July 21 – Live from Jacob Liquor Exchange

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Guy

Jamie Stratton

What starts at Noon today…of course it’s The Good Life, but it’s also the start of Saturday in-store wine tasting at Jacob liquor Exchange.  That’s where I’ll be Saturday doing the show LIVE from the North Rock Road location.

First up is Wine Director Jamie Stratton to talk about what’s new on the shelves at Jacob, why you need to be on the Jacob Liquor email list, follow them on Facebook and come to the store for the FREE in store product tastings.
We’ll tell you all about the wine, beer and spirits available for tasting July 21st, including the Beers of the Week!

Then joining me from Beaver Creek Colorado is Chef Daniel Joly; Belgiun Master Chef and owner of Mirabelle, one of the top  restaurants in Colorado and a shinning star of Beaver Creek.  I had the pleasure of tasting some of Chef Joly’s beer friendly food paired with some of the finest beers from Belgium.

Chef Joly has a cookbook titled “Danniel Joly – Not Just Another Cookbook”  – and boy that’s an understatement.

Belgian born Master Chef Daniel Joly graduated from the Culinary Institute of Brussels in 1986. He trained at the best tables of renowned Belgian restaurants, such at Comme Chez Soi and Barbizon.  After a short stop in South Carolina Daniel arrived in Beaver Creek as chef- manager for Mirabelle Restaurant in 1992. He and his wife Nathalie purchased Mirabelle in April 1999, Mirabelle and chef Joly’s unique cooking style have been acclaimed by numerous publications and institutions such as Wine Spectator, the James Beard House, Zagat, Mobile (four stars), Ski Magazine and Bon Appetit, to mention just a few. Chef Joly also hosts the popular “Something’s Cooking with Daniel” onVail‘s TV8.

Good Life Guy & Chef Joly

Chef Joly is a certified Belgian Master Chef and takes great pride in his work but if you ask him what gives him the most satisfaction of all his awards and accomplishments he will simply say that awards and peer recognition are great but a customer complimenting him for a great dining experience is the best of all “That what keeps me going, I enjoy making guests happy…That is why I love cooking and what I do”.

Click here for a video of some of Chef Joly’s artistic food – Click here for some recipes

Chef Joly is a Belgian Beer expert and loves to cook with some of Belgium’s most famous brews.  We’ll be telling you all about the world renowned beers of Stella Artois, Leffe and Hoegaarden.  Each beer distinctive in style and ultimately food friendly.

Good Life Guy’s Belgian Beers of the Week:
Stella Artois, Leffe and Hoegaarden

 Get you some at Jacob Liquor Exchange…
…and start living the Good Life!

Jacob Liquor East
3049 North Rock Road
Wichita, Kansas – USA

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July 14 – The New Fast Food, Bob The Fish Guy & more…

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Guy

First up is Jill Nussinow, MS. RD. and AKA the “Veggie Queen.”  Jill has a new book; The New Fast Food – The Veggie Queen Pressure Cooks Whole Food Meals…In Less than 30 minutes.

A Pressure Cooker Can Change Your Life Discover how you can make delicious meals in minutes using just one pot. Let Jill, The Veggie Queen™, show you how easy and safe it is to make flavorful, healthy plant-based meals with vegetables, grains, beans and other legumes and fruit. With a pressure cooker, you can save time and money, lock in flavor and nutrition, decrease your energy costs and avoid a messy kitchen with only one pot to clean! Jill will show you how you can cut cooking time in half (or more!) compared to conventional stove top cooking. In The New Fast Food™, you’ll learn how to choose and use a pressure cooker, with timing charts for your favorite plant foods. You’ll also find more than 100 recipes for everything from breakfast to dessert. Most of the recipes are gluten-free and all are vegan. The New Fast Food™ offers fast, colorful and tasty dishes such as: Orange Glazed Broccoli with Carrots and Kale Mashed Maple Winter Squash with Cinnamon Lemony Lentil and Potato Chowder Smoky Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili Coconut Almond Risotto.

In the second half I’ll be talking to Bob “The Fish Guy” Reany.  Bob is a professional Fish Monger (with 40 years experience) at Whole Foods Market in Denver.  I had the pleasure of watching Bob win the Whole Foods Fish Monger Face Off in Aspen in June.

Bob with The Golden Trident

After weeks of fierce regional competitions among top Whole Foods Market fishmongers across the country, 11 finalists competed in the first-ever national Fishmonger Face-Off at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen on June 16. Following an impressive round of battles, the golden trident trophy was presented to Bob “The Fish Guy” Reany from Denver.

We’ll tell you a little about Whole Foods, what Bob’s job is all about and Bob will share some tips for buying, storing, preparing and enjoying sea food.

Then, Galaxy of Stars Master of Ceremonies Rene Steven joins us to talk about this year’s event.

