Really Nice!

I'm going to a friend's house later tonight. I'm bringing a bottle of wine (2000 Château Jean de Gué, a Pomerol). My friend doesn't have a decanter so I'm going to decant it for a while and pour it back into the bottle before heading over. Is the wine going to continue to open up even though it's back in the bottle with the cork back in it? Thanks!

You don't get a bouquet because you don't draw in air when you sip. Another affect of this is without that extra air you get inebriated much more quickly. I've seen this through a couple of friends; whenever she started drinking through a straw, her husband would get ticked off because he knew she'd be getting pissed after just two glasses.

Yeah, I don't know where that came from. Soy sauce is not a part of the Jamaican profile. I got this recipe out of the Chicago Tribune about 15 years ago. It's from a restaurant that specialized in Caribbean cuisine. I think it's a substitute for something liquid and salty. I tried omitting it once and the texture was a bit more grainy and it definitely needed salt.

Yup!

Here's something from the family cookbook. -------------- Jamaican Jerk is not only a spice mixture; it is a way of cooking meat. The Arawak Indians first developed this method in Jamaica. You rub the Jerk sauce into meats (chicken, pork, fish or beef), leaving it to marinate for an hour at room temperature, and then barbecue. You should try it if you like spicy hot food. Jerk is a dark green sauce that starts out sweet on the tip of your tongue and quickly bulldozes its way to the back while turning to Hot as Hell! 2 tbsp ground allspice 1/2 cup brown sugar 6 - 8 garlic cloves 4 - 6 Habernaro (or equivalent) peppers, seeds and all 1 tbsp ground thyme, or 2 tbsp thyme leaves 2 bunches green onions 1 tsp cinnamon, ground 1/2 tsp nutmeg 2 tbsp soy sauce Put everything in a food processor and blend until smooth. This will keep "forever" in the refrigerator. Feel free to increase the garlic and the hot peppers. Using a spoon, brush, or wearing rubber gloves, rub the sauce into each piece of meat. (For chicken get under the skin and in all the cavities.) If you are using pork, use a de-boned shoulder, score the fat and rub the sauce in, using 1/2 cup or more per 6-pound (3-kilogram) shoulder. Use less for fish. Marinate, preferably overnight, and grill over a low fire until done. The meat will be a smoky pink when done and the skin nice and dark. Chop the meat into pieces and serve traditionally with hard dough bread. Serve with your favorite ice-cold beer.

I follow the bullet-point instructions from my culinary school methodology class notes. Coq au Vin — Braising hind quarters (HQ) in red wine sauce. Steps are as follows: 1. Whole HQ from old chicken. Older meats, where the muscle is worked more, are tougher and more flavorful. Therefore, inverse is also true. 2. Keep skin on; sear in clarified butter. If dredging in flour, do so < 1 minute before putting in pan, otherwise flour gets pasty mouthfeel. Flour makes good, dark fond. Bad side is it also makes a cloudy sauce. 3. Remove HQ to landing pan. If cooking too fast – the fond burns before chicken is cooked. If fond starts to burn, add wine to cool pan. Watch fire closely, always adjust heat because medium high heat changes as things are added to the pan or are cooked. 4. Add 8/4/4 Mirepoix (8oz Onion/4oz carrot/4oz celery). 5. Increase heat to high and caramelize mirepoix. 6. Add red wine, burn off alcohol. 7. Add brandy, burn off alcohol. 8. Return HQ to pan. 9. Cover with parchment, foil and lid. Place in 325°F oven until done. 10. Remove HQ to landing pan. 11. Strain sauce over HQ; pushing mirepoix to extract juices. 12. Serve with bacon cracklings (rendered Batonnet bacon), blanched pearl onions, ¼’d mushrooms. Since this is a rich, somewhat fatty dish I like to serve either a young west bank Bordeaux or a young Cabernet Sauvignon for the tannins to foil the fat. Another angle is a red Burgundy and let the acidity foil the fat.

Made a rabbit and veal ragu bolognase the other night. Served it topped with a slow roasted pork loin-cooked medium rare, finished with reduced balsamic and Malden sea salt, and a Nicholson Ranch Pinot Noir.

I recently moved into a condo that has an electric stove. I've been using gas stoves for most of my life except when living in an apartment (and I didn't give a hoot about this problem then). I have a stove with four burners, none of them are flat and level. They all rise up between 1/4- and 1/2-inch opposite of the connector underneath the stove top. I have restaurant-grade cookware (read: heavy), yet there are many times where they are not heavy enough to weigh down the coil to give me a level cooking surface. For example, when cooking eggs in my 8-inch skillet, gravity will pull the eggs across the skillet. When searing a steak, the small amount of oil slides across the pan instead staying with the steak. I've done just about everything I know to try and level them short of using brute force because I don't want to break it. Anyone ever solve this problem? Thanks!

