The Melting Pot

You gotta love this country!  And I, sure as heck, love the part of the country that I'm in...which is Northern California.

Apart from the temperate climate, in general (though we had the rainiest June since the 1860s and the temperature decided to jump to 95 instead of the usual 82), we're surrounded by the Sierra foothills and the mountainous coastal ranges, and the bay lowlands, which keep us cool in the evenings and, for some reason I don't really understand, virtually bug free.  No droning gnats, flies or mosquitoes to distract from the comfort of the cool summer and fall evenings.  And the low humidity means we don't need air conditioning, either and can enjoy the quiet of cross ventilation with open windows.

Maybe because of the climate, there's a relatively large and active Greek population, and that means, every summer we get to enjoy Greek Festivals.  Those that know my background, know that I hearken back to my education in Classical Archaeology and the many trips I took to Greece, including a six week stay in Athens, exploring the Acropolis, traveling out to Delphi, Mycenae and Corinth and a week on the island of Paros, when I was an impressionable seventeen, attending a study abroad program, before going off to college.

I love the culture, the architecture, the history, the language, the people...and the food!  That, of course, is why I love Greek festivals.  I get to show off the few phrases in Greek that I can rattle off, causing friends to mutter to my wife, "Why does your husband know Greek?"  But I get to lead us around, trying the dolmades, spanakopitas, pastitsio, souvlaki, gyros and Greek salads, stuffed with kalamata olives and feta cheese.

When I was younger, in Greece, there was Ouzo, Mythos beer, Retsina and Domestica, if you wanted wine in a bottle.  Now, the choices are so numerous in bottled exports, both beer and wine, I won't even begin to go into them here.  But suffice it to say, if the Greeks spend more time cultivating and exporting their newest beverage products, they won't have to worry too much about their austerity measures!

The sites and smells of the festivals are unparalleled.  Our local festival is held at an Orthodox church and tents are set up everywhere selling T-shirts, cook books and trinkets, before you turn the corner to the bazaar of spit-roasting lamb, pita bread, sausage, and the essential baked goods of baklava, dripping with honey, or our personal favorite, loukoumades; honey dipped puff pastries.  (My wife and I like these so much, that on our last Mediterranean cruise a few years ago, we walked what seemed an eternity, on Crete, searching for, what we thought, was a pastry as common as donuts are to us, here.  Not so.  Apparently, it's a specialty of only a few places, either because it's too much of a mess to make, too common for the locals to eat, or a lost art.  Take your pick.)

Regardless, after two or three hours of stuffing ourselves on tasty treats of all varieties and sampling as many wares as we could, while watching traditional dance to balalaika bands, we purchase a cook book and meander homeward, with the sweet taste of honey still on our tongues and the memory of the sky blue Mediterranean in our thoughts.  

  

Summer Sauvignon Blanc

One of the great things about living in Northern California is that, when summer comes, the days are long and hot, but the evenings cool down to the temperate seventies, allowing for all-evening-long, outdoor entertaining by the barbecue and fire pit.

Every Wednesday, here at Bubba's house, I do what I refer to fondly as the Wednesday Night Appreciation Dinner.  It's for an unknown quantity of guests, the usual four of us (my wife, daughter and a good friend) and an appreciating and appreciative group of my son's friends.  He's off in Montana in college, but his friends, male and female, like to come over for recollection's sake, some of my barbecue that they've enjoyed for years, and long conversations without the television on for company, and things that don't involve their iphone apps...at least for a while!

Grill Management at its finest!

Now that they're over twenty-one, for the most part, I usually invite them to bring some wine, and we elders pass on what wisdom we can about current events, wine, relationships and music.  With the temperatures soaring into the high nineties earlier in the week, I thought it was a good time to trot out some nicely chilled white wines and finally review the other bottle I received from John Boring at the California Wine Club, the Robledo, Seven Brothers, Lake County Sauvignon Blanc.

The warmth of the evening called for simple fare, so I served up barbecued chicken thighs (because I prefer the moistness of the dark meat), grilled indirect for an hour, seasoned with Chaka's MMM sauce and Grandville's Extra Spicy BBQ Jam, blended in a pot on the grill and basted liberally every ten minutes, or so; some Farmer John's Smoked Sausage, also grilled indirect so the skin doesn't blacken and blister; home style potato salad, garlic bread and mini bell peppers, lightly grilled in extra virgin olive oil with grilled, sliced mushrooms, using a barbecue tray, my daughter thoughtfully gave me after she saw me losing  shrooms through the grill top!  As you can see, with proper temperature control, there's nothing you can't put on the grill!  The stage was set and dinner for seven, and a wine review, for hungry stomachs and eager, young palates was in the offing!

