Last night, we had a hankering for fish tacos.  I remembered seeing an incredible looking fish taco recipe on BrokeAss Gourmet and decided to give it a go!

Gabi’s creation called for the following ingredients:

• 1/2 lb red snapper fillets (2-3 small fillets)
• 1/2 cup i.p.a. beer (I like Big Daddy or Lagunitas)
• 2/3 cup flour plus more for dusting fish
• salt
• vegetable oil for frying
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 mango, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeño, seeded and diced finely
• 6 corn tortillas
• 2 tbsp crumbled cotija cheese

Unfortunately I didn’t have some of the key ingredients, so I decided to use her original recipe as inspiration and create a fish taco recipe of my own.

I substituted the red snapper in this case with a 1-1/2lb slab of fresh Atlantic Salmon (price: $11.10).  I also couldn’t find cotija cheese, so I substituted with crumbled Greek feta cheese (price: $2.49/ 4-oz container) and crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (price: $2.49/ 4-oz container).

Next, rather than battering the fish and frying it up as Gabi’s recipe called for, I instead opted for a different method of cooking the salmon.  I first heated up about 2 TBS. of olive oil in a large pan.  I then placed the slab of salmon into the pan and seasoned it with Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Salmon Seasoning, which I already had in my spice cabinet.  You can use a simple combination of salt and pepper and fresh lemon as an alternative to the seasoning mix.  I seared the seasoned portion of salmon (skin side down) for about 3-4 minutes on the stove top.  I then moved the pan into a pre-heated oven and cooked it for about 10-11 minutes at 380°F.

The result is a perfectly moist salmon fillet ready for a taco party!

While the salmon is cooking in the oven, cut up your avocado, mango, onion, lime, jalapeño, cilantro, tomato and a pinch of salt ( *I added a hefty squeeze of fresh lemon and lime juice to mine).  Combine in a large bowl and toss together.

Time to EAT

To assemble the tacos:  top each softshell tortilla with a few pieces of seared salmon, a couple of large spoonfuls of the homemade salsa, and a sprinkle of either of the crumbled cheeses over top.

Perfect Wine Pairing 

Oregon Pinot Gris.  They’re usually very clean, crisp, and possess racy citrus qualities that pair perfectly with these (salmon) fish tacos – and Oregon definitely knows a thing or two about Salmon.  Consider trying King Estate Pinot Gris or Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Gris.

If you’re looking for a terrific and easy summer meal to feed 4 hungry adults, this one is sure to be a big hit with everyone!

Bon Appétit!

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Well, here are 3 reasons to give the Tree Of Life Semi–Sweet Kosher Pomegranate Wine a try:

 Charm – “Straight –Up”

I’m not going to lie – Semi-Sweet Kosher Pomegranate Wine was not high on my list of wines to try.  But surprisingly, it’s not as bad as some might imagine.  Is it sweet? Yes.  Is it fruity?  Yes.  Is there a buyer for this wine?  Certainly.  The Tree Of Life Semi–Sweet Kosher Pomegranate Wine is something that will appeal to the “non-wine drinker” who is interested in drinking wine. Why? This wine is very fruity, not dry in the least, and tastes just like Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice – no joke!  My Dad is someone who I would consider a “non-wine drinker”, but I do know that he enjoys the heart-healthy antioxidants and taste of cranberry juice – so something tells me he’d like this wine too!  On a side note, my wife and I thought that this might hit the sweet spot with BBQ foods.

Beauty – “Shaken, not Stirred”

One of our favorite martinis in the whole world is a Pomegranate Martini.  But the key to making an incredibly good Pomegranate Martini is to use Pama.  Pama is a phenomenal Pomegranate Liqueur, but it sure ain’t cheap!  A 750ml of PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur can easily set you back nearly $25.  For less than half the price ($12.99 MSRP *sample for 750ml), I was curious to see if the Tree Of Life Semi–Sweet Kosher Pomegranate Wine could be used as a substitute.

Voila!  It totally works as a cheap alternative to PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur.  I’ll admit, it’s not quite the same, but it’s close enough that by the second (or third) martini, no one will tell the difference!  One martini, two martini, three martini…Floor!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur * Sub w/ Tree Of Life Semi–Sweet Kosher Pomegranate Wine
• 1 1/2 oz premium vodka
• 1/4 oz orange-flavored liqueur
• lemon zest for garnish

Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients into a shaker.
2. Add ice and shake vigorously.
3. Strain into a cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with a lemon zest.

Creativity – “The Fiesta”

For the last creation, we thought we’d make a more adventurous concoction and transform our new fruity friend into Sangria.  If you’re looking for a great book on Sangria, you just might want to check out Sangria by Mittie Hellmich. This book is full of festive and tasty recipes.

