recipephile

A Visit to Graton Ridge

I have written about this winery before,after my visit there yesterday I felt compelled to write again.  Graton Ridge is located on 116 in Sonoma between Sebastopol and Forrestville. 

As a small family operation, led by Owners Art and Barbara Paul, three generations participate in the cultivation of premium grapes on our Sonoma County estate. The Paul family vineyard is planted with Pinot Noir, Chardonay and Sauvignon Blanc. With the guidance of our winemaker, Nick Legg, we transform some of the best wine grapes in the region into handcrafted wines. Each vintage is produced with utmost attention to detail. Nick brings his years of experience to our ranch, helping us to capture a bountiful harvest - and our love of the land - in a glass for your enjoyment.

In the time that I have been going to this winery (about a year now) the Paul family and their daughter Sue Bonzell are people that I come to respect immensely.  They are so welcoming and often times you leave the winery with more than just a bottle of wine.

Yesterday, for example, I went up to the tasting room to pick up some wine they generously donated to my niece's walk-a-thon for her school. While I was there Barbara told me all about their recent apple crush event, which I was sorry to miss.  So she sent Art into the freezer to get me a jug of the freshly squeezed juice and threw in some of Art's tasty olive oil.

I also picked up some fresh squash and tomatoes at their grandchild's farm stand. I'll be making some squash soup this week so look for an upcoming squash recipe.

Have a great day.

Product Review - The Juiceman Jr.

What I Tested:
The Juiceman Jr. ($69.99 at Amazon.com )
Move over Juiceman Sr. you have some competition now. During a recent breakfast party hosted for my friends at my place I decided to test out the Juiceman Jr.  Here is some marketing blah blah from the site "The Juiceman Jr. is available in two models, the JM300 and JM400. Each model is ideal for the aspiring health-conscious who are ready to juice up their daily nutritional plan with a new flavor. With viable features such as a 2 speed control switch, 700 watt motor and large feed chute, the concentration taken from whole fruits and vegetables are sure to energize the new juicer and take their health to a higher intensity. The dishwasher safe features makes for easy clean up. A brushed chrome finish is available on the JM400."

What I Made:
We tried out a few things that day.  Oranges and grapefruits were juiced into some tasty mimosas. Apples gave us tasty apple juice for the little kiddies at the party and carrots, of course, gave us carrot juice - DUH.

How It Rated:
For the most part the product worked well when I finally figured out that the pulp comes out the front and the juice comes out the back. I started juicing and when I realized that my orange juice was streaming down my kitchen table I immediately stopped what I was doing to investigate. My bad for not reading the directions, but it seemed to me that the solids would come out the back and the liquid out the front (kind of like people, but that is icky).

Once the mess was cleaned up and I reviewed the directions we were in business. We could hardly hear one another however, because the machine is very loud and as I anticipated, not the easiest appliance to clean.

On the bright side of things the resulting juices were amazing. So if you are a hardcore juice drinker (you can juice just about anything with this machine) then you may want to consider picking one of these up, but make sure you read the directions well and avoid juicing when people are asleep.

Product Review - The VacuVin Pineapple Slicer

What I Tested: The VacuVin Pineapple Slicer ($9.99, available at grocery stores and also online at Amazon.com. It was about $1.00 more expensive online.) As I stroll down the aisles of any grocery store I am constantly on the lookout for interesting gadgets to test in my teeny weeny kitchen. The oddest thing happened to me the other day as I was wandering down the cookies and chips aisle. There was a hanging display that featured a pineapple slicer. "Why was it there?" I thought to myself. Curiosity got the best of me and grabbed it, saw what it claimed -- "Ready-made slices in one easy action. Removes core, quick and easy, retains juices in the pineapple, keeps shell intact. I grabbed it, threw it into my basket and headed to pick up the perfect pineapple and then check out.

What I Made: Pineapple, Apple and Banana Fruit Salad with Cinnamon and Yogurt
I decided to make a fruit salad with pineapple, apples, banana, yogurt, cinnamon and lemon. I chopped up the apple and the banana and placed them into a bowl. Then I got to work on the pineapple. To use this device you chop the top off, place the flat bottomed end on top of the pineapple and begin turning and turning and turning until you hit rock bottom. Slowly pull out the device and you have a curly q of pineapple ready to be chopped and added to the bowl. The best part was the leftover pineapple carcass. If I had been throwing a Hawaiian themed dinner party it would have made the perfect centerpiece with birds of paradise billowing out of the top. After placing the pineapple into the bowl with the apples and the bananas I added:

- 2 tsp of cinnamon
- one cup of yogurt
- the juice from 1/2 of a lemon

Then I mixed it all together and refrigerated for about 1 hour before stirring again and serving. You know... you can also chop the pineapple carcass in half and serve the fruit salad in both of the "bowls" that you end up creating.

