Mis en Bouche

[Egon]

Here I sit eatin supper, kraft dinner with a couple of wieners, and then I see these pictures of food and well, nuf said!

 

[jinman]

Geesh- I thought this thread was a dud, not many people responded (I thought BillBill1 was a sympathy post as no one else responded ) and then I though perhaps it wasn't a good topic over here. But shore 'nough up comes Curly and DMCCARTY and Bird to put a smile on my face.

Rox, I sure looked at your post and was more intimidated by it than I care to admit. You said it was a simple meal, but I found it astounding. I always wonder how food like that is prepared ahead of the gathering, what order it is served, and at what temperature everything is served. It just has to be impossible for everything to be hot at one time, or there is some magic I'm missing.

I sure it was a lovely meal with a wide variety of tastes and textures. Thanks for posting. I also admit that I enjoyed hearing about your friends and their backgrounds as much as I did the description of the meal. What interesting people.

 

[Bird]

Yep, Robert, I've bought a few California wines; just never got into California in the RV. I did have occasion to fly to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Sacramento on business back before I retired, but never got out in the country and never visited any of the wineries. But I've probably drunk more of that old cheap Carlo Rossi wine than any other. And I even like wine that's a bit sweet. I used to add a little 7-Up to Burgandy or Paisano wine, but right now I have a big jug of Carlo Rossi Sangria in the refrigerator out in the "shop" (if you could call it a shop. I have a work bench, tools, air-compressor, etc. out there, but right in the middle of the floor is my pool table.)

You know a number of wineries shut down and went out of business during prohibition, but the Taylor Winery in New York stayed in business. They just quit making wine and kept on selling grape juice with very specific instructions (recipe) on the containers on what to NOT do because you'd be making illegal wine. Someone there was pretty smart.

 

[rox]

Yep, Robert, I've bought a few California wines; just never got into California in the RV. I did have occasion to fly to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Sacramento on business back before I retired, but never got out in the country and never visited any of the wineries. But I've probably drunk more of that old cheap Carlo Rossi wine than any other. And I even like wine that's a bit sweet. I used to add a little 7-Up to Burgandy or Paisano wine, but right now I have a big jug of Carlo Rossi Sangria in the refrigerator out in the "shop" (if you could call it a shop. I have a work bench, tools, air-compressor, etc. out there, but right in the middle of the floor is my pool table.)

You know a number of wineries shut down and went out of business during prohibition, but the Taylor Winery in New York stayed in business. They just quit making wine and kept on selling grape juice with very specific instructions (recipe) on the containers on what to NOT do because you'd be making illegal wine. Someone there was pretty smart.

Bird- Ha-ha-ha you are crackiing me up!! UR killing me with your wine stories. You added 7 up to Burgandy???? You are killing me Bird, I'm dying.

Oh and let's not miss this precious quote from another post in this topic
Per Bird- "The best tasting wine (for my taste) I found was at the Stewart Vineyards in the state of Washingon, but I understand it's closed down now that the owner (Dr. Stewart) died."

Earth to Bird! If it was good wine don't you think the Stewart kids would have kept it going? I will agree that the wine in Sauk City Wisconsin, and we know the family, it not top tier but it is drinkable You crack me up. It is nice to knwo that the man about town all knwoing Bird knows about everything does have a vunrability and it has 5 letters w-i-n-e.
All right I'm coming back to the states on Tuesday I'll bring you a good bottle of Provence Rosé wine and mail it to you. I bet you will like this wine. Now oyu know all the other foodies on this thread are going to be downright jealous, oh well...

RoberN is right the California wines are great and also many in Washinton State as you mentioned but not doctor Stewart probably ( I mean if Bird liked it what does that say about the wine. He adds 7 Up to Burgandy) RobertN you are a lucky man to kive where you live.

N80 I am impressed with your cooking. We pick wild porcinno mushrooms around here everybody goes out int he woods with their baskets and picks and then home canns them. What really caught my eye was cooking with Fennel. We have wild fennel that grows around here and we use it in curing olives it makes them so delicious. Wild fennel is a big plant they can get over 6 feet tall. In the next two weeks the fennel should really be coming in. We have some, it loves water, over on a stone wall in the back field. Then my neighbor doesn't miss any that some how disappeared form his yard, he doesn't use it and has plenty of others on his land. I do like fennel in food. Home made sausage with fennel yum-yum. Fennel is used a lot in southern France becaue it just grows naturally around here.

I really hope you continue to enjoy cooking and exploring. To bad it costs so much, right?

Jinman- My husband prepared the muscles and oysters the day before had them in the little "spoons" in the refridgerator and just heated them up right before serving. The same with the pastry cup he served the veggies in made them up during the day and then jsut warmed them in the oven for a minute and dropped in the veggies. The only thing he did when our guests were here was sautee the chicken breastes and sautee the veggies. he already had whipped up the non sweetened cream for the gatzpacho whihc he made the dya before. He always works ahead as all good chefs and cooks will do. I'm glad you enjoyed hearing about our friends and seeing thier pictures, I thought it added to the description of the evening. You know I'm from Wisconsin so this whole eating out on the balcony thing is new to me. The mosquitos in Wisconsin will eat you alive. But I have to say I ahve adapted very well and I love it here. I am sure there are equally beautiful parts of the USA with wonderful weather I just never had the chance to live there is all.

