wine induced eats.....

Don't Pay Attention to the Date....

2011-02-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

I feel a little like the man behind the curtain in Oz, like I can distract you from noticing how long ago my last post was by waving a big smoke screen in front of your eyes...

http://curiousphotos.blogspot.com/2009/07/80-funny-food-pictures.html

Fall Soup

2010-10-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Fall is here! We love it!!!!!! Yesterday was a nice big rainstorm and lucky for me, my day off. I got to sit home all day in my cozy house watching the leaves fly by and rain pour down. So, what better after a cozy fall day then a cozy fall dinner?

Dinner

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Creamy Butternut Soup

Apple Cider

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Creamy Butternut Soup

1 Medium Onion, chopped

2 Large Gala Apples, chopped

3 Tbs Butter

1 Medium Butternut Squash, peeled and chopped

34oz Chicken Broth

½ Cup Apple Cider

¼ Cup Heavy Cream

Salt and Pepper

In a 5quart stockpot melt butter over med high heat and sauté onions and apples for 5 mins or until tender.
Add squash, broth, juice, and ½ tsp salt. Bring to boil, then reduce, cover, and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until squash is tender. Remove from heat.
Transfer in batches to a food processor and puree until smooth.
Add heavy cream to the puree. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

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Deconstruction of Chicken and Dumplings

2010-10-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

Srsly, how scary is this road?!

After an, eh hum, “spirited” game night at Tomcans new house last weekend we had a houseguest stay with us. We hung out in pain and watched a marathon of IRT’s new show “Deadliest Roads”. It really worked up an appetite and since he is well under the weight guidelines for my house, I had to fatten him up... with gravy.

Breakunchinner (it’s a thing)

Mom’s Version of Chicken and Dumplings

Salad

Assorted Energy Drinks

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Mom’s Chicken and Dumplings

8 Chicken Thighs or 4 Breasts, skin on with bone

1 Carrot

1 Stalk Celery

1 1/3 Cup Bisquick

3-6 Tbs Milk

1-2 Cans Chicken broth

Salt and Pepper

Place chicken seasoned with S&P into Dutch Oven (on the stovetop over med+) or skillet with a lid, add chopped up carrots, celery, and a few Tbs of chicken broth. Cook through with cover in place.
Mix up Bisquick and milk in a bowl until it resembles a cross between dough and batter.
When chicken is cooked (or within a few minutes of being done), remove cover and place a spoonful or two of the batter mix on top of each piece of chicken. Replace cover. Cook for 10+/- minutes or until toothpick inserted into the “dumpling” comes out clean.
Remove chicken pieces with dumplings cooked on top from the pan, transfer to plate.
Now is time for gravy! Use your own recipe, or follow my easy one:

Mash up the little carrot and celery bits left in the pan with the back of a spoon or something creative.
Keep the heat going on the pan and pour in 1-2 cans chicken broth (depending on how much gravy you want).
Scrap the little browned bits from the bottom of the pan and let them “season” your gravy.
In a little bowl, mix together a few Tbs of flour (or cornstarch) and enough COLD water to make it thinner than a paste. Mix until it is smooth.
Pour the flour mixture into the gravy SLOWLY while mixing well.
Let the gravy cook (stir occasionally) until it is thickened and bubbly, reduce heat and let cool a little.
Season with S&P.

Place chicken on plate, cover with gravy, ENJOY!

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Lazy Dazy

2010-10-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

Our DR trip, all dressed up
and ready for sushi dinner.

I have been so lazy lately.

Not just lazy about blogging, but lazy in general. We spent a little over a week in the Dominican Republic, came home to the flu, and ever since then my motivation has been MIA.

This weekend will be different! It is a slow weekend in the Keiffer house, only plans on Saturday. Sunday will be full of ~~sitting around in our underwear watching football while eating pizza and eating frosting out of the container~~ productive cooking, canning, and cleaning.

I promise I will blog something after this weekend.

We survived in DR on ice cream, espresso,
Mamajuana, wine, and water. YUM.

Saved by Sushi

2010-09-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

And this is why I married the guy! Besides his devilish good looks and ability to walk on stilts, this might be one of my favorite things about him: he knows how to win me over with fresh sushi.

My office was slammed today. Lunch is usually my escape, but not today. As soon as I walked into the kitchen I realized I had 5 minutes to rush back. Needless to say, my lunch plans were scraped and I started to hope I could find 15 quiet minutes later in the day to at least scarf down a crusty bagel (gluten free! Udi’s Handcrafted Foods Plain Bagels).

Thankfully a knight in shining armor saved me by delivering a plate of sushi, complete with a side of Diet Coke.

