Sunday, December 23, 2007
New Idea
I've been thinking about the lack of posts here and decided to try something a little different. Maybe it will get me here more often. What I'm thinking is to do more tasting notes and less verbiage...at least for a little while. It will also be a good way for me to catelogue the wines I taste and keep track of what I like and more importantly, what I don't. I'll keep you posted...
Sunday, December 2, 2007
It's Been Awhile....
OK, so it's been awhile since the last post...several months to be slightly more precise. So here goes. Last night I went to a friend's house. Whenever we go there, one thing can be assured, the wine will be great. I fried a turkey (which if you've never tried, you have to...no other way to eat the bird, except maybe smoking it) and he supplied the grape.
When I fry a turkey, I always brine it. Brining adds great flavor and moisture to the turkey. For a 15 lbs. bird, I use 2 gallons of water, 2 cups diamond crystal kosher salt (different kosher salts weigh different amounts, so if you use morton's, for example, you need to adjust the amount of salt downward), and 1 cup of sugar. For this particular turkey/brine, I also added about 1/2 cup of Frank's Hot Sauce (much better than Tabasco). The length of time you brine depends on the weight of the thing being brined (actually, thanks to my son Jake, I now know that it isn't really the weight, but the mass). For a 15 lbs turkey, you brine for the maximum amount of time, 8 hours.
After you finish brining, dry well coat the skin well with salt, pepper or your favorite rub and fry in 35 lbs of peanut oil (3 minutes per pound plus 5 minutes). Pull it out, let it rest and eat....
The Wine:
2004 d'Arenberg The Dead Arm - McLaren Vale Shiraz. (RP95) Like most Australian Shiraz, the "Dead Arm," is not shy on color. It's inky purple, almost blackish, with a great nose. When you stick your nose into the glass and breath in, it's almost like inhaling wine perfume. Blackberry, black cherry and vanilla with pepper, spice and a little bit of petroleum (believe it or not). The wine itself does not disappoint. You almost have to close your eyes when you taste it. The wine has great mouth feel with solid velvety tannins and all the flavor I smelled plus chocolate (and more that I couldn't place) and a great finish. This is a great wine, expensive and worth the $55-65/bottle price.
When I fry a turkey, I always brine it. Brining adds great flavor and moisture to the turkey. For a 15 lbs. bird, I use 2 gallons of water, 2 cups diamond crystal kosher salt (different kosher salts weigh different amounts, so if you use morton's, for example, you need to adjust the amount of salt downward), and 1 cup of sugar. For this particular turkey/brine, I also added about 1/2 cup of Frank's Hot Sauce (much better than Tabasco). The length of time you brine depends on the weight of the thing being brined (actually, thanks to my son Jake, I now know that it isn't really the weight, but the mass). For a 15 lbs turkey, you brine for the maximum amount of time, 8 hours.
After you finish brining, dry well coat the skin well with salt, pepper or your favorite rub and fry in 35 lbs of peanut oil (3 minutes per pound plus 5 minutes). Pull it out, let it rest and eat....
The Wine:
2004 d'Arenberg The Dead Arm - McLaren Vale Shiraz. (RP95) Like most Australian Shiraz, the "Dead Arm," is not shy on color. It's inky purple, almost blackish, with a great nose. When you stick your nose into the glass and breath in, it's almost like inhaling wine perfume. Blackberry, black cherry and vanilla with pepper, spice and a little bit of petroleum (believe it or not). The wine itself does not disappoint. You almost have to close your eyes when you taste it. The wine has great mouth feel with solid velvety tannins and all the flavor I smelled plus chocolate (and more that I couldn't place) and a great finish. This is a great wine, expensive and worth the $55-65/bottle price.
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