Wine Wednesday: Fetzer Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine Wednesday
So this is the first of a new series of post that we have decided to start where we review the different wines that we try and even the different vineyards we go to. We hope that you enjoy this series and we look forward to hearing what wines you like.

Our first wine is going to be the first of a group of wines from the Fetzer vineyard, check out their website for each different wine they have recipes to go with, and do not be surprised if you see traces of some of them here. Our first wine in the Fetzer Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine has a particular special meaning to me as it is the wine that my matron of honour bought for the bachelorette party. Everyone loved it. It actually became many girls favorite wine. I have see two different years, 2006 and 2009. The 2009 is easier to find but I personally like the 2006 better, to me it has more body and flavor. 


Flavors: black cherry (this is the reason that it was originally chosen), chocolate and as smooth as velvet
Aromas: vanilla and spice 
Parings: Dark chocolate (you will think you died and went to heaven with this combo), strawberries. You can also be pair it with any red meat or pasta but I personally do not think this is the best option. To me this is a great wine to drink with dessert or socially. To pair with the main course of a meal does not allow for all the flavors to come out to their full potential.
Price: $8
Rating: For the yumminess of this wine compared to the price I would have to give this wine 9 out of 10 wine glasses. 

Italian Mushroom Sauce

Neither Ronnie or I are big mushrooms fans, in fact until recently I could barely eat  mushrooms. My goal for this year is to become more accustomed to mushrooms, especially their texture. I want to do this because there are so many dishes out there that just sound utterly amazing but have mushrooms, and thus at the moment I can not eat them. :( So here is my first attempt at my goal and I must say it went really well.

Ingredients:
2 Cups beef broth
2 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp of basil ( can add more if desired, also rosemerry is a good addition)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or 3-4 Tbsp crushed garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Cups white meadow mushrooms, chopped
1/4 dry white wine

Procedure

1. Heat the broth in a sauce pan and also heat up small frying pan.
2. In the frying pan cook the butter and flour together to produce a roux, or thickening agent. 
3. Add the roux to the broth using a  whisk t.o combine. Let the mixture simmer  and slightly thicken. Occasionally stir to keep the consistency.
4. Add basil and salt and pepper
5. In the same frying pan add the oil and garlic.
6. Sauté the mushrooms in oil, cover and let sweat.
7. Deglaze the pan with wine and add to sauce, stir and let simmer for about 5 minutes. 

This sauce is great on a variety of dishes I poured it over angel pasta and green beans, but the uses for this sauce is endless. So other ideas are over chicken, in beef stroganoff or with any type of pastas.

Simple Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients:

8oz heavy cream

1 bag (120z) semisweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp vanilla

nutmeg to taste

Procedure:

• In a fondue pot heat up the cream, and vanilla on medium.
• Once the cream starts to slightly bubble begin to add the chocolate by the handfuls. Make sure you stir constantly.
• Once thick and blended add nutmeg to taste.

Dippers:

strawberry or strawberry cake

pound cake

oreos

bananas

pretzels

Homemade Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients:
6 large Idaho or Russet potatoes

2 Tbsp and 1 tsp salt

dash of freshly ground white pepper

2 eggs, beaten

4 Cups unbleached flour

Procedure:

• Boil the potatoes in their skins for about 40 minutes, until easily pierced with a skewer. 
• When cool enough to handle, peel and rice the potatoes. You can use a cheese grater for ricing the potatoes. Set the riced potatoes to the side with as much of the surface as possible exposed to the air. 
• Boil 6 quarts of water and 2 Tbsp of to a boil.
• On a cool surface gather the riced potatoes into a mound, forming a well in the center. Stir the remaining 1 tsp salt and the white pepper into the beater and pour the mixture into the will. Work the potatoes and eggs together with both hands, gradually adding 3 cups of the flour and scraping the dough up from the wrk surface with a knife as often as necessary.  (should take no more than 10 minutes, the more it is worked the heavier the gnocchi will become.)
• Dust the dough, your hands, and the work surface lightly with flour and cut the dough into six equal parts. Continue to dust as dough feels sticky. 
• Using both hands, roll each piece of dough into a rope 1/2 inch thick, then slice the ropes at 1/2 inch intervals. Indent each dump ribbed, you can do this with a fork or the cheese grater. 
• Drop the gnocchi into boiling water a few at a time, stirring gently and continuously, cook 2-3 minutes, until they rise to the surface.
• Remove the gnocchi from the water with a slotted spoon or skimmer and place the on a warmer. 
• Add sauce once all are cooked. Grated cheese is great on these. 

You can also freeze the gnocchi to do place the uncooked gnocchi on a cookie sheet and freeze for about 30-45 minutes, then place in a bag. The freezing on the cooking sheet prevents the gnocchi from sticking to each other. 

