WineCanine

When hot weather comes around – like now, for instance – wine drinkers often start looking for something to drink that’s a little lighter on the palate than, say, a big, buttery Chardonnay. For that, the 2007 Vinho Verde from Casa de Vila Verde is an excellent candidate.

Made in the far northwestern corner of Portugal, Vinho Verde means “green wine,” a reference to its freshness, not its color. It is made mainly by small producers from local grapes you‘ve probably never heard of – Loureiro, Arinto, Trajadura, Avesso and Azal.

The one from Casa de Vila Verde (“House of the Green Village”) is a good example. It’s fresh, crisp and clean, with a little green apple on the nose and some nectarine and light citrus on the palate. It’s pleasant and refreshing to drink, and relatively low in alcohol at 11.5 percent. It is lightly acidic, not at all sweet, and reasonably priced at $10 per bottle. In addition to being the grape-based equivalent of a cold beer on a hot day, it would pair well with fresh fruit, light cheeses, chicken and white flaky fish.

And Hobbes wants me to let you know that the Southwest Ohio Doberman Rescue Annual Picnic is coming up on June 27 at East Fork State Park near Cincinnati. Food, drink, silent auctions and fun for dogs and humans pretty much all day; contact SWODR for more info.

Montgomery County farmers Adam and Lucy Moody have opened a new retail outlet in the Village of West Clay, and will open a Zionsville location in the first week of July.

Long familiar to denizens of local farmers markets, the Moodys have been selling sustainably produced, humanely raised chicken, beef and pork grown at their Lone Pine Farms since 1997. In 2000 they bought a processing facility in Ladoga, and now control every step of their farm business from pasture to consumer.

Their first retail store is in Avon at 235 N. State Road 267. The recently-opened West Clay shop is located in the Harvest Fresh Market and Deli. Moody’s Butcher Shop in Zionsville will open at 11145 N. Michigan Road, in a small strip center just south of Altum’s garden center, and will stock beef, pork, chicken, lamb, seafood, handmade sausages, specialty burgers, fresh eggs and deli meat and cheeses.

Shuttered since March, Whitestown’s L.A. Café is slated to reopen under new management on July 6.

The new owners are Deano “Vino” Wilson, who has been a wine shop proprietor and restaurateur, and Reid Craig, formerly sous chef at Peterson’s and Eddie Merlot’s. Wilson will act as general manager, and Craig as executive chef. Front of house management will be taken care of by August Caldwell, who was general manager at The Spot, and the bar will be managed by Elvis Mires, formerly of Buca di Beppo. Food at the reopened Café will be sourced from local Indiana producers.

L.A. Café was originally opened by Larry Averitt, who owns L.A. Cycles and several properties in Whitestown, and Dan Cornelius, who got his restaurant experience at St. Elmo’s. The father and son team of Jay and Ben Leland later took over the reins until earlier this year, when they moved their operation to Carmel and reopened as Leland’s.

While reading a salad recipe in a recent Saveur recently, my curiosity was piqued by an instruction to cook the bacon garnish by boiling it, then frying as usual.

The intent of the recipe was to make bacon crumbles for use in a salad, but I decided to try the method to prepare my breakfast bacon and have been using it ever since. Here’s what you do:


Ingredients:
three strips bacon
3/4 cup water

Preparation:
In a 10" skillet, bring bacon to a boil over high heat. Add bacon in one layer and reduce heat to a slow boil. After water boils away, fry bacon until desired doneness is reached, turning as necessary.

Once the water has evaporated one needs to be vigilant, because since the bacon has been cooking in the boiling water it browns very rapidly. You’ll be able to tell when the water is gone by the change in the sound as the bacon begins to fry.

This does take longer than the usual method, but the resulting bacon is more uniformly cooked, easier to crisp without burning, and a bit lighter on the palate.

Bad news for Main Street: The Brick Street Inn in Zionsville has closed.