How it Rated
The VacuVin Pineapple Slicer is pretty cool. I mean, who doesn't hate slicing up a pineapple. This product simplifies the entire process for you. I did think that the price point was kind of high for the frequency that it would be used. It is also plastic (they have a stainless steel one as well) and the price just does not seem to match the materials. BUT... it works and it works well and it is very very easy to use. And if I lived in Hawaii, I would probably be reaching for this little tool every single day.

Product Review - Mighty OJ Citrus Juicer

What I Tried: Mighty OJ Citrus Juicer ($50.00 at Metrokane )
Freshly squeezed juice is amazing, but my memories of squeezing juice as a child were never that good. Nothing traumatic happened, but the electric juicer we had never seemed to work very well. There are a number of bars here in San Francisco that serve freshly squeezed orange and grapefruit drinks.  However, the juicer they use is pretty enormous and not something suitable for the home kitchen. Enter Mighty OJ. This little guy is compact, easy to use and juices oranges for great drinks.

What I Made: Stoli Bolli Orange Cocktails
The Stoli in this drink is Stolichnaya vodka (but any vodka will do) and the Bolli is Bollinger Champagne (any champagne will do as well).  Pack a rocks glass with lots of ice and then squeeze a few oranges and fill the glass about half full.  Add the amount of vodka you want (everyone is different) and top off with a splash of champagne for a little fizz.  You can garnish this drink with a lime and if you are feeling little frisky add a splash of cranberry for color.

How it Rated:
The Mighty OJ is a good product and it works well.  A few things to consider – It seemed like the oranges that we squeezed did not get squeezed all the way and my friend Lance noticed that when the handle was pushed all of the way down the top portion that actually forces the orange into the juicing mechanism was not going down all of the way. I also wonder why they don’t make the juicer just a little bigger so that grapefruits can be juiced as well.  Why just oranges? Are they prejudice against grapefruit?  All in all, if you love freshly squeezed orange juice and are looking for a new juicer, pick this one up.  Oh yeah, it was pretty easy to clean.

Product Reviews - Dueling Peelers - Fried Zucchini and Mediterranean Potato Salad

What We Tried
My friend Jeffrey and I tested three different peelers.  The chef’n Palm Peeler ($4.99 - this is kind of like a ring that is also a peeler, but with no diamond), the OXO Y Peeler ($7.99 - a peeler that is shaped like a Y, hence the name) and the Pirhana Peeler from Kuhn Rikon ($7.00 - claims to not only peel your typical veggies, but also tomatoes, which we did not test).

To make things fair we each peeled a carrot, a cucumber, a potato and a zucchini (I bought the zucchinis from two adorable little girls that were standing at the corner of 19th and Eureka in San Francisco selling veggies that were grown in Healdsburg, CA.  Is this the new lemonade stand? They even asked me if I wanted to be on their email newsletter list, which I immediately signed up for. How can you say no to spam from a 7 year old.)

What We Made:
We actually made two dishes. 
The first was a fried zucchini dish that was really really tasty.  We peeled three medium zucchini and then cut them in half. Using the OXO peeler, this is the best peeler for this recipe, we sliced long and thin strips and covered them in a mixture of flour, granulated garlic (dried), cayenne pepper and freshly ground black pepper (for 1 cup of flour about 1 tbsp of each dried herb).  Really coat the slices well and fry up in olive oil.  Drain on a paper towel, salt and drizzle with some fresh lemon juice. 

We used up the potatoes, carrots and cucumbers that we peeled to make a Mediterranean like salad.  Peel three potatoes, three carrots and three cucumbers.  Chop each into ½ inch pieces. Cook the potatoes and steam the carrots and let cool.  Mix ¾ cup of Greek strained yogurt (I use the Fage brand), with 1 tsp fresh dill, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 tsp of honey, 1 clove of minced fresh garlic, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and the juice of 1 lemon. Shake it well and pour it over the veggies.  Mix, chill and serve.

