated: the soaking in milk or egg, the dredging of the fillets in flour, the frying in butter and oil with all the warnings about smoke coming from the frying butter! In despair, I even turned to my old Betty Crocker Cookbook that's so basic. After reading it, I threw my hands up and was ready to turn on the broiler and forget the whole thing, when it dawned on me to phone Joan, my neighbor, whose husband goes fishing every weekend. If anyone around here knows how to fry fish, I figured it had to be Joan.

Sure enough, even though she was off to Staples for some back to school shopping, Joan was more than willing to stop long enough to instruct me. She made pan frying sound so easy, and she had lots of tips. (I must add that cooking is Joan's premiere hobby.)

I soaked the trout in milk for 5 minutes, I dredged it in the flour, salt, and pepper, I fried it in 2 T. olive oil (with garlic added at the end of frying) and 2 T. butter. And I served it with lime juice. I devoured it and kept raving like a maniac about how good it was. "Doesn't this taste great?" I kept saying. Ken probably wanted to shoot me after I'd exclaimed over it for the fourth time. The fact is, I couldn't believe that the process (soaking raw fish in milk? ugh) could yield something so yummy.

Next time: Try 2 T. oil and 1 T. butter--that will be enough. I had more fat than I needed, I think, for the amount of fish I had (3/4 lb.).

A new Eggplant Parmigiana recipe--from America's Test Kitchen for tonight's meal.

What to Cook?

I'm stumped trying to think of what to cook this week. I want adventures in the culinary department, but I'm going to be pretty busy, too, so I can't get too crazy.

Pumpkin Muffin Round 2 Recipe Added to Yesterday's Entry

Pumpkin Muffin Challenge Round 2

Sophie comes running for leftover pumpkin.
Using a recipe I found online that included an extra egg, more pumpkin, more canola oil, brown sugar, and 2 T. of molasses, I baked the second batch of pumpkin muffins to see if I can better approximate the ones I love at Whole Foods. (Scroll down to my August 18 post.) The result: I'm getting closer, but I still have a ways to go. I need to increase the oil to 3/4 cup (That's what this recipe called for, but it seemed like so much, I tried decreasing to a half cup, which is already more than I want to consume.) I need to use more brown sugar, maybe up to 2/3 cup. And more spices. The 1 tsp. of ginger was nowhere near enough, or perhaps my ginger is too old. So now I face Round 3, but it won't happen until we've eaten Rounds 1 and 2, which are currently taking up space in our freezer. This will take a couple of weeks, I think.

One observation: As far as calories go, one of my blueberry muffins has far fewer calories than one Round 2 pumpkin muffin. There is twice as much oil in the Round 2 muffins. And to think that Round 3 will have three times as much! Maybe it's time to wean myself off of them.

Round 2 Recipe
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 T. molasses
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
In a blender, blend the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, molasses, and eggs. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Mix the pumpkin blend into the dry ingredients and stir until just barely mixed. Pour into greased muffin pan. Bake at 375 degrees about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven when wet batter no longer sticks to the toothpick. Don't wait for the toothpick to come out clean, however. That's too long! Makes 6 extra large muffins.

Going on an Attic Safari

The other day I went searching for a 9" round cake pan. I can't even remember what I was thinking of making, but it must have been some sort of a berry cake. I not only did not unearth the aforesaid, but I also could not find my 8" cake pans or my Bundt pan, a relic from 1971. I've searched everywhere except for our attic, which is only accessible by using a pull-down ladder. It's the kind of attic where it is impossible to stand up and where one must crawl or stoop along the floor joists. But I've got to go up there because I've searched everywhere else. And I'm determined to find the cake pans. Early tomorrow morning, I'm off.

I was hoping today would be Round 2 of the Pumpkin Muffin Challenge, but resurrecting the dining room took all morning. If I'm going to make all these incredible meals, we've got to have a decent place to eat them. After that job, I only had time to make my signature dessert, sometimes known as Chocolate Butterscotch Bars or Congo Bars for a church barbecue. The secret to this recipe is to use 2 1/2 to 3 teaspoons of vanilla. I stumbled on this discovery on New Year's Eve, 2003, at about 6 p.m., when I was rushing to finish the baking so we could leave to go to a party. Someone (said person will not be identified) bumped into me as I was pouring the vanilla. Approximately three teaspoonsful or so got dumped into the batter. I was worried I'd ruined it, but the result was truly a transformation. I could not believe what a difference a bit of extra vanilla made in this recipe. The original recipe came from a Woman's Day magazine in 1962. It's the first thing I ever baked. No I'm not very old, but I was a very young cook.