The original 1865 building was purchased by Bill and Rosemary Fanning in 2002. It was completely rebuilt over a period of two years, and opened for business in 2004 with eight guest rooms, a meeting room, a retail space and a small restaurant. The Fanning’s daughter, Colleen, came on board in 2007 as the inn’s executive director after a stint as the manager of the Omni Severin in Indianapolis, and the first floor was extensively remodeled just about a year ago, when the retail and dining spaces were replaced by the elegant Lobby Lounge.

Although the downturn in the economy did hurt the Inn’s business, it was for personal family reasons that it was closed, according to a message sent from the Inn. Despite the tough decision the family made, their sense of humor is still intact – the official closing announcement came in the form of a top ten list.

The announcement also leaves the door open to any opportunities that would enable the inn to reopen – something the Zionsville Chamber of Commerce would very much like to have happen. If you have an idea that would help (a restaurant, maybe?), fire off an email to opportunity@brickstreetinn.com.

Susana Balbo’s Crios Torrontes ’08 opens with a fragrant floral nose that carries the unmistakable aroma of peaches, nectarines and maybe a little lemon custard. The stone fruits carry over into the palate, which is creamy yet clean. The pleasantly long finish is fruity and dry; your tongue searches for the residual sugar your nose expects to find, but it just isn’t there.

This delicious, modestly-priced wine ($13-$15) is perfect for relaxing on the deck, and it would also be a good match for roasted chicken, light to medium cheeses (including goat cheese), seafood and spicy Thai dishes.

Susana Balbo and her husband, Pedro Marchevsky, met at the Catena winery, where they both worked. They opened their own winery in 2001, where they make wines under the Crios, Susana Balbo, BenMarco and Nosotros labels.

Cider is one of my favorite things. To me, cider is to autumn as maple syrup is to spring – a seasonal treat best enjoyed from local sources. The transparent, pasteurized stuff in the clear glass jugs doesn’t hold a candle to the rich, brown nectar made at area orchards and packaged in plastic jugs.

And while the idea of hard cider has always appealed to me, I’ve never found any of those sold in six packs from beer coolers to be particularly compelling (though I have enjoyed the occasional Woodpecker). Recently, however, I was given a 22-ounce bottle of an artisanal cider that will have me requesting it at my local suds shop. (Yoo-hoo, Zionsville Payless....)

J. K. Scrumpy’s Orchard Gate Gold is a wonderfully tasty cider, crisp, clean and deliciously refreshing. It retains the flavor of slightly tart apples, which is enhanced by its creamy fizziness. As long as I’m making comparisons, this stuff is to mass-produced hard ciders as a good Belgian ale is to Coors Light. Of course, at $6.99 one bottle of J. K. Scrumpy’s will set you back about as much as a six-pack of regular hard cider will, too. If you’re motivated more by quality than fluid ounces per dollar, it’s well worth it.

J. K. Scrumpy’s is made by Jim Koan of Almar Orchards, an organic orchard and vegetable farm in Flushing, Michigan that has been in his family for four generations. The name is derived in part from the name for an English farmhouse cider, scrumpy. Koan’s cider differs from the English variety (English scrumpy is usually still, not sparkling), but it is made from an authentic recipe made by his family since the 1850s. Koan credits cider sales for saving the family farm during the Depression, and says that people came from far and wide during Prohibition to take home some of their “special farm cider.”

J. K. Scrumpy’s recently became available locally at Kahn’s, and no doubt will be turning up soon at some other stores soon.

A Côtes du Rhône Villages, the Domaine Grand Veneur Les Champauvins 2006 comes from a single vineyard located right next to the appellation d’origine contrôlée of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. When poured straight from the bottle, its nose can only be described as meaty, but don’t let that put you off – given a little time in a decanter, it opens into aromas of dark, brambly fruits, spice and cigar box.

In the mouth it is full-bodied and dry, its spicy plum and dark berry flavors supported by subtle tannins. The finish is long, dry and clean, with just a hint of unsweetened chocolate.