Lunch

Max’s California-ish Rolls
Yellow Fin Sashimi
Diet Coke

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Sushi Rice

Prepared Short Grain Rice, still warm

Sushi Vinegar

Fan

Rice Paddle

Cookie Sheet

Plastic Wrap

Four Hands

Cover your cookie sheet with plastic wrap (this is awesome for clean up!), then dump your rice onto it.
Add your sushi vinegar to the pile 1 Tbs at a time then “cut” it in. You don’t want to mix it because it will lose the consistency you want; instead you slice into it with your rice paddle repeatedly until it is thoroughly mixed in.
While you are cutting in the vinegar you need your other hand (or a borrowed hand) fanning the rice to cool it. The longer you take to cool it, the drier your rice will turn out.
Keep adding the vinegar until you get the taste you are looking for, no amount is a wrong amount.
When you are ready to roll sushi be sure to only handle the rice with wet hands, that way the rice won’t stick to your fingers.

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Happiness is a Good Pasta Sauce

2010-09-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our garden is slow going this year. With the colder than normal temperatures in the NW we have had lame fruit and veggies that take fooorrrever to ripen. Luckily we planted 12 tomato plants and hung up a “Topsy Turvey”. Still, the fruits of our labor (ha) are barely enough to cover dinner each night.

If you ever asked me what my favorite food was, I would automatically give you my Creamy Tomato sauce recipe. Perfect over salty Chicken Parmesan on a bed of (gluten free!) noodles, yum. The sauce is light, sweet, tangy, and just rich enough. I am drooling thinking about it!

Dinner

Chicken Parmesan
Ancient Harvest Gluten Free Spaghetti (the best!)
Loads of Creamy Tomato Sauce
Naked Wineries Vixen Syrah

Seriously, still drooling over here, it is almost embarrassing at this point.

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Creamy Tomato Sauce

3-4 Cups Tomatoes, use fresh and a variety of Cherry, Plum, and Romas, skins removed.

3-4 Cloves Garlic chopped (I like garlic a lot)

1 Shallot chopped

2 Tbs Butter

¼ Cup Heavy Cream

¼ Cup Shredded Parmesan (or more, to taste)

Salt

Step #2, Half Way Through

Place butter, onions, and garlic over med heat. Sautee until translucent and soft.
Add tomatoes to the mixture bring to a high simmer then turn down heat to a low simmer. Cook until most of the tomatoes break apart and are soft. About 15-25 minutes.
Add the cream, stirring frequently over medium heat for around 5 minutes, or until it starts to thicken.
Turn off heat on the burner and add the Parmesan, stirring constantly until melted.
I don’t add salt; this is a perfect taste to me on its own. But if it is too sweet for you, this is where you would add a pinch of salt.
Serve immediately or the cheese will clump and separate.

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The wine? Adorable bottle, cute slogans, all in all a nice package! The wine itself wasn't half bad, but for $20+ a bottle? Could have been better.

Pierogis-A-Go-Go

2010-09-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

We have a local restaurant in town that has great food and I used to waitress at. Some of the best memories I have of working there were coming home after a horribly long dinner shift with a huge bag of food (half off dinners!) that we would spread out on the coffee table and feast on. One of our favorite things to get was the pierogies. Pastas stuffed with potatoes and cheese, covered in bacon and sautéed onions, and dipped in sour cream? Yum.

We both were craving comfort food the other night and you guessed it, this is what we wanted. So, we learned how to make a pierogi.

Comfort Snack

§ Pierogies

§ Whatever-was-left-in-the-cooler-mish-mash-beer

We ended up with too many to eat so we froze them to eat later.

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Pierogies

3 Cups Flour (for the gluten free variation use my flour mix)

¼ Cup Olive Oil

1 Cup Water

1 Tsp Salt

2 Cups Prepared Mashed Potatoes

1 Cup Grated Cheese

Butter for browning

Red Onion, sliced

6 Strips Cooked Bacon

Sour Cream

Mix together flour, water, and olive oil in a bowl or mixer (you can mix with your dough hook on med for 1 minute) until well blended. Turn onto a floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes, or until a good elastic consistency. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface until 1/8 inch thick. Use the mouth of a glass or a cookie cutter to cut out circles from the dough.
Mix together potatoes and cheese. Make a 1 inch ball from the mixture and place in the middle of one of the dough circles. Fold the dough circle over and pinch the edges to “seal” the potato mixture inside. Repeat for all the other pierogies.
Drop pierogies a few at a time into a pot of boiling water, be sure to not crowd them. Let boil 7-10 minutes or until they are all floating and appear done. Remove from water, drain, rinse with cold water, and lay out to dry for 15-20 minutes, turning once.
Heat butter in a skillet over med-high heat and place onion slices and dried piergoies in the pan. “brown” each side for 2-4 minutes and then flip when golden and starting to crisp. Drain.
Serve with crumbled bacon over the top and dipped in sour cream.

