Nothing From Scratch

I chose the "Nothing From Scratch" theme for two reasons; firstly I knew I would have a very long week at work. My boss was on vacation and that meant I had to be boss for the week of Thanksgiving. Several other things crowded my time and I decided it was time for an easy to prepare meal. Secondly I've had many people say they would love to have a food/wine group like this, but just reading the blog is so intimidating they give up before they start. Well if that is you, then this one is for you. I admit I had to resist temptation to not open a spice jar or make a salad. Scissors and can-openers were my only tools.

 

Appetizer; Bought a package of 3 little flavored goat cheeses, some crackers, dried apple chips, sugared walnuts and a friend gave me these weird lumps of cookie-like treats from India.

Starter; Mixed 2 containers of soup. One Tuscany white bean and chicken soup and a one butternut squash. (This is a personal favorite in my house. I usually buy a pre-baked whole chicken, tear it apart, and throw it in. Plus I usually throw in a can of cannellini beans for good measure.)

Main course; Bought fresh wild mushroom ravioli and a jar of pumpkin Tuscany pasta sauce and mixed em up.

We drove up to Jackson a couple of weeks ago and I picked up 6 chicken cordon bleus from Swingle's Meat. This is an excellent place to buy meat. Before throwing them in the oven I dumped a couple of cans of cream-of-chicken soup over them because I like the sauce. (I often cook up brown rice from the package to go with the chicken instead of the ravioli, but I was being fancy).

Dessert; Our Mother's caregiver, Tara is famous for her cake. I don't really know how to explain it but I'll try. White cake with the consistency of a chewy brownie. She sells them, so I bought one for the party. I added a little dollop of fig marmalade to the little squares of cake. It was a big hit. They wanted the recipe, but alas, I couldn't give it to them. No one knows it but Tara.

I called for a Merlot. I can hear the gasps of shock ... "Heidi choosing a Merlot?" In my defense, the Merlot grape used to produce amazing, big, complex wine. For centuries it was a beast, and then sometime in the 60s or 70s it was dumbed down to a soft fruity easy-drinking wine. Well it is making a comeback. The low end merlot is still out there, but expensive merlot is pretty darn good. The Wades won with Stephanie (extra special because that is their daughter's name) 2007out of Napa Valley. We came in second with 2010 Silenus, also from Napa. The Shetlers brought a 2010 Midnight Estate.

 

Next Wine Tribe feast will be in January

French Theme at the Cabin



The cabin



We were nervous, but it was our turn to produce the feast. My Step-Mom, Kathy, inspired me with another French dish; tourtiere (meat pie). We followed what is becoming tradition and invited the Wine Tribe to the cabin in Calaveras. We were a little worried about snow, but it stayed clear for us. Snow to look at, but not to slosh through. Plenty of firewood, food, and wine.



Cheese



We found a French wine to serve with the hors d'oeuvres. I decided to be serious about the cheese and chose only French creations (Grand Affinage Compte Herie Mons Affinage, Explorateur Triple Crème Brie, and Young Mimolette Isagny St. Mere). I set out salami rolled in herbs de province and another in crushed pepper. Imported mustard from Dijon France for dipping (Trader Joes).



Goat cheese layered with beets



Joe and I were at a winery in Sutter Creek and I found a recipe on a postcard for beets layered with goat cheese. I don’t know if that is a French dish, but it sure was fun to make as a sort of salad.



Tourtiere



I made a practice run with the tourtiere and fell in love with the softer flavors of allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. After much trial and error I decided on carrots glazed with whiskey and brown sugar, and toasted Brussels sprouts tossed with balsamic reduction and craisens (dried cranberries).



Dessert is NOT my forte, so I bought little French tarts and a late harvest Zin from Villa Toscana which never got opened. Even we have our limit.

Ah, the wine you ask . . . We chose Merlot for our tasting. When I first started tasting wineback in the 80's Merlot was a “transition” wine from rosé to red. It was light and fruity. Now it is returning to its ancient roots as a big bold varietal with almost no tannins. It was hard to find a truly traditional merlot, but HourGlass in Napa created a great bottle, so we bought it. Mark and Melissa brought Twomey, Dan and Denise chose Ehlers Estate.

Of course it was a close race, as always, but we won. The gold medal is hanging in my kitchen until the next gathering.

When we go to the cabin we extend the festivities to Saturday night, and I cook my spaghetti. This time Denise made her homemade crackers (amazingly delicious) and Mark made this chocolaty cake with a chocolate sauce drizzled over it. We put out the challenge to come up with the best wine to pair with the spaghetti. This may sound easy, but its not. My spaghetti is spicy. It wasn’t easy, but we had 3 spicy, firm wines to choose from. Believe it or not Michael David’s Seven Deadly Zins won over some pretty expensive wine. It just goes to show that American spaghetti is a truly peasant meal!