Prestige Portfolio Tasting

Woo-hoo! Industry wine events! In absolutely no other circle is it appropriate to drink massive amounts of wine before happy hour, much less before lunch. I tasted almost 100 wines and managed to stain both my teeth and hands in a most unprofessional fashion. Oh well.

Paggi House was the setting today, and it made for a fabulous venue. Proprietors Tom and Tori Tinnon are former managers of Cork and Co, and it's great to see just what they've done with this ancient building. Tres chic. The back area is an outdoor bar built around a well. How cool is that? They quite thoughtfully provided us with some lovely cheeses and small bites to keep us fed as the wine took its effect. Tasty!

Anyhow, Prestige Wines distributes a huge number of different vinters' products, and todays offerings were most definitely top-notch. My Cork and Co. compatriots and I tasted verticals of Chateau Montelena, L'Ecole, and a host of other excellent labels.

As you may know, I am head over heels in love with the wines being produced in Washington state, particularly those made in Walla Walla and Columbia Valley. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to find one of my absolute favorites in attendance, Wines of Substance.

They have a pretty nifty label that approximates the periodic table of elements, but rather than H for Hydrogen we have Ch for Chardonnay and M for Merlot. Neat. Don't let the kitchy label trick you, the juice is stellar.

Their merlot is a huge standout, with great mouthfeel and intese aromatics. If you see any of these anywhere, I must recommend that you pick them up, particularly because they all clock in under $20.

The highlight, though, had to be Seghesio. I love all of the Seghesio wines. They're a family owned vineyard that I've blogged about recently. In particular, I swooned for their 2007 Sonoma Zin, which has since disappeared from shelves due to high demand. Ms. Cathy Seghesio was happy to inform me that while 2007 Sonoma is all gone, their 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel is still around, and boy is it fantastic. Like the Sonoma, but deeper, richer, and overall simply more excellent. Pick it up at Spec's for about $30. Here's a nifty pic of me and Cathy, toasting to our good fortune. They also have an excellent Sangiovese, a new vintage of the Sonoma bottling, and a Petite Syrah that's a little too peppery for my taste. Overall, though, fantastic. And Cathy is a sweetheart.

Then, I realized that it was 3:30, and I had to get to work immediately. Sigh. At least there's wine there, too.

I entered the drawing for a Nebuchadnezzar (quadruple size bottle) of the Seghesio 2008, but have to yet to receive the phone call informing me that I have won. Cathy, if you're reading this, please get in touch ASAP, and I'll save you a glass.

Kismet Cafe (411 W 24th St-Right off the drag)

I've been eating at Kismet for six years now. First of all, it is close to campus and affordable. Working late nights in the lab, I appreciated the fact that I could get a fantastic plate of gyro meat and grilled chicken over rice and have leftovers for a midnight snack.

Kismet Cafe was also the first place that I ate gyro, and I must say I'm glad to be typing that word since I bastardize it every time I attempt to say it. Kismit gyro is very, very good; it seems to be tenderized and perhaps reconstituted. I'm not sure, but it is amazingly tender and delicious. The sauce that it comes with compliments it perfectly.

Inspired by my newfound love of gyro, I went to a couple other Mediterranean restaurants. My search has not at all been exhaustive (yet), but Kismet remains in the lead for me. I can't review this place properly, as I instantly became obsessed with the gyro meat. I've had the hummus (excellent) on the side of the P3 plate, which is my Kismet fail-safe dish.

If you go to Kismet, don't settle for the downstairs seating. There's a lovely little balcony that you might miss if you don't venture to the back of the restaurant and head up the little staircase. The delightful balcony is pictured below.

Chorizo-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin (at Z-Tejas)

Just before going veggie, I finally had the opportunity to try this new(er) addition to Z-Tejas's menu, and let me tell you it was out of this world. MikeDub and I split my all time favorite crab-topped chipotle beef tenderloin and the pork tenderloin.  The tenderloin duet hit it home for me.

The chorizo is not typical. At all. There was none of the greasy red runniness that is standard chorizo. It was darker and firm, with an excellent flavor. The pork was exceedingly tender and the sauces that it was served with complimented it terrificly. Served alongside mashed potatoes and a delightful vegetable medley, this dish is definitely worth a try!

