http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan Casting a little flavor (and a few aspersions) on the world of food, drink, and life Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:07:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-68388 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » The Purple Land Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:03:33 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-68388 [...] reminded me of the caramelized yams I had in Uruguay a year and a half ago, visiting the winery Los Cerros de San Juan, using a touch of wine, mustard, fresh orange juice, and mixed white and brown sugar… [...] [...] reminded me of the caramelized yams I had in Uruguay a year and a half ago, visiting the winery Los Cerros de San Juan, using a touch of wine, mustard, fresh orange juice, and mixed white and brown sugar… [...]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-4354 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Uruguay is Still Ready! Wed, 25 Oct 2006 19:42:46 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-4354 [...] Buenos Aires - At long last, given how long ago my whirlwind five-day trip of Uruguayan wineries was, the first article about the trip is in print. It appears in Wine Business, for the moment as an online “daily news” feature - hopefully a real “in print” version to come soon. Of course, should that link at some time disappear, there’s a copy on my own website. [...] [...] Buenos Aires - At long last, given how long ago my whirlwind five-day trip of Uruguayan wineries was, the first article about the trip is in print. It appears in Wine Business, for the moment as an online “daily news” feature - hopefully a real “in print” version to come soon. Of course, should that link at some time disappear, there’s a copy on my own website. [...]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-451 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Renaissance of the English Renaissance Mon, 22 May 2006 13:09:39 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-451 [...] For the main course, one of the Anne Boleyn faves was racks of shortribs stewed in “spiced wine”. That left so many possibilities I didn’t know where to begin. But, in the end, I went simple, with the flavors that I like to work with. I stewed individual pieces of ribs cut from an asado rack, so they’re about 2½-3″ long, in a mixture of a couple of liters of red wine, along with four of the five spices used in Chinese five-spice mixture - a couple of cinnamon sticks, about two teaspoons of cloves, a tablespoon of szechuan peppercorns, and a tablespoon of fennel seed. I stewed them over low heat for about 6-7 hours, to let the flavors infuse and the meat tenderize. I think the only thing I’d do differently is in the presentation. Here I just scooped the ribs out onto a plate. I think I’d trim them, maybe even remove the meat from the bone, and cut it into neat rectangles. Not fancy, but a little less blah in the look. I accompanied the ribs with the candied yam recipe that I sort of, more or less, got from a chef in Uruguay - in this case I reduced a bottle of unoaked semillon that I had at hand until it was about one cup of liquid, added half a cup each of white sugar, brown sugar, and honey, which I continued cooking until it began to caramelize, then I added a half cup of orange juice and a tablespoon of dijon mustard, salt and black pepper to taste (careful, caramel is very hot to taste!). I continued cooking it for just a minute or two to let the flavors blend in. Then I set it aside until later. The yams, or batatas, were cooked in their skins until cooked through but still firm. They were immediately cooled to stop the cooking process, then peeled and sliced into half-inch thick slices. I then cooked them in the caramel mixture until it had thickened and coated them and lightly crisped on the edges. [...] [...] For the main course, one of the Anne Boleyn faves was racks of shortribs stewed in “spiced wine”. That left so many possibilities I didn’t know where to begin. But, in the end, I went simple, with the flavors that I like to work with. I stewed individual pieces of ribs cut from an asado rack, so they’re about 2½-3″ long, in a mixture of a couple of liters of red wine, along with four of the five spices used in Chinese five-spice mixture - a couple of cinnamon sticks, about two teaspoons of cloves, a tablespoon of szechuan peppercorns, and a tablespoon of fennel seed. I stewed them over low heat for about 6-7 hours, to let the flavors infuse and the meat tenderize. I think the only thing I’d do differently is in the presentation. Here I just scooped the ribs out onto a plate. I think I’d trim them, maybe even remove the meat from the bone, and cut it into neat rectangles. Not fancy, but a little less blah in the look. I accompanied the ribs with the candied yam recipe that I sort of, more or less, got from a chef in Uruguay - in this case I reduced a bottle of unoaked semillon that I had at hand until it was about one cup of liquid, added half a cup each of white sugar, brown sugar, and honey, which I continued cooking until it began to caramelize, then I added a half cup of orange juice and a tablespoon of dijon mustard, salt and black pepper to taste (careful, caramel is very hot to taste!). I continued cooking it for just a minute or two to let the flavors blend in. Then I set it aside until later. The yams, or batatas, were cooked in their skins until cooked through but still firm. They were immediately cooled to stop the cooking process, then peeled and sliced into half-inch thick slices. I then cooked them in the caramel mixture until it had thickened and coated them and lightly crisped on the edges. [...]