Matters of Taste

When Mom's Little Helper Isn't Little Anymore

Last week I wrote about the cooking techniques, recipes, math, and basic life lessons that I learned while cooking with my son Nicholas on Thanksgiving Day. (Click here to see Gravy 101: What I Learned on Thanksgiving Day. 

This week I’m a guest blogger on Mothering21, the blog of New York University professor Mary Quigley, who regales readers with posts about the joys and challenges of “mothering” adult children.

Quigley asked me to elaborate on the scene in our Thanksgiving kitchen, which meant stretching my original post to include my son Ben (pictured here) who minced corvina and squeezed limes for a smashing cocktail-hour ceviche, my husband who grappled with the 25-pound-plus bird, and my 90-year-old mother who swirled whipped cream and candy confetti onto her contribution to the feast: the Chocolate Icebox Cake of my youth.

                                              

Quigley was also intrigued by how some twenty-somethings struggle to open a bag of ramen, while others clearly know their way around a kitchen. Check out Mothering21 to read about how one family got from Cheerios-on-the-highchair-tray to cutting-edge cuisine.

WOW WINES -- CONTINUED

I’m making a New Year’s Resolution to branch out into wines that I don’t know much about and/or have never tasted.  Yes, I will continue to bust out the Meiomi Pinot Noir when I don’t have time to match a wine perfectly with dinner, and on challenging days when I just want a wine that makes me smile. 

The rest of the time I’ll be hot on the trail of wines new and different and delicious. Like the Zaumau Garnatxa-Samso that I tasted recently at Jamonera in Philadelphia.  The menu called it “Bright fresh fruits, well-extracted flavors and soft tannins.” Our served called it “One of my favorites.” I was sold.

Made by Carles Escolar, a rising star winemaker in Spain’s Priorat region, this is a scrumptious, food-friendly wine that held its own throughout a tapas extravaganza that included spicy fried peppers, sweet fig jam, creamy squash croquettes, and crispy fried eggplant.

Garnatxa is better known to us as Grenache, one of the most widely planted varietals in the world, a grape with appealing spice and berry flavors, but lacking serious acid and tannins. (Hence, it is usually used in wine blends.)

Samso is another name for the Cariñena grape, also called Carignan in France where it’s blended with other varietals in the Languedoc region.

When I researched my new friend on-line, I discovered that this 2009 Zaumau blend is “an amazing value from a prestigious wine region.”

I also discovered what makes it so delicious:

Vinified and aged in stainless steel only (no oak), this knockout bottling grown on the region's famous licorella soils (huge chunks of slate that look like broken pieces of sidewalk) is incredibly sassy and light on its feet, showing stunning clarity and purity of fruit. With a very floral, violet-filled nose, and brambly black raspberry fruit, this is pure deliciousness in a glass and is priced in a way that you can indulge in it every day of the week. That's very hard to say about most Priorats.

The Priorat region is not exactly a household word in the U.S. Wine production from the region has always been, and continues to be, very small. Prices are notoriously high, though today some wineries are making wines in the $20-$25 range. I found my Zaumau Garnatxa-Samso on-line for $17.

#1 Turkey Day Task: Work Up An Appetite

Every year on Thanksgiving Day, we invite our guests to arrive an hour before the first Cosmo is shaken, with old sneakers in hand, and we all set off on a mile-plus walk on the beach. The sunset is usually fabulous this time of year; it’s a great chance to schmooze; our black lab Geena is in heaven; and we all work off a few of the calories  to come.

This year my husband and I went one better. We spent the week before Thanksgiving at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico. The first spa in North America (founded in 1940), it’s a vast, unspoiled property, offering delicious vegetarian fare and a staggering array of exercise, fitness and wellness classes.

                                     

I was a visiting speaker for the week, giving a presentation called “Feats & Eats: How a Food Writer Ate Her Way Around the World for 30 Years Without Gaining Pounds or Inches.” (The talk touches on great food at great restaurants over the globe and appealing, accessible exercise options in the vicinity of each.)

At the Ranch, every day is one big, movin’-and-groovin’ adventure. The morning starts at 6:15 am with a rigorous 3.5- or 5.5-mile hike up Mt. Kuchumaa which frames the resorts 3,000 acres. A typical day’s “class schedule” includes Mountain Hike, Stretch and Relax, Pilates Matwork, Cardio Hip-Hop, Tennis Clinic, Sand Volleyball, Cardio Kickboxing, Latin Dance, and Trekking: Treadmill Workout.

                                     

And, the food is fabulous. Unlike the bland, uninspired fare at many spas, Ranch food is creative, delicious, beautifully presented, and satisfying. The menu is mostly vegetable based (though there is a seafood option a couple times a week), with all herbs and many fruits and veggies coming from the Ranch’s own extensive gardens.  Grilled Polenta with Sautéed Spinach, Lentil Medley, Roasted Carrots & Red Bell Pepper Sauce was one of the entrees that struck my fancy last week.

But, to me, the most impressive part of every meal is the salad, and the salad dressing in particular. I’ve been a guest for at least 20 days over several years, and I don’t remember ever seeing the same salad twice.  Every one has been a beautiful still-life, and every dressing has offered unique flavors and supremely satisfying mouthfeel, with minimal fat and calories.(In the photo: Roasted Pear & Arugula Salad with Pomegranate-Chipotle Vinaigrette.)

