Named Bon Appétit’s Ingredient of the Year in 2010, Sriracha is one of the few ingredients adored by adventurous cooks of all stripes—from star chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten to college freshmen—who appreciate its vibrant, versatile balance of ketchup-like sweetness, garlicky pungency, and just the right amount of spice. Sriracha adds depth and an intriguing twist to recipes such as Honey-Sriracha Glazed Buffalo Wings, Bacon-Sriracha Cornbread, and the fiery, but refreshing, Srirachelada. Whether they’re die-hard fans or have recently discovered the revered “rooster sauce,” readers will love learning the backstory to their favorite condiment and incorporating Sriracha into their cooking repertoire as more than just a tableside squeeze.   Get a copy now!   

Then it’s all about The 2011 Jerry Mead
New World International Wine Competition.

Wine maker extraordinare and fellow judge at NWIWC Scott Harvey joins me to talk about this years judging, highlight some of the winners available locally and talk about Jurie judged wine competitions in general. www.nwiwc.com

We’ll finish up with Chateau Julien proprietor Bobby Brower.  Bobby and I will tell you all about his visit to Wichita for the Midwest Winefest, the dinner at the Gas Lamp Grille and the wines from Cht Julien.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week: 
2009 Chateau Julien Barrel Aged Pinot Grigio
A nice crisp acidity complements fresh aromas of honeydew melon, peaches and green apple. This lighter style wine holds a full mouth feel texture and soft lingering finish.

www.chateaujulien.com

Check out this video with Chateau Julien’s Bobby & Robert Brower

The Man, the Myth, the Legend! If it is true that the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom, Terry Theise has been there and back. A brief perusal of his writing makes it quickly apparent that the man has no reservations about conveying his thoughts and feelings on wine, life, sex, philosophy and general cosmology. In Terry’s world, it’s all inter-related.

Terry is responsible for bringing some of the finest wines available from; Germany, Austria and the Champage region of France – to wine drinkers in America.  And now with his new book “Reading Between the Wines” he is bringing his wit and wine views to wine consumers everywhere.  Long known for his top-notch portfolio and his illustrious writing, Terry now offers this opinionated, idiosyncratic, and beautifully written testament to wine. What constitutes beauty in wine, and how do we appreciate it? What role does wine play in a soulful, sensual life? Can wines of place survive in a world of globalized styles and 100-point scoring systems? In his highly approachable style, Theise describes how wine can be a portal to aesthetic, emotional, even mystical experience–and he frankly asserts that these experiences are most likely to be inspired by wines from artisan producers. Along the way, Theise tells us a little about how he got where he is today, explores the meaning of wine in the lives of vintners he has known, and praises particular grape varieties. Reading between the Wines is a passionate tribute to wine–and to what it can say to us once we learn to listen!

The Theise Manifesto:
Beauty is more important than impact.
Harmony is more important than intensity.
The whole of any wine must always be more than the sum of its parts.
Distinctiveness is more important than conventional prettiness.
Soul is more important than anything, and soul is expressed as a trinity of family, soil, and artisanality.

The entire show is devoted to Terry, the book and WINE…an hour wasn’t enough. 

Good Life Guy’s Wines of the Week:
Three great products imported by Michael Skurnik wines from the portfolio of Terry Thiese

• NV Pierre Peters Grower Champagne-Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru
• 2008 Hirsch #1 Gruner Veltliner
• 2007 Selbach-Oster Zeltlinger Sonnenuhr, Riesling Kabinett

Learn more about Terry, checkout his blog and many articles, and discover the above wines and more.

Chad Johnson is a little bit of what we call a “late bloomer.” After graduating from high school and subsequently being kicked out of college (twice), he headed out to California to live a vagabond lifestyle. Working in the hospitality industry, he gained an appreciation and then a passion for the wonders of food and wine. It soon became clear that it was time to wander to a university and get a degree. He returned to his Wisconsin roots, attended UW-Stout and studied Food Science and Chemistry. 10 years and four institutes of higher learning later, he finally graduated with 172 credits and a BS. While attending college he met and fell in love with his beautiful bride Janet. Chad subsequently worked in the bakery and pork industries specializing in quality control and research and development before shifting careers into sales for a Fortune 50 pharmaceutical firm.

