Two years ago, I bought a half case of La Fiorita’s riserva brunello di Montalcino. Last year we spaced those bottles out, two over the course of the year, one spring lamb meal paired with the 2001, and one late summer meal of venison and blackberries paired with the 2003. The idea being for a special wine, there must be a special meal!

Most of this year went by, and then bam! I landed some wild boar and venison shanks at the same time. Game pairs amazingly with this wine, and I couldn’t really imagine having anything else with these two meats. So within the course of a month, we enjoyed a wild boar pappardelle, again with the 2003, and then this meal. And this meal may be the hands down best wine pairing I’ve done yet. (more…)

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Dinner by Courtney

A couple of years ago, around the time I first started this blog, I was lucky enough to be able to visit Japan. While I have always loved Japanese food, I had mostly experienced the more popular items we have here in America: teppanyaki, sushi, and noodle bowls. Of course, during the week we were in Japan, I had to seek out sushi at the famed Tsukiji Fish Market, and its freshness was astounding. However, for the most part, I opened myself up to whatever was being served, trying multi-course meals at Chef Chen Kenichi’s restaurant, Szechwan Restaurant Chen, and at the ryokan we stayed at in Kyoto, Yachiyo. During my time there I had custards, dried baby anchovies, many random soups and fruits that I never did identify, tofu prepared in so many ways, and hotpot. When I made it back home, I wanted to take advantage of the Japanese groceries we have here, so I bought a couple of Japanese cookbooks, an electric hotpot, and I started studying the ingredients and techniques of the cuisine. (more…)

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Drink Time, World traveller by Courtney

In the book Vegetables from an Italian Garden, this recipe is listed in English as Delicious Broccoli, and that is an apt description. Broccoli, dressed up with a splash of cream, dots of butter, and more than a glug of white wine. It’s the perfect decadent vegetable side for a Thanksgiving dinner or a steakhouse-style dinner. (more…)

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Comfort food, Dinner, Gluten free, Gourmet, Italian, Side Dish, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian by Courtney

A few weeks back, I decided to order some specialty meats from D’Artagnan to make a special meal for my husband. I have ordered specialty items in the past as Christmas presents for my hard-to-buy-for family members who love to cook, but it’s rare that I purchase these things for myself. So I went out on a limb and decided to try D’Artagnan, and I was really happy with their variety, shipping rates, and the overall service.

That’s how I came to have these two wild boar shanks sitting in my freezer. When ordering meats online, it seems that whatever fits into the cooler ships for (roughly) the same price. Since D’Artagnan was having a sale on their game meats, I decided to add a couple of wild boar shanks and some venison to my order, which shipped for the $20 my duck alone would have shipped for (well, okay, this is Madd Hatter math… $22 for the duck, $29 for adding wild boar and venison… all in all, we’re in the $20 range). While I’ve had wild boar often at Italian restaurants, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when cooking it. So I decided to go with a preparation similar to what I’d had in restaurants – a wild boar ragu, perfect for coating strands of pasta. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Italian, Sunday Suppers, Wine pairings by Courtney

How do I describe these carrots? Savory. Cheesy. Souffle-like speckled with bits of orange. My months-long obsession with this picture didn’t set me up only to let me down. This recipe is one that exceeded my expectations and brought a hush over the Thanksgiving dinner table as everyone dug in.

Let’s back up a moment. What is taleggio cheese? It’s an Italian cheese made from cow’s milk that is soft. While its rind looks and smells a bit funky, the inside yields a mild-yet-still-full flavor. The fat content, at 48%, tells you how happy this is going to make your taste buds. Those Northern Italians know what they’re doing.

The recipe is quite simple, though the fact that you will need to chop a lot of carrots and cook them two ways adds on a bit of time. If you’re making these for Thanksgiving (they also make a great steak-dinner side), I would suggest prepping the night before by at least slicing the carrots and grating the cheese. (more…)

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Gluten free, Gourmet, Italian, Side Dish, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian by Courtney