relief

I've been tracking the weather back home in BC. Poor sister of mine, sweltering in that condo without air conditioning. Who knew that after an abysmal winter on the coast they'd turn around and have record setting temperatures. Vancouver hit an all-time high of 34.4 degrees Celsius today. My hometown, Terrace (just below the Alaskan panhandle, FYI) hit 37.1 yesterday. That's about 98-99 Fahrenheit degrees, warm by anyone's standards, I should think.

Meanwhile we pluck along in Chicago without a 90+ temperature all July. It's warmer in the building I work in than outside.

Still, I am not insensitive. I feel for my friends and family. And so, in sympathy, Conrad and drank to their very good health with lovely chilled martinis tonight. North Shore Distillery #11 gin and a good whack of vermouth - none of this "bone dry" business for us.



So there, BC folk, know that we are with you in [ahem] spirits...

happy birthday to ME!

I love it when a restaurant surprises me.

Tonight we celebrated my birthday at Sola, and what a lovely, relaxed meal it was. Better still, there were dishes that exceeded expectations. Best of all, we had service that was ever so friendly and winning.

Let's back up. In case you don't know already, today, the 27th, is my 39th birthday. It's really not a big deal. I've loved getting a ton of FB messages, but despite my joking, I'm NOT anxious about my age. I'm 39. I can live with it.

Conrad has a ticket to Hawaii for me for my gift, so it was somehow appropriate that we opted for 1000 points (and the use of a gift certificate) at Sola, owned.operated by a chef who has a deep connection with that tropical state. We haven't dined there in ages, and even then it was brunch. Time to head back west over to it.

We'd barely ordered cocktails when a summer shower blew through. That drove us inside, but eventually we made it back outside, practically the only people sitting out on a pleasantly warm evening. Conrad had a martini (with Hendryck's - thanks Dale!) and I had Champagne. I HAD to celebrate!

We opted for sharing six appetizers to get a good selection of foods, then dessert, then cheese. We also enjoyed a half bottle of an Oregon Pinot Gris and a half bottle of a California Pinot Noir before a glass each of Pedro Ximenez with the cheese course.

The food started fine with an amuse then a dish of raw kampachi, but it blew us away when the tempura squash blossoms arrived, filled with shellfish and served with a housemade kimchi. Really? Awesome! We were tempted to reorder this very seasonal dish.

The artichoke fritters were fine, as was the tuna poke. It was when the cod with fava bean risotto came out (and the potstickers) that we were jolted again. All of the food was good, but these were the exceptional dishes that made us shake our heads in happy wonder.

Family called throughout dinner. I hadn't talked with Bella since we were up for Dad's funeral, so that was nice.


I ordered Conrad the chocolate dessert, and it was fine, but mine was the third stunner of the evening: a tart of beets and a miso creme fraiche filling. Beets. Miso. Dessert. Good gosh, was that a show-stopper. Not the first time that night we sent compliments back with the wait staff.

The wait staff, I must add, were fun. Truffles with a candle came out, but no singing (THANK YOU!). We got to discuss the food and the wine a bunch, and we really appreciate that. A vital part of an exceptional dinner.

Cheeses were last, the best being the Louisiana cheese (who would've guessed that?) in the middle of the plate.

And now? We're home. Decompressing before bed. But gosh - and big thanks to Conrad - a wonderful meal that prompts us already to find time to go back, preferably with friends.

In short: happy birthday to me! :-)

summer wine tasting

We've barely eaten today. Last night was a good night of much cheese - oh so delicious, but oh so rich. That pretty much killed our appetite today. Happily, much hydration through the night and before bed means we're not feeling the after effects of our wine tasting last night.

Fun fun wine tasting. It's a treat to have friends over and do something like this. I thought it was a good time, and so did Conrad, and while I wasn't blown away by any of the wines in the end, I certainly made sure to enjoy trying them!

Photos follow, of course, but here's the write up I did for everyone to refer to last night....

