Rioja, baby!
 

Don't any of you drink Spanish reds? Or partake of a fine Australian shiraz?

Eating healthily
 

Absolutely. I'm telling you, next time you have a turkey sandwich with some pub mustard, crack open a bottle of that Trimbach. It's a great match. I used to get it at QFC, if you've got one near you.

Rioja, baby!
 

The Australians got a favorable write up in the Wine Spectator, but I haven't gotten around to trying many of them.
The ones I've had have been good, but inconsistent. Like 1 bottle good, 1 bottle crap - same vintage.

Eating healthily
 

Well, I'm so glad I went back and changed "Eating healthy" to "Eating healthily," since it has become the subject header of the afternoon.

Thurgreed, darling, how is it nuts to want to make permanent and overall fairly subtle changes in my family's diet?

As for salmon, well, I like it well done (just barely opaque through), but only if it's very very fresh and either Chinook or sockeye. Sebby, there was a killer recipe for pan-seared filets with a sweet-and-sour spiced onion chutney in Cook's Illustrated a couple of years ago. It works really well with atlantic salmon because of its high fat content and firm flesh. It's also a pretty quick and easy weeknight meal. Let me know if you want the recipe.

I also like grilling salmon on the barbecue. The last time I used a soy-lemongrass marinade (I can get the exact ingredients if anyone's interested), and it made a great flavorful crust over tender flesh.

Finally, in the summer we frequently hot-smoke filets on a bed of fresh herbs (whatever's in the garden--basil, chives, sage, lavender, rosemary, thyme, usually) on cedar planks (these can be ordered on-line; here we can get them in the grocery store). The flavor is amazing.

tm

Healthy Drinking
 

Since we started the day with Communion and are now talking about wine, I thought this link on communion wine might be appropriate (just a news article).

Eating healthily
 

Um, where were you when Apple was finalizing its grammatically-suspect "Think Different" campaign?

Eating healthily
 

I am pretty much an all but chardonnay. I drink lots of Sauvignon Blancs and Rieslings.

The NZ SBs are too citrusy for me. I prefer the French and some Californian (both SB and Fume Blanc).

We have a bottle of ice wine in storage. Now, that is a great way to drink Riesling.

Unnecessary questions
 

Is the Pope Catholic?

Is Less a slut?

Do the Red Sox suck?

s4(get me a Ribera del Duero)e

Small state fat cats
 

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic

Come off it. The major reason why small states regularly get more from the federal government than they pay in is because of their representation in the senate. Maps like this where NY and CA lose are typical. http://www.nemw.org/winlose.htm

Mortal Combat. Tarantino #4
 

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan

No, no, I'm not saying the fights looked like something out of a video game. I'm saying there's as much sympathy for the characters as for the combatants in a videogame. Maybe less. Consequently, the fights lack emtional resonance. Name one fight that's like the chase of and fight with the #1 Modoc in Last of the Mohicans or the #1 orc/goblin thingie in LOTR 1.

Rioja, baby!
 

Here and here.

There's a Spanish Rioja region that called Crianza that produces some really great wines. There's one called Contessa de Leganza that I really like a lot, and if you can find it, it's not that very expensive. The last time I saw it at Specs, I picked up three cases of it.

Australian shirazs, I really like too, though I don't know them as well. I always end up going back to Penfolds. And I really like some of the Cab/Shirazes coming out of Australia.

Poaching as baking
 

Here's that salmon recipe that I was talking about, I figure I'd give it to everyone else, as long as I was copying it down.


I really like it a lot. It's from a book called "Simply Salmon" by James Peterson. Peterson in turn cites Cooks Illustrated for the idea. The results are virtually identical to poaching, but you're really baking. I'm just copying down the recipe, though I find you can mess around a bit with the proportions and timing if you want to.

Makes 4 to 6 Main Course Servings:
1 whole 10 pound salmong (or whatever size will fit in your oven), gutted, scaled and gills removed.
2 tablespoons of olive oil
fine sea salt
pepper

preheat oven to 250.

Prepare a double thick sheet of heavy-duy aluminum foil large enough to wrapthe fish with a few inches left over and an extra 8 inches of foil on both of the head and tail ends. Rub it with a tablespoon of olive oil. Rub the salmon with the rest of the olive oil and season it on both sides with salt and pepper. Bring the aluminium foil up around the sides of the salmon and seal the two edges of foil together, creating a seam that runsthe length of the salmon. Fold the foil on the head and tail ends several times over to create a seal. The idea is to seal the foil as best you can while leaving a small amount of air inside with the salmon.

Arrange the salmon on a sheet pan, or if you don't have one big enough, directly on the middle of the oven rack. You may need to arrange the salmon diagonally.

Cooking fish in a low oven--one that simulates the temperature of poaching liquid--takes a lot longer than poaching in a fish poacher, usually 2 1/2 hours for a 10 pound salmon. To be on the safe side, start checking the doneness of the salmon after about 1 1/2 hours by sticking an instant read thermometer along the backbone of the salmon straight through the aluminium foil. It should read 130 F. If you do not have a thermometer, stick a metal skewer into the back of the salmon and immediately touch it to your bottom lip. When it feels distinctly warm, check the doneness of the salmon by running a knife along one side of the backbone--at this point it won't hurt to cut through the foil--and making sure that the flesh isn't raw inside next to the center of the backbone and that you can separate the flesh from the bones with the knife. If the flesh adheres to the bones, continue baking.

Gently unwrap the salmon, peel away its skin, and transfer to a platter. Serve the salmon as desired.

Burger on Wine
 

Here are some NZ SBs I like:

Kim Crawford (2002)
Omaka Springs (2000; more recent nice too)
Whitehaven (2002; 2001 also nice)
Babich (2002)

All are under $20 ($14-17)

Also, the Henri Bourgeois Sancerres are rather nice--less citrusy (grapefruit) than NZ, so a bit drier. But each has its place.

If I were selling you wine, I'd offer to buy any of these you didn't like.

Manfred's Movies
 

I saw it this weekend, and really liked it, more than Mr. Manfred I guess. I'm a Lebowski fan, but I like this one more. I don't recall laughing this hard at a movie, but maybe it just caught me at the right moment.

Fred Phelps
 

That psychotic loser was just on my local radio station for the last 40 minutes. I am officially too sick to eat my dinner now, so all the good food advice from this afternoon is for naught.