Congo Bars

2/3 cup butter, melted
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 cup flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cup chocolate bits

Grease and lightly flour a jelly roll pan, isn't it 15"x1"x10"? Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter at a low temperature. Beat in brown sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time and then add the vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients, then whisk them together. Add the dry ingredients and the chocolate bits to the butter, sugar, and eggs mixture. Stir only until combined. Pour into the pan and level it all evenly with a knife. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack 10 minutes, then remove from pan. Don't eat even a crumb or I promise there will be none left for anyone else.

Blog Havoc

The Great Pumpkin Muffin Recipe Search

Five o'clock was Round 1 in my effort to make a pumpkin muffin close to the ones they sell at Whole Foods in the Boston area. A piece of the WF bakery's pumpkin muffin-making apparatus is not operating, so they haven't been available for several weeks. They've had every other kind of muffin except pumpkin. So I'm trying to do what I've considered doing for a long time. Can I match the recipe? My first effort, though it yielded a tasty product, was a dismal failure. The muffins are SO NOT IT. Yet my taste testing of my attempt has revealed that the WF muffins are probably made with at least some molasses and they are not make with milk. They are also made with lots of eggs, which are probably beaten until light. The recipe today called for only one egg. Stay tuned for Round 2 when I try to concoct a muffin incorporating these observations.

It's August: Eat Your Eggplant!

Last evening I made eggplant parmigiana, but I never touched a frying pan or greasy bread crumbs. In fact, I never liked the dish until I tasted this version, a recipe I acquired from a low-calorie cookbook published in the 1960s by Helen Gurley Brown, long-time editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine. I'm sure variations of this idea have now appeared in dozens of cookbooks. Here's how I do it:

Instead of frying the eggplant, brush the eggplant slices with olive oil, as much or as little as you like. (HGB called for only 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon per slice; I use a bit more.) Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes on a greased baking sheet. (That's 10 minutes for each side--make sure you brush the opposite side with oil as well). Spoon a few tablespoons of marinara or tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Then place the baked eggplant slices in the dish. Top with the sauce and the grated mozzarella and parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is lightly browned. Note: I take store-bought sauce (Whole Foods 365 Red Pepper Tomato Sauce) and I add chopped fresh basil and 1 clove of garlic. I simmer this in the microwave to blend the flavors. I also recommend squeezing 1 clove of garlic into the olive oil that is brushed onto the eggplant slices.

I wish I'd remembered to take a photo of the finished product, but this version looks like any other eggplant parm. We were too busy getting it and the Rosemount Shiraz on the table.

Sunday morning I trooped out in the oppressive humidity to pick blueberries at Ward's Berry Farm in Sharon. I picked just under a quart for $2.64. The effort took me an hour, a time I enjoyed. The boon of selecting your own means you get only the best and freshest berries at their peak of perfection, which makes a huge difference in recipes and eating by the handful.


Before dinner, I whipped up a peach and blueberry kuchen, a recipe from the All New Joy of Cooking. The recipe does not call for blueberries, but I figured I'd add a cup, because I like mingling the flavors of the two fruits. My original plan had been to make the dessert featured on the cover of August's Gourmet magazine, but I did not end up with enough time to make it, so I needed something that could be assembled more quickly.

When the kuchen came out of the oven, I could not resist sampling. I tell you I came damn near to swooning--that's how incredible it tasted. I called Ken upstairs and he, too, wanted to do backflips. This is definitely a dessert that should be eaten warm from the oven.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's Skinnied-Down Eggplant Parmagiana, made with eggplant from Volante Farms.

Saturday morning's post:
The heat is blasting today—the heat index this afternoon is expected to be 108 degrees. Kitty and I plan to head over to Marty’s Fine Wines and Foods for a special tasting of Spanish wines, something I know nothing about. But I think we’ll be doing “wee sippings” as opposed to gusty swallowings because of the heat. I also need to stop at Volante Farms in Needham to buy fresh basil for tonight’s tomato and fresh mozzarella bruschetta.

I’m hoping that Kitty and I will have time to make peach ice cream before we take off. We’ll puree the peaches, add the lemon juice and vanilla, then mix it all with the sugar and cream, and pour it into the Donvier ice cream maker. Fifteen minutes of talking while we occasionally turn the handle, pop the cylinder into the freezer, and it’ll be ready when we get home.