Easy Beer and Cheese Fondue

Ingredients

2/3 cup dark lager/porter (we used a Samual Adams, made sure you use a better beer not something like coolers or busch)

16oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 1/2 tsp dry mustard or 2 tsp kosciusko mustard (which is a spicy mustard and Ronnie's favorite)

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

Procedure

• In a Fondue pot mix beer, mustard, cayenne pepper, and worcestershire sauce and heat at 375 or on high until bubbles form.
• Gradually add in the cheese. I did about a hand full at a time stirring after each handful.
• Once all the cheese is melted reduce the heat to 200 or low.

Dippers:

apples

pears

pretzels

a hard bread ( i.e. french french bread)

bread sticks

Raw veggies ( broccoli, cheery tomatoes, carrots, or celery)

Coconut Raisin Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 can sweet potatoes, mashed
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins 
• 1 cups pecans
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 
  

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, brown sugar, milk, butter and raisins. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish. Sprinkle with pecans and coconut.
3. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven.

A Tokazowski Christmas Ham

Ingredients

• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup ginger ale
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, halved
• 1 (12 pound) fully-cooked, bone-in ham
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can pineapple slices in juice, drained
• 1 box round wooden toothpicks

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the maple syrup, orange juice, ginger ale, brown sugar and honey. Stir in the juice from the maraschino cherries, and half of the cherries.
3. Score the outer edge of the ham with a sharp knife in a diamond pattern. Cuts should be about 1/4 inch deep. This will allow the ham to soak up the juice. 
4. Place the pineapples onto the top of the ham, and secure with toothpicks. Place cherries into the centers of the rings, and secure with toothpicks also.
5. Place the ham into an oven bag, and carefully pour the juice mixture over it, keeping all of the juice in the bag. It may look like there is too much juice, but the ham will soak it up while baking.  Tie the end of the bag closed with the ties provided, place in a large roasting pan, and cut a few small slits in the top of the oven bag.
6. Bake the ham for 2 hours in the preheated oven. The internal temperature should be 160 degrees F (80 degrees C) when done. Be sure not to touch the bone when taking the temperature. Remove ham from bag to a serving plate, and let stand for 10 minutes before carving.

Candy Cane Fudge Wreath

We made this for Ronnie to take into work on Christmas. According to Ronnie everyone liked, though it does come out be a softer texture than your traditional fudge. 

Ingredients

• 2 (10 ounce) packages vanilla baking chips
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (keep the can)
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 1/2 cups crushed candy canes (about 12 candy canes)
• 1 dash red or green food coloring (I used green to make it look more like a reef)

Directions

1. Combine the vanilla chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until almost melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. When chips are completely melted, stir in the peppermint extract, food coloring and 1C candy canes.
2. Wash out the condensed milk can and place it in the center of a round baking pan. Then cover the can and the pan with aluminum foil, grease. 
3. Spread evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. Be careful because the can has a tendency to more, I would recommend one person pouring and the other holding the can down. 
4. Sprinkle the remaining candy canes on top, and gentle press down. 
5. Then place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. 

Chocolate and Coconut Fudge

Ingredients

• 1 package dark chocolate baking chips
• 1  can sweetened condensed milk 
• 1 1/2 Cups flaked coconut
• 
  

Directions

1. Combine the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until almost melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. When chips are completely melted, stir in 1 Cup coconut.
2. Cover a square baking pan with foil and the greese well.
3. Spread mixture evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. 
4. Sprinkle the remaining coconut on top, and gentle press down. 
5. Then place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. 

Coconut Macaroons

• I wanted to make something special for Ronnie this Christmas season, I finally decided on these. They were simple and a lot of fun to make. The only problem is that they are very addictive, even if you do not like coconut. 

  Ingredients

• 1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 egg white, whipped
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 (14 ounce) package flaked coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with foil; grease and flour foil. Set aside.
2. In large bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, egg white, extracts and coconut; mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets; slightly flatten each mound with a spoon.
3. Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Immediately remove from baking sheets (macaroons will stick if allowed to cool); cool on wire racks. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Healthy Garlic and Onion Chicken

Ingredients:

2-4 Chicken Breast

1 Tbsp Garlic per chicken breast

1/2 onion chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp low fat butter

Procedure:

• Slice an opening in the middle of the chicken breast. Do not cut all the way through.
• Stuff garlic into the slit you cut in the chicken breast.
• Lightly coat the top of the chicken breast with butter and sprinkle onions over. Then sprinkle on salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 350C, then bake for about 30 to 45 minutes, and serve.

I'm sure that if you love garlic and chicken, you will enjoy this garlic baked chicken breast recipe! It will serve about 2- 4 people.