Robust yet refined with well-integrated flavors, this wine is a pleasure to enjoy by itself, and would make an excellent companion to a variety of meals including game, pork roast, stews and fowl. (If you’re thinking of making coq au vin, keep this wine in mind!) At $14.99, it’s a terrific wine that compares favorably to many Rhône-style blends that cost much more – including some of its neighbors.

Ingredients:
10-12 slices bacon, fried until crisp then crumbled
1 9" unsweetened pie shell (or make your own tart pastry)
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups cream or Half & Half
1 1/4 cups Swiss or Gruyere cheese, shredded
1/2 cup onion, chopped and sautéed (optional)
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cayenne

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425°F. When oven is up to temperature, cook pie shell for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned on the inside. In the meantime, sauté chopped onion in butter until slightly softened. Drain on paper towel.

Combine the eggs, cream, salt, nutmeg and cayenne and whisk until well mixed (a food processor works well for this).

Remove pie shell from oven and distribute onion and crumbled bacon over the bottom. Sprinkle a layer of cheese over the onions and bacon, then carefully ladle the egg mixture over all.

Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325°F and continue baking for another 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted halfway between the center and the edge comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Look for a second Petite Chou to open soon in Carmel’s Clay Terrace shopping center, between Dick’s Sporting Goods and the David and Mary salon. A new wrinkle for this latest addition to the string of restaurants from Patachou: In addition to the usual breakfast and lunch, it will be open for dinner.

This will bring the total of Patachou restaurants up to seven. The others are Petite Chou in Broad Ripple, Patachou on the Park in downtown Indianapolis, and four Cafés Patachou (49th and Pennsyvlania, River Crossing, 126th and Gray Road in Carmel and in the Civic Plaza at Indianapolis International Airport).

Fans of Kent Rosenblum’s style of winemaking should be deliriously happy with the 2006 Heritage Clones Petite Sirah.

The first clue to this wine’s personality is its deep purple color, so dense that light doesn’t penetrate it. After a brief decant, aromas of dark berries and briar dominate the spicy nose. There’s mulberry, plum, blackberry, chocolate and just a touch of anise on the palate, supported by enough tannic structure to keep it from being just a flabby fruit bomb. It’s rich and full-bodied, with a creamy mouthfeel and a long, pleasantly dry finish – delicious, wonderful stuff!

Until it was recently surpassed by Malbec, Bonarda was the most planted grape in Argentina. Even so, there was much confusion as to what it really was. Was it Bonarda Piemontese, the grape from Italy’s Piedmont region used to make Dolcetto? Or was it one of several other varieties of Bonarda?

Genetic testing by American grape geneticist Carole Meredith established that the Bonarda grown in Argentina is in fact the same grape known as Charbono in California (that name always makes me start humming The Beat Goes On) and Corbeau, Douce Noire, or Charbonneau in the Savoie region of France. Meredith’s test conclusions are supported by the fact that the grape used to make Dolcetto ripens early and makes light, fruity wines while Charbono ripens late and produces wines that are decidedly not light. In Argentine vineyards, Bonarda is one of the last grapes to be harvested.

The Dante Robino Bonarda 2006 ($12) is a full-bodied wine with just enough tannins to make it food-friendly. It opens with a nose of tobacco and cedar, then surprises the palate with big, mouthfilling flavors of huckleberries and fig with hints of cedar. Its finish is long and dry. Delicious by itself, this Bonarda would pair well with red meats and boldly-flavored stews.

Eating different varieties of cheese can influence the types of dreams you have, according to a study released by the British Cheese Board.

Among other things, the study results seek to dispel the belief that eating cheese before going to bed causes nightmares. None of the 200 participants in the week-long study reported having nightmares after eating 20 grams of cheese half an hour before retiring, and 72 percent said they got a good night’s sleep. Since it contains tryptophan, an amino acid which been shown to reduce stress and induce sleep, cheese may be a snooze inducer, says Dr. Judith Bryans, Nutrition Scientist at Britain’s Dairy Council.