Sunday afternoon post:
The Spanish wines that Marty's was sampling were all very dry and highly acidic. Perhaps these are common characteristics of Spanish wine, I don't know, but based on this limited sample, that would be my conclusion, although I'm sure I shouldn't be making one. For nine dollars, I did buy a bottle of Tinto Alba Liza 2004, which is 65% Tempranillo and 35% grenache. I think I'll save it to accompany a spicy beef dish--I wonder how it would go with tacos? I can hear the coast-to-coast groan of wine connisseurs.

After our excursion, we couldn't wait to tear into the peach ice cream. Ken came up from his workshop, and the three of us talked in the kitchen. Too bad Sid had a family reunion, because of the three of us, he is the craziest about ice cream.

I was thrilled with how the bruschetta came out. I used the recipe in The All New Joy of Cooking, including fresh basil and fresh tomatoes from Volante Farms, garlic, Whole Foods olive oil, fresh mozzarella, and basalmic vinegar, salt, and black pepper. Oh, and the Tuscany bread came from a bakery in Walpole, but Volante's is the only place we know of that sells it.

A Cookin' Sunday

Sunday found me in the kitchen, cooking up desserts filled with all the berries I picked last Friday and Saturday. Before I turned out the light Saturday night, I sat in bed with Baking Illustrated: The Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker, written by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine. I knew I wanted to make a seedless Blackberry Pie, but my dilemma was what do I do once I've pureed the berries and extracted the seeds? After all, the result is a thick liquid--not exactly pie material. The answer was to be found in Baking Illustrated's Summer Berry Pie, which calls for a mix of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. They recommend cornstarch as the best thickener for berries. So the filling was planned.

But what about the crust? Summer Berry Pie calls for a graham cracker crust, but that seemed all wrong for blackberries. I also didn't want a traditional flaky pie crust, primarily because I'm not wild about the way they taste. So I settled on Baking Illustrated's Sweet Tart Pastry to be pre-baked. (I love B.I.'s lengthy discussion of methods and the results of their experimenting.)

Well, the entire project took me about three hours, including clean-up. It was exhausting and a bit nerve-wracking, because I am so not a piecrust baker, but the result was a delicious pie, though the crust's overall appearance left a lot to be desired. Practice, practice.

In the evening, the peaches from Sunny Crest Orchard in Sterling, Massachusetts, were ripe, so Ken and I made peach ice cream (don't forget to add lemon and vanilla!). About nineteen years ago, we bought a Donvier Ice Cream Maker, the super-easy, no sweat, by hand method, and we're still using it. Are Donviers even made anymore? We used a half cup of heavy cream and a half cup of whole milk, which, with the peach mix, made a pint of ice cream. Because of the milk, the end result is a bit icy. Another time, I might increase the amount of cream, especially when there is so much fruity liquid.

Blackberry Days, Peachy Evenings

Yesterday I returned to Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton to pick blackberries. They let me loose in the blackberry patch to the south of the plum trees and north of the apples. No one was about, and I quickly learned which berries to pick and which to leave on the canes. I picked only a quart because they were expensive--eight dollars! There are only two other farms listed as selling blackberries in Massachusetts, and they're hours from the Boston area. Mind you, these are not wild blackberries--the small, tart berries that grow in brambles brandishing enormous thorns. The Nashoba berries are three times the size, and though tart, are loaded with flavor.

After picking, I tasted a few wines I've never tried with Jane, the store manager, who told me all about her recent trip to San Francisco, and tour of Napa and Sonoma. I took notes, in preparation for our 20th wedding anniversary trip to SF and Seattle next March (I hope). I really liked the Upland White (hard to believe it's an apple wine), which will be perfect for my garlic shrimp in a wine butter sauce (lime is the piece de resistance in this dish). I also loved the Strawberry Rhubarb wine she poured for me. No, I wasn't at Boone Farm. Both wines just mentioned are semi-sweet with incredible depth. Of course, nothing I tried beats their semi-sweet Blueberry wine. So much to savor in one sip--and that bouquet!

From there I drove east on Route 117 through Stow, Lincoln, and Weston (this is probably the only route in eastern Massachusetts that has not been ruined by Wal-Marts and strip malls. Beautiful farms, lush marshlands, and quiet towns (well, relatively quiet).

I just visited Nashoba Valley's Web site and am devastated to learn that their winemaker is leaving. Please don't change a thing, and hands off that Blueberry wine recipe--leave it just as it is.