The month of vegetables

On October 2nd I ate red meat again for the first time. I did eat fish about twice during the month of September, but boy did that bleu cheese bacon cheeseburger feel weird! The place was Doc's (SoCo), the burger was very good, but the lethargy that followed was quite annoying. Eating veggies, you never really feel full, but the food coma is far more bearable.

The month of September was excellent, I really enjoyed it. I learned more about cooking tofu and vegetable protein, I came up with many new recipes (which I promise to get around to posting), and I realized how difficult it is to be a healthy vegetarian. A healthy vegetarian has to cook a lot at home to maintain a well-balanced diet. Near the end of the month I started taking some vitamin supplements as it is more difficult to get certain B vitamins and calcium from a vegetarian diet. I did learn clever ways to boost my vitamin intake (cream of wheat mixed with multigrain cheerios is like a vitamin supplement in itself!)

I do not have my gallbladder; when I was 23 I got stones and had to have it removed. The healthy veggie diet completely alleviated the discomfort I often feel from certain foods. That was very eye opening for me.

So, I'm eating meat again. It's mostly because in order to have a successful food blog I must eat all foods. I am, however, limiting my meat intake. The benefits of eating more vegetables and soy protein are too good to give up, so I intend to eat meat only a few times a week.

I've been busy lately, but I have many new recipes to share and restaurant reviews I've saved up. I'm challenging myself and MikeDub to a ten posts in ten days challenge to catch up on all of the great things I've been saving up...

2008 Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the bottle in the picture says 2003. Like I could take a picture that nice, anyways. Get over it.

The Seghesio family has been making wine in Sonoma County, California for over 100 years, and their wines definitely show it. Specializing in Zinfandel, they've offered a range of single-vineyard zins ($30-50) and a multi-vineyard blend ($20) for quite some time now, and the quality has been consistent in all the vintages I've tasted.

But last year, something happened. Wine Spectator rated the 2007 blended zin their #10 wine for the year, and for good reason. More than ever before, the wine showed a finesse not normally associated with Zinfandel, much less associated with wines that only cost $20. The blend was even better than the single-vineyard offerings. In a very true sense, the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. And for $20, how could you possibly say no?

Needless to say, the wine disappeared instantly from shelves, and has been incredibly difficult to find over the past 6 months. As of right now, Wine Spectator has yet to rate the just-released 2008 vintage, and I was lucky enough to find the last one in stock at Spec's (though I would imagine, there's still more coming, it was just released, after all).

The 2008 doesn't disappoint, to be sure, and has almost all of the hallmarks of what made the 2007 spectacular. Dense, powerful fruit and spice aromas jump out of the glass, with hints of oak and coffee. The wine tastes excellent, and the acids and tannins are just present enough to give the wine a long finish without giving it a bite (we call that "balanced acidity"). The one aspect in which I think it comes up short compared to last year's is the complexity of the spicy and herbaceaous notes. '07 is gonna be hard to beat.

Good with food, if you're having rich flavors or sweet/savory combinations (chinese food?), but really, I could drink a whole bottle of this stuff by itself.

Get it while it lasts. I would expect to find it anywhere with a halfway decent wine selection, including Spec's, Twin, and maybe even the nice HEB on 41st. St. If you're hankerin' to taste the truly phenomenal 2007 vintage, my wine bar, Cork and Co., happens to be one of the last places in town you can find it. How 'bout that?

Red Wine Reduction Sauce for Grilled Stuff

One of my favorite dishes growing up was steak with a red wine reduction sauce that my dad used to make. I always thought it was divine, until I tried to make it myself. Then I realized that it's not only divine, but exacting. You have to use the right kind of wine, and watch it carefully, so as not to scorch the sauce, rendering it smoky and bitter.

This is fantastic with beef, pork, or grilled portabella mushrooms (which is what I'm having tonight).

You're gonna need:

1/2 a bottle of cheap california cabernet, the fruitier the better, watch out for oaky or smoky cabs, these can ruin the sauce.

1 cup of port wine, the cheaper the better, Aussie ports are pretty good and cheap

3 large sprigs of rosemary

1 large shallot, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a pan, and toss in the shallots, frying them until brown and aromatic, about 4-5 minutes.

Pour in all the wine, and heat until simmering

toss in the rosemary

Reduce over low heat for about 1 hour, or until all of the alcohol and most of the water has been boiled away.