What began as a simple idea in 2008 has grown into one of Wichita’s most anticipated annual events. In 2008 Spangles’ Rene Steven, Davis Moore’s Dawson Grimsley and the Board of Directors for Senior Services, Inc. of Wichita organized a local celebrity roast in three very short months. The audience left thrilled and anxiously awaiting the Susan Peters roast of 2009. Word quickly spread that “A Galaxy of Stars” was exciting, original and fresh.  Now, four years and five roasts later, “A Galaxy of Stars” has raised significant funding and awareness for the programs of Senior Services, Inc. of Wichita. It remains the most successful fundraising event in our agency’s history!  “A Galaxy of Stars” helps thousands of seniors in a multitude of ways. Seniors are able to remain independent and living in their own homes because our programs provide proper nutrition, caregiver relief, social, recreational and physical fitness, minor home repair and maintenance and meaningful employment.

A Galaxy of Stars 2012
A Celebrity Roast and Tribute of Nola Foulston Hosted by Rene Steven

Nola Foulston

Friday, August 3, 2012
The Drury Plaza Broadview Hotel
6:00pm – Red Carpet Ceremony
7:30pm – Dinner
8:00pm – Roast

Please join us in saluting Wichita District Attorney Nola Foulston in an evening of entertainment, laughter and fun – all for a wonderful cause.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2009 Edna Valley Vineyard Paragon Chardonnay

This Chardonnay captures the essence of the Edna Valley, showcasing complex peach, pear and tropical flavors that have developed slowly on the vine. A refined, terroir-driven minerality dances through the silky midpalate, joined by caramel, clove and cinnamon. Gentle winemaking leaves a subtle impression of creaminess and balances the bright fruit that carries through the finish. A wine that offers a little bit of everything, this appealing Chardonnay pairs with a variety of foods such as salmon with lentil salad, chicken tagine or pasta with spring peas and pancetta.

Taste this wine Saturday July 14 at Jacob Liquor Exchange on North Rock Road between Noon – 8:00 p.m.  Tell them Good Life Guy sent you!

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July 7 – Nature Nate’s & “The Count of Buena Vista”

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Guy

We begin this week with a LIVE update from Jacob Liquor Exchange about the in-store tasting and wine education available today and the rest of the week.  With the recent liquor law changes, in-store tastings provide a unique opportunity to taste and learn about new vintages and products.  Saturday tastings begin at Noon, hope to see you there.  www.jacobliquor.com   This Saturday one of the wines you can taste is The Good Life Wine of the Week; 2008 Buena Vista “The Count” Founder’s Red Wine.

Then it’s all about Nature Nate’s 100% Pure Raw & Unfiltered Honey with my guest Nathan Sheets.  Nate is the President and Owner of the North Dallas Honey Company…now known as Nature Nates.

No one could have possibly predicted that a completely random T.V. commercial featuring a woman in a bee suit would permanently change the face of North Dallas Honey. The year was 1996. Newlyweds: Nathan and Patty Sheets, eager to begin their new lives together, decided they needed a hobby. Running out of ideas, Nathan, late one night, found what he thought to be the perfect solution. A Lady in a bee suite appeared on the T.V. screen and boldly stated that you could literally find anything on the internet. Fascinated with curiosity and accepting the lady’s challenge, Nathan made a beeline for the computer.   “So I googled bee keeping dallas”, says Nathan, and up popped North Dallas Honey Company.”  Completely enthralled, Nathan contacted Fred Richardson (the founder and owner of NDH at the time), bought a hive, and placed the hive in his parents backyard in Plano, Texas.  And so the story continues…We’ll tell you all about Nature Nates and his first class honey from Texas.   www.naturenates.com

"The Count" with Mr & Mrs Good Life

In the second half I’ll introduce you to George Webber AKA “The Count” of Buena Vista Winery.  We’ll explore the interesting history of Buena Vista and the role George plays today in promoting this colorful producer of great wines from California.

Buena Vista Winery has a rich, delicious heritage as the first premium-and certainly the most colorful-of all of the wineries in California. And its founder, the self-proclaimed “Count of Buena Vista,” Agoston Haraszthy, was a vivacious and eccentric pioneer with a veritable love and unending commitment to California wine.

Surrounded by his own tales of intrigue and political exile, The Count immigrated from Europe in 1840 in pursuit of opportunity and freedom in the burgeoning American West. Following the forty-niners in search of gold in the hills of Northern California, Haraszthy sought “purple gold”-the perfect ‘terroir’ for exceptional wine. He ultimately settled in Sonoma, birthplace of California and capital of the short-lived California Republic, where he founded Buena Vista Winery in 1857.

A committed farmer, an experimental innovator and vintner, a respected author, a shrewd businessman-and a brilliant and incredibly zealous promoter, The Count is considered California’s most acclaimed and flamboyant vinicultural pioneer and evangelist.  Today, George Webber portrays “The Count” – not only because of his striking resemblance to Haraszthy, but as a consummate enthusiast for the history and heritage of Buena Vista and the wine that bears his likeness!   www.buenavistawinery.com

Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2008 Buena Vista “The Count” Founder’s Red Wine

From prestigious vineyards across Sonoma, The Count’s intriging varietals intermingle seamlessly to produce an elegant and complex wine. Individual lots were fermented separately and aged for 16 months in American, Hungarian, and French oak barrels before final assemblage.  The wine’s bouquet opens beautifully with rich aromas of black currant, cherries and just a hint of espresso.  Smooth on the palate, the wine o offers flavors of plum and blackberry that give way to cardamom on the long, silky finish.

