Cajun Fish Fry Up

Luuuuuuuuuuuuurve fish. Sadly also love fried food, to which my widening hips attest. But I love my hips. What a mess I am! :o) Breading. I like to bread in all sorts of things, and why not. Keep it moist and flavourful - and so polenta is one of my favourite ways to bread.

Salt and pepper on the salmon, then in flour, then egg, then in the polenta. I added fine chopped green pepper and red onion to the polenta and pressed that in. Gently but firmly fry. It was crispy and moist and wonderful! The sole is pressed on one side into chili pepper, and after it has been turned topped with tomatoe concasse with mint.

We enjoyed this with a cold Fielding wineries Gewürtztraminer (2008 from our last trip across the pond) and ceasar salad - and yes! you must make your own ceasar dressing! :O) poka! katrin

"Uncorked" the new wine/foodie tv series

Hubby commented on http://www.facebook.com/#!/sarahjgim Sarah J Gim's facebook post this morning. Her suggestion to come up with a tv series or book based on Ben Anderson's pic "Wine Tasting" http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=31216014&id=1291378334. It's a great set of images! Makes me wish it weren't 7 in the morning ... I don't think the 2009 tv movie did that well, so what about a remake?!

"Uncorked". Season 2 - Ben and Alex's wine making classes are suddenly placed in jeopardy when Sarah arrives in town to open an upscale wine chic tasty bar with her old room mate Suzanne. Wil sparks fly between these four or just tasting glasses? Meanwhile Pilar's catering company has received an offer from Jacques Torres to open multiple floating pastry bars in Manhattan, which leaves her mulling a move to the East Coast and leaving her friends ...

But Darling you didn't do it right ... here is my take:

"Uncorked". Premiere! - Gardenville's Ben and Alex's wine making classes are suddenly placed in jeopardy when big citty LA hotties Sarah and Suzanne arrive in town to open a swanky wine chic tasty bar, and the office crowd flock like pigeons to a popcorn bag. Will sparks fly between these four or just tasting glasses? Meanwhile Pilar's catering company has received an offer from Jacques Torres to open multiple floating pastry bars in Manhattan, which leaves her mulling a move to the East Coast and leaving her friends ...

poka! :o) katrin

Missing Old Friends

I love the movie Sideways - and I love wine. Virginia Madsen (Maya) has the best line in this movie and I agree with her 100% ... you open a bottle of wine and you wonder what was the weather like on the day it was bottled, who bottled it, what are all those stories you are unleashing when you uncork that bottle - and once uncorked, its done. you can't go back. the anticipation is like the first time you sleep with someone ... forget food porn - wine erotica is even better. it is a physical tingling .... Virgina Madseon always has great lines - Gotham (1988) she plays Rachel, a ghost who haunts her husband, and meets the man who is hired to track her down (Tommy Lee Jones). They meet on a darkened street and she says ... you ask the girl for her number but you won't call - becasue it's not about that - it's about how she looked when you saw her, how she made you feel - and you had the best of her - the very best of her. And wine is the same way.

I'm looking back over my cellar notes - yes, hubby bought me a cellar book in the 90's when we were both so into wine - we were buying 12 bottles a month to lay down. Before we moved we had .. 176 bottles in the cellar according to my records. :o) Now we have 2 cases and we're drinking them up before our next big move. Every time I get a bottle it's a horrible experience. I know that once it is open it will be gone for ever. It's almost like I'm killing the poor darlings. They have been with me for over a decade now ... like favourite pets.

Last weekend we opened a 98 Pessac Leognan which was brilliant the second day. The first day the nose was full of tobacco and raspberries but the mouth was nothing to get excited about, but the second day it had settled down and the initial nose was gentler but the taste fuller. and now, it is gone. :o(

some of my favourite lost friends?

fitou '99 "very berry then dryyyyyyyyyyyy..."
corbiere '97 "speechless"
los vascos '98 " very disappointing after the '86! why did we buy a case?"
bailey's block shiraz '97 "like a mouth full of curant jam ..."
equisheim muscat '98 "what a souvenir! goosberries and honey"
tocornal cab sauv '86 and a BC okanagan ehrenfelser '87 both of which we were drinking almost daily ... oh my ...

I love wine. I miss many of them dearly. They bring you back, not only to the possibilities of what you will encounter when the cork is removed and the wine hits your lips, but it seals the memories of those moments - like you are corking them back inside yourself. Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris -- READ IT!

:o) poka katrin

Rouxbe Cooking School

Graduating from chef school when it was still hands on but now loving some of the amazing video tutorials now online, I would really suggest you look at the new online cooking school I was directed to by a friend. Rouxbe Cooking School.

I am now a Rouxbe Cooking School affiliate partner. Rouxbe is the world's first-ever online cooking school. I partnered with Rouxbe to help you improve you cooking skills. As part of their affiliate program, I have the power to give you a free, full-access, no-videos-barred, 14-day pass to their site. All you have to do is go to the Rouxbe Cooking School and redeem the 14-day Gift Membership. After the trial, you can join for as little as $15 per month; however, there is no obligation. It's awesome! Check it out! Katrin.

Rouxbe Online Cooking School & Video Recipes

It's 4 am - Why is the Cookie jar made from Glass?

The telltale *ping* of glass against glass as I raid the cookie jar here at 4 am echoes through the house like a hand grenade. I am convinced I can hear the girls turning in their beds and hubby's snoring breaking its stride. *sigh*
... biscotti crumbs rain down across my breasts as I pad through the darkened kitchen in bare feet and go into the living room, flick on the light and boot up the laptop ... my stocks are up today! yay! but only 3% ... how come all the other stocks I'm tracking are up 14%?
now there are biscotti crumbs over my thighs ... it's probably better wearing pyjamas if only to act as a bib, but I simply cannot sleep in anything.
i can't answer all my emails and they are stacking up - if things can stack up in the digital world, not actually existing I mean ... so I'm clicking through the internet ... what is a "lesbian Dad"? or an "authentic lesbian woman"? I love the Dove ads - http://slate.msn.com/id/2123659 featuring normal women -
all the while i know there are leftovers in the fridge - chicken burgers from sunday night, schnitzel from saturday, milk rice from this morning ... my stomach is growling but I will wait until 7 for coffee and breakfast. it's going to be another long day.
oh great! now the internet connection has gone --- then I'm to continue this on the desktop. what a pain.

anyway - we made lovely chicken burgers sunday -
fresh chicken breasts, grind them first with a mallet then with your knife, on the cutting board just like grandma used to.
for one full chicken breast add the following:
1 tbl dijon, one white roll (crumbs of), 1 tbl olive oil, salt and pepper (fresh ground), 1 tbl balsamic vinegar, 1 small red onion and 1 clove of garlic very finely chopped, 1 tbl fresh tarragon leaves also finely chopped.
make a small ball of goat cheese in your hand and form the meat around this - flatten to make a small patty. smaller patties are best.
fry and serve in a small bun. less bun, more meat. and a nice soft bun. we get them from a german baker - "milch brötchen" are about half the size of a normal roll and very very soft.

poka! :o) katrin