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Gluten Free "Flour"

2010-09-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered that I have a mild wheat intolerance. Stomach issue plagued me for a long time until I figured this out. Now, I will “cheat” just like I would on a diet; I get excited, open up a baguette, devour it… then an hour later feel like someone just punched me in the stomach. But for the most part I will try and stick to wheat (or gluten) free alternatives. Max has even gotten great at putting together wheat free breads for me.

So far the BEST “flour” I have found is a blend that I can use in substitution for flour in any recipe. It seems to dry out some recipes more than others, so add more liquid as needed.

1 Part Rice Flour

1 Part Potato Starch (not potato flour, if you can't find potato starch you can substitute tapioca starch)

1 Part Cornstarch

1/2 Part Fine Corn Flour

1/2 part Tapioca Starch

1 Tsp Xanthan Gum Per Cup of Flour Mix

We make up big batches of this blend and store it in an airtight container in the fridge.

Camping Ribs

2010-09-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

Camping food is always a treat; you are dirty, hungry, and generally ready to tear into anything you can get your hands on. Over the weekend we went on a short camping trip with friends and decided to really make a dinner fit for camping.

Dinner

§ BBQed Ribs

§ Baked Red Potatoes

§ Corn on the Cob

Since we were camping we paired this with beer, Bud Light to be exact, delicious and refreshing.

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The Perfect BBQed Ribs

3-4 Pounds Beef Ribs

4 Tbs Water

2 Tsp Hickory Flavored Liquid Smoke

Bottle of BBQ Sauce (homemade or Sweet Baby Rays are our favorites)

Heavy Duty Tin Foil

Start warming your grill (med high heat). Cut the ribs up into sections of 2-3 ribs.
Place the 2 sections of ribs on tin foil and fold up into a “pouch” (so that liquid placed in the tin foil can’t leak), leaving one side open. Repeat until you are out of ribs.
Mix together the water and liquid smoke then pour evenly into each pouch. Seal the end of the pouches.
Before you place the ribs on the grill, be sure to turn off the burners directly under where the ribs will be placed. You want indirect heat. We have 4 burners on our grill, so I turn off the two middle ones and place the ribs there, with the two on the outer edges still burning.
“Smoke” the ribs like this for 1-1.5 hours, turning the ribs every 20 minutes or so.
Remove the ribs from the tinfoil and place back on the grill, same indirect heat as before. Brush one side with BBQ sauce and let it caramelize (lid closed) for 10-15 minutes. Flip the rib, brush other side with BBQ sauce, let caramelize for another 10-15 minutes. Repeat this until you get the BBQ sauce consistency you like (takes me about 4 cycles of this, 2 times on each side).

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No chicken?

2010-09-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

Our house is usually like a zoo; we have friends coming and going, family coming and going, dogs here and there, and just general chaos. Today was supposed to be an exception to that. The plan was to relax at home with a cocktail in hand with a close friend of ours. Dinner was to be ready by the time I got off work (started it at lunch!) and no worries!

Well, not so much.

After stewing the chicken for the right amount of time I congratulated myself on a perfectly done chicken, pulled it out of the stock pot, and started to debone it. I walked away for a few minutes while it cooled to the back of the house. Faintly I thought I heard a few loud thuds. Odd I thought, no one else is here. I folded a few more towels, then it hit me; the chicken is on the counter and the dogs are in the kitchen. I ran through the house, passing two of the sleeping dogs in the office then another dog playing with a squeaker, I thought I was in the clear. Nope. In the kitchen was our oldest girl, Diesel, smacking her lips and giving me a smile to show she appreciated her afternoon snack.

Sigh, there goes dinner.

So, what do you make when you're in a pinch?

Breakfast of Champions

2010-08-31T11:01:00.000-07:00

Breakfast isn't usually a "thing" in our house. Weekday mornings are spent scrambling for shoes, wallet, keys, etc and dashing out the door in hopes of making it to the office on time. On weekends we are faaar too lazy to think about cooking something first thing in the morning (and doing the dishes?!).

However, when we do decide breakfast is necessary we make a mean breakfast burrito. After a particularly fun and "spirited" Saturday night, our angry stomachs were telling us that we needed to put something in them, fast, before they started to rebel. Sooooo, breakfast burritos it was!

