As we continue through the recipes I must take a moment to comment on the pictures that I will be posting.  A very dear friend of mine, Bob Young, has taken fantastic pictures at nearly everyone of the wine dinners, we have hosted at the Buzz.  He has several blogs that he is consistently updating, the pictures and dinner reviews are carried on his Boise Foodie Guild blogspot, this offers a lot of fun recipes and events and reviews of many of the restaurants in the Boise area.

This is a picture of our Roasted Vegetable Salad that we featured at our May 2012 wine dinner.  

Red Wine Vinagrette

• Makes 1½ cups
•  
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small shallot, peeled
• 2 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and mix until shallots and garlic are very finely minced.  Pour into a jar with a good seal so it can be shaken just before serving.  Can keep in the refrigerator for 10 days. 

Salad  Serves 8 as a side or 4 for dinner

• 1  parsnip, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
• 2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch dice
• 1  eggplant, cut into 1-inch dice
• 1/2 butternut squash, cut into 1-inch dice
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons dried thyme
• 1 bag of mixed greens (or chop up different lettuces)
• 1 cup mixed Italian cheeses (shredded) 

 Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine the parsnip, zucchini, eggplant and squash in a mixing bowl and evenly coat with olive oil, and thyme (salt and pepper if desired). Turn out the vegetables onto a roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes, or until softened and slightly browned.  Cool the vegetables.

Plate the greens, top with vegetables, drizzle with red wine vinaigrette, and top with cheese. And enjoy.
If you have extra vegetables refrigerate them and use them with some boiled rotini for a repeat meal, could toss in vodka sauce or Alfredo with the pasta for a vegetarian dinner the next day.

We served this salad with a 2008 Australian Red blend by Pillar Box.  (Always good to have a salad that goes amazingly well with a red wine). 

Cheers!

 

Hello.  It is now May of 2012 and as a family, a nurse, a mother, and a business owner we are making some big changes.  every day in May at our business we are introducing something new.  For 2009 and 2010 we published our own cookbooks of the recipes that we utilized in our wine dinners, in order to coordinate all of our social media, marketing and networking efforts I am going to present a recipe in this format along with the wines we enjoyed with the dish.  Every so often we will continue to offer our cookbooks for the cost of printing them so you will have the recipes all together, but hopefully this format will allow easier access for everyone.  I also here will be able to show the modifications that I made to each of the recipes (as I get inspiration from multiple locations but usually do not follow the recipes as presented by others).


Recently, the most requested recipe, was the mushroom soup that we served at the May 2012 Wine Club dinner.  So here it goes for about 10 servings
  2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  1/2 pound bacon diced
  1 onion, chopped
  4 cloves garlic minced
  1 tablespoon dried thyme
  40 ounces mushrooms (use 3 different types, baby bellas, button, and crimini is what I used)  Chopped
          fairly thick
   4 stalks celery, chopped
   1 pound carrots, chopped
   375 ml of chardonnay
   2 cups vegetable broth
   2 tablespoons Italian seasoning 
   6 tablespoons flour
   6 tablespoons dry rose wine

Fry the bacon until crisp, drain and set aside.
In a Soup pot, saute the onions in the olive oil until translucent.  Add the garlic and thyme.  After it is quite fragrant add the mushrooms.  Stir occasionally until the mushrooms have released their moisture and are reduced in size.  Add the celery and carrots.  Stir in the wine and broth and Italian seasoning, bring to a boil, add the bacon and then reduce heat to simmer and simmer until carrots are tender.  (About 20 minutes)


Just before serving whisk the flour and the rose together,  once smooth add a cup of the broth from the hot soup and continue to whisk once smooth add the rue to the pot of soup and stir.  


Salt and Pepper to taste.  For a vegetarian version omit the bacon. 

We enjoyed this soup with 2008 G3 Red Blend from Goose Ridge Cellars.

New Years Day was a relaxing day for us at our house. We ate all day focusing on our traditional New Year's meal of Chinese food. Boy was it good, we even had left overs for the next day, with my busy days I am a huge fan of leftovers. We played games and visited with family and friends. I made a Coke cake and frosted it two different ways, so as to suit everyone's tastes. This is one of my favorite cakes as it is chocolaty, rich, and moist. I can satisfy my sweet tooth with only one or two bites. (Much better for my waist line).
Along with this scrumptious cake we enjoyed a bottle of Snoqualmie 2008 Merlot. This is a Columbia Valley Merlot. I personally enjoy Merlot from Washington State, as they tend to have a fuller body and slightly more tannin at the back then Merlot from other regions of the world. This is a great everyday wine with a very reasonable price point. In my blogging I am trying to keep with wines that are readily available in Boise. If you have interest in purchasing any of these just let me know so that I can ensure we have them at the shop.