Red Leicester and Chesire cheeses were found to be best at inducing sleep. Those who ate Lancashire reported dreaming about work, and Cheddar seemed to promote dreams about celebrities. Stilton is on my shopping list: 75 percent of the Stilton-munching men and 85 percent of their female couterparts had some of the most bizarre dreams of the whole study – although none were described as bad experiences, the Cheese Board is quick to point out. Highlights included “talking soft toys, lifts that move sideways, a vegetarian crocodile upset because it could not eat children, dinner party guests being traded for camels, soldiers fighting with each other with kittens instead of guns and a party in a lunatic asylum.”

The association of cheese and wild dreams got a boost in the early 20th Century from Winsor McKay’s comic strip, Dream of a Rarebit Fiend. If you’d like to try a little rarebit for yourself, it’s basically just a melted concoction of cheese, spices and sometimes beer, spread on a piece of toast. Recipes abound, if you’d like to try it as a snack before turning in. (And by all means, use Stilton!)

Friday is Pie Day

Friday, January 23 is National Pie Day in the United States. Grab a slice and celebrate, or head on over to the American Pie Council for some other activity ideas.

Red Wine promotes healthy mice

By this time, you’ve no doubt read about how resveratrol, a component contained in red wines, promotes health in a number of ways, at least in the lab. One researcher tells a story about researching the effects of red wine and a few other substances with the help of his mouse, Louis, in the current issue of The New Yorker. Just go read it....

As tomorrow’s presidential inauguration approaches, interest in the Obamas’ personal lives has intensified. Michelle’s fashion sense has been commented upon, and the choice of the girls’s school duly noted.

The current issue of The Wine Enthusiast reveals that the incoming president and his wife have a 1,000-bottle wine cellar in their Hyde Park, Chicago home, and that they recently attended a wine-pairing dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, Topolobampo . After having had a teetotaling recovering alcoholic in the Oval Office for the past eight years, an oenophile president will be quite a switch. No doubt we can all look forward to reports of what wines were served at state dinners, and sales of those wines will surge.

Similarly, much speculation has been focused on the upcoming appointment of a hypoallergenic First Dog. The Seattle P-I has narrowed the race to two contenders: A Labradoodle (no surprise there) or a Portugese Water Dog. One thing is certain: Whatever breed is selected will see a spike in popularity, and rescue organization workers of every other breed will breathe a collective sigh of relief.

(Not to take anything away from Mr. Obama, but speaking as a Weimaraner, I Like Ike!)


President Dwight Eisenhower is greeted by his dog, Heidi, in 1954. (White House photo.)

A study commissioned by HealthSaver, a health care discount service, determined that Tampa is the most caffeinated city in the United States, followed by Seattle, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. Chicago ranked number one on last year’s list, and New York jumped to fourth place from being ranked the third least-caffeinated city in the 2007 study. The survey considered numerous caffeine sources, including coffee, tea, sodas, energy drinks, chocolate, pain relievers and caffeine pills.

HealthSaver uses the study as a way to promote the health benefits of caffeine. Coffee and tea in particular have emerged as good health food sources that can lower the risk of diabetes, heart disease, Parkinson's disease, colon cancer, and cirrhosis of the liver, the company reports.

“Even though at one time coffee was considered harmful to your health, at this point there is no compelling research to indicate that, in fact, is true,” Dr. Peter R. Martin, Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology and the Director of the Institute of Coffee Studies at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine is quoted as saying in a press release promoting the survey. “Newer studies actually prove coffee in moderation is good for one’s health.”

Meanwhile, research conducted at Durham University in Durham, England concluded that heavy caffeine users have a greater tendency to hallucinate. That study found that those who consumed a daily equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee or more were three times more likely to have extrasensory experiences than subject who had less than one cup daily. People taking part in the study reported “seeing things that were not there, hearing voices, and sensing the presence of dead people.”

