Text 857, 152 rader
Skriven 2006-04-28 11:33:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av MICHAEL LOO
Ärende: Cheaper wine 572
========================
 -=> Quoting Michael Loo to Jim Weller <=-

 JW> It is indeed. There's a severe housing and labour shortage. People are
 JW> commuting from as far away as Newfoundland and living in camps. Spare
 JW> rooms are being rented out at $650 a month. Fast food workers are
 JW> making $12 an hour to start. The previously unemployable are being
 JW> hired and trained on the job.

 ML> And building construction?
 
Setting records but always over budget and behind schedule due to the
labour shortage. Our one ready mix factory has to ration its concrete
customers with daily quotas.

 JW> From Gonzalez Byass: Tio Pepe and Nutty Solera

 ML> The former is pretty well known. The latter should
 ML> be fine (though I've not had it).

I am enjoying the NS very much but am probably not qualified to judge
it, having virtually nothing to compare it to.

 JW> From: Williams & Humbert: Dry Sack and Walnut Brown

 ML> The former is pretty well known. The latter should
 ML> be fine (though I've not had it).
 
They are both on my "to buy" list soon. The Walnut Brown is new to
Yellowknife and was chosen by the store owner because of it's high
scores by the various wine scoring gurus. She knows all the scores and
tapes internet tasting notes on the shelf beside the product which is
rather good marketing on her part but she doesn't drink wine herself.

 JW> Paarl and Harvey's Bristol Cream

 ML> The former, what style Sherry is it?

I don't know. I have vague memories of it being pretty terrible in the
pre-embargo days, almost as bad as the domestic wino swill. But then
that was decades ago and things may have changed.
                                                           
 ML> Harvey's is fine but nothing special.

Agreed. Nothing special.

A wine to avoid: Beringer Blush Zinfandel. I was gifted by a whiskey
drinking BIL with a bottle at Easter; it was a host gift to go with our
turkey. Negligible bouquet, overly sweet, tasted of strawberries, rather
disagreeable overall. Are all blush wines and white Zins like that or
are there good ones? I see Beringer puts out high priced reds so
presumably they can make good wines but this isn't one of them.

On cooking with sherry:

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: Herbed Prawns W/Mushroom Potato Salad & Truffle Sauce
Categories: Shrimp
  Servings: 4

           FOR THE SHRIMP STOCK:
      2 TB olive oil
    1/4 c  onion, diced
      1    carrot, diced
    1/2    stalk celery, diced
           shells from prawns
    1/4 c  white wine
      1 TB tomato paste
  2 1/2 c  fish stock
      1    bay leaf
      2    sprigs thyme
      5    peppercorns, crushed
           FOR THE PRAWNS:
     12    prawns, shelled and deveined
           (save shells)
    1/4 c  mixed herbs-chopped
      1    egg white-lightly frothed
      2 TB olive oil
    1/4 c  sherry vinegar
      1 c  shrimp stock
      3 TB truffle butter
    1/2    lemon- juice of
           salt and pepper-to taste
           FOR THE TRUFFLE BUTTER:
    1/4 lb butter-room temperature
      2 TB truffle oil
           For the potatoes:
      8    fingerling potatoes, cut in
           half and sliced
      2 TB olive oil
           salt and pepper
           FOR THE MUSHROOMS:
      4 c  assorted mushrooms-sliced
           (oysters, cepes,
           portobello, shiitake,
           chanterelle)
    1/4 c  olive oil
    1/4 c  chopped shallots
           salt & pepper

HERB CRUSTED PRAWNS WITH A WARM MUSHROOM POTATO SALAD AND TRUFFLE SAUCE

In a pot over medium heat saute onions, carrot and celery in oil until
lightly caramelized. Add prawn shells and stir until shells turn pink.
Deglaze with white wine and reduce until dry. Stir in tomato paste, add
fish stock, herbs and peppercorns. Bring to a boil and reduce to a
simmer for 15-20 minutes. Strain the liquid making sure to press down on
the solids in order to extract all the flavor. Return liquid to a
saucepan, and over medium-low heat let reduce until liquid yields 1 1/2
cup.

For the prawns: Lightly coat prawns in egg wash and dredge in herb mix.
In a saute pan over medium heat, cook shrimp for approximately 1 minute
on each side. Remove shrimp from pan and deglaze with sherry vinegar.
Let reduce by 1/2, add shrimp stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and
swirl in truffle butter. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

For the truffle butter: In a food processor add the butter and with the
machine running slowly drizzle in the truffle oil. Keep refrigerated.

For the potatoes:

In a saute pan over medium heat cook potatoes in olive oil until golden
brown and tender. Keep warm.

For the mushrooms: In a saute pan over medium-high heat cook mushrooms
in small batches until golden brown. Toss in shallots at the end of each
batch and season with salt and pepper.

Mix potatoes and mushrooms together and keep warm

To assemble: In the middle of a shallow bowl place a generous spoonful
of the warm potato mushroom salad. Pour over sauce and place four prawns
on top.

Recipe created by Monique Barbeau, Fullers Chef

From: Starchefs
 
MMMMM-------------------------------------------------

Cheers

Jim, in Yellowknife




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