Indian Hot Curried Pork

We have many Chinese restaurants around us. One of the things that I like more than these restaurants is the container the take-out comes in. It's a nice washable / reusable plastic container. One of the easiest recipes for me to make and bring it to work is Indian curried pork. It sounds hard, but for a not-so-cultured American like myself, even these things are not difficult. =)

The recipe is pulled right from the back of the container (With a few tweaks)

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil

1 pound of Pork (The tenderloin)

2 Yellow Onions

6 Tbsp. Patak's Curry Paste

1 Can of Diced Tomatos (15 Oz.)

1 1/3 Cups of water

1. Sauté onion in oil. 

2. Add pork, cook until lightly browned. 

3. Stir in the curry, cook for 2 minutes. 

4. Add tomatoes and water. 

5. Cover simmer until the pork is thoroughly cooked, about 1 hour. Serve over hot, cooked rice.

Bon apatite!

Egg Salad

I love this recipe because it is so simple and yet so yummy. For the record though the measurements are recommendations, make to taste since some people like more relish or mustard. 


Ingredients:


6 Hard Boiled Eggs
3 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
2 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon Mustard
2 Tablespoon relish
Salt and Pepper to taste


Procedure:


1.To boil eggs, place eggs in enough cold water to cover completely, bring to a rolling boil over high heat.
2.Reduce heat to a lower MEDIUM BOIL and cook an additional 12 minutes.
Promptly chill eggs so yolks stay bright yellow.
3.Remove shells from eggs, chop with a clean stainless steel knife until the eggs are nicely diced.
4.In a medium sized bowl, mix together chopped eggs, with all other ingredients. Chill.

Great as a single dish, or in a sandwich. Keep refrigerated until served.
Enjoy! 

Crazy Peanut Butter marinade

This is an odd recipe and may not sound that great but it actually is a lot better than it sounds. I wanted something easy to make with things that we had in the apartment. A lot of the ingredients can be substuted for something else if you do not have the actual ingredient. 


For 1-1 and 1/2 pounds of chicken

Ingredients:
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup of apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup of vegetable/canola oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped or 1 teaspoon dry
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Procedure:
Whisk well in a large bowl until the mixture resembles a creamy peanut butter.

Using a mallet pound out your chicken breasts between two layers of saran wrap to your desired thickness.

You can use a large ziploc bag to marinade or stick the chicken right in the bowl. Cover and refrigerate. The longer you can marinate, the better.

Baste with sauce while grilling, discard leftover sauce.

Ecclair Cake

 

We went to Sams the other day to do some shipping. They always have free samples, and one of the samples was for ecclairs. We both had one, and since I can't help but share recipes, shared the recipe with the employee. Ashley said "And you have had that yummy recipe, and NEVER made it for me??!"



I remember making it for her. That was her way of saying "Can you make one for me again...?"  =)

Ingredients:
A box of graham crakers
A box of Instant Vanilla Pudding
8 Oz. Cool whip
1 can of Chocolate Icing

1. Line the bottom of a 13x9 pan with the graham crackers, broken in half.
2. Mix the pudding according to the box, and add the whip cream.
3. Pour the pudding and whip cream mixture onto the graham crackers.
4. Add another layer of graham crackers.
5. Melt the icing in the microwave, 30 seconds.
6. Spread it on the top, and put in the refrigerator.
7. Let it sit 4 or 5 hours in the fridge. The longer the better, because the crackers will become soft.
8. Serve, and devour!  =)

Turkey Lurkey!

We felt this post needed a disclaimer, so first things first....

DISCLAIMER: Please do not hate us for the wonderful smells that will be coming from your oven after the first 30+ minutes of cooking. We are really sorry, and don't worry...you will be able to eat it soon enough.

Phew, glad that's out of the way. 

So, this is the first turkey Ashley and I cooked in the new apartment. The turkey was cheap, and at 45 cents per pound...it was hard to pass up. Searched for a recipe online, and had to make a change since we didn't have enough olive oil. This change will now go into every turkey we do. We pulled it from here , and the changed steps are as follows:

Ingredients:

Sauce:

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/2 cup Sesame Oil

3 Tablespoons minced Garlic

2 Tablespoons chopped Parsley (Fresh works, too)

1 Tablespoon chopped Basil (Fresh works, too)

1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning

1 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Salt to Taste (1 Teaspoon)

For Turkey:

1 cup of wine (White, used a chardonnay from Wal Mart. Only 3 bucks a bottle)

1 Turkey (10-15 pounds)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350. 

2. If your turkey has them, pull out the guts. The neck and gizzards were in a nice little package, which made clean up very easy. 

3. Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce together in a bowl, and set aside. 

4. Put the turkey into a pan for cooking. 

5. Time to get under your turkey's skin...litterally! Loosen the skin from the breast. This is done by slowly working your fingers between the breast and the skin. Go all the way to the drumstick, but be careful not to tear. Don't want a holey turkey. 

