curse my love of wine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lets talk wine...wine is always my drink of choice. my favorite wine is sauvignon blanc and riesling for white and Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon for red. When choosing and pairing wines for dinner or desserts , you want to always remember like a marriage wine and food are meant for each other..and just like love there are no rules. The only thing to remember, is to make sure the wine doesn't over power your dish, therefore my rule of thumb is that if i'm serving a heavy dish i.e stew or steaks and potatoes i will choose a full bodied red wine and lighter meals like a angel haired pasta with shrimp and a light vinaigrette serve a lighter delicate white wine. This is my personal preference so it doesn't have to be yours, always keep in mind the flavors of the food, this is most important because wine can either compliment or contradict the flavors of the food. With that being said Ideally you want to play off either the salty, sweet, bold, or blandness of your dish. For example i wouldn't serve a sweet Riesling with a rich dessert like a cheesecake or a mousse because the dessert will completely dim out the flavors of the wine. A sweet Riesling is more appreciated with something salty like french fries or salty chips,...Red meat and Red wines are coupled because they help to mellow the flavors of the robust wine..as well as hard cheeses such as Stilton, Aged Gouda, and cheddar, all of these types of foods aid in softening the tannin structure in red wines. Also its important to as well  keep in mind the amount of acidity in your dish compared to the acidic under tones in your wine i.e a dry riesling with a Greek salad or a Ceaser salad wouldn't be to tasty. So with all that being said go out and buy a bottle of red, white, sparkling and a rose and taste, take notes and compose your next meal simpliy based on the taste of the wine rather it be robust, dry or sparkling, sweet or acidic and make a master piece. cheers. ( i am enjoying a glass of Sauvignon Cabernet as we speak)

chocolate 101

It all starts from the cacao tree. next the cacao tree provides pods which houses the cocoa beans, the beans are fermented and then dried transported roasted, crushed to release the shell and then pressed to produce the liquid CHOCOLATE...Chocolate doesn't come from the cocoa bean already sweet and delicious, you have to add fat to it, fat in the form of coco butter which depending on how much you add gives it its rich light color and smooth mouth feel, next finely powdered sugar is added to of course make it sweet. So when you are purchasing chocolate and you like more of a milk chocolate variety you wanna stay in the 35% percent range or lower when you want a darker variety 70% is a safe range but now if you like the darker more bitter side of chocolate go to around 85 to 90% or higher. Personally i don't like to eat my chocolate past 70% because its to bitter for me to consume and enjoy as just a snack or whatever, but for baking purposes i will go as far as 90%  So basically the higher the number the more bitter the chocolate is because it has a less percentage of coco butter and other ingredients being used in the chocolate to make it sweeter. Now the higher the percentage the better quality the ingredients are that are put into that chocolate usually. So the higher the percentage the more cocoa beans used, the lower the percentage the more coco butter used. So if you are dieting your going to want to eat more dark chocolate then milk chocolate. Personally i really love chocolate i love chocolate in its savory form i.e chocolate covered bacon,and i love every chocolate dessert imaginable, but chocolate is a pretty tricky ingredient to work with when you get to the chocolate making and decorative aspect of it. That's when Tempering gets involved. You must temper your chocolate if you want that crispness and beautiful shine chocolate has when it is tempered correctly.In culinary school tempering was the Devil and caused me to grow a grey hair or two but once you get it down it leaves you with a window of opportunity to create absolutely extraordinary things.So get some chocolate get in the kitchen and create Definition: Tempering refers to a process of heating and cooling chocolate to prepare it for dipping and enrobing. The tempering process ensures that the cocoa butter in chocolate hardens in a uniform crystal structure. Chocolate that is tempered has a smooth texture, a glossy shine and a pleasant “snap” when bitten or broken. Chocolate that is not tempered might be cloudy, gray, lumpy, and sticky at room temperature. Tempering chocolate can be accomplished at home with a chocolate or instant-read thermometer and a double-boiler.  (below) chocolate box i made in culinary school.(where the grey hairs came from lol)

