More Mojo Marinade & Some Chardonnay

Last Saturday was GORGEOUS! It was sunny and warm, in the high 70s. It was definitely the first perfect grill day of the year.

To grill, we have to drag our grill in and out of the house every time. Where we live, if we left it outside, it's quite likely it would be stolen. (it's happened before)

As a result of the effort involved, I usually grill WAY too much food. And it was my plan to grill too much food this time. I figured there'd be plenty of leftovers to use during the week.

Since I knew I'd be cooking too much, I did invite another couple over. They live just up the street and when they come over, I don't feel like I'm 'entertaining', so it's really relaxed and casual. We're all just hanging out, ya know? Even though I canceled wine tasting, since Erika and Drew are in our wine tasting crew, I figured we can taste a little wine during the night. But there WOULD BE fruity rum drinks too!!

So anyway!!

I grilled too much. Which was my plan.

I LOVE Tyler Florence's Mojo Marinade. I put beef tenderloin steaks and chicken breast fillets in it. I meant to put some big gorgeous portabellos in the mojo marinade too and totally forgot. It was truly a meat fest.
You can check out the Mojo Marinade w/Flank Steak for Carne Asada Tacos here.

Ok... outside at night... on the grill w/no flash, the chicken looks decidedly green!


But it really wasn't!


I like to butterfly the breasts. I'm not sure if it's called butterflying, since I do cut them all the way through. But I love how the nice thin fillets cook up so quickly and stay moist and delicious. Maybe it's filleting? I dunno!

But on to the wine.

For those of you just joining our program, I don't like wine. I joined the BakeSpace Wine Club to learn more about it. I am learning too! I've learned that I prefer a semi-dry wine. Nothing too sweet or too dry. So far, I actually 'like' semi-dry Riesling. I would never order it in a restaurant; but would happily drink it at a friend's house. I'd probably never buy it to serve at my house, because we're not wine drinkers. I don't think any of our friends every expect to drink wine at my house, unless of course it's wine tasting night. They usually expect tequila or beer or rum! But I always pick out an Australian Chardonnay for my mom when she visits. I know she likes that. I usually try to pick something either marked 'award winning' or that has a cool animal on the label. So far she said she's liked them. For her next visit I'll ask more about what flavors she likes in her Chardonnays and try to choose appropriately. I need to put my new found knowledge to use!

Jon & I picked this one. Why? Cuz it's called Giant 47 Pound Rooster! Duh!!

Name: HRM Rex-Goliath Giant 47 pound Rooster

Price: $7.99

Year: 2007

PHOTO of bottle:




Short intro from the wine maker about the wine:
From the Bottle: Our Chardonnay is like enjoying a day at a tropical beach - bright and sunny, with aromas of pineapple and citrus.

Review:
Pale yellow color

Marguerite (me) ~ Kind of pineapple citrus flavor... not making me puckery... fruity... not like other Chardonnays I've tried that I cook with.

Jon - not bad, almost sour after taste... a little juicy

Ericka - tart but it's not making me hate it

Drew - nice, good wine

Would you buy again?: Yes =)

Wine Pairing Ideas/Recipes: This is fruitier than other Chardonnays I've tried and I'd really like to try cooking with it.

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Ericka & Drew brought this one over.

Name: Louis Jadot

Price: $16.00

Year: 2006

PHOTO of bottle:


Short intro from the wine maker about the wine:
From the website: This wine is very fruity (peach, pear and grapefruit), developing white flower aromas as well a slight vanilla touch. With a lot of elegance, it is structured, pleasant and harmonious.

Bourgogne Chardonnay "Les Petites Pierres" will be perfect with "hors d'oeuvres", white meats, poultry, sea fruits, grilled fish and goat cheese. It is best served chilled (10/12°C). After several years, more sophisticated aromas will develop and it will go well with more elaborated dishes.

Review:

Marguerite (me) ~ Smells like wine... I like the other one better...

Jon ~ Not as flavorful as Giant 47 Pound Rooster

Ericka ~ looks like osmium (she uses that to fix lipids in brain tissue).... agrees not as flavorful

Drew ~ likes it better... not floral


Would you buy again?: Probably not

Wine Pairing Ideas/Recipes: I'd cook with it... but not for $16.99 a bottle.