                                              

Last week I discovered my all-time favorite: Mint Salad Dressing, made with one of the many types of mint grown on the property. It was so good, I went back to the buffet for extra steamed and raw vegetables, just so I’d have something to dip in the luscious nectar.

We left Rancho La Puerta feeling fit, healthy, and well-rested, ready for the Thanksgiving week onslaught of food and drink, family, friends and fun.

I also left with the recipe for the mint dressing.

(For more info about Rancho La Puerta, check out its Website or read my blog posts about the experience.)

MINT-JALAPENO DRESSING

Makes 2 cups

3 large shallots, peeled and roughly chopped

1 cup fresh mint leaves or combination of mint and basil

1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, roughly chopped

1 cup water

½ cup red wine vinegar

¼ cup agave syrup or honey

1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

In a blender, combine all the ingredients, pulsing until smooth.

GRAVY 101: What I Learned on Thanksgiving Day

Little did I know when we gave our son the "molecular gastronomy" masterpiece, “Modernist Cuisine,” for his birthday, that our Thanksgiving kitchen would be converted into a chemistry lab.

                                         

With unbridled enthusiasm, Nicholas planned his “additions” to the traditional menu: Creamed spinach, polenta, mac 'n cheese, and two extra gravies, all made with the help of “molecular” ingredients such as xanthan gum, sodium citrate, liquid soy lecithin and Ultra Sperse-3 (your guess is as good as mine).

Knowing how crazed the kitchen was likely to be with 20 exuberant guests and a menu of more than 15 items, I talked him into focusing on the gravies that day and making the other dishes later.

The adventure turned out to be delicious and highly educational.

In addition to the basic gravy I always make – de-glazed pan juices and beurre-manié-thickened stock from turkey trimmings  – our glossy 25-pound bird was accompanied by two “modern” gravies. (Photo from FineDiningLovers.com.) 

                                    

One, “Simplified Jus Gras” (literally, “fat juice”) was a blend of Belgian wheat beer and chicken stock (he used a high-quality frozen product), powdered gelatin, xanthan gum, liquid soy lecithin and rendered duck fat, basically one cup of chicken stock/beer to ½ cup of duck fat. Somehow, the duck fat lent the rich, roasted flavor and aroma of a just-cooked bird. And the dusting of gelatin and xanthan gum created a remarkably smooth, velvety texture

Gravy #2 started with chicken stock (we used Kirkland Organic Chicken Stock in a box for this one), that was substantially reduced and blended with a puree of garlic confit and a sprinkle of Ultra-Sperse 3. (On the "Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking" website, Ultra-Sperse 3 is described as “all-natural cold water swelling starch derived from tapioca.”) Again, the texture and mouth feel of this gravy was sensational. And, with the last-minute addition of minced dried cranberries, fresh sage leaves and cracked black pepper, it was the hit of the gravy train.

                                               

But, I’m here to tell you that being “cutting edge” on turkey day requires time, energy, patience, and, most importantly, an inquisitive nature.

A week or so before his arrival from Philly, Nicholas emailed me his “modernist thanksgiving ingredients” shopping list, which included 4 pounds of corn on the cob, “lots and lots of parmesan rinds,” white chicken stock, brown chicken stock, liquid soy lecithin, and rendered duck fat, among other foodstuffs. (The trickier stuff he ordered on-line from Modernist Pantry.)

His list also included a pressure cooker, “a digital metric scale, accuracy to .1g. this is really imperative for all of these recipes,” an immersion blender, cheesecloth, potato ricer, and a juicer. Fortunately, I have a pressure cooker that I love and use all the time. My husband gave me a potato ricer for Christmas a few years ago (doesn’t every Irish lass need a potato ricer?). And I managed to find an immersion blender, that I didn’t know I had, tucked away in a cabinet.

And now, thanks to Amazon.com, I am the proud owner of a Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor (to be used on the polenta-less polenta over Christmas vacation!) and a Blade Digital Pocket Scale.  

The whole operation proved to be a steep learning curve for me. Even after 20 years of answering Union-Tribune readers’ questions on “where to buy,” I had no idea where to find rendered duck fat. It took me far longer than it should have to figure out the relationship between .1g and .01g. And I had no idea that if you wipe up powdered xanthan gum spilled on a tile floor with a wet towel you will create an “oil slick” that would make BP blush. (We had to cover part of the floor with a beach towel and declare it off limits.)

                                 

Gravy 101 was just part of a grand evening that included a sunset walk on the beach (to burn off the calories ahead of time!), ceviche of ultra-fresh corvina, warm crabmeat dip, shrimp cocktail, a golden bird, cooked and uncooked cranberry relishes, butternut squash gratin, yams pureed with poached pears and tangerine juice, mashed potatoes, picture-perfect roasted vegetables, Brussels sprouts sauteed with hazelnuts and bacon, fall fruit crumble, marble cheesecake, chocolate icebox cake, Cosmopolitans, Veuve Cliquot Champagne, artisan beers, and great Pinot Noirs (French and Californian), all of which resulted in this very happy crowd.