What They Rated:
The chef’n palm peeler’s design is definitely interesting and once you get over the novelty of wearing a peeler as a ring it can be quite handy on the typical veggies that you find yourself peeling (e.g., carrots).  Jeffrey complained that the peeled bits don’t fall off of the vegetables, you actually have to stop what you are doing and remove the peeled piece yourself. 

OXO has this handy grip thing going on with all of its products, which make them so ergonomically correct and easy to use.  This product was no exception and was really easy to navigate when we peeled the zucchini for the one of the dishes that we made. I really liked this product, but am still a little bit of a traditionalist when it comes to peelers.

The Pirhana Peeler’s serrated blades and the traditional shape of this peeler make peeling a breeze.  While Jeffrey loved the OXO I was a huge fan of the Pirhana.  It just felt right. My only complaint is that it was not as easy to peel the zucchini slices that we needed for the fried zucchini.

Product Review - The Emulstir and Lemony Roasted Garlic Salad Dressing

What I Tried: The Emulstir ($14.99 – Get It Here)
Chef’n makes some pretty interesting products and I have had a fun time testing their kitchen gadget innovations.  So when the Emulstir arrived at my doorstep I raced into the kitchen to test it out.

What is the Emulstir?  The product brand name comes from the word emulsify, which is basically the process of suspending one liquid into another by vigorously stirring or whisking the two fluids together. The Emulstir is shaped like a cruet with a lid on top and a spout for pouring. The cruet has a plastic whisk-like, curly-q apparatus on the inside and handle on the outside that makes the plastic whisk-like, curly-q apparatus go around and around. By pressing on the handle the curly-q rotates and incorporates air into the two liquids, hence emulsification.

So basically, Chef’n has done a little bit of product emulsification by inventing the Elmulstir. They have taken the cruet and the whisk and have combined the two together in an effort to simplify the process of making salad dressings.

What I Made: 
My friend Tim came over to help me test this one out and together we concocted a simple salad dressing consisting of extra virgin olive oil, lemon, roasted garlic, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

If you don’t have any roasted garlic in the freezer you can use regular garlic, but I must tell you that roasting garlic and storing it in the freezer for frequent use is a practice that you will thank me for later. It is easy to do too. All you need is bulb of garlic (or you can do like I do and buy the big container of peeled garlic in the veggie section of the grocery store).  If you are roasting whole bulbs of garlic cut the top off and loosely wrap it in foil.  Before closing the foil drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the top.  Roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Take out, let cool, remove the foil and you can literally squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of the bulb.  If you are roasting the already peeled cloves create a pouch large enough to loosely hold the cloves, drizzle with a little bit of oil and roast for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

For the dressing you will need:

-    ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
-    ½ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
-    4-5 roasted garlic cloves, mashed into a paste
-    ½ tsp kosher salt
-    ½ tsp sugar
-    1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place all of the ingredients into the Emulstir, cover and holding with one hand press on the handle and the let the plastic whisk-like, curly-q apparatus on the inside do the rest.

We used the dressing for an arugula salad with Parmegianno Regianno cheese. It was yummy.

What it Rated:
Both Tim and I really like the Emulstir.  The concept is simple and the end result delivers exactly what the product brand name promises. Of course every product has a few little flaws, but the ones we discovered during the testing phase were not deal breakers.

I personally like the process of grinding my pepper into the bowl that I usually use to make my dressing.  The opening at the top of the cruet is a little too small to make this a possibility so I had to grind the pepper first and then scoop my peppery bits into the top.

The little opening at the top needs to be on tight. If it is not a little bit of the dressing can leak out during the emulsification process, which can be a little messy. You need to make sure the handle is pointing away from your body while operating the plastic whisk-like, curly-q apparatus. It is much easier to operate that way.

All in all, this is a very cool product and for the price it is well worth the money and the time you’ll save when making dressings. Oh yeah… I took it to my sister’s house and the niece and nephew liked it too. “This is fun,” Maggie giggled to me as she made the plastic whisk-like, curly-q apparatus on the inside go around and around and around.

Product Review - The Magic Bullet - With Smoothie and Pesto Recipe

What I Tested: The Magic Bullet ($99.99 – Available Here )
You have probably seen the Magic Bullet before.  It is one of those “As Seen on TV” products that claims to do just about everything in your kitchen (except clean it up). The infomercial is kinda funny.  At the beginning “Mick and Mimi” introduce a group of skeptics to the Magic Bullet and while some seem wholly impressed with the wonders of this do-it-all appliance, one of the women is a true skeptic.  By the end of the half hour segment, where they make everything from guacamole and gazpacho to smoothies and nachos, she is a true convert.