Breakfast

· Breakfast Burrito

· Coffee

· Loads of Self Pity

Depending on the mood in the house, we have been known to couple these with a Bloody Mary for me (nutrients!) and a Mimosa for Max.

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Breakfast Burritos

2 Potatoes

2 Tbs Oil

1/2 Small Onion

2 Eggs

2-4 Flour Tortilla Shells

Shredded Cheese

Salsa

Tin Foil

Anything Else Burrito Worthy in the Fridge

1. Start by cutting up the potato into 1 inch chunks. Cut up the onion into bits also (I like them bigger so Max can pick them out).

2. Add oil to a fry pan over medium heat, add potatoes and onions, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until the onions are just about soft, turn down the heat and cover the pan until the potatoes are cooked through and soft.

3. Turn the heat in the pan back up to medium. Crack the eggs into a bowl and mix them up (like you would scrambled eggs), pour into the pan, quickly mixing them with the potatoes and onions.

4. When the eggs are cooked through, pour in your salsa, mix it over medium heat until heated through and the salsa doesn't appear watery.

5. Heat up your tortillas and pour the mixture evenly between the tortillas, sprinkle with cheese, then wrap them up like burritos.

6. Take a small piece of tinfoil and wrap the burrito in it, let it stand for about 3 minutes before eating (this will soften up the shell more, melt the cheese, and let all the ingredients "meet").

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Strawberries and Walnuts and Salads, Oh My!

2010-08-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

How? How do strawberries and walnuts and salads go together? Well, wonderfully.

Fruits, nuts, and lettuce always seems to go great together. I know, I know, you ask: "but what about salad dressing? Do you just call that dressed enough? Or do you bury the fresh flavors with a commercially bought dressing? Just oil and vinegar? What?!".

Our dinner last night was the perfect example of how to compliment a "fresh" salad without making the dressing the center of attention.

Since we are going to a big 'ol Birthday party for yours truly tonight, there is no wine review for last night. Just saving up the little friend of mine I call "Liverace" (first name Wladziu Valentino? Produces bile? Anyone?).

Dinner

Spinach and Greens Salad with Strawberries, Walnuts, and Feta

Special Dressing

Sun Tea

And yes, Max made himself another BBQed Pizza

Our garden strawberries are not ready yet, but I suppose if they were this would be FAR more delicious (if thats even possible).
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Strawberry Salad

Greens (Spinach and Spring Mixes are my fave)

1/4 Cup Olive Oil
5-6 Strawberries
3-4 Tbl Balsamic Vinegar
Feta
Crushed Walnuts (not too fine)

Bowl of Happiness

Assemble your salad; all the greens, the feta, walnuts, and three or so strawberries (sliced).

In a blender combine the olive oil, remaining strawberries, and vinegar (I use A LOT of balsamic, adjust this part to taste) then puree it. When you get a good consistency out of it, give it a taste. Too vinegary? Add more oil. Too oily? Add more vinegar. You get the point.

I like to dress my salads before I plate them. I toss them with a little of the dressing and viola, summer salad!

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Birthday Dinner

2010-08-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday and my wonderful husband got the car all cleaned out, showered himself up all pretty, and took me out to a delicious sushi dinner.

I was so consumed with trying to stuff as many pieces of fish in my mouth as I could that I never got a chance to take a picture, sorry. But man, it was to die for. We try a new roll every time, last nights was called "Firewire". It was simple: spicy tempura asparagus with cucumber and avocado. The entire roll lasted about 1 minute on our table, thats how good it was.

Recommendation? Anyone in the Hood River area, be sure to make a stop at Sushi Okalani, we are sushi snobs and have found no better place than this.

Also, follow your trip to sushi up with an ice cream stop at Dairy Queen, trust me.

A BBQed Pizza? Crazy talk.

2010-08-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I was reading and came across something interesting, a pizza cooked in the BBQ. Now, I love BBQ's, I love pizza topping, but I don't love pizza. Max loves pizza.

Since we were both craving something different last night it seemed like the perfect time to try it out. We made two pizza doughs, a wheat free (which we have constantly had problems cooking) and a regular crust. The garden has also produced us some FANTASTIC yellow tomatoes so we used those, goat cheese, mozzarella, feta, basil, and my homemade pizza sauce as toppings. OHMYDROOLONMYSHIRT, delicious toppings!