“All of the charms of this Merlot, Syrah and Zinfandel blend are on the surface, but what a pretty surface it is. Polished raspberry and cherry fruit, bacon, cream and a splendid array of flashy spices characterize the flavors.” – Wine Enthusiast

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June 30 – The Wines of Doña Paula

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Guy

Today’s program is all about one of Argentina’s best wineries Doña Paula.  While in Aspen for the Food & Wine Classic I had the opportunity to enjoy a breakfast chat with Edgardo “Edy” Del Pópolo the Vineyard and Winemaking Director at Doña Paula.

Edy has been involved with the winery from the begining and shares some great incite on the growth and development of this first class producer.  We’ll tell you all about the growing region and vineyards, products produced in the three tiers, and then do a tasting of a few of the wines from the Los Cardos label.

Edy was born into a family with European roots (Italian-French-Spanish-German) and has lived surrounded by the world of wine since he was a child, as his family was his first school.  He is a veteran of Argentina’s winemaking industry and one of the most respected and consulted agronomists in this country, where he has been working since 1992. He first studied Enology and then Agronomy at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina.

Edy & Guy in Aspen

He is Doña Paula’s Vineyard & Winemaking Director since the very beginning. His chief virtue is his ability to identify which terroir is ideal to elaborate each of Doña Paula’s wines so that they can offer the unique and unmistakable style of each varietal.  Edgardo has traveled around the old and new winemaking world in order to constantly improve his own expertise.

Good Life Guy’s Wine of The Week:
The Los Cardos Wines from Doña Paula 

 

Pick up some Los Cardos wines from Jacob Liquor Exchange and join us!

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Jun 23 – Plancha Cooking & EVO Grills

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Guy

My first guest is Danielle McCumber-McLimore, editor and translator for a great book called “Plancha – 150 Great Recipes for Spanish-Style Grilling” by Spanish Author Liliane Otal.

“Plancha” is a Spanish word that literally translates as “plate,” and refers to both a style and a method of cooking, using a metal slab heated over a gas flame. In Spain, planchas are widely used in tapas bars and restaurants to cook an incredible assortment of foods, from mussels to mushrooms and even desserts. In private homes, planchas are often installed in the middle of round tables, so that both the hosts and their guests can share in the cooking experience and no one is stuck in the kitchen. Prepared both indoors and out, plancha cooking is as delicious and suitable on a warm sunny day as it is on a chilly night.

The popularity of plancha has even crossed the Spanish border into France, where many noted chefs, such as Alain Ducasse and Paul Bocuse, have adopted this way of cooking in their Paris restaurants. It’s not just for the gourmet restaurants, however: planchas are incredibly easy to use over grills and stoves, with little mess. And–unlike with other methods of grilling–there is no chance of watching your meal go up in flames.

In Plancha, Liliane Otal shows how to buy and maintain a plancha as well has how to make more than 150 delicious recipes that are so simple and fast anyone can do them. The cooking time for nearly all of these recipes is under 20 minutes. Her recipes will show you how to prepare delicious and flavorful meals that are also low in fat.

If you want the ultimate in high tech Plancha style flat-plate grilling…you need an EVO!

In the second half I’ll be talking to Bob Shingler, president of EVO America  www.evoamerica.com

The EVO Professional Classic

Evo products are found in the homes of foodie consumers who enjoy healthy cooking with family and friends, and with professional chefs at leading hotels, resorts and clubs where live-action display cooking is used to serve and entertain a dining audience. Evo manufacturers a full line of residential and commercial cooking appliances in both gas and electric for indoor and outdoor use. Evo appliances are recognized for their cooking versatility, their design and construction, and above all else, for creating a social space around fresh prepared food.

I have an EVO and it is the most versatile, well designed and constructed cooking device I own…I love this thing!

Learn more about EVO at The Kitchen Place
Piccadilly Square at Rock Road and Central 

Good Life Guy’s Wine of The Week:
A Killer Rioja Red Wine from Spain – 2007 Viña Eguía Reserva

This wine is a bright, ruby red color, with brick red hints. The aromas are intense and complex, with vanilla, spiced and aromatic herbs perfectly blended with mature red fruit. The mouth shows very balanced, fine, elegant and rounded structure. It has a long, very pleasing finish.  Ideal for all types of grilled and roasted meats, especially Spanish style food prepared on an EVO or Plancha.

“A sensational deal can be had with this wine, which opens with crusty berry aromas before shifting to cola, lemon peel and licorice. Tight and structured on the palate, with cherry, plum, vanilla and spice flavors. Harmonious and smooth; integrated and just rich enough. Drink now through 2013. Editors’ Choice”

92 Points – Wine Enthusiast  

Pickup a bottle at Jacob Liquor Exchange on North Rock Road!

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