Taste your sauce. If it's too bitter, add more port. Be generous. Reduce further. Eventually, your nearly 1 bottle of wine will result in about 2-3 ounces of sauce. That's why you get the cheap stuff.

Towards the end, make sure to stir continuously and lower the heat to just barely bubbling, as the thick sauce will stick to the pan and scorch.

You can strain out the rosemary and shallot if you like, but it's easier to accomplish before the sauce is thick. The flavors and essences will remain, though.

If, in the end, the sauce still has an excessively bitter taste (the result of oaky or tannic cabernet), a little sugar and salt will help. Don't over sweeten, though. This is supposed to fairly savory.

Spoon a small amount of sauce onto the dish of your choice (a little goes a long way), and revel in your french-chef-awesomeness.

Bon Appetit!

Awesome Veggie "Chicken" Nuggets

I really hate the title of this post. I'm not trying to fool anyone, there was no chicken in the food I made tonight. But if I say "TVP Nuggets," this dish doesn't sound appetizing at all!

Texturized vegetable protein, or TVP, is a meat substitute that I've recently become acquainted with. A student first mentioned how wonderful it is, and then MikeDub brought me lunch one day at work from Veggie Heaven. Not knowing where the lunch had come from, I actually CALLED him concerned I'd received pork by mistake!

TVP is dry, and can be bought in the bulk food section of HEB. The nice thing is, it really takes up the flavor of whatever you cook it with. Well, tonight was my first night cooking with this type of protein and I am really impressed. I based this recipe off of a chicken dish that I make that's really popular with my friends. (It's a pan-cooked chicken recipe from Kapes' momma's kitchen, actually.) I made the mediallions small (don't be fooled by the picture—they're on a mini plate), as I was having trouble with the nugget falling apart when I tried to make them bigger. I was happy with the result, and I ended up picking them up with my fingers and dipping them in Stubb's BBQ sauce.

Veggie Nuggets

Nuggets
3/4 cup water
1 cup TVP
1 egg
Salt and pepper
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion flakes (or powder, I only had flakes in the pantry)
Accent to taste (cause MSG is awesome and tasty! Although MSG has a bad rap, my analysis of the studies makes me believe it is truly OK for humans. Just use more salt if you have a hang up with MSG and don't complain about your blood pressure...)

Breading
2 tbsp. rolled oats
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. cornmeal

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a frying pan. Mix all of the dry seasonings with the TVP and then add the water (boiling). Mix well, and then stir in the egg. Shape the TVP mixture into nuggets (I used my hand and a tablespoon). Drop into the breading mixture and coat on both sides. Pick up the nugget with the spoon and transfer it to the pan with olive oil. Cook each side until browned (I had to add a bit extra olive oil when I flipped the nuggets). Serve with BBQ sauce.

This place started it all: Somnio's Cafe (1807 South First St.)

I've been failing at eating out lately. I can be pretty picky, but I've honestly just had a few bad restaurant experiences since going veggie. When I told MikeDub I'd take him to dinner tonight, I hadn't a clue where to go, but I knew I didn't want thai. I asked him about vegetarian restaurants, and he rattled off of few... but when he mentioned Somnio's (not vegetarian, but veggie-friendly featuring local produce and free range animals) I was all in.

Somnio's in the reason I started my food blog. Check out the original meat-inspired post here. Tonight was extra special, as the awesome waitress Jenny asked me if I came here often. I told her yes, and that it was this restaurant that had inspired Eating Up Austin. To my delight, she told the owner, and he came out to meet us. He's a chemical engineer who was tired of the lack of jobs in Austin and always loved to cook, so he opened Somnio's. Very cool.

For me, it was the "crazy crispy medallions" with eggplant. This dish featured breaded eggplant topped with crispy buckwheat noodles that were shaped into crazy little swirls. It looked awesome and tasted even better. Before the vegetable kick, I tried this same dish, but with pork tenderloin. Also amazing. Because entrees at Somnio's come with any salad on the menu, I had the bud, which is filled with yellow beets, garbanzo beans, and pecans. I've not tried another salad yet at Somnio's, as I'm obsessed with this one. You always get a choice of (ever-changing) side with the entree as well. Tonight I had the green pepper stuffed with butternut squash and lightly breaded, and it was exquisite.