Here’s the Sangria recipe I created with the “Tree of Life”:
2 large California navel oranges, sliced
2 large peaches, sliced
2 large nectarines, sliced
2 tangerines, sliced
2 lemons, sliced
2-4 oz Triple Sec (Orange flavored liqueur)
Remainder of chilled Tree Of Life Semi – Sweet Kosher Pomegranate Wine (*Approx. ¾ of a bottle left).
12 oz chilled club soda
Crushed Ice

First, cut up all of the fruit.  Next, grab a festive pitcher that will be large enough to hold all the fruit and liquid.  Place the fruit into container; add an entire 750ml bottle of chilled Tree Of Life Semi–Sweet Kosher Pomegranate Wine and the Triple Sec.  Place in refrigerator for 2 hours or more to allow everything to marinade.  Once ready to serve, add the club soda to the mixture.  Grab a few festive glasses, fill with ice, and pour the Sangria.

The result was just pure, refreshing, fruit enjoyment!

All in all, it was fun coming up with different ways to serve the Tree Of Life Semi–Sweet Kosher Pomegranate Wine.  I’m sure we could have come up with more, but we only had one bottle to work with.  Although we thought this wine worked best in our martini recipe, if you crave sweeter style wines, this might be exactly what you’re looking for.

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The criteria for this particular evening:

1. Bring a bottle of Pinot Noir from anywhere on the planet priced less than $30.
2. After getting “bagged”, our judges were to utilize two scoring methods to give each Pinot Noir a fair shot at finding love in the dark:  The WL365 method and a 25 Point Wine Scorecard to evaluate each wine based on appearance, aroma, body, taste, and finish.
3. We combined the scores of each one to find out who got some love and who got the cold shoulder from the panel.

 Our panel sure looks raring to go!

Our lovely hostess Candice showed off her dazzling cooking skills with several scrumptious Pinot Noir friendly recipes.  A few were from the book titled, “Oregon Bounty Recipes”, and one was an old family recipe of lollipop lamb chops with fresh rosemary, parsley and garlic  that was simply out of this world GOOD!

Lamb Chops:

Oregon Dungeness Crab Cakes:

Baked Foreleg Pears with Proscuitto and Blue Cheese:

And no wine tasting party would complete without a little cheese – we had several fancy–shmancy selections to choose from:  Tomme Aydius (France), Kunik (Nettle Meadow) (US), Fontina Val d’Aosta D.O.C, and Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Dodgeville, Wisconsin.

And to top things off, we had a magnificent mascarpone cheesecake to ensure that our daily dairy requirements would be fully met by the end of the night.  Unfortunately my photographer called it quits by this point in the evening, so I don’t have a picture of the cheesecake.

Now back to the wine!  It’s just you, an empty glass, and 9 brown-bagged Pinot Noirs!  Here were some of the comments:

Brown Bag #1 – Our tasters said: “I liked it. One of my favorites!” “Low.” “Peppery, tannic.” “It’s ok…kind of tarry and smoky tasting.”

Brown Bag #2 – Our tasters said: “More balance of fruit and pepper than Brown Bag #1.” “Stinky Feet.” “Smoky, a bit veg. Crazy stuff, interesting.”

Brown Bag #3 – Our tasters said: “Fresh berry nose. Tart berry taste.  Absolutely no finish.  It’s like drinking stale Kool-Aid.” “Licorice, sweet aroma.” “Did not like at all.  Weak.  No flavors to mention.” “Everyday drinking type of Pinot Noir.”

Brown Bag #4 – Our tasters said: “Black pepper, spices and berries. It’s ok in every way.” “Sugary, sweet aroma.” “Almost watery appearance. No real legs running down the glass.” “Peppery on the finish.  Great wine!”

Brown Bag #5 – Our tasters said: “Burnt tar, very tannic, nice berry flavors, a bit hot on the alcohol.” “Dry.” “Pinkish color, upfront strawberry flavors, low pepper and spice.”

Brown Bag #6 – Our tasters said: “Slight tannin, no fruit flavors”. “Light from start to finish. Flowery strawberry and licorice notes”. “Bright aroma, medium length, dry”.

Brown Bag #7 – Our tasters said: “Good everyday Pinot Noir.  Good Thanksgiving wine.” “My favorite.” “Pretty, nice balance of fruit and spices.” “My 2nd favorite of the bunch.” “I like this wine a lot, good combo of fruit and oak, super long finish.”

Brown Bag #8 – Our tasters said: “Very enjoyable Pinot Noir.”  “Big on the nose, I like it.” “Peppery notes on the nose.” “Peppery, smooth, great with food.” 

Brown Bag #9 – Our tasters said: “Astringent, leggy, brown, tannic, pepper, little fruit.” “Long finish.” “Peppery notes on the nose.” “A bit veg on the nose, brownish tint, very disappointing, bad.” 

