Jan 12 – Bengali Five Spice – Poets Leap Riesling

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Guy

I love the aromas and flavors of Indian cuisine!  Always on the hunt for new books that offer insight and recipes for the tantalizing world of flavors that Indian food offers.

My guest this week is Rinku Bhattacharya with her new book The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles – Exploring the Cuisine of eastern India.
Bengalis have been compared to the French in terms of food-obsessed peoples, as dining and entertaining are such an integral part of the culture. The book begins with a thorough introduction to Bengali culture and cooking, including sections on spices, ingredients, and equipment. Following are recipe chapters (incorporating a balance of traditional and contemporary recipes) on Rice & Breads, Lentils, Fried Vegetables and Fritters, Vegetarian First Courses, Vegetarian Entrees, Eggs, Fish, Chicken & Poultry, Meat Dishes, Chutneys & Relishes, Drinks & Snacks, and Desserts. Includes 180 easy-to-follow recipes, plus sections on spice pastes, spice blends, and essential tools, and sidebars with family anecdotes and historical and cultural information.

Rinku Bhattacharya is a daytime financial professional, who spends the rest of her time immersed in food. Rinku is the author of the blog, Cooking in Westchester, where she shares her life experiences, original recipes that combine Indian flavors with produce from her backyard and local farmers markets. Rinku is blessed with a gardener husband, who always surprises her with a prolific and fresh supply of produce to keep her creative instincts flowing. Rinku has been teaching recreational cooking classes for the past six years, and has found her classes a great way to teach and learn. Her cookbook the Bengali Five Spice Chronicles, shares over 180 recipes made simple. Rinku can be found on facebook, twitter and pinterest.

Check out Rinku’s Blog    Get a copy of the book today!

Then Allen Schoup one of the founding fathers of the Washington wine business and the founder of Long Shadows Vintners joins us in the second half.  Long Shadows brings World Renowned winemakers to the Columbia Valley to make distinctive wine using the best of Washington grapes.  This week’s featured wine is one of those distinctive wines.  Inspired by the great wines of Germany and crafted by Armin Diel, proprietor of the renowned Schlossgut Diel.

Long Shadows is a collection of ultra-premium wines created by internationally acclaimed winemakers from the major wine regions of the world. Each winemaker is a part owner in this unique winery dedicated to producing individual wines that showcase the viticultural excellence of Washington State’s Columbia Valley.

www.longshadows.com

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2011 Poet’s Leap Columbia Valley Riesling
Expressive aromatics of white peach, sweet jasmine flowers and a hint of flint introduce this vibrant, fresh wine. With its bright acidity, the 2011 Poet’s Leap Riesling dances on the palate and continues across a long, lively finish, enhanced by a persistent undercurrent of minerality.
Wine & Spirits 93 – Wine Enthusiast – 92


Something FUN and a perfect match for the aromatic flavors of Bengali Cooking!  

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Jan 5 – Menus & Memoirs of a Yacht Chef

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Guy

My guest this week, coming to us LIVE from a Yacht in South Florida, is Marianne Gardner author of Menus and Memoirs of a Yacht Chef.  The book is a combination of gourmet recipes, yacht stories and glossy photos of exotic locations and luxury yachts, creating a unique coffee table book and cook book all in one.

Thai prawn coconut soup served in a coconut shell, followed by steaming, aromatic osso buco on creamy potato celeriac and French beans almondine, with Belgian flourless chocolate torte on crème sabayon for dessert. This is just one of many menus I created for a yacht during my adventures at sea.

Throughout my years working as a chef on private yachts, I have often been asked, “What kinds of meals are served on these luxurious yachts?” This cookbook answers that question, providing many of the recipes and menus that I have used on board yachts. Each of the ten chapters describes a yacht and its worldwide cruising destination-and the full-course menus and individual recipes that were created on the journey. The ingredients, dishes, and wines reflect the specialties that are enjoyed in each region of the world.

Whether you prepare an entire meal or design your own menu using one of the many recipes in this book, you’ll find the recipes clear and easy to follow. They are written in simple terms, using measurements, equipment, and ingredients that can be found in most kitchens.  All of the courses have been wine-paired by a professional wine connoisseur from Total Wine and More®. Suggestions for wine options cover a variety of price ranges, so you can have a great wine for a modest price or be decadent for a special meal.

You don’t have to leave your home to enjoy a travel-inspired gourmet meal. Cruise with me on the Mexican Sea of Cortez and enjoy grilled mahi mahi with cilantro and pumpkin seed pesto, experience green-lipped mussels in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands, and savor the sweet tangy taste of an award-winning key lime pie in the Bahamas.

Bon appétit! – Experience the adventure of worldwide travel by creating delicious, gourmet meals in your own kitchen or galley.

www.menusandmemoirs.com

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2011 Conundrum White Wine
A unique blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillion with a touch of Muscat Canelli and Viognier.  This wine,  always consistent in quality varies a bit year to year with the 2011 being similar to earlier years.  This unique, non-traditional white wine blend was created to offer full-flavored fruit and enough complexity to match the creative dishes being offered by today’s generation of chefs.
Something perfect for sipping on the water! 

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Dec 29 – The Joy of Foraging with Gary Lincoff

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Guy

My guest this week is Gary Lincoff with his latest book; The Joy of Foraging.