Somnio's is great. Amazing food, local grown, neat atmosphere, good people. A testament to the great vibe of this place is what happened just as we were leaving. Our rad waitress that I mentioned earlier, Jenny, came running to the parking lot with our forgotten leftovers (and I must mention that Somnio's uses paper boxes instead of styrofoam).

Two thumbs up, five stars. Seriously, why are you still sitting there—go experience it for yourself already!

New Things I Enjoy

1. Dr. Praegers Spinach Pancakes: Found these in the Oltorf HEB in the little health foods frozen section. If you live Southwest, this HEB's little fancy food section has its own freezer, so don't miss out on the delights back there. I pop these in the toaster oven for about 20 minutes and they come out with a potato pancake consistency and amazing flavor. Absolutely delicious! Dr. Praegers incidentally makes a frozen potato pancake, and some other varieties.

2. Tofutti Cuties: I got the mint chocolate chip variant of these dairy-free "ice cream sandwiches." I wasn't sure what to expect, but when I went to grab my first and saw that MikeDub had already eaten three I knew they'd be pretty good. I think I still prefer Haagen Daas vanilla yogurt swirled with raspberry sorbet, but this was a neat alternative.

3. Failing at making Indian food. Trying to figure out how to do it right...

Quiche!

There is nothing healthy about quiche, except maybe the veggies you put into it. But every now and again I cannot resist pouring eggs, cream, and cheese into a ready made pie crust and indulging! Another dangerous fact about quiche is just how easy they are to throw together.

All a quiche is is eggs, cream, and cheese. For one pie, I use 4 eggs. The cream:cheese ratio is variable; you can use 2 cups of cheese and 1 cup of half and half, OR 1 cup of cheese and 1.5–2 cups half and half. Pick your poision ;) Cheesy, creamy delicious poison...

Always steam the veggies a little bit first. Leave them nice and firm—the whole thing is going to cook for about an hour anyhow.

Here's the recipe that I tried today:

4 eggs
1 cup half and half
2 cups shredded swiss cheese
steamed mushrooms and broccoli (firm)
salt and pepper
frozen pie crust

Beat the eggs and half and half and then pour into the pie crust. Add about 3/4 of the cheese and drop in vegetables. Cover with the remaining cheese and bake on 400 ºF for 1–1.25 hours. Quiche is done when knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Simply Beans

What I love about making pinto beans is how simple it is! I never soak my beans; I prefer to cook them for hours like a soup, simmering them so they soak up all the taste of the vegetables.  So how to we make these simple beans?

Place beans in a large pot with ample water (they will swell as they cook; you may need to add more water the first time you do this, just keep an eye on them). Add the following into the pot:

6 whole garlic gloves
1 whole small onion
1–2 whole jalepenos
salt, pepper, garlic powder

And if you're not eating vegetarian, add in about 3 strips of bacon! This adds great flavor!

Bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer until beans are soft (about 2–3 hours). Remove all of the whole vegetables (the flavor will be cooked into the beans, and no one wants to munch a whole onion). After I remove the veges, I sometimes add in chopped cilantro. Adding it at the end helps keep it green and fresh-looking.

If using bacon, remove the bacon, and remove all of the fat. Cut the meaty parts into bits and put back in the beans.

Serve whole, mashed, refried, on breakfast tacos, mixed with rice...

Midnight Snack: French Fries and Ranch Veges

Last night, MikeDub and I were ravenous. To put it quite frankly, I wanted crap. Fried, greasy, bad for me crap. (I've been quite hungry between meals and just wanted to feel really full.) If I weren't eating vegetarian, it probably would have been really nasty heavy and impeded my sleep last night. However, what we threw together was both satisfying and didn't ruin my evening.

Olive oil-fried pomme frites:

First, I heated up a pan of olive oil (do not exceed medium high, or the oil will get too hot—you'll notice a change in smell), and tossed in some thinly sliced potato strips. Once they brown, use tongs and flip them over to brown the other side.

Blanched veges for dippin':

I then began a very large pot of water boiling to blanch some veges. Get the water to a rolling boil and put the veges in briefly. I added carrots, after one minute added cauliflower, then after one more minute added broccoli. I allowed everything to boil one additional minute, and then ran the vegetables under cold water. This just takes away a little of the hardness without taking away all of the freshness. Served up with a side of ranch, it tasted so good it felt bad for us. But it really wasn't!

5 minute Tofu Lunch

No photos here, just a quick and dirty recipe. This tofu came out super tasty, and quite savory, with just enough spice to keep you coming back for more.

