| This weekend's BBQ (SB, Zin, Blackberry Port) - CLICK HERE for the Cooking Forum Index |
| Dana Myers |
We've heard of slow food, I'm getting into "simple food"...
Last Saturday, I BBQ'ed three racks of baby-back ribs (from Costco).
I used a half-stave of French Oak for smoke, and oak lump charcoal
for heat. The rub was on the milder side, primarily sea salt,
black pepper, onion and garlic powder, celery seed, coriander
and moderate amount of paprika. Sides were *very* simple;
fresh sauted spinach and S&W corn from a can. Next time I'll
plan ahead better and cook up some pintos in the crock-pot.
No sauce on the meat, and no sauce was offered. At the risk
of ringing my own bell, good Q doesn't need or want sauce.
I opened a couple of local wines and an import:
2003 Ledgewood Creek Vineyards Suisun Valley Sauvignon Blanc -
remarkably nice SB, correct from start to finish, mildly
unctious and supported by a bit of granite in the finish.
Clean, nice, and perhaps only wanting a tad more acidity,
it reminds me of the few NZ SBs I've had. First crop from
grafted-over vines, it'll be interesting to see complexity
evolve in later vintages. B+
2000 Sunset Cellars Ledgewood Vineyard Suisun Valley
Zinfandel - medium-bodied, pure Zinfandel character
and a bit of a ringer for good Amador Zin. There's
very little in the way of oak in the wine. By itself,
very nice, but it married superbly with the smoke and
richness of ribs, one of the most remarkable pairings
I've ever had and a surprise "simple food" success. A-
NV Cowichan Blackberry Port, Cherry Point (BC) - at first
a little tight, this wine quickly unfolded. Though it's
a port, the alcohol is only 15% and the resulting wine is
delightfully balanced. Never overwhelmingly sweet, it
remains rich long into the finish and fades cleanly. This
was nearly a perfect dessert in a glass paired with
butter cookies... B++
All in all, it was a great way to spend an afternoon...
Disclaimer: I'm trying to grade fairly, and these grades
reflect context.
Cheers!
Dana
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| Mark Lipton |
Dana Myers wrote:
> We've heard of slow food, I'm getting into "simple food"...
>
> Last Saturday, I BBQ'ed three racks of baby-back ribs (from Costco).
> I used a half-stave of French Oak for smoke, and oak lump charcoal
> for heat. The rub was on the milder side, primarily sea salt,
> black pepper, onion and garlic powder, celery seed, coriander
> and moderate amount of paprika. Sides were *very* simple;
> fresh sauted spinach and S&W corn from a can. Next time I'll
> plan ahead better and cook up some pintos in the crock-pot.
Yum.
>
>
> No sauce on the meat, and no sauce was offered. At the risk
> of ringing my own bell, good Q doesn't need or want sauce.
True enough, Dana, but I must say that a tomatillo-chipotle salsa that I
make (from a Mark Miller recipe) is an outstanding accompaniment to most
any pork dish, up to and including good BBQ. Recipe available upon
request...
<SNIP interesting notes>
Solano country wines! I've never read anything about them before,
Dana. Thanks for the information. Is the Suisun Valley close to home
for you?
Mark Lipton
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| Dana Myers |
Mark Lipton wrote:
>
> Dana Myers wrote:
[BBQ description]
>>No sauce on the meat, and no sauce was offered. At the risk
>>of ringing my own bell, good Q doesn't need or want sauce.
>
>
> True enough, Dana, but I must say that a tomatillo-chipotle salsa that I
> make (from a Mark Miller recipe) is an outstanding accompaniment to most
> any pork dish, up to and including good BBQ. Recipe available upon
> request...
I appreciate the offer; you're certainly welcome to email
me at my Google Mail address dana.myers@gmail.com - which
seems to do an outstanding job of spam filtering.
> <SNIP interesting notes>
>
> Solano country wines! I've never read anything about them before,
> Dana. Thanks for the information. Is the Suisun Valley close to home
> for you?
Yup. I'm down towards Benicia in an area identified on maps
as Cordelia, but Suisun Valley vineyards are only about 10 minutes
away. Actually, Napa city is 15-20 minutes away when the 12
isn't heavy, too.
Located in greater Suisun Valley are a number of
growers that sell most of their fruit to Big Wineries
for North Coast wines (Suisun is North Coast AVA), but
there are a number of growers also making wine:
Volkhardt Family (excellent Syrah, Solano - Green Valley AVA)
Wooden Valley Winery (wide selection, popular value)
Ledgewood Creek Winery
Ledgewood Vineyards (ramping up)
Sunset Magazine recently featured a few of these locals.
You can actually make a morning out of Suisun Valley; breakfast
at the delightful Vintage Cafe, wine tasting, then load up
on produce at Larry's, stop at Costco for meat and cook
up a dinner feast. Alternatively, you can continue up
the 'back way' into the Napa Valley on Suisun Valley Road
and down Monticello, right onto the Silverado Trail.
It's not a bad place to live... ;-)
Dana
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| Bill |
Mark Lipton wrote:
> True enough, Dana, but I must say that a tomatillo-chipotle salsa that I
> make (from a Mark Miller recipe) is an outstanding accompaniment to most
> any pork dish, up to and including good BBQ. Recipe available upon
> request...
Consider it requested Mark.
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| Mark Lipton |
Bill wrote:
> Consider it requested Mark.
For both Dana and Bill:
Chiptole Tomatillo Salsa
1 lb tomatillos (ca. 15), blackened* and roughly chopped
1 large clove garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 chipotle chiles en adobo**
2 T adobo sauce
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
Place the tomatillos, garlic, sugar, and salt in a food processor or
blender. Blend until mostly puréed. Add the chipotles, adobo sauce, and
cilantro leaves and blend briefly, leaving the salsa just a little textured.
Makes about 2 cups (Heat: 5 -- out of a subjective scale of 0 to 10)
[from "The Great Salsa Book", © Mark Miller, Ten Speed Press, 1994; ISBN
0-89815-517-7] {Fair use, right? ;-)}
* For the uninitiated, blackening involves placing the tomatillos near flame
or on a seriously hot griddle until their skin has blackened and blistered on
all sides.
** Chipotles en abodo come in a can and are available in Mexican food
sections of many grocery stores . The chiles are packed in a spicy,
tomato-based sauce called adobo. Dried chipotles should not be used without
prior reconstitution in an adobo sauce of your own making.
I prefer serving this salsa on the slightly warm side in a gravy boat or
similar device: it's quite thick and quite subtle in flavor (for those who
don't mind a bit of capsaicin in their diet). My apologies also to our
readership outside of the US for my use of these terribly archaic units of
measurement... :-)
Enjoy!
Mark Lipton
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