Egon- If it makes you feel any better tonight I just had a ham sandwich topped with some cheese from holland and tomatoes and lettuce on whole grain American bread. Not every night is a Mis en Bouche night you know...

Oh I forgot to mention. The day after I get back to the farm we are having a jounalist ehrre from Milwaukee Magazine they are going to do a story on us. My husband says to me "Let's invite my sister and Roger (her husband) over Rogers cousin , when the reporter is here and I'll do those Mis en Bouches. Let's have a nice dinner when the reporter is over. So in early October it looks like we'll have a repeat. Wonder what he'll make??? See I just could not say NO to those little Mis en Bouche spoons when I saw them in the store, they pulled me back to their shelves they had my hypnotized. I was under a spell when I bought them and you know when you are under a spell nothing can be held against you.

 

[RobertN]

Bird- Ha-ha-ha you are crackiing me up!! UR killing me with your wine stories. You added 7 up to Burgandy???? You are killing me Bird, I'm dying.

RoberN is right the California wines are great and also many in Washinton State as you mentioned but not doctor Stewart probably ( I mean if Bird liked it what does that say about the wine. He adds 7 Up to Burgandy) RobertN you are a lucky man to kive where you live.

We are very luck. El Dorado and Amador counties have some wonderful wineries. Madrona, Jodar, Lava Cap, Boeger, and Windwalker are a few of our favorites. A couple even go back to the Gold Rush.

A lot of the wineries are smaller ones. At some, you may be served by the vintner, grape picker and owner; the same person

Interestingly, western Oregon is a growing wine country. The Willamette Valley south of Portland has some nice wineries. Our's are better, but...

I might have to send Bird a nice El Dorado Cab or Merlot...

 

[Bird]

Rox, the wine I liked so well from the Stewart Vineyards was their Gewurztraminer wine. I've tried several others and while I liked them, they just weren't as good (to my taste) as what I got from the Stewart Vineyards. But I don't know anything about Dr. Stewart's heirs.

In 1991, we were slowly working our way south from Alaska, and on August 11, 1991, we were in Canon Beach, OR. That evening, my wife asked what I wanted her to fix for supper and I told her to just forget it; I had a better idea. We sat out under the awning by the fifth-wheel trailer (we could see the ocean from there), cool enough for her to get a sweater, and had a bottle of Gewurztraminer wine from the Stewart Vineyards (best wine I ever drank), smoked cheddar and pepper jack cheeses from the Tillamook County (Oregon) Cheese factory that we had just visited, a can of Alaskan silver salmon (from what we had canned last year that we caught at Seward, AK), Walla Walla Sweet onion from Walla Walla, WA, and crackers. Of course, Margaret had tortilla chips instead of crackers along with Frito Lay Salsa. It doesn't get much better than that.

The campground there in Canon Beach had a couple of hundred domestic rabbits wandering around the campground, so I was hand feeding one of the black ones bits of cracker while we were eating.

 

[jdbower]

Don't tell Rox, but I read a while ago that Australian wines were outselling French wines. In France! The marketing is very different, French wines all claim to be unique and special so no one knows what to choose whereas Australians are apparently listed as "great with fish" which makes the decision easier.

I'm not sure if they sell many Australians in boxes for Bird

 

[Bird]

Don't tell Rox, but I read a while ago that Australian wines were outselling French wines. In France! The marketing is very different, French wines all claim to be unique and special so no one knows what to choose whereas Australians are apparently listed as "great with fish" which makes the decision easier.

I'm not sure if they sell many Australians in boxes for Bird

I learned earlier this year that my pension system has invested in yellow tail wines, so I visited a liquor store and the proprietor told me yellow tail is the biggest selling imported wine in the USA. I bought a couple of bottles and gave them to a daughter and her husband, then later bought a couple of bottles and gave them to some friends; might have to buy some and drink it myself someday.

 

[billbill1]

Bird, isn't Thunderbird one of the better wines? Annie Green Springs and Boones Farm? And what ever happened to Mogan David? Those were the wines of my youth!!

 

[RobertN]

Don't tell Rox, but I read a while ago that Australian wines were outselling French wines. In France! The marketing is very different, French wines all claim to be unique and special so no one knows what to choose whereas Australians are apparently listed as "great with fish" which makes the decision easier.

I'm not sure if they sell many Australians in boxes for Bird

French wines are very particular to region and style. Aussies, and some wineries here in the US are offering more blends and vintners creations; these would not be allowed at wineries in France. We we at a wine tasting a couple years ago. The vintner was a Frenchman, who had moved to the Paso Robles area of California, so he could express himself with wine.

An example would be a nice California sparkling wine. It is just like Champagne, but Champagne is very specific to that area in France...