The benefit to BBQing your pizza is that it gets a perfect crust on the outside and gets to a high enough temperature (that your everyday oven can't get to) that you get the "pizza oven" effect where your middle is light yet dense. It also infuses your pizza with a rustic smokey taste like you would find in a traditional Pizzeria

Dinner

Wheat Free Pizza with all the toppings
Regular Crust Pizza with all the toppings
A $8.99 bottle that referenced dogs(!!), Dog Tail Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (California)

What success, we cooked both pizzas perfectly in the dark on our BBQ and will never go back. I love this pizza.

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BBQed Pizza

Prepared Uncooked Crust (make your own or store bought)
Oil for the Grill
Pizza Toppings

First, before you start cooking away, HEAT UP YOUR BBQ, the hotter the better. We turned ours on "max heat". --side note, pull BBQ away from vinyl siding when you have it up this high, it does melt, will post pictures later.

Spread your pizza dough into the desired thickness and shape (I like round, Max like oval) The thinner you make this this more crispy it will be.

Your grill should be upwards of 500 degrees at this point. Take your oil and pizza dough out to the grill. Gently (and carefully) oil the grill with a rag/brush and oil then lay the pizza dough on the grill. If there is a wayward flame turn the grill down so its not hitting the crust directly. Close the lid and let it cook for a minute or two, until the side looks done. Remove and take back to your kitchen.

Top you pizza on the cooked side with sauce, toppings, and the kitchen sink.

On the grill.

Return the pizza to the BBQ and place (raw side down) back on an oiled grill. Let it sit at a high temperature for about 30 seconds with a closed lid then turn down the heat so as not to burn the pizza. Let it sit under the closed lid for as long as it takes to melt your toppings and cook your crust (just check it to see it doesn't burn), about 4 minutes.

If your crust is done but the toppings aren't melted, just stick it under the broiler in your oven for a couple minutes.
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Wine Verdict?

Blech. We both found it very heartburn inducing and it had a super vinegar tinge to it with little flavor. Cute bottle though?

Tacos, Tacos, Tacos.... and wine.

2010-08-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

We recently went to a huge BBQ at Robanies place in Keizer. We were loured in with the promise of authentic Mexican cooking. We were not disappointed! After stuffing ourselves silly we mentally took notes (and quizzed the cook) so we could re-create later. Last night we tried...

Dinner

Crunchy Chicken Tacos
Mexican Rice
Homemade Salsa and Tortilla Chips
Some $6.99 bottle with a Rooster on it, Rex Goliath California Cabernet Sauvignon

The most exciting thing I learned from Missy (the magical cooker of all things Mexican) was how to make Mexican style rice. I attempted this poorly but have since learned the error of my ways and put my own styles in there.

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Mexican Style Rice

1 Cup Rice

2 Tbs Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup Onion

1-2 Tomatoes or 1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce

Chicken Stock (follow measurement guide on rice package, use in place of water)

Salt to taste

1tsp Cumin

Puree onions in a food processor, set aside. Puree Tomatoes (if using fresh) and chicken stock in food processor, set aside.

Heat oil over medium in the bottom of a pan, not too hot or the rice will burn, but warm enough it will "fry" (this is where I went wrong). Add the rice, salt, and cumin, stir constantly and let this fry up until the rice is puffed looking. If you burn it throw it away and start over.

Stir in the tomato and chicken stock mixture and bring it to a boil, cover then turn down the heat and simmer on low until it is done (20-25 minutes-ish?). Remove from heat, let sit a minute or two, then fluff with a fork and serve.

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Wine Verdict?

Doesn't taste half bad with Mexican food and gave us the giggles while we tried to make salsa. Worth the calories.

What this place is...

2010-08-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

I like wine. A lot. So does my husband. Yet wine snobs we are not. Our version of wine typically comes in a bottle (box? pshaw, only when camping), has a cork or screw top, and a smell faintly like vinegar with sour grape juice. We like it that way.

While we can sniff, swirl, and swish with the best of them, there is something comfortable and unpretentious about our "puking bear wine" (which costs us a whopping $2.99 a bottle). You might cringe but keep in mind we are newlyweds on a budget ~~with incredibly low standards~~. Don't judge.

So what goes better with wine than food? Not a whole heck of a lot.

Senior Maximus and I both love food more than wine. Sometimes we even love food more than other people. We try new recipes weekly and make old favorites whenever we can. Cooking is a form of stress relief and a way for us to connect after a long day in the outside world. Our kitchen is our haven.

So what the heckaroo does this have to do with you and why would you want to read it? We have realized what a connection wine and food has brought us as a couple and even between us and our frequent dinner guests. The world would be a better place if everyone sat down with a full glass, ate some good foods, and left their crap at the door. So be inspired, eat, drink, and enjoy!