Weeks of angst and deliberation went into deciding how to do this. Red or white (we've gone with both)? Geographically diverse or all from the same region (we've dispersed it some)? One grape, one varietal (nope, two grapes in this case)? What to do….

Conrad did a lot of research and came up with some ideas, and one recent night he and Peter finally bounced enough things about that one fell into place: start with a cheese. Goat cheese. Summery, light, creamy, tangy. Who doesn't love it? Pretend you do, in case you don't. Based on that we went with two grapes, four wines. On the white side of things, we have a couple of Sauvignon Blancs. On the red, we have Pinot Noir. Let's see how these fare alone and with the cheeses.

In truth, we wanted to grab Sancerre, but it's not as inexpensive as we might wish, and we sort of wanted this to be a way to try modest bottles that may become regular favourites in your home. Instead we picked up a white Vins de Pays Côtes de Gascogne, the Grassa Family Vineyards 2007 Sauvignon Blanc ($11.99 Available at Kafka Wine, 3325 N. Halsted). We know nothing about this region or this wine, but the little sign on the bottle at Kafka said it is perfect with goat cheese, so….

Set against this (though this isn't a competition, and it's not even a blind tasting) is a New Zealand "Savvy". Marlborough is justifiably famed for its Sauvignon Blanc, and we've enjoyed a number of wines from there. We’ve not visited this winery, though, nor tried its wines. Here’s what the winery says: "fragrant mix of pineapple and passionfruit tropical aromas with underlying ripe citrus characters adding complexity to the nose. On the palate, again a flavoursome array of pineapples and passionfruit, with a zesty citrus essence of orange and lime." Great! If you like it, it's at Binny's (3000 N. Clark St.) for $12.99 a bottle.

On to reds. Pinot Noir is the great grape of Burgundy, and the prices sometimes reflect it. From what we read, when going with modestly priced Burgundies, the bigger names are safer choices. So we settled on the Joseph Drouhin 2006 Laforêt Bourgogne Pinot Noir. It is a Bourgogne, though a regional appellation. Here's what the Drouhin Web site tells us: "A wine full of charm: bright ruby colour and a nose rich with aromas of red fruit (raspberry, red currants, wild strawberry). On the palate, the wine is pleasant, fruity and refreshing, with light tannins and great elegance." Sounds promising! Available at Binny's for $13.99 a bottle.

The fourth wine is a California red, mostly sourced from Sonoma county grapes. We have tasted this one, briefly, a sample at the gorgeous new Whole Foods. A little plastic cup can't tell us exactly how good it is, so we’re offering up bottles for your opinions. 87 points from the Wine Spectator and the Wine Enthusiast, if that means something. According to the winery, then: "This Pinot Noir is aged in French oak barrels for 12 months and has a brilliant ruby color with aromas & flavors of strawberry, raspberry and overtones of smoked tea and spice." Also from Binny's (sorry Whole Foods) for $13.99 a bottle.

So then, a show of the food: cheeses, fruit, breads, pickled things, a walnut cake.







And then all the folks enjoying the evening.























Culminating with this handsome man, doing dishes. Isn't he a dream?

salmon for dinner, and other things

It's a quiet morning chez Peter and Conrad as we feel the after effects of another good meal with wine. It shall be a week of moderation ahead, and I my resort to dinners of chicken broth just to regain some equilibrium in my digestive system. But oh, it is fun to indulge, really.

Last Christmas our friends Michael and Laura gave us a generous gift card to a wine shop. Conrad then had the brilliant idea that we would buy a few nicer bottles (not super-expensive ones) and enjoy them over dinner with Michael and Laura one night. Last night, then, was that night.

It was one of the easier dinners we've put together and set up for. Smaller group of us, for starters. Also, the two of them don't really care for dessert, so no baking. Easily a half hour before they arrived we had the table set up and the kitchen in good order.

We offered simple starters: smoked salmon, almonds, a smoked blue cheese, caper berries, toasts.
Saltier flavours to get our appetites going, and things I thought might go nicely with the first bottle, a Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rose Champagne. I've come to a great appreciation of Champagne. I totally get the fuss now. This was a lovely way to start off.