So that's it! Well... so far... We'll probably try another one on Saturday night, playing Euchre with Jeff & Whitney... but I also want to introduce Whitney to the Hard Arnold Palmer!



So, have I mentioned that there are prizes involved in the BakeSpace Wine Club? That's right! I said PRIZES! If you get voted best reviewer of the month, not only do you get to choose the wine for next month, you get a cool prize!! How cool is that???!!!!

Still haven't joined?? Why not?? What are you waiting for???

Click the logo below to check it out!


To register for the forum section of BakeSpace click HERE Then you can join the Wine Club!

To register for the recipe section of BakeSpace click HERE.

You register separately for each section to help stamp out spam (not the tasty canned meat... the annoying interwebs stuff that you don't want to see)

Come join in the fun!!! Tell 'em Spryte sent ya!

April Wine Tasting ~ Chardonnay

I had my April Wine Tasting Party scheduled for the 10th, but I was sick. So I canceled it. I was thinking of rescheduling it for the 18th. But I wasn't entirely sure that I had rescheduled since I was pretty sick that week, plus there were two birthdays, multiple ER visits and doctor appointments, I had 3 kids home on Spring Break, plus Easter. But Friday night (4/17) Ericka asked if wine tasting was Saturday. We were texting, so I couldn't really tell if I had mentioned it in passing or if I had actually scheduled it. I told her I'd rather not, but asked if we were still on for coffee. She said, "yes"! YAY!! We try to go out for coffee every Saturday morning. It's nice break from life, just having coffee with a friend, ya know? I really look forward to it.

We often browse through Sur La Table on our way back from coffee. While we were in there, Whitney called. Uh oh!! I did actually reschedule. I begged off and offered to host cards at my house next Saturday night and that maybe we could sample a Chardonnay then. We play Euchre with Jeff & Whitney. It's so much fun!!

Anyway... I think the whole structured Wine Tasting thing was getting to be a bit too much for me. I'm still NOT a wine drinker. The parties kept growing and growing until we had more wine than we could taste in one night. So April will be a month of mini-tastings. I can taste a wine or two (and by taste, I mean taste) then finish off the night with tequila drinks, fruity rum drinks, Hard Arnold Palmers, Mike's Hard Cranberry... or some other kinds of drinks that I actually really like and enjoy!

So anyway!! No big wine tasting this month. But there will still be wine!

I was making Garlic Soup the other night, (I'll post that recipe soon!) and it called for dry white wine. I usually pick up Chardonnay for that. Since I only needed 1/2 a cup, I decided to get one of those little four packs of wine. That way it would be fresh for the next time I need white wine. Which actually is pretty often, but still, fresh little bottles will be nice.

So I picked up a four pack of Glen Ellen.

Name: Glen Ellen

Price: $5.99 for 4/187ml bottles

Year: there's no year on it

PHOTO of bottle: Isn't the little bottle cute?


Short intro from the wine maker about the wine:
From the website: Our Chardonnay is medium-bodied, brimming with crisp apples and pears. It's crafted in a way to enhance the typical fruit flavors of the Chardonnay grape.

From the Box: This medium-bodied Chardonnay is made from grapes that are perfectly ripened and harvested at the peak of their flavor. Glen Ellen Chardonnay has pear and butterscotch flavors and a clean, crisp finish.

Review:
Just me today!

Pale yellow.
Smells fruity... apple maybe?
Tastes like wine... alcohol-y... warming sensation after the first swallow
It is crisp. I don't taste pear or butterscotch... maybe apple-y... pineapple-y.
The couple of sips left in the bottle after what I used for my garlic soup made my tongue puckery.

Would you buy again?: Definitely, for cooking.

Wine Pairing Ideas/Recipes: I don't know about 'pairing' but it went into my garlic soup... I definitely use it to steam mussels or clams or to put into sauces or gravies.

Have you joined the BakeSpace Wine Club yet?

What are you waiting for??

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Wicked Easy Peanut Brittle Bars

These are wicked easy and wicked good!