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-235 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » A Little Chicken Dinner… Thu, 09 Mar 2006 13:12:33 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-235 [...] Of course, we needed a starch to go with all of this, and I was getting into the whole having fun with a menu thing, and decided to try the potatoes I mentioned a week or so ago. I’m going to call them Potatoes Antonio, after the chef who made them, though they probably have some official French name. If anyone knows what it is, feel free to let me know. It was quite simple to prepare and came out almost as good as his. I ended up mashing the potatoes rather than grating them the way he did, so the texture was a little different, but the flavor was the same. For those who didn’t read about it, or don’t want to click on the link… Peel, quarter, and boil the potatoes until almost done, but still slightly firmer than normal. Grate (or mash) with a fair amount of butter, some salt, and white pepper. Meanwhile, thinly slice a couple of white onions, saute them in olive oil until limp and transluscent. Layer the onions and potato, onions first, potatoes last (picture is midway through the process), in a saute pan. Cook, covered, over a medium flame, until the bottom part browns slightly - this is going to take practice on my part, mine developed a little crust that his didn’t - maybe he actually browns the onions a bit more in advance and then just heats the whole thing in the oven… I’ll have to give that a try. Regardless, it was pretty yummy, and rather pretty looking as well when flipped onto a plate. [...] [...] Of course, we needed a starch to go with all of this, and I was getting into the whole having fun with a menu thing, and decided to try the potatoes I mentioned a week or so ago. I’m going to call them Potatoes Antonio, after the chef who made them, though they probably have some official French name. If anyone knows what it is, feel free to let me know. It was quite simple to prepare and came out almost as good as his. I ended up mashing the potatoes rather than grating them the way he did, so the texture was a little different, but the flavor was the same. For those who didn’t read about it, or don’t want to click on the link… Peel, quarter, and boil the potatoes until almost done, but still slightly firmer than normal. Grate (or mash) with a fair amount of butter, some salt, and white pepper. Meanwhile, thinly slice a couple of white onions, saute them in olive oil until limp and transluscent. Layer the onions and potato, onions first, potatoes last (picture is midway through the process), in a saute pan. Cook, covered, over a medium flame, until the bottom part browns slightly - this is going to take practice on my part, mine developed a little crust that his didn’t - maybe he actually browns the onions a bit more in advance and then just heats the whole thing in the oven… I’ll have to give that a try. Regardless, it was pretty yummy, and rather pretty looking as well when flipped onto a plate. [...]

]]> http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-204 SaltShaker » Blog Archive » Technological Wonder Tue, 28 Feb 2006 13:14:26 +0000 http://www.saltshaker.net/20060223/the-hills-of-san-juan#comment-204 [...] Taking a cue from Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe, in France, where the vineyards are filled with galletas (large reflective stones), Uruguayans place reflective stones beneath the vines that reflect light to the undersides of the grapes during the day, and retain heat, and then release that heat during the night, keeping the grapes warm. I realize that I meant to mention this the other day in pointing out the scattered quartz beneath the vines at Los Cerros de San Juan. Here, it’s not so much scattered as heaped, and Elisa uses broken up granite rather than quartz. You can see the differences between the two approaches below. [...] [...] Taking a cue from Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe, in France, where the vineyards are filled with galletas (large reflective stones), Uruguayans place reflective stones beneath the vines that reflect light to the undersides of the grapes during the day, and retain heat, and then release that heat during the night, keeping the grapes warm. I realize that I meant to mention this the other day in pointing out the scattered quartz beneath the vines at Los Cerros de San Juan. Here, it’s not so much scattered as heaped, and Elisa uses broken up granite rather than quartz. You can see the differences between the two approaches below. [...]

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