The second bottle was a La Crema 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay. We all agreed it was a particularly handsome wine - Michael and Laura enjoy Chardonnay a great deal - but I confess that I did not plan a course with this wine in mind. Grocery shopping on Saturday, I had an idea of something fun to try for a salad, and I went with it. The salad and wine did not compete too badly, happily. For the salad I seared trimmed okra pods in a hot pan, then lightly seared some red onion slices. I tossed the two together with pomegranate molasses and coarse pepper, then let them sit all afternoon. For serving I set the mixture atop some frisee, added a few stems of cilantro and parsley on the side, scattered a few fava beans on the plate, and added a small bit of a French feta. I then lightly drizzled a bit more of the molasses over this. The result was quite good - sweet, tangy, herbaceous. Some crunch, some creaminess. I was pleased.

The last bottle to share (though I confess, the 4 of us consumed two other bottles from our house collection along with some more cheese, some chocolate, and some cherries for dessert) was a Domaine Chandon 2006 Carneros Pinot Meunier. A waiter at Yoshi's, Chris, first suggested the wine to us, and we grew to like it immensely. Pinot Meunier is best known as a blending grape and is one of three grapes used in Champagne. I've had a person or two at wineries tell me that no one drinks Pinot Meunier alone, and I politely smile and write that person's other opinions off.

Anyway, we had a bottle, and I was a little stumped. I wondered whether there might be particularly good matches for it, but I couldn't find much to go on. Here's where Twitter, of all things, came in handy. One person I follow is Natalie MacLean, a Canadian wine writer. I've enjoyed a book of hers, and she has a nifty iPhone wine pairing application we've whipped out in restaurants before. I didn't see Pinot Meunier in the application, though, so I tweeted her. That sounds inane, reading that line. And she responded, quickly. Her advice was that Pinot Meunier is like Pinot Noir, and among the pairings suggested was salmon. Sounded good to me.

I was still at a loss as to a new way to cook salmon heading to Whole Foods yesterday, but inspiration occasionally strikes. Here's what we ended up doing:



Those are bundles for steaming. Dried corn husks softened and wrapped around salmon, a large shrimp, roasted chile strips, diced yellow squash, and a butter flavoured with lime, cilantro, salt, and minced red onion. Each of us had two of them.

I wasn't sure how long to steam them, in all honesty, but I decided not to worry. If they were cooked longer than medium (and they definitely were), they would still be moist from the steaming, the use of a wrapper, and the butter used. Sure enough, we snipped them open with scissors at the table, and they were quite fine. The flavours added were not too strong for the salmon, which can withstand a lot, and served with steamed chard and some corn, the meal went nicely with the wine.

So now it's a recovery morning. Happily, we went through as much sparkling water last night as we did wine. Also good: we did up all the dishes last night. No mess this morning. Very welcome!

I think, however, I will need to get a swim in today and definitely eat much lighter!

Traunik

I've written about this place before, but I'll keep singing its praises as long as I can. Lily's of Traunik. Check it out.

Conrad and I have been there a few times now, always with his sister but this time with his mother along for a sunny Friday ride. Somehow, at a "town" or "village" that is nothing more than a crossroads in the middle of the UP, there's this historic building (on the National Register) that now houses a cool little mostly-organic store run by a friendly couple.

It's funny. In some ways it's not a well-stocked store. That is, it's not crammed to the gills with merchandise. I tend to keep circling around inside, finding treasures bit by bit. Some are easy: candied ginger slices, bagged and selling for a marvelously low price. I think we bought ten bags. Organic wines that Conrad spent much time talking with the one owner about. Cards and good coffee and baked goods and...

Fun times. It may be a very small store, but we spend a long while there each visit, and happily so. The next trip up is scheduled for August, and with luck, we can get Justin and Tonna there and again enjoy the browsing. Such an unexpected gem, though. I can't rave about it enough.