Outstanding Medal Winner

It must be said, that when it comes to white wines, the taste in my mind runs to the German Kabinetts and Spatleses I grew up with in Europe, because I enjoyed the fruity crispness, and  I have great disdain for Chardonnay, mainly because I hate the hackneyed and cliched term buttery! (I once belonged to the Anything But Chardonnay Wine Club, until they, inexplicably, sent me a bottle of...Chardonnay! Go figure.

As my palate refined, Saunignon Blanc became the natural choice of warm weather wine.  Nicely chilled, but not shocked.  (As the Europeans will tell you, Americans tend to drink their reds too warm and their whites too cold, rascals that we are!)

I poured the Robledo into as many glasses as age and preference permitted, and held my glass up to the fading light of the sunset.  The color was crisp and clear, without the mildest hint of the bronze discoloration that sediment brings.  It showed great legs and a mildly sweet scented bouquet.  I was pleased with the friendly crispness of my first sip and delicately smooth finish.  No harsh after burn in the back of the throat, as with so many French whites.

I'm not one for flowery descriptions of oak and tannin, with hints of raspberry and pineapple as some are,  so, here's what the Robledo's themselves, say about it:

"This pale yellow wine is clear and bright, ready to wow you with zesty aromas of tropical fruits and green apple. Its fruit flavors are intense, highlighted by green tea and citrus notes. This mouthcoating wine ends with a crisp butripe finish. A terrific Sauvignon Blanc, even just by itself!"


Couldn't have said it better if I were a wine dude!  Anyway, the evening proceeded with comparisons to other  Sauvignon Blancs as they reached the table, some popular, some trendy and some from another boutique winery we like, and I have to say again, without even knowing that this is a $20 bottle that his club offers at a great value at $10.99 a bottle, John surprised me with another winner! 


Do yourselves a favor and contact John at the California Wine Club.  You're going to have to prove me wrong when I say that this family business of theirs is doing something special for boutique California wineries 

Robledo "Los Braceros" and Rib-Eye

So, we started a discussion a few weeks back about Wine and BBQ, knowing that it was a huge topic of interest and a bunch of us interested parties, sat back and watched the hordes of label mongers from different foodie groups spout prophetic about how the acidity and full, earthy flavors need to cut the fatty meats, or only the crispness of cold Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or ice cold beer, for that matter, will work in certain parts of the country.

Meanwhile, Pat the Wine guy started spinning his series on specific wines with specific types of barbecue, starting with Kansas City, and then, most recently on Texas BBQ.  He's a font of information and doesn't do nearly enough selling, in my opinion, because he handles a host of boutique wines from around the world and I've been buying from him for over fifteen years, just because he's a great guy and I like his selection!

Another fella', by the name of Jonathon Boring, got hold of me through the Gourmet BBQ group and figured he'd raise the stakes in the game a little, by actually sending me some wines to try with my barbecue!  Mighty generous.  Well, seems we're both in California, making it a little easier and his family owns and runs the California Wine Club, providing fine California boutique wines from up and down the coast, which is right up my alley!

So, Jon sent me a couple of wines from the Carneros region of Sonoma County, from the Robledo Family Winery, established in 2003 and producing about 13,000 cases a year.  Jon sent me a bottle of the '07 Seven Brothers Lake County Sauvignon Blanc (which, admittedly, it hasn't been warm enough in the year for me to enjoy yet), which I'll probably do with a plank grilled salmon, in addition to a bottle of '05 Los Braceros Sonoma Valley Red Wine.

So, about a week ago I decided that, with just the wife and I, we'd enjoy our Saturday Steak Night with a couple of beautiful Rib-Eyes, sweet potato fries and mini bell peppers, lightly roasted on the grill with olive oil and garlic salt and some pain pour deux for dipping.

For those who know me, I love my steak (I have friends that say they would stand up the President, if it was steak night!) and I love...Tuscan wines.  I know, I'm planted firmly in the grasp of Sonoma and Napa counties, but I grew up abroad on Beaujoulais, Burgandies, Riojas, Chiantis and anything else you could drink for six or seven hours without either getting too drunk, or too tired of the taste, so for my palate, today, that pretty much makes me a Tuscan whore!  Not that I don't mind an occasional glass of Cabernet, but if it's Californian, and it's affordable enough to drink everyday, which I do, then it's mostly likely a Pinot Noir or light Merlot.  And I barbecue...a lot, so I have a pretty good idea of what works...at least, for me and mine!

I didn't want to do anything too out of the ordinary for steak preparation, mainly because what I do works so well...but if I had a choice, I'd go with aged Wagyu beef rib-eyes (one bite and you'll know why it's worth the money).  The regular is a marinade called Chaka's MMM Sauce and a dusting of McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning.  Steaks 1.25 inches thick, charcoal fire, direct heat, seven minutes a side...the perfect medium rare, every time.

