This weekend some I want barrel tasting in Sonoma County with some friends. Barrel tasting is where barrels are tapped before the wine has finished aging, usually somewhere between 6 months and 2.5 years after bottling, skewed more to the former. People can taste the wine early, and if they desire, purchase wine futures – the wine bottled, after aging is complete – at a discount.
We started off at Timber Creek Estate, which hosts tasting rooms for multiple wineries, as well as a local olive oil store. We tasted at the three wineries that had tastings on the weekend – Kokomo, Amphora and Papapietro (there was barrel tasting the previous weekend as well, with a different set of wineries). It started raining soon after we arrived, which pretty much set the pattern for the day, but it also likely helped to keep crowds at bay.
After we finished we headed to David Coffaro, where we were greeted with a tasty chicken and white bean cassoulet, as well as an incredibly cute and obviously underfed winery dog.
We visited a couple of more wineries, Bella, which has a fantastic cave
and Zichichi which has a cool name. By the time we were finished there it was 4pm, which was the end of the event. We headed back to San Francisco to have Chinese food in the Outer Richmond and calling it a day.
“What the heck is that thing? ”
I wouldn’t be surprised if you were asking that question. Well, it’s celeriac, or celery root, which evidently is not the root of a regular celery you eat, but a special sort grown for its root. It’s actually something I’ve been aware of for a while, but we didn’t get it in the CSA last year, so it wasn’t until this winter that I started to actually cook it. It turns out that, at least sauteed/braised and smashed, to be a lovely food. I’m sure there are other ways to eat it as well, but this is a good introduction. I have another celery root (I traded out a bag of miscellaneous “stir fry” greens in this weeks box for a second, orphaned celeriac).
Smashed Celeriac
From Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver
Serves 2 generously
1 Celery Root
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chicken stock or water
Salt and Pepper
- Peel the celeriac, which basically means cutting the outside and pithy layer off with a knife. Cut a small slice off one side to make it stable, then cut it into 1/2 inch cubes.
- Put the olive oil in a casserole, or saute pan, with a lid and heat at medium high for a few minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and celeriac, stir to coat with oil, and saute for about five minutes until it is lightly browned.
- Put the heat to low, then add the water or stock to the pan. Stir quickly and put the lid on. Simmer for 25 minutes until tender. Adjust seasoning if needed. Smash the celeriac with a spoon. Serve
Do any of my small number of readers have any favorite celeriac recipes I should try? There is one in the fridge which will need to be used in the next couple of months…
Internet pals tell me that today is Casimir Pulaski day!
One month ago, I made a post about Coffee Making Technology. One of the things I spoke about was the mediocre, at best, quality of the coffee I was using. Well, I was pretty much out of the Kona roasted on some nondeterminate date in 2010, so yesterday I walked over to the Blue Bottle coffee kiosk nearby to buy some beans. ( For those that don’t know, Blue Bottle is a ‘microroaster’ of coffee. They roast their coffee across the bay in Oakland, and have several shops around San Francisco, including a funny little kiosk in a converted garage on an alley like street in my neighborhood. )
The coffee I bought, their Three Africans blend, was roasted on Friday (March 4, 2011) – so it’s about as fresh as you can expect coffee to be. I used it this morning to make coffee and I noticed that it bloomed phenomenally when I put the initial small but of water in it. I almost wish I had filmed it, so I could show the lovely swelling and bubbling of the grounds. The coffee it produced was very good, as well. I can help but think there is a lot I could do to improve my technique, and there are two accessories which I could get to improve it too. One is expensive (a good grinder) and one is probably cheap at the restaurant supply store (a long neck kettle). I think I’ll get the latter first, as controlling the pour seems to be important to the process, and my research says that for drip process like chemex, blade grind is usually ‘good enough’.
I’ll finish this post now since I finished my coffee, and it’s time to make some breakfast.
Well, I guess I owe the completion of the furnace story. They furnace company called me last night and said “we have your parts, can we come put them in tomorrow morning?” And of course I said yes. So they came this morning, put the new parts in, and now my furnace works again. Of course it was in the 60s outside today, so the heat wasn’t really necessary. But hey, at least it works again.
So yeah, that home warranty thing? Not bad at all – I am sure I saved a few hundred dollars because of it!
Today was my last day of Physical Therapy. My ankle works pretty well these days – it has about the right range of motion. Sometimes it hurts a bit after doing something like jogging around the neighborhood, but not too bad. The biggest thing left to do is recover strength in that leg. To do this, I think should start hopping on that one leg at all times! OK, not really, but I need to start not using the ankle as any sort of excuse – and start going to the gym.
Well the month experiment in daily posting is about over. I’ve posted a fair bit about food, and some about other random stuff. I certainly have complained about my house a bit (oh, and there is more to come). The experiment was fun, and I am going to try to post more often, but I won’t force out a post a day.
Also, there is at least one thing I was going to post about and I never managed to. And that is windows. So I will talk a little about them. My hundred year old windows are cool, even if some are painted shut, and very cold due to being single pane. You notice this a lot when you have no furnace for 4 or 5 days. Yes, my furnace still doesn’t work. But I know what’s broken now. The pressure switch is busted. The part has to be ordered and might take until next week to come in – although maybe this week. I paid my $55 and I’m good to go until it’s fixed though, so I think that warranty was a good gift from my realtor.
And with that, I bid you adieu for the month!
I watched the end of the Oscars. It was… well the show itself was cruddy, but hey, at least one of the only movies I saw in the theaters last year won best picture. Also, Trent Reznor won an Oscar.
Today’s main activity was going to Davis to attend Mackenzie’s nephew Orrin’s First Birthday party. It was a low-key affair, just the family, but it was fun. Orrin had a great time eating/wearing cupcakes. He also had fun playing with the balloons and such. And the drive back was surprisingly fast, for a weekend when I’m sure a lot of people were in Tahoe. Maybe the snow delayed people enough to make it easier?
Still out of operation. Furnace people coming monday. Until then, space heaters. Also, we did a lot of cooking today (made cookies, and chicken stock). At least that room was warm!
Remember my post yesterday about cold weather? Well, after some rain in the morning, it turned into a sunny, albeit a bit chilly day. However, my furnace isn’t working!
The fan works (in fact it doesn’t want to stop running) but the furnace won’t ignite. It’s electronic ignition, so there was nothing I could really do save call someone. But then I remembered that the realtor gave me a 1 year home warranty when I bought the place.
When I got home, I found the paperwork and called the warranty place. They said they’ll make it a rush job, but we’ll see if they can get someone to come out on a Saturday. I have a fixed $55 charge for the service call, and hopefully it will be something fixable within the day. But we’ll see, and we’ll see how well the warranty service works. At least we have a space heater for the bedroom.