Let’s reveal their identities and find out who found love in the dark and who didn’t:

9th Place – Brown Bag #9 – 2005 Cambria Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir Julia’s Vineyard ($25)

8th Place – Brown Bag #6 – 2008 Willamette Valley Vineyards “Whole Cluster Fermented” Pinot Noir (Received as a sample. $19 SRP)

7th Place – Brown Bag #3 – 2008 Domaine Cornu-Camus Pernand-Vergelesses ($25)  

6th Place – Brown Bag #4 – 2008 Wild Rock Pinot Noir ($17)

5th Place – Brown Bag #2 – 2007 Valdivieso Reserva Pinot Noir ($15.50)

4th Place – Brown Bag #5 – 2007 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (Received as a sample. $25 SRP)   

3rd Place – Brown Bag #1 – 2007 Orogeny Pinot Noir Green Valley ($25)

2nd Place – Brown Bag #8 – 2008 Fess Parker “Santa Barbara County” Pinot Noir ($23)    

1st Place and the Winner of this tasting was Brown Bag #7 – 2007 Acacia “Carneros” Pinot Noir ($20)

A very special thanks to Candice and Rob Holden for hosting and to all that participated in this blind tasting.  Looking forward to the next one…Cheers!

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There’s nothing too complicated about this recipe – it’s just a piece of All-American beef with some red wine sauce on it…or for those who speak in “foo foo poo poo” terms – filet mignon with Chianti sauce.  Why filet?  Because you’re treating yourself, that’s why.  So here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll need to do for this recipe:

The meat:

Filet mignon steak (you deserve it!)- quantity equal to the number of people you are serving.  Be gentle with the seasonings though – there’s a wine recommendation that I’ll give you to pair with this steak dish and you’ll definitely NOT want your steak to overpower the awesome wine.  As for the steak “rub”, sprinkle on a bit of kosher salt, garlic powder, cumin, and caraway.  Caraway?  Yeah, I saw it in the cabinet and was feeling a bit “nutty” (pun intended) so I used it.  That’s it.  If you let it sit for a while before grilling, the spices will have a chance to mingle a bit with the steak.  But if you’re in a hurry and starving to death then get thee meat to thy grill.  Cook meat to desired doneness and remove from grill.

The sauce:

Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large skillet.  Cook a chopped medium onion until soft.  Throw in 1/4 pound pancetta (TIP: Trader Joes sells a nice 1/4lb container of pancetta…already chopped) and 1/2lb of sliced mushrooms (Note: if shrooms aren’t your thing or you’re not trying to please some fungus loving guests, then leave them out). Cook it all up for a couple minutes. Next, pour in: 1/3 cup beef broth, 1/4 cup of chopped parsley, and 1/2 cup of red wine (I used a Syrah/Malbec blend from a bottle that was already open-yeah yeah, the recipe called for Chianti, but I didn’t have any, IMPROVISE people, IMPROVISE).  Bring all this to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.  This recipe may seem a bit “complicated” but trust me, it’s really not – I could have summarized it by giving you a list of the 7 ingredients and saying “throw them all into a skillet, bring it all to a boil, and then let it simmer”.

When your steaks are done grilling, put them into the sauce, cover the pan, and let the filets soak up some of that sauce.

As a side, you can take a couple potatoes (plan on 1 per person), slice in half, and then cut the halves again so you’ve got some “fries”.  Coat with olive oil, sprinkle on some kosher salt.  Cook in a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes (note the time – probably want to start these before you start grilling your steaks) or until brown and slightly crispy.  Sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese and parsley when you take them out of the oven.

So now for that wine to pair with your meat and potatoes dinner (can I get a caveman or Tim the Toolman grunt?).  Try the Shingleback Shiraz (Australia) circa 2005.  You can find a review of this wine in yesterday’s post (5/2/09).  As Emeril LeGasse would say – “BAM!”  If your local wine retailer doesn’t carry the 2005 Shingleback Aussie Shiraz, then give this recipe a go with another ball-buster Shiraz from either the Barossa Valley or McLaren Vale wine region in Australia. Expect to pay about $20 for an Aussie red with some real gusto.

Bon Appetit!

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When she handed me the chocolate cake it was missing the frosting.  It looked very much like a bundt cake.  She said, “Try it, it’s called Chocolate Kahlua Cake”.  Yep, you guessed it – it’s actually got good old Kahlua in it.  This cake was delicious.  I ate a second slice drizzled with chocolate syrup and walnuts over it.  Yes, I’m a glutton.

Here’s the recipe:

1 package devil’s food cake mix

1 – 4-1/2 ounce package of instant vanilla pudding

1 Pint of sour cream

4 eggs

3/4 cup of oil

3/4 cup of Kahlua

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Beat eggs.  Add oil, sour cream, Kahlua, pudding, cake mix, choco-chips, and finally the nuts.  Mix well.  Bake the mixture in a greased bundt cake pan for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Bon Appetit!

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