Admittedly, I hadn't researched Jon's Robledo wine, because I don't think you should know anything going in, if you're going to rate something.  All I knew was that it was Sonoma and came from a Wine Club, so I was guessing that Jon would want to impress me.  I opened the bottle with my usual flair and poured for my wife and I  in a new glass, so I could see the legs and color.  I took a big nose and the soft bouquet caught me by surprise.  I was expecting rich and acidic, like a Cab.  We sipped.  More surprises.  This was silky and smoky and smooth, like a Stag's Leap, or even like some of Brunello di Montalcinos I've become accustomed to celebrating with.  Jon had impressed me, with what I figured had to be $30 bottle blend.  Practically a Meritage.

After dinner, I rushed to the computer and pulled up his site and found the winery and went to the notes:

Red garnet in color, this is a blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.   It offers aromas of black current, ripe plum and a hint of tobacco. Luscious ripe flavors of rich black fruit and cedar lead to a spicy pepper finish.

I'm not big on tasting notes, but that pretty much hit the nail on the head.  The biggest surprise?  The price...$12 a bottle.  I've been duped!  Probably can't get it anywhere near a store for that price, but who cares?  I'm calling Jon to see when I can get a couple of cases delivered!

Bar-B Skews From Down Under

One of my great enjoyments, as moderator of the LinkedIn group Gourmet BBQ, is meeting an International host of barbecue grillers and masters, inventors, suppliers and purveyors of all things barbecue!  Some of those fine people, not only participate in the discussions, sharing wisdom and insights, but also send me the occasional product to try, no strings attached, and if I think it's worthy, I might write a little something about it.

To tell the truth, I didn't really see this one coming. Kebabs have always been the lighter side of grilling.  I never understood putting the vegetables on the same skewer as the meat, anyway. Since when does cubed lamb, chicken or sirloin, take the same amount of time as peppers and tomatoes? Meat gets cooked direct, veggies, indirect. And if you want to flavor it up, the sauce gets on everything, not just the meat.

Enough ranting. A fellow from Australia, by the name of Vic Cherikoff, does a lot of interesting things. He's into rare spices, weight loss, healthy living and all that stuff that doesn't usually go with barbecue. Healthy barbecue? Can't be done. Right? Wrong. Vic took the love of barbecue and figured out how to revolutionize it for the health conscious.

The problem with barbecue, for the health set, is all the sauces, salts, rubs and ingredients that get slathered on in the cooking process, to create that great bbq taste.  Well, what if you could get the taste, without the sauce, marinade and spices?  Can't be done.  That's what I thought.  Seems Vic thinks he came up with a process that infuses wooden skewers with flavor, that when put on the grill, releases into the meat.  No salt, no sugar, no fat. Just flavor. Calls 'em Bar-B Skews. We'll see.

So, Vic sent me a complete set of his skewers, really nicely packaged, eight flavors in all, eight skewers to each resealable pack, shelf life of two years. So, I assembled my Sunday Night Taster Club and decided I would be somewhat healthy and cut up some boneless, mostly skinless chicken breasts and some sausage (c'mon, I'm not that good!), alternated them on the smooth, stout, skewers and did nothing but put them on the grill.

My thought was that the skewers needed to heat up like wood chips, enough to smoke the flavor into the meat, and that would mean you couldn't mix flavors.  Then I thought again.  That would be stupid.  Vic wouldn't do that to me.  So, I decided to use four different flavors, and went with Crushed Garlic, Australian Smoke, Wild Pepper and Spanish Rosemary.

Well, I grilled it, just like any other kebab, and after about half an hour of turning and checking and worrying that it wasn't going to be good and dinner was ruined, I set it on the table with our sweet potato fries and Greek salad, gave a shrug and told everyone to dig in.  I'll be damned if it didn't turn my head when I bit into my tender chicken and tasted the mellow, familiar rosemary.  Then the garlic, and pepper.  The Australian Smoke had an allure that brought in the hints of all day smoking, but didn't overcome the meat.  Chalk one up for Vic!  These things are a unique, resounding success.

Says on the package, you can use them in whole birds, roasts, steaks, shrimp...if you can stick it, you can flavor it. Keep them more to the outside when doing a roast. Wet the blunt end if you're cooking over an open flame, use them in the oven, in a pan fryer, indoor grill, you name it.  Can't for the life of me figure out why we don't have them here, but I might just try to change that!

Check out Vic's on-line store for yourself and pick up some Bar-B Skews.  You won't be disappointed!