What I Made:
I tried making quite a few things with the Magic Bullet, but my absolute favorite were the smoothies.  Just about every morning I wake up and make myself a protein smoothie.  Usually I make it with my hand blender, but this time I decided to use the bullet. In the large cup I combined 4 frozen strawberries (I always use frozen strawberries instead of ice), 1 banana, 2 tbsps of protein powder and 2 cups of vanilla soy milk. Blend with the Bullet until smooth and serve immediately.

Check out the pesto recipe that I made with the Bullet here.

Oh yeah… I also grated parmesan cheese with the bullet and it worked very well.

How it Rated:
Okay, so I was definitely like the crusty old skeptic when I first received the bullet in the mail, but after making a few things in the kitchen it became clear to me why this is a big seller.  For someone who isn’t a hard core foodie and wants something simple to blend, chop and make smoothies with, this product will do the the trick. 

One thing to keep in mind. During the infomercial they never seem to pick it up and shake it, which you need to do to move things from the top of the blending cup to the bottom. They have three different methods for ensuring that your ingredients are completely blended, the makers recommend that you tap the sides of the cup, actually pick up the Bullet and shake or tap aggressively without picking up the Bullet. The reason why this needs to be done is because the Bullet is not as powerful and the blades are not as sharp as the Cuisinart or Vita Mix 5200 blenders that I tested, but not everyone wants a super duper powerful blender, nor do they want to spend the money.

So if you want a versatile blender that does a little more then make milkshakes log on and order the the Magic Bullet.

Product Review - Vita-Mix 5200 - Smoothies and Banana Bread Recipes

What I Tested: Vita-Mx Super 5200 ($549 - Available Here) I received an email from someone at the PR firm that represents the Vita-Mix 5200. The email explained the power and versatility of this blender and suggested that I give it a whirl (no pun intended). Having tested a number of blenders and being mildly excited I was eager to see what this had to offer.

 The company introduced their first blender in 1937 and they sell their product in over 75 countries. This new version is the first revision of the product in 15 years. This seems like one of those hand me down products.  Kind of like my Atlas pasta maker that my mom gave me and that her mom gave to her.

 What I Made:
The product claims that it can perform 35 different functions including making smoothies and ice cream, grinding grains to make flour, kneading dough and making whole food juice. Although I did not make my own flour or knead dough I did put the Vita-Mix to the test and made more smoothies than I could drink on my own.

Since I love the flavor of whole food juices I also made some veggie drinks. My favorite smoothies that I made included:

- 1 banana
- 5 frozen strawberries
- 1 tbsp of soy protein powder
- 2 cups of vanilla soy milk

Toss everything into the wet blade container and follow the instructions for blending.

I also prepared Banana Bread with the Vita-Mix.

- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In your Vita-Mix 5200 wet container, cream together butter and brown sugar (refer to the instructions on how to best cream ingredients). Mix in eggs and mashed bananas and blend well. Place flour mixture into banana mixture and blend until smooth. Transfer to loaf pan and bake in preheated oven about 50 minutes minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

For a whole slew of recipes you can log on and see the myriad of things you can make with the Vita-Mix 5200.

How It Rated:
If I had an entire year to play with this product I could certainly keep myself busy preparing foods in the kitchen. Unfortunately, time is of the essence so I had to stop short of testing some smoothies and bread recipes.

This is by far one of the best blenders I have ever used. What makes it so amazing? In addition to being sturdy and easy to use, it is also very powerful and totally versatile. You would be amazed at the consistency of the smoothies I made – everything in the container becomes pulverized and smooth as silk.

My friends and I did follow the directions to make tomato juice for our bloody Mary’s but the consistency was a little off. The juice that comes from the tomatoes is much thinner than the tomato juice from a can.

The bread that I made came out perfectly moist and delicious and the preparation using the Vita-Mix was quite simple.

Yes… the Vita-Mix Super 5200 is pricey, but there is a less expensive version – minus the dry container – for $449. If you search a little online you can find them for less money so do your homework and you can save some cash. In reality I think that the average person probably does not need the dry container, it seems a little gratuitous (unless you plan on making your own flour and blending other grains). At then end of the day hoever, this product is worth every penny and that it will last for years to come.