I found the recipe in Better Homes Bars & Brownies Magazine.


Peanut Brittle Bars
2 C flour
1/2 C brown sugar
2/3 C butter
2 C cocktail peanuts
1 C milk chocolate chips
1 12oz jar caramel ice cream topping
3 TBLS flour

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line a 15x10x1 inch pan with foil or parchment paper.
If you use foil, spray with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar; using a pastry blender, cut in butter. Mixture will be crumbly.

Press evenly into prepared pan and bake 12 minutes or until golden.

Sprinkle peanuts and chocolate chips over crust. In a small bowl mix caramel topping and 3 TBLS flour. Drizzle evenly over peanuts and chocolate chips.

Bake 12 to 15 more minutes or until caramel is bubbly.

Cool in pan on rack. Cut into squares.

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This really couldn't have been any easier.

I was out of parchment paper, so I used foil sprayed with cooking spray.


Mix together flour and brown sugar.




Cut in butter.


It will be crumbly.


Pour it onto the prepared baking sheet and press evenly.




Bake 12 minutes or until golden.


Sprinkle crust evenly with peanuts & milk chocolate chips.






Mix 3 TBLS flour with caramel topping.




Drizzle evenly with caramel topping.


Bake 12 - 15 minutes until caramel is bubbly.


Grab one fast, because they disappear quickly!


Enjoy!

Hard Arnold Palmer... oh yeah!

In Pennsylvania there are so many liquor regulations, it seems to take a while for new things to get here.

The good thing is... The Wine & Spirits Stores often have people giving out samples!

Recently, they were sampling Sweet Carolina Sweet Tea Vodka. She had it straight in an iced shaker and mixed with lemonade!

I tried it straight first and thought it tasted great! Then I tried it mixed with lemonade and really LOVED it!!

It's a drink that would be PERFECT on a hot summer day. But it really tastes just like an Arnold Palmer; half lemonade/half iced tea.... so I think they'd probably really sneak up on you quickly!

Hard Arnold Palmer
Two shots of Sweet Carolina Sweet Tea Vodka
Two shots of Lemonade
Pour over ice and stir
Garnish with a slice of lemon
Enjoy!





Sweet Carolina Sweet Tea Vodka also comes in Peach, Raspberry and Mint!

BLTs

Sandwiches are definitely some of my favorite foods. I LOVE them! All kinds!

**Warning for Shane... this post contains bacon!

I don't make BLTs often. I'm not sure why. Maybe I think it's a pain to fry up the bacon. I'm not sure. But every time I make them, I wonder why I don't make them more often.



You'll need:
Bread - I used white bread, you can use whatever you like.
Bacon
Lettuce
Tomato
Mayo
Salt & Pepper

Simple... why don't I do this more often??

Fry up some bacon


I make a lot of bacon. There are bacon thieves in my house and the bacon mysteriously disappears as I cook it. So I make extra.


Mmmm....
Doesn't that look good?


Toast the bread


Spread some mayo on both slices.


This is the only mayo that I use.


I switched to light and no one noticed.

Don't go Fat Free... it's revolting.

But light tastes just the same as full fat.

Now time to fill the sandwich.

Lettuce.


Bacon (don't be shy with the bacon!)


Tomatoes
(aren't they beautiful???)






Add some salt & pepper and it's lunch time!

Jon's Favorite Bloody Mary

I've been kinda MIA for a little bit here... I was fighting bronchitis & asthma... and immediately fell into a week of birthdays, doctor appointments and Easter! It took me a bit to catch my breath... but I'm back! =)

Here's a quick one for you!



Jon's Favorite Bloody Mary
2 shots of Vodka
1 small can V8
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp horseradish
celery salt, to taste
black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
Tabasco, to taste (no substitutes here... must be Tabasco)
big olives
little pickles (Cornichons)
celery
onions
ice

Prepare your garnishes.


Put some ice in a pint glass.


Toss in the veggies - we only had olives & pickles


Celery salt


Add horseradish


A few good shakes of Tabasco




Some lemon juice


Worcestershire sauce


Two shots of vodka




Pour in the V8


Stir


Top with lots of freshly ground black pepper.


Enjoy!