Chinese Sauteed Tofu

1 package tofu

1 tablespoon soybean paste (miso)

1 tablespoon chinese hot mustard

1/2 teaspoon chinese 5 spice blend (usually available widely, has cinnamon, ginger, clove, fennel, white pepper)

1/2 tablespoon veggie oil

Slice the tofu into 1/2 thick slices, they should be wide and flat.

Combine miso, mustard and chinese spice in a bowl, and stir until blended.

Coat the tofu strips in the paste.

Heat the oil in a small saucepan, and fry the tofu on high for 2-3 minutes per side, until the paste begins to carbonize.

Remove from the pan and serve immediately.

Serves 2.

This went great with a light salad. I made a really easy asian salad dressing as follows.

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon sweet chili sauce

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon rice wine

Mix 'em up and put it on your salad. Enjoy!

Nutrition 101: Calcium

A mere Google search of 'nutrients vegetarians lack' returned me surprising results. Well, I knew protein was a big one, hence the grocery trip that filled my kitchen with tofu, various beans, and nuts. What I didn't know was that calcium is also a difficult nutrient to obtain from a vegetarian diet. Foods like spinach and swiss chard, although high in calcium, also contain oxalic acid—which actually inhibits the uptake of calcium.

Interestingly, calcium oxalate (the product that forms when the calcium combines with oxalic acid and does not get taken up by your body) is a major component of urinary stones. So when searching for which  foods high in oxalates, you come across a lot of sites dedicated to the prevention of urinary stones. But beware! There's a whole lot of crap out there; one site posted so many foods with oxalates, you'd think you should never eat again for fear of keeling immediately over with osteoporosis.

What I've gathered from my searches is that high oxalate foods should not be consumed as a primary source of calcium. Although some sites encourage the elimination of these foods all together, I'm not sure if I'm sold on that point of view. Although soy also contains a great deal of oxalates, tofu is fortified with extra calcium to help with uptake.

So the solution? Go make my tofu fried rice... Or MikeDub's "Quick and Easy Thai" Soup!

Quick and Easy Thai

Tonight, I decided to whip together something simple and fresh: Stir-fry and Thai Coconut soup. Delicious. The last few days of cooking have cemented for me that a month of going vegetarian is going to be not only easy, but rewarding and delectable.

Anything that looks unfamiliar on the ingredients list should still be available at most decent grocery stores, even most of the HEB's here in Austin. If that fails, a trip to an asian grocery is always fun and enlightening, and is something that I would recommend, particularly because their prices tend to be much lower for many of the "specialty" items that constitute much of asian cuisine.

Asian Veggie Stir-Fry

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 in. piece of ginger, minced

1 large portabella mushroom cap, cut into large chunks

2 carrots, cut into long strips

1 small head of broccoli, cut into large chunks

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (vegetarian fish sauce is available, if fermented fish corpse isn't your thing. In a pinch, substitute more soy sauce)

1 1 /2 tablespoons black bean sauce

2 tablespoons veggie oil

Heat the veggie oil in a large, deep skillet or wok. Add the garlic and ginger and fry until golden brown and aromatic. Add onions, carrots, broccoli, and portabella. Stir fry on high for 3 minutes. Add soy sauce, fish sauce, and black bean sauce. Continue to stir-fry for 3-5 more minutes, or until the vegetables are as tender as you prefer. Serve over steamed jasmine rice.

Thai Coconut Soup

1/2 stalk of lemongrass, chopped finely

1/4 in piece of ginger, sliced finely

1 serrano chili pepper, sliced finely

1 can of coconut milk

1/2 package of tofu, cut into small cubes.

5 tablespoons fish sauce (a vegetable stock or veggie bullion and a little water make a nice sub)

1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar

juice of 3 limes

cilantro to garnish

Heat half the coconut milk in a pot with the ginger, lemongrass and chili. As it begins to boil, add the tofu, fish sauce, remaining coconut milk and sugar. Heat this again just until it begins to boil. Add lime juice, and serve immediately. Garnish with cilantro.

While fish sauce is not vegetarian, it's an essential element in thai cooking, though the substitutes work quite well. However, I can't quite seem to quit the stuff, despite my September vow, and have rationalized myself into believing that I am still doing just fine with this whole vegetarian thing. After all, how could a liquid be meat?