Product Review - The Food Saver

What I Tried: The FoodSaver ($173.97 – Available Here)
With the economy in the tank and food prices skyrocketing, I jumped at the chance to test the FoodSaver and its vacuum sealing capabilities. The product claims to keep food fresh up to five times longer than traditional storage methods (e.g., Tupperware, plastic wrap, etc.). I also received a sample of the FoodSaver bags and canisters, which are similar to Tupperware containers, but they have a piece attached to the lid that allows you to suck out all of the air to preserve food.

What I Made:
I didn’t really make anything with the FoodSaver, but what I did do was preserve a bunch of foods before leaving on a ten-day business trip. A few days before I took off for my jaunt I had a breakfast party and made a whole bunch of food that I wanted to preserve with the FoodSaver. My list included biscuits, leftover uncooked sausage, a tomato, a boatload of peeled garlic and some shredded cheese.

The biscuits, sausage and garlic were preserved using the bags that came with the system and placed in the freezer. Mr. tomato and the leftover cheese were portioned in half.  One half was preserved with the system and the other half was placed into a regular storage bag.

What it Rated:
Upon my arrival back into the city I opened my freezer and fridge to examine the foods. I removed the biscuits and sausage and made myself a sausage biscuit sandwich.  It tasted great.  The sausage was fresh and the biscuits did not have that “I’ve been festering in the freezer for a while” taste. The garlic was fragrant and I ended up roasting it for later use.

The “preserved” tomato was a little moldy, but not nearly as moldy as the one that was sitting in the plastic baggie. But to be honest, no tomato is going to last for ten days, preserved or not. The thing that I liked about my little science project is that the preserved tomato seemed to weather the ten days better than its unfortunate half.

The preserved cheese tasted pretty good too, but it was a little harder to recognize any real difference in the flavor profile.

My one little issue with this product is that its operation is not immediately intuitive. When I first plugged it in I could not get it to work and had to call the product rep to try and figure out what I was doing wrong. The directions are not that well written and as with any kitchen gadget my mantra is that companies should make the operation of any product so easy a toddler could make it work.

So if you tend to have a lot of leftovers or want to start preserving your leftovers or keeping your other foods on the fresher side, pick up a FoodSaver.

Product Review - The Food Loop and Roasted Chicken Recipe

What I Tried: The Food Loop ($9.95 at Amazon.com)
While shopping at a gourmet store in Pittsburgh, PA I came across this amazing little tool and at first glance I had no idea what it was. With some closer examination I became immediately intrigued.

The Food Loop is the first heat resistant trussing tool designed to take place of kitchen twine and toothpicks in the cooking process.

Here are some facts: The silicone based, magenta colored kitchen item can withstand up to 675 F/375 C.  Truss a chicken, bind a pork loin, wrap a stuffed fish, secure your herbs for an amazing stock... This tool can be pretty useful and is also dishwasher safe. It also comes with a handy little bag for keeping all in place when you store or toss them into the dishwasher.

How it Rated:
This product is amazing, not only for its versatility, but also for the ease of use. The only thing that is missing with this product is the lack of lines that are seared into the meat when you truss with twine and the excitement of searching for that piece of string when your bird or loin is all done. And compared to the cost of a ball of twine -- a few bucks -- the $9.95 price point, although not that much money -- seems a little high, especially since a ball of twine can last the regular cook a few years.

What I Made: Easy Roasted Chicken
As I sit here writing this piece I can smell the chicken that I am serving at a dinner party this evening roasting away. The scent is incredible, but what is even better is how I trussed the bird with The Food Loop.  I always like to stuff my bird with 1 lemon (cut in half) and a handful of herbs (usually sage and rosemary).  Then I used the Loop to secure the legs and keep the stuffing neatly tucked inside while roasting in the oven. 

This recipe comes from my mother and is truly the best way to cook a chicken.  It always comes out moist as can be. All you need to do is preheat your oven to 475, place the bird on a roasting pan, breast side up, stuff, truss, liberally coat with salt and freshly ground black pepper and roast for 1 hour.  Take your bird out of the oven, sprinkle the top with more fresh herbs, squeeze the juice of 1 lemon on top and cover with foil for 15 minutes.

Remove, carve and serve.  This is an easy and amazing way to cook a chicken and the Food Loop makes it that much easier.  Bock Bock.