Discover the edible riches your backyard, local parks, woods, and even roadside! In The Joy of Foraging, Gary Lincoff shows you how to find fiddlehead ferns, rose hips, beach plums, bee balm, and more, whether you are foraging in the urban jungle or the wild, wild woods. You will also learn about fellow foragers—experts, folk healers, hobbyists, or novices like you—who collect wild things and are learning new things to do with them every day. Along with a world of edible wild plants—wherever you live, any season, any climate—you’ll find essential tips on where to look for native plants, and how to know without a doubt the difference between edibles and toxic look-alikes. There are even ideas and recipes for preparing and preserving the wild harvest year-round—all with full-color photography. Let Gary take you on the ultimate tour of our edible wild kingdom! Get a copy NOW

Gary Lincoff is the author of The Complete Mushroom Hunter (Quarry Books, 2010), and the author, co-author, or editor of several books and articles on mushrooms, including The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. He teaches courses on mushroom and plant identification and use at the New York Botanical Garden and has led wild mushroom and edible wild plant study trips and forays to 30 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and South, Central, and North America. Lincoff chaired the Telluride Mushroom Festival for 25 years (1980–2004), and still participates as its principal speaker. He is also a featured “myco visionary” in the award-winning documentary, Know Your Mushrooms, by Ron Mann. Lincoff also founded and led the New York City Edible Wild Plant Workshop, which featured a once-a-week wild edibles dinner plus a weekend hunt for edible wild plants and mushrooms in city parks. Patricia Wells published his edible wild plant recipes in an article in the New York Times, and he has been profiled in the Village Voice and New York magazine. He lives in New York City. www.garylincoff.com

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
The three FUN blended wines from Ménage à Trois

“Given the choice, would you rather be a party of one…or a Ménage à Trois? In a blended wine, the different varietals each bring something to the table, making for a more complex, delicious wine. As a master chef uses different ingredients to achieve the perfect recipe, a winemaker skillfully selects and blends different grape varieties to create harmonious and intriguing wines. With each of our playful blends of three, there’s no doubt that the whole is greater (and more fun) than the sum of its parts.”

   www.menageatroiswines.com

Red Blend: Zin, Cabernet & Merlot
White Blend: Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc & Moscato
Rosé Blend: Merlot, Syrah & Gewürztraminer

The three blends above are now part of a portfolio that also includes a Chardonnay, Moscato, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir and Cabernet

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Dec 22 – No Show this week! :-(

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Guy

 

 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night….

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Dec 15 – Cookie Art by Sandra Denneler and Barefoot winemaker Jen Wall

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Guy

My guest this week is Sandra Denneler a local Wichita gal who is a big contributor to www.sheknows.com a cool web site with lots of helpful info, including some great food and entertaining tips.  Sandra has some great ideas for holiday entertaining and gift giving.

Growing up, Sandra Denneler’s favorite book was the 1973 World Book Encyclopedia’s Childcraft Volume 11, Make and Do. She’s been making and doing her entire life. An art director at Wichita State University, Sandra also enjoys creating edible art in her kitchen. Her son, Gus, and daughter, Bea, are completely unimpressed with her crazy baking skills. If given the choice, they would rather eat an Oreo cookie. Sandra and her super-talented, woodworker-hobbyist-husband, Eric, have made a fun home together in Wichita, Kansas and do creative projects that can be seen on their blog, Project Denneler. You can also follow Sandra on Twitter @sdenneler.

Guy & Sandra

Check out some of the latest creations from Sandra

About SheKnows.com:

For more than eight years, SheKnows.com, one of the top 10 most-visited websites for women, has been providing current information on topics relevant to women’s lives.  SheKnows.com knows what women are looking for and has attracted more than 1.8 million monthly uniques with stimulating, up-to-the-minute coverage of health and beauty, personal style, human connections and other highly sought-after topics aimed at providing the visitor with a positive, well-rounded online experience.

Our national content team is well-connected and informed about the most contemporary and relevant topics for women, and shares the voice of all women who are now dominant users on the Internet.  With exclusive articles, columns and video and vibrant message boards, SheKnows.com is quickly becoming the meeting place for women wanting to be in the know.

In addition, SheKnows, LLC’s family of websites, including Reality TV Magazine, Adoption.com, Celebrity Baby Scoop, ChefMom, Child Fun Coloring Book Fun, Fabulous Foods, Families.com, Girl Zone, Hair Boutique, iChef, Main Street Mom, Making Friends, Moms Menu, Points & Prizes, Pregnancy & Baby, Pregnancy Calendars, Pregnancy Fashion, Reality TV Magazine, Soap Opera Fan, and Soaps.com, provides an even wider spectrum of topics of interest to women.   With SheKnows.com’s easy access to multiple top-visited sites, concentrating on a single portal is a cost-effective way to reach the female market.

In the second half, Barefoot Winemaker Jennifer Wall joins us for the Wine of the Week to talk about bubbles for the holidays.  Jenn has been making wine since 1991, and started at Barefoot in 1995.  The Gallo family purchased Barefoot in 2005 and wisely kept Jennifer as winemaker.  The following years saw great expansion in wines produced under the Barefoot label, including the addition of Barefoot Bubbly.  The awards continue to pour in for both Barefoot still wines as well as the sparkling line – with thousands of medals awarded, Barefoot is the most awarded wine brand in U.S. competitions.  One of the most dedicated, award winning winemakers in California, Jennifer’s wines continue to receive  numerous Gold and Double Gold medals along with the adoration of millions of wine loving fans affectionately known as “Barefooters!”

www.barefootwine.com

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
Something fun for holiday entertaining – how about a little bubbly 🙂

Bubbles make anyday a celebration –  If your looking for a great buy to entertain for the holidays, these both have the Good Life Guy seal of approval!

NV Barefoot Brut Cuvee
Green apple, jasmine, hints of kiwi and peach flavors bubble up for a crisp finish. Bubbling with aromas of Chardonnay, this is a dry style with solid fruit and unique swallowability .

NV Barefoot Extra Dry
Delightful apple flavors and a smooth finish make for a gold medal winner (seriously).  This sparkler has a hint of sweetness but great acidity and an easy drinking style.

Buy it by the case at Jacob Liquor Exchange!

 

 

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