2003 Martin & Weyrich Nebbiolo

I pulled the cork on my last bottle of 2003 Martin & Weyrich Il Vecchio Nebbiolo, Paso Robles tonight with dinner. Typical, washed-out color of Nebbiolo and throwing lots of sediment. Pretty, perfumy notes of sweet cherry, vanilla and an earthy, mushroomy note that borders on truffle. Aged in French oak for 18 months. Still has nice tannins and acidity. Could probably age into something even more complex with another 5-10 years in the bottle.

Dinner was lamb shanks from our CSA that I smoked over hickory for an hour and then braised in chicken stock, some leftover tomato sauce and aromatics. After about 5 hours, the meat was shredded off the bone and piled high on a mound of sun-dried tomato risotto. A gremolata of parsley, garlic and orange peel completed the package. Pretty special dinner and it went really well with the wine.

Baking Bread

I've recently tried my hand at baking bread and I've been pretty satisfied with the results. Through the years, I've always been more of a "cook" and less of a "baker" as I generally prefer to add a pinch of this or a splash of that rather than precisely measuring out 1/8 tsp. of this or 1 5/8 cup of something else. I recently saw someon on one of those TV cooking shows explain the biggest difference between cooking and baking is that when cooking, you can constantly make adjustments. You're free to add more spices, more liquid, another pinch of salt, etc., etc. during or after the cooking process. But with baking, you have to get it perfect before you put it in the oven. Once it goes in, you're pretty much stuck with what's in the oven. And I find that kind of scary.

But I made two different bread recipes last week. My first one was a round loaf with olive oil, rosemary and Italian herbs. The recipe was very easy to follow and I thought it turned out pretty well. I just wish the loaves had been a little bit larger. I decided to put a couple of decorative slashes across the top right before putting it in the oven and when I did, the risen loaf sort of deflated itself. And it never did rise back to its original size. Next time, I'll try slashing it before the final rise.

The other bread I made was a pretty standard honey wheat loaf that was used for breakfast toast and lunch sandwiches. This was fantastic! Better than the best whole grain bread you can buy off a grocery store shelf.



Today I made three loaves of cinnamon raisin bread. This recipe had a few more steps than the other breads, but it was still pretty easy to make. And it's so delicious! The triple loaf recipe was a bit much for the KitchenAid (as the author warns us) but it pulled through. And I highly recommend Penzey's Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon for any recipe that calls for cinnamon. So strong, so sweet.



So don't be afraid to break out the measuring spoons and loaf pans and bake some homemade bread. It's cheap, it's easy and it's pretty rewarding. And while I'm no food crusader, I like the fact that my bread isn't loaded with preservatives and a whole laundry list of ingredients I can't pronounce.

2007 Renwood Viognier and 2006 Tablas Creek Mourvedre

Opened the 2007 Renwood Viognier, Lodi as an aperitif tonight. I've had this a few times recently and it's always been an enjoyable wine. Notes of orange blossom, vanilla, white flowers on the nose and a thick, sweet palate. Perhaps a bit too sweet for some, but I like it. Quite nice with homemade rosemary bread dipped in Blood Orange Fusion olive oil from The Tasteful Olive; a new olive oil specialty store in Overland Park.

For dinner I rubbed some grass-fed, hormone-free Kansas City strips from Homespun Hill Farm with dried rosemary, dried orange peel (notice a trend here?) salt and pepper and grilled them rare over a charcoal fire. The beef we get from our CSA is so dense and flavorful it could easily be mistaken for lamb. So I thought the 2006 Tablas Creek Mourvedre, Paso Robles would be a good choice. We picked up this particular bottle at the winery just over a year ago. The wine is incredibly dense with aromas and flavors of grilled meat, saddle leather, plum and black pepper. The 14.5% alcohol is also quite apparent on the nose. One sip of this impeccably balanced wine and it's easy to see why the Perrin Family is the undisputed master of this Rhone grape. It's very acidic and tannic; I'd go so far as to say it isn't particularly pleasant to drink on its own. But it really shines with the earthy flavors of the steak. Finishes with a pleasant note of bitter orange pith. A beautiful wine from an absolutely first-rate winery.

2007 Clayhouse Adobe Red

I've enjoyed numerous bottles of the 2007 Clayhouse Adobe Red, Central Coast and it has always over-delivered in terms of flavor and enjoyment. Brimming with grapey, blackberry and spice flavors this blend of Zinfandel (41%), Petit Sirah (32%), Syrah (16%), Malbec (5%), Grenache (4%) and Mourvedre (2%) is a perennial favorite in the value department. A touch sweet, I would be willing to bet this is bottled with a bit of residual sugar. A great choice for grilling, pizza or tonight's bronzed pork chops. About $13.

Farm Stuff (part deux)

Oh, how depressing and frustrating yesterday was! Tried to start digging our first hole with some old school post hole diggers and quickly ran into layer upon layer of rock. Not sure if it's the same thing, but back in Texas we called this stuff "caliche stone." I actually bent a pick axe trying to get through this stuff. So I drove across town and rented a gas-powered auger. And even that proved unworthy; and extremely dangerous as it would only start if you pulled the string while holding the throttle open! So I went back to the rental center and paid for a day's worth of jack hammer. And while this thing excelled at busting up the rock, the damn auger still wouldn't dig through the ground.

So now we're $700+ into fencing equipment and almost $200 into rental equipment and we haven't even been able to dig a single stinking hole to sink a post into. Ugh. Took the rental stuff back today and the guy suggested renting a Bobcat with an auger and jack hammer attachments. That's another $400. Not sure if that's worth it or not. As it stands, I think I'm just going to put the whole project on hold and see if I can return some or all of the fencing supplies.

At this point, I wonder just how many carrots and onions we'd have to grow to ever recoup our $1000 investment in a $%#& garden. I have huge bruises on my thighs now from that auger torquing into my legs on start-up and whenever it hit a rock that wouldn't budge. {sarcasm alert} At least the kids got some entertainment value out of seeing dad getting tossed around like a rag doll by this torture contraption.

UPDATE: The good folks at the Family Center have agreed to take back all the unused supplies that we aren't going to be able to use. Still kind of bummed at our lack of a fence, but at least we'll recoup most of our expenses.

Farm Stuff.....

Finally got started on some honest-to-goodness farm stuff today! Bought all of the supplies for about 1500 square feet of welded wire/utility fencing. Wood posts, t-posts, fence stretcher, post hole digger, two gates, 400# of concrete - you get the picture. We're building the fence strong enough to put a pig or two in there for a few months to get the ground ready for a garden in the spring of 2011. We've also laid out trellising for a couple of blackberry and raspberry bushes and we're looking at moving some fruit trees from the back of the yard (where it's too wet) to line the driveway. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the progress. I expect to be very sore by this time tomorrow night.

2006 Il Nero di Casanova Sangiovese

Opened another of my stash of 2006 La Spinetta Il Nero di Casanova, IGT Toscana tonight. Just a beautiful, modern take on Sangiovese. Has all the color, dark blackberry fruit and licorice of previous bottles. But this one seemed to have even more tannin and acidity than other bottles. Great pairing with homemade lamb meatballs in tomato sauce, soft polenta and a side of crusty, homemade rosemary bread. Great bottle of wine for under $25.