6. Take the sauce, and work it under the skin. Make sure to get the inside and outside of the turkey, as this is needed for more flavor. 

7. Take the cup of wine, and add it to the bottom of the pan. This will help keep the turkey moist, and  give it an amazing flavor at the end.

8. Put it in the oven. For cooking time, ours was done in about 2 hours and 45 minutes, and we pulled it out once the pop-up timer popped. (HowStuffWorks = win)

9. Let it cool for an eternity, 30 minutes. Carve the turkey, and eat! =)

--Ronnie

Classic Baked Acorn Squash

This is an amazing fall recipe, as the squash cooks you the house smells like fall. When choosing a squash make sure that it is heavy for its size and is a deep colour. These squash are great sources of iron, riboflavin and vitamins A and C. The vitamin C will also help boost your immune system for the colder flue season. 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Acorn squash
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Maple Syrup
• Dash of Salt

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

1. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, this will be difficult so make sure that you are using a very sharp knife, you may even need to use a mallet. 
2. Scoop out the seeds and strings from the center of the squash.
3. Score the inside of the squash, you can use a sharp knife or a fork for this. (The scoring allows the butter to penetrate the squash during baking.  
4. Place each half in a baking pan, cut side up. Add about a 1/4 inch of water to the bottom of the baking pan so that the skins don't burn and the squash doesn't get dried out.
5. Coat the inside of each half with 1/2 a Tbsp of butter. (if you are using unsalted butter you may want to add a pinch of salt). 
6. Add half the brown sugar and maple syrup to each cavity. 
7. Bake in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until the squash is very soft and the tops are browned.
8. Every 15-20 minutes check on the squash if the tops are drying out spoon some of the sauce onto the exposed areas. 

Do not undercook. When finished, remove from oven and let cool a little before serving. The first time I made this I did not make dessert, which was a good things. The squash was so sweat that the meal did not need any dessert. 

Easy cinnamon and Brown Sugar Pancakes

 

Ashley rarely eats breakfast, the reason being she hates to wake up early. One way to get her out of bed is with some liquid motivation, followed by the smell of yuminess. In comes a cup of fresh brewed coffee and cinnamon and brown sugar pancakes. These work especially well when your significant other is still asleep, and presented both of them simultaneously, in a surprise-like fashion. ;)

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Jiffy Box mix (Using that recipe on the back for pancakes)

1 1/4 Cups of milk

2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar (More depending on your taste)

Butter for cooking

Syrup:

Syrup for dipping

Butter for the syrup

1. Mix the jiffy and milk together in a bowl. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon to the mixture, and stir.

2. Get a pan or griddle ready for the pancakes. Put it on medium, an once it gets heated up...add a pad of butter. This will give them a nice golden brown color.
3. Using a tablespoon, scoop some onto the griddle. Once cooked, put onto a plate
4. In a small bowl for dipping, add some syrup with a pad of butter. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until the butter is melted.
5. Serve to your significant other, and watch it light up their day. =)

Lemon pie with Lemon crust

The Crust
Ingredients:
6 Tbsp butter, melted (can do this in microwave but only do for 10sec intervals)
1/4 Cup sugar
1 1/2 Cups crushed lemon snaps

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 350.
Add sugar and crushed snaps together.
Add melted butter and blend with hands.
Press into a pie dish.
Back in oven for 8-10 minutes.
let cool before you use, also this crust will not be very firm so I would recommend leaving  it in the pan.


The Filling
Ingredients:
2 packets of lemon pudding
3 1/2 Cups of Cold milk
1 tub of cool whip

Procedure:
Whisk together the pudding and milk.
Let set before pouring into a cooled pie crust.
Let the pie set 1-3 hours, depending on how long the pudding has set before putting in a pie crust.
Once set you can either put the cool whip on the whole pie or individual slices.

What is your favorite type of pie?

Raspberry breakfast treats

I made these as a surprise for Ronnie one morning when I was actually up before him.

Ingredients:

Pillsbury cinnamon rolls

2-3 Tbsp Raspberry jam(seedless)

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350

1.) Unroll the dough and cover one side with the jam.

2.) Fold dough over on itself, then break apart along perforated edges.

3.) Twist each piece and seal the end.

4.) Place each piece on a slightly grease, or you can parchment paper, cookie sheet.

5.) Place in oven and cook for 12-15 minutes.

6.) Let cool and add icing as desired.

This turned out great, Ronnie loved them and so did I. The only real problem was that they were gone to soon. Also you can use any jam you want, I just choose the raspberry because its slightly bitter taste complimenting the sweetness on the cinnamon rolls.

What is your favorite breakfast treat?