Chad’s wife Janet brings home the bacon and is the only one left in corporate America. Janet, we feel your pain. They are also proud parents of the tasting room Schnoodles, Caesar and Cleo.

Dusted Valley was founded on the notion that when family pulls together the American Dream can turn into a living reality. Hey, we’re just a proud bunch of farm-raised Wisconsin Cheese-heads, and what goes well with cheese? You guessed it – wine. It’s all about the wine…

We don’t exactly remember when the idea of Dusted Valley came about. We’ve all had many inspiring experiences with wine and wonderful food, surrounded by incredible friends and family. We’re sure you can think of a few times that this fermented pleasure represented a little taste of heaven. Thus began the quest for the best fruit and estate vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley and beyond.

So, in 2003 the Braunel and Johnson families moved to Walla Walla and became the 52nd winery to “hang the shingle” and call Walla Walla Valley home. Today, our family is producing spectacular wines from its 4,000 case operation. We are vineyard focused and farm four diverse vineyards totaling nearly 100 acres in the Walla Walla Valley. In addition, Dusted Valley has begun a unique barrel project using extra-tight-grained Wisconsin Oak harvested from the very land we grew up around!

The Good Life Guy Wine of the Week:
It’s all about Dusted Valley and Boomtown

Pickup some of each at Jacob Liquor on N. Rock Road and Join us!

Are you the innovative type, the cook who marches to a different drummer — used to expressing your creativity instead of just following recipes? Are you interested in the science behind what happens to food while it’s cooking? Do you want to learn what makes a recipe work so you can improvise and create your own unique dish?

More than just a cookbook, Cooking for Geeks applies your curiosity to discovery, inspiration, and invention in the kitchen. Why is medium-rare steak so popular? Why do we bake some things at 350 F and others at 375 F? And how quickly does a pizza cook if we overclock an oven to 1,000 F? Author and cooking geek Jeff Potter provides the answers and offers a unique take on recipes — from the sweet (a “mean” chocolate chip cookie) to the savory (duck confit sugo).

This book is an excellent and intriguing resource for anyone who wants to experiment with cooking, even if you don’t consider yourself a geek.

In the second half I’ll be talking to Patrick Shebley at the newly opened Gas Lamp Grille and Lounge; 550 N. Rock RoadNorth Rock Road (formerly the Shadow).

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2007 Trinchero Napa, Chicken Ranch Merlot

Click here to see Guy’s video reivew

Wine Enthusiast Review – Rated 91
Dry and tannic, a Merlot that’s the opposite of softly luxurious. But it’s extremely elegant with its cherry, red currant and bitter cherryskin flavors, and shows true complexity throughout. Just cries out for a fine steak, in a brown butter, soft cheese and garlic sauce.

Wine Tasting Notes
All of our vineyards yield wines that are distinct and recognizable from year to year. The signature flavors for Chicken Ranch are earth and dried herbs. This is textbook Rutherford Merlot. The color is deep, the nose is ripe and tinged with olives, leather and sage, and the flavors are ripe and lush.

The Cook’s Book of Intense Flavorsis an indispensable guide to exotic and decadent flavor combinations for the advanced chef. Filled with more than 100 extraordinary combinations, The Cook’s Book of Intense Flavors will make you rethink the way you approach food and each exotic flavor is accompanied by an inspired recipe as an example of how to use it. And unlike other flavor references, this book offers a recipe for each combination so you know exactly how to use what you learn. You’ll learn how to cook more innovatively by adding an unexpected note such chili to a traditional flavor combination such as pineapple and mango. You’ll cook more intuitively by learning which flavors work together and how to balance different flavor profiles such as sweet, sour, savory, and spicy. You’ll get more excitement from cooking as you taste how flavors evolve during the cooking process. Most importantly, you’ll get more pleasure out of the flavors and ingredients you use every day.  