The Durham study also considered all caffeine consumption, including coffee, tea, caffeinated energy drinks, chocolate bars and caffeine pills. An alternative explanation offered for the study results posits that those students who were more prone to hallucinations used caffeine to help cope with their experiences, study coauthor Dr. Charles Fernyhough said.

Never did get around to making that beef tenderloin I was hankering for (maybe in another couple of weeks), but I did try a recipe from The French Laundry Cookbook, which I received as a gift from my brother. (That cookbook celebrates its 10th birthday this year, by the way.)




I decided to make the braised beef ribs with root vegetables and bone marrow to take to the New Year’s Eve pitch-in party we’ve attended annually for the past several years. It turned out well, and the old dog learned some new tricks. Author and Chef Thomas Keller says that any time an alcoholic beverage is to be used in a marinade, the alcohol should be burned off first. I didn’t know that, and didn’t think it was even possible to light wine — but it is! After bringing my pot of aromatic vegetables and Terra Andina Cabernet to a boil I lit it, and was rewarded with a six-inch-high blue flame that burned for between five and 10 minutes. (I had used two bottles; presumably one bottle would burn half as long.)

Even though I described the ribs as “expensive pot roast,” they were incredibly flavorful and fall-apart tender. My favorite part of the dish turned out to be the fried bone marrow, which was crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside, with a subtle, delicious flavor. They do require some planning ahead but aren’t difficult to make, and I’m sure I’ll whip up another batch before too long.

Chef Keller would probably be pained to see his dish served in a Pyrex casserole dish instead of elegantly presented on a small plate, but there were no complaints — or leftovers. Thanks to phj73 for documenting it in his Flickr stream — the chances of my spending another three days making a second batch just because I forgot to take photos were slim to nil.

Over the past 10 years The French Laundry Cookbook has no doubt been reviewed way too many times, but I’ll throw in my two cents’ worth anyway. It’s a lovely book with gorgeous photographs, but it would be more at home on a coffee table than in the kitchen. As a cookbook, it leaves a lot to be desired — it’s big, heavy, awkwardly shaped and printed on glossy paper. It’s so nice that you almost don’t want it anywhere near the kitchen, lest it get food stains on it — and dogearing pages and making notes in the margins seems like desecration. I’ll no doubt get over that, but a companion volume for kitchen use sans photos and narratives — The French Laundry Recipe Book, essentially — would be a useful followup.

In the meantime, the blog French Laundry at Home is a good companion to the book, and a fun read to boot. It chronicles the experiences of a home cook named Carol as she makes all the recipes in the book, including some I’d never dream of tackling. She finished the book and that blog, and is now onto her next challenge: cooking her way through the Alinea cookbook.

Sebastiani Vineyards, one of California’s oldest continually-operating wineries, has been purchased by the Foley Group. The Foley Group owns several wine brands, including Foley Estates, Lincourt Vineyards, Firestone Vineyards and Three Rivers Winery.

The sale of Sebastiani Vineyards comes after various family members took a shot at managing the business after the 1980 death of August Sebastiani, whose father Samuele had founded the winery in 1904. August’s wife became the matriarch, and her sons Sam and Don and daughter Mary Ann took the helm for varying amounts of time. When replaced by his younger brother, Sam founded Viansa Winery, which he later sold. Don left in 2001 and started a new wine company with his sons that now owns several brands, including Smoking Loon, Plungerhead, Mia’s Playground, Aquinas and others. Mary Ann Sebastiani Cuneo and her husband Richard took over when Don left.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Oakleys Bistro leaving 86th and Ditch?

Scuttlebutt on the grapevine is that Steve Oakley plans to move his restaurant from its current location at 1464 West 86th Street, where it has been since it opened in 2002. The grapevine has so far been mum on the restaurant’s new location....

This just in: According to Steve Oakley — and he should know — the grapevine is wrong on this one. He is not moving his restaurant.