Lets talk green

So lets talk green........................as in HERB.....................CULINARY HERBS LOL
I love fresh herbs all types, i grow them, well i try too, (sigh) i'm getting better though. I have to incorporate at least one type of fresh herb daily in every meal. My favorite herbs of all time are Rosemary and Basil..I also absolutely, appreciate the presence of rosemary,thyme and lemon in any given dish.For a super simple dish using my favorite combination of Rosemary, Thyme and lemon, would be a pasta chicken salad. Using chicken breast cooked and cubed seasoned with fresh cracked pepper and sea salt, Penne pasta and a Pesto but instead of the BASIL use ROSEMARY and THYME add some lemon zest and mix with pasta finish with a squeeze of lemon juice serve warm or cold and you have achieved absolute deliciousness. Plus it pretty low in calories which is always a plus. There are also herb butters that can be prepared from fresh herbs,herb oils, the possibilities are endless. Moral of the story is don't be intimated by fresh herbs, be bold and experimental in your cooking. I made a dessert using basil, a basil and lemon mousse to be exact, it sounds weird but it was delicious and the rosemary and thyme lemon mousse and cake were absolutely perfect. Now don't just limit yourself to dried herbs (the pantry favorite dried Italian                        
   seasoning) just because its easier and doesn't take much effort. Mix and match herbs, use dill, and mint  oregano, parsley, chives and lavender. Use them smell there fragrance and get inspired,Create art.What's the worst that can happen???..its food, enjoy it, embrace it. You have to eat after all, so it may as well be wonderful.

Wine and cheese

I'm a huge fan of a good place that has a great wine and cheese plate with a good ambiance, nice Dim lighting and soft soothing music.That place for me right now is Hops and Clusters. Its a nice small spot in Tallahassee off of north Monroe St. its also a specialty store so you can purchase great wines, and flavored oils, and very nice gourmet products. Anyway I've been there a couple of times I enjoyed the wine and cheese platter a lot, mostly because of the vast variety of cheeses from different origins all around the world. The meats and fruit selection that accompany the platter really compliment it ..The key to a great cheese platter for me would be to have an large range of depth as far as flavors, and textures. Its good to have a couple different types of soft cheese like a brie or a Camembert, hard cheeses like a Sharpe cheddar and a bleu vein cheese like a Roquefort. Different cured meats like Capicola, Pancetta. Having good fruits like Grapes,Figs, strawberries are also a favored of mine. You can also include different mustards, jams, olives and crackers are great too, anything that excites your taste buds and is eye catching works. Now wines, my favorite wine is Sauvignon Blanc, I would say serve any type of wine that you really enjoy and any wine that really compliments and doesn't off set the delicate flavors of the cheeses, you don't have to shy away from a nice robust wine such as a merlot, its complelely fine to use.  So make your next date night Hops and Clusters its a really nice experience, its very pricey but well worth it.                                      

                                        hops and clusters cheese board its about for 4 cheeses  $20   

                                                                                  A Sample of a really good Wine & Cheese spread.

Come eat through my eyes.

My blog is pretty much an extension of me through food, weekly i will go on food adventures from unique restaurants to farmers markets and everything in between. My goal is to be the food critic for anyone who just wants to enjoy delectable, unique authentic cuisine, and needs to know where to find it. I will upload recipes that i have created as well as some recipes i come by while reading and researching different types of food from around the world food that may be of interest. The goal with each entry is to get my readers to strengthen and excite their palates. Open your mind to different spices, herbs, proteins, vegetables, fruits anything you never tried before. Don't just let your knowledge of food come from someones else's interpretation of it on t.v. go out and experience it for yourself.Food changes with every season, therefore every season you have an opportunity to challenge your taste buds to stray from the norm and experience something wonderful.....shiitake mushroom risotto along side chicken breast wit an au jus sauce made by me