In the second half I’ll be talking to Chef Bobby Lane of Chester’s Chop House about his collaboration with Jimmy Yeager owner of the famous “Jimmy’s” restaurant in Aspen Colorado and founding president of the Challenge Aspen board of directors, about a spectacular cookbook they put together that benefits Challenge Aspen.    We’ll tell you all about this great cookbook, the incredible organization it benefits and how you can get a copy for yourself, family and friends…what a great Christmas gift!   Get a copy at Chester’s Chop House or Watermark Books!

Challenge Aspen is dedicated to impacting lives by presenting meaningful recreational, cultural and competitive experiences to individuals faced with cognitive or physical challenges.      www.challangeaspen.org

Bobby Lane, Guy & Jimmy Yeager

We’ll be talking about her new book “Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between the World’s Greatest Chocolate Makers.”

With a cast of characters that wouldn’t be out of place in a Victorian novel, Chocolate Wars tells the story of the great chocolatier dynasties, through the prism of the Cadburys. Chocolate was consumed unrefined and unprocessed as a rather bitter, fatty drink for the wealthy elite until the late 19th century, when the Swiss discovered a way to blend it with milk and unleashed a product that would conquer every market in the world.

Thereafter, one of the great global business rivalries unfolded as each chocolate maker attempted to dominate its domestic market and innovate new recipes for chocolate that would set it apart from its rivals. The contest was full of dramatic contradictions: The Cadburys were austere Quakers who found themselves making millions from an indulgent product; Kitty Hershey could hardly have been more flamboyant yet her husband was moved by the Cadburys tradition of philanthropy. Each was a product of their unique time and place yet they shared one thing: they want to make the best chocolate in the world.

In the second half, it’s all about tea with Robert & Mary Lou Heiss.  There latest book “The Tea Enthusiasts Handbook – A guide to the Worlds Best Teas.”

Making the perfect cuppa is not as easy as it may sound. How hot should the water be? How long should the tea steep? What kind of tea should be used in the first place? All pertinent tea-making questions are answered in knowlegeable, bouyant prose in this handy guide. The authors take readers along as they “explore the world of premium tea”; premium tea, once unknown in the West, is now very popular in the U.S. (“Tea,” by the way, is “the most widely consumed beverage on the planet after water” and “still proudly maintains its title as the world’s oldest beverage.”) Guidance is extended to purchasing and steeping tea, but the in-depth discussions of the properties and particular pleasures of the six classes of tea dominate most of the book’s pleasurable pages. Information on tea storage and a glossary round out this excellent introduction to a special world. –Brad Hooper Booklist

Just got a  new kitchen toy that is the answer for brewing the perfect cup of tea, and so much more…my new Aroma stainless steel electric kettle.  4.5 minutes from COLD water to a roiling boil, this is a great addition to any kitchen.   While living in England we had an electric kettle, it was slow but functional and used often to make the perfect cup of tea.  My stainless steel Aroma 270  Electric Kettle looks good and works even better.  Great for more than tea and hot chocolate…think instant noodles, soups or anything that starts with boiling water.  They come in several colors and Aroma has other styles too.  Check it out and order one today! 