The Wine Network is a privately held company with offices in San Francisco, Honolulu, and Hong Kong. Co-founded and developed by veteran professionals in the satellite and entertainment industry, Wine Network is the world's first and only 24/7 interactive television network dedicated to the theme of Wine, the lifestyle of wine lovers, and related subjects such as Beer & Spirits, Cigars, Food, Travel, Fashion, Health, Art & Culture, Entertainment, and more; providing entertaining programming to a global audience via cable and satellite. Wine Network appeals directly to today's elite audience and multitude of viewers anxious to watch innovative and entertaining programming that explores, with authority, the most unique and delighting experiences the world of wine offers. Wine Network peeks into the inside world of wine with unprecedented access to the best of the epicurean world. Furthermore, Wine Network reveals the life and passion that drive wine lovers and epicureans through in-depth interviews and feature stories that invite viewers into a world of entertainment, discovery, and passion. Wine Network will be officially launched this Fall of 2004 in United States, Europe, and Asia.

Wow, I really can't see this recipe thickening without a significant reduction in liquid. With sure jell, ***I think*** the ratio is 1 1.75 box of Sure Jell per four cups of fruit. ***I came up with this ratio by going to the Sure Jell Web site and looking at some of their recipes. Most are for about 4 cups of fruit and one box of Sure Jell.

I'm a little perplexed too. Did they mistreat you in some way? Katie, I agree, this is business as usual. Expansion is part of any successful business in any industry. At least it doesn't have Jerry Lewis on the label. Sort of off topic, but why are people drawn to wines with animals on the label?

With a 3:4 ratio of sugar to fruit and using watermelon as a portion of the fruit I believe that there is not enough natural pectin in this recipe to produce a desired effect.

Are you saying Charles Shaw isn't a lifestyle?

If today's pregnant women are afraid, then why are there so many of them this year?

Ah yes, New Zealand, also known as Australia's Canada. Most of my ozzie wine is limited to Penfolds. I have four cases of Grange, a mixed case of RWT and Yattarna, and a case of Bin 389. Oh, and 10 bottles of Stanton and Killeen muscat or tokay. That stuff is absolutely heavenly.

How much watermelon? That's mostly water so if it's a fair amount percentage-wise, that might be the issue. What about pectin? Did the recipe call for that? At what temperature did you simmer?

From a corporate standpoint I would say that Woodbridge is where the money is. "The company said it would not speculate on whether members of the family might make a run at the part of the company that will deal in high-end wines. It also said original owners and joint venture partners -- such as Richard Arrowood at Arrowood Vineyards or the Rothschilds at Opus One -- have rights of first refusal on repurchasing those operations under certain conditions." I'm guessing the Mondavi family and partners will buy Opus One, along with the vineyards in the Stags Leap and Carneros appellations.

I started this thread in the Pacific Northwest forum; hence the reference to Le Pichet chicken, a dish served at a local French bistro. If you're ever in Seattle, you must go in for a visit. Le Pichet 1933 1st Ave. Seattle, WA 98101 TEL: 206.256.1499 The recipe for this dish is near the bottom of this thread, look for Makarky's post. I made this last night and served it with potatoes anna and a chicken stock reduction. I made a little bit of a change by rubbing the chicken skin with reserved foie gras fat before putting it in the skillet.

Less than five days, I think.

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking It's my favorite cooking method too.

Yup, he moved north sometime in the fall of 2000.

On KCTS last Saturday they had four hours of comfort food with recipes contributed by restaurants and viewers. One chef, I don't know who he was, made meat loaf and mashed potatoes. It looked horrible. Meatloaf was dry and he dumped the mash into a kitchen aid and whipped it. It was lumpy. (Use a potato ricer!) Anyway, it inspired me enough to make my grandma's meatloaf to commence my autumn cooking transition. It was very good!

Agree. There is no better person than Bob to sharpen your knives. BTW, he's updated his Web site (finally!). I see he's offering classes on basic forging, forge building, Damascus, sharpening and so forth. A few years back a group of us drove up there (Ferndale WA) and he taught us the basics of knife care and sharpening, it was worth it. P.S. Here's a shipping tip, "Please be sure to pack items VERY well! It's unnerving to get a package with a couple of knives poking out the sides. Remember many shippers were once football stars and they often treat packages as footballs. To prevent accidents place wine corks on the points of the blades or wrap in cardboard sheaths. Now lay the knives head to toe and wrap in at least three sheets of newspaper."

Kriste and I stopped in there last week. Not bad, worth the trip again. BTW, Laurie, your words from your post are on the back of the menu along with three other 'published' accoladates.

Here you go Puget Sound Area Harvest Schedule Coming or Continuing: Apples Fall raspberries Beans Brussels Sprouts Corn Pickling Cucumbers Elephant garlic Leeks Parsnips Shallots Winter squash Going: Blackberries Blueberries Melons Basil Lavender Tarragon Tomatoes