Ron Johnson

My home is located in a historical district that hosts one of the largest juried art shows every October. As a result, my place becomes the refueling station for all of my friends who come down to shop for art. The last couple of years, I have started to offer food and wine,liquor, beer and it has turned into a three-day party basically. My request is for food that is especially adept for being served with cocktails, can hold at room temp for several hours, can be prepared ahead of time, and is off the beaten path. Thanks.

Leon Beyer is my favorite producer in Alsace right now. I also like the idea of the Albarino. Almonds and peaches. I always have it with tapas at this lovely Spanish place in my neighborhood, but I never thought of it with Asian. I think I shall try it this weekend.

If you read the weed thread, you will want to read the brownie thread. Strange.

If thats true, it might be the only one left.

Also known as EDTA, it does THIS The explanation relevant to our discussion is at the bottom of the page.

Bandol is primarily if not 100% mourvedre, a grape that is known to impart a certain funkiness to the wine. Perhaps thats where Mr. Bright Lights Big City got the wet dog reference. It is often a tough customer when young and is best with some bottle age or some aggresive decanting if less than 5 years old. Mogsob is right about Cahors and Languedoc wines being similar because both use a lot of mourvedre. However, I disagree with regard to Chinon, which is a wine from the Loire Valley made with 100% cabernet franc and is known for its soft medium bodied style and distince raspberry flavor. In the summer Bandol Rose is a delicious and refreshing wine. Tempier used to be the top producer, but quality has slipped some in recent years and prices have climbed, especially for the luxury cuvees. I think that Pibarnon and other small producers are giving the most bang for the buck, but if Tempier is all you can find, by all means buy it. I have several Tempiers in my collection. Enjoy your Bandol experience and don't forget to try the Bandol Rose when the hot weather returns.

The 1996 Cinq Cepages is a lovely wine. I believe that because both it and the Opus are 1996, I would choose the Cinq Cepage as it is a wine that will drink better in its youth. Save the Opus. I believe the CC was named wine of the year or some such designation by the spectator.

I learned this technique in a wine class that I took several years ago when I was in the biz. It is really for show and does waste a tremendous amount of champagne, sometimes more than a full glass. You need to take a small sabre or short sword of some type with some heft to it. It is the weight of the thing that helps. Hold the bottle in your non-dominant hand resting in your upturned palm with the neck facing away from you. Place the sabre blade against the bottle about three inches from the bottom and run it down the slope of the bottle neck toward the cork. Just as you make impact with the ring of glass that is at the top of the bottle neck below the cork (the ring that the wire cage hangs onto), make a downward flicking motion with your wrist and follow through cleanly with the motion of the sabre. It should all be done in one clean movement, firm but not too hard. When the blade impacts the ring of glass below the cork, it breaks and the force of the accumulated pressure inside the bottle shoots the cork, cage and top part of the bottle neck away in a small geyser of champagne. It took me about five attempts to get it right. It was kind of cool, but I have never felt compelled to repeat it.

Mario Batali says that diver scallops refers to those that have not been preserved in that horrible liquid prior to sale. That would make sense that these are scallops that are hand-harvested. However, he did not mention the fact that a scuba diver goes down for each scallop. To answer the original question, such a statement on the menu does make a difference to me because I cannot stand those scallops that are packed in that sulfite solution. They have zero texture.

Those two would be my recommendation as well Andy. I have used both of their recipes and now use a hybrid version of both whether I am doing short ribs, lamb shank, or leg of lamb.

I am not a fan of Henkels, even though I own a set. Wusthof has been very satisfactory for the last few years. Get a 8" or 10" Wusthof chef's knife (whichever size feels best in your hand). I like the Grand Prix's feel. Also get a paring knife and a bread knife. Thats all you need!

Thank you Wilfrid. Although I am sure that my secretary thinks I have gone quite mad with my outbursts of laughter for no apparent reason.

Well, don't leave us hanging Elizabeth! Please tell us what you ordered, how you liked it, etc. I am especially keen to hear what you thought of L'Etoile. After two dinners there, I am a big fan.

Pork and all its variations: Bacon, pancetta, salumi, charcuterie, fresh sausages, chops, ribs, shoulder, BBQ. I realized this when good salami was the one thing that prevented my sister from being a vegetarian. She said she never felt the desire to eat chicken or beef in any form, but a slice of salami was like crack. I think the same would be true for me.

Suzanne, I am with you on this one. When I moved into my new place I retrieved my microwave from storage that I had last used in college. Now it sits in my kitchen. I have used it twice in the last 7 months, both times to defrost some meat I needed quickly. I do not think less of those who do use it, just that I find it totally unsatisfactory for any cooking that I do. However, I am aware the others can and do work wonders with the machine.

I think Mr. Tyler could use a little periodontal work on that bottom row. Just because you kick heroin doesn't mean you can stop flossing.

Wilfrid, At the end of a hard night of drinking, few things are more soothing than a plate of fries with gravy. Trust me.

Good point Suzanne. For fried chicken for picnics, we always make potato salad, so no gravy. I guess with this cooler weather, I was just thinking more about fried chicken for Sunday dinner. And, of course, the gravy does NOT go on the chicken. Don't want to ruin that beautiful crust you spent all that time making!

I wonder if that is a regional thing? We wouldn't think of having fried chicken and mashed potatoes without having made pan gravy to go with the mashers. Just curious, Iris, what part of the country are you from?

Part a small frying chicken. Place parts in buttermilk for at least four hours or overnight in the fridge. Get a pan, preferably cast iron, half full of equal parts bacon grease and Crisco. Place over heat, melt the Crisco and bacon fat and maintain at approx. 330 degrees. Season AP flour aggresively with cracked pepper, paprika, cayenne, and salt. Dredge parts of chicken in flour, shake off excess. Place into hot fat. Turn once, make sure fat is not overflowing, and place lid. Check after 20 minutes, outside should be very dark golden brown and quite crunchy. Breasts and wings will finish first. If you lost too much heat when adding the chicken, cook for another 10 minutes, or as needed. After chicken is finished, pour off majority of fat, but leave all bits in the pan. Add few tablespoons of flour and pat of butter, season with same seasonings as flour for dredging. Once roux has formed and is still blonde, add whole milk in slow stream, stirring to prevent lumps. Add until you reach preferred consistency. Serve with mashed potatoes (for the gravy), greens, fried corn, sliced heirloom tomatos, vinegar slaw, and biscuits.

What about having the wine for breakfast?

Agreed. As a calorie measures the amount of energy required to raise one gram of water one degree celsius, I was just assuming that alcohol would have more calories than the same volume of residual sugar. Also, a "sweet" wine really doesn't have that much more sugar than a dry or off-dry wine. However, I certainly agree that both give rise to a higher caloric content in the wine.

Tommy, I think that the higher alcohol by volume is the cause of the higher caloric content as opposed to the higher level of residual sugar. So a zinfandel with 15% alcohol is going to have more calories than a riesling with 9% alcohol, even though the riesling has more residual sugar. At least that is what I gather from FG's post.

Please list the names of the wines on which I have made comments that I have not personally sampled. I believe you said that I do it "often". Adam, I see you are calling me a wine snob. Yes, it is true I like good and reasonably priced wines, however, I was unaware that made one a snob. I have not had an Australian shiraz that I have liked. Why you choose to take this personally is beyond me . . . buddy.

Yes Parker is indeed a champion of the Australian winemaker. Unique and interesting is an apt description of the style.