The Good Life Guy Wine of The Week…
2008 Bernardus Monterey Chardonnay
Bold, rich and layered, with a medley of smoky fig, toasty oak, hazelnut and roasted marshmallow flavors that are pure, focused, intense and concentrated, ending with a long, persistent finish. Drink now through 2015. 22,380 cases made. Best Buy”

92 Points

Wine Spectator

The Wholesome Junk Food Cookbook is a cookbook devoted to wholesome eating. It satisfies our desires for snacks while keeping us healthy. With more than 100 snack recipes from cookies and cakes to ice cream and smoothies, Dr. Laura Trice is on a mission to make healthy eating more fun with treats such as lemon pound cake, Boston cream pie, and chocolate-banana milkshake. While in medical school, Laura saw how people suffered due to illnesses that could have been prevented with better nutrition. Like her patients she realized that she only ate the food that tasted great to her.In 1997, while working on the set of 7th Heaven, Dr. Laura would bring snacks to the set from time to time and was inspired to make her snacks available on a large scale when she noticed that some of the truck drivers on the set were actually eating her cookies for breakfast instead of donuts! This passion for healthy and great tasting food led to Laura’s Wholesome Junk Food, est. 2001. Her wholesome “junk foods” are distributed nationally in Whole Foods and Harris Teeters as well as numerous health food stores.An introduction explaining the importance of eating healthy and promoting a healthy lifestyle and two full-color photographic inserts complement the text. Each chapter includes a sidebar with nutritional and cooking tips.

www.lauraswholesomejunkfood.com

Then it’s off to wine country for a chat with Zaca Mesa president and CEO Brook Williams

Zaca Mesa Syrah & Viognier

President/CEO of Zaca Mesa Winery since October 2003, Brook has extensive and varied wine industry expertise. he oversees all aspects of the winery including national sales, marketing, hospitality, vineyard and winemaking teams to ensure the highest quality wines are produced from Zaca Mesa’s estate vineyard.

The Good Life Guy Wine of The Week:
2005 Zaca Mesa Syrah & Z-three
Pickup some Zaca Mesa wine at Jacob Liquor Exchange and join us Saturday Noon to 1 p.m.

www.zacamesa.com

Watch the Wine of the Week Video

 It’s one of the finest wine events in the world and I’ll be broadcasting live this Saturday!  Follow GoodLifeGuy on Twitter and get updates throughout the week.  I’ll be posting video segments here as well!

Click here to learn more

This weeks show will once again be taking place at the Trinchero Family Estates Napa Valley Breakfast.  I’ll be posting updates as the week progresses but one of my guests Saturday is Joel Gott winemaker Alisa Jacobson…join us 9-10 a.m. Central, KNSS 1330AM

Jeanne Cox  – Trinchero Family Caramel French Toast recipe

The Good Life Guy Wine of the Week: 2008 The Show Malbec

The Thieves were hungry to search beyond California for their next varietal, and so headed down to another land of cowboys to Mendoza, Argentina and found the perfect complement to their California Cabernet Sauvignon. The Show Malbec is delicious and yet more distinct than other Argentinian Malbecs on the market, and the Thieves think this package will be even more appealing to the Malbec consumer. Enjoy The Show!

Wine of the Week Video with Joel Gott

As more people get serious about cooking at home, they look to dress up old recipes. The easiest and most effective way of doing this is by using a sauce, salad dressing or marinade. The addition of one of these elements can turn a simple meal into a spectacular meal.

Grilled steak with a rich mushroom sauce. Pomegranate vinaigrette dressing on fresh greens. These are just two examples of the incredibly delicious yet easy-to-prepare recipes featured in this book, and many are accompanied by tips and techniques.

Sutter Home Winery 2009 Build a Better Burger winner was Suzanne Banfield of New Jersey.  An innovative and tasty take on a patty melt…click here for the recipe!

Then it’s all about family run Ironstone Vineyards with winemaker Stephan Kautz.  Stephan will be in Wichita for the American Institute of Wine & Food annual holiday dinner at the Wichita Marriott December 5th.

Wine of the week: 2005 Ironstone Reserve Meritage

92 POINTS, Wine Enthusiast, May 2009!

Aromas of blackberry jam, cassis and cola layered by mint and white pepper are displayed. Luscious cooked berry fruit fills the mouth with hints of vanilla and rich blackberry carries through to a smooth and well-rounded finish.

This is just one of the wines being poured December 5th at the AIWF holiday dinner.  To learn more and make reservations: www.aiwfwichita.org