This weekend I will have Coke Cake at the Buzz for the dessert special for all of us to enjoy.

Cheers.

New Year/New Beginning

With the beginning of a new year, I find myself reexamining where I am in relation to where I want to be. I have set some goals for the year that are very reachable; with a little organization and discipline. The kids and Tommy are going to be involved in helping to achieve these goals. The first step in this is to blog about the food and wines we have been enjoying and will be enjoying.

I will continue to present foods and wines in what I refer to as the real world approach. These are wines that are affordable and palatable and foods that can be prepared with ingredients from the grocery store. As a mother of two teenagers, a practicing RN, owner of a small business and assisting in the care of my in-laws I live in the real world and that is where my focus will be.

We, of course, rang in the New Year with a little bubbly. We enjoyed a toast of Schramsberg Cremant. What a great start to the new year. This was a slightly dry cremant without the chalky taste of a true Champagne. Price is under $40. I served mine in a white wine glass, over the past few months I have been exposed to some research that states that the flutes cause the carbon dioxide of sparkling wines to build up at the top of the glass and alter the nose and even effects the taste, I do have to say that I enjoyed the cremant more out of a glass than a flute. Try it the next time you are enjoying a sparkler and see what you think.

At the Buzz last night we had a group that was playing Pathfinder (a game similar to Dungeons and Dragons), I put out a small buffet for them to enjoy with their game and had compliments from them all on my Chicken Enchiladas (by the way went very nicely with the cremant) I was very excited to inform all of the participants that this is one of the entrees that we have in stock for our take and bake line. They are good.

I should go now and decide what to make for New Years and which wine to drink tonight. Happy New Year to everyone.

Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits

Well, another busy day in the world of the Takeda's. Did not sleep well but did get up and was very productive with getting all of the materials organized for the Murder by Malbec summer game; which is our major summer event this year. I am so excited about it, I hope that everyone participating has as much fun doing it as I have had creating and refining it.

Last night my candy shells were quite tasty and a great end to a very long couple of days. I was quite excited when a newbie at the wine dinner said that I seemed very relaxed in front of the group and that I was very good at interacting with the group. I always feel so nervous and think that everyone will sense it and not enjoy themselves but apparently I am good at bringing across my passions and not my fears.

Today we made strawberry cheesecake parfaits. Very rich but entirely delightful. I accompanied mine with M. Chapoutier Cotes-Du-Rhone Belleruche ($14) a slightly tart rose with a lot of flavor.

Okay, well I have been very diligent about making the desserts just not as diligent about telling everyone about them so I will catch up on Monday, Tuesday, and the plan for Wednesday.

Monday I worked until 0700 then came home slept for a total of 3 hours, before being a good mom I went to the 5th grade celebration (type of graduation) events at Boo's school. Very long and drawn out...really, it's 5th grade no one got a doctorate or a Noble peace prize. Anyway then went to the store to pick up a few things for the wine club dinners this month. when I got home I attempted to make a jelly roll ice-cream cake....Failure...I will still need to practice. The kid's will eat it but it is most certainly a failure.

Slept like a baby Monday night, which is a good thing because Tuesday was wine club dinner nite. Big success, I used the dessert from the dinner to be my dessert for the day. Apparently it was tasty as it is now all gone and I did not even get to try it, it was pretty though.

Wednesday another dinner so I am remaking the dessert from Tuesday for that, but according to the rules of my summer project that does not count. So I am filling miniature chocolate cups with a BBavarian cream filling and topping them with fresh strawberries. This will be my treat to myself once I get home.

So now the next focus wines to pair with the desserts. The ice cream cake just needs a good wine to replace the dessert. I would say lets go all out on this one and have Travalini Gattinara ($36) This is nebbiolo at its finest and would not hesitate to drown out a bed dessert. Maybe I'll keep a bottle in the cellar in case someone stops over for dinner and my dessert fails. With the Strawberry and Chocolate Trifle I paired it with Zuccardi Q Tempernillo ($20). I did not taste them together but was informed it was a match made in heaven so for that I will settle. Tonight with my after wine dinner self indulgence I am going to have Riscal Tempernillo ($12) and the big seller at the dinner last night, it drinks like a much more expensive wine and has that phenomenal Spanish taste.

I'll let everyone know my personal indulgence fares.