August 14 – Daring Pairings

Posted on August 11, 2010 by Guy

This week it’s all about food & wine pairing with MS Evan Goldstein and his latest book “Daring Pairings: A Master Sommelier Matches Distinctive Wines with Recipes from His Favorite Chefs.”

daring pairingsThe best wine and food pairings create harmony among unexpected flavors. Chardonnay, Riesling, and Merlot are classic pairing choices, but less conventional grape varieties like Albariño, Grenache, Grüner Veltliner, Malbec, and Tempranillo are becoming increasingly popular, coveted by those with curious palates and a taste for good value. In Daring Pairings, the adventurous companion to the acclaimed Perfect Pairings, Master Sommelier Evan Goldstein shows how anyone can bring these emerging, exciting varieties to the table. He ventures into wine’s new frontiers, exploring the flavors and pairing potential of thirty-six distinctive grapes from around the world, including Argentina, Spain, Italy, Greece, and France. In his entertaining and approachable style, Goldstein offers advice on crafting unforgettable wine and food pairings, suggests wines for everyday and special occasions, and recommends producers and importers. Thirty-six star chefs present recipes specially tailored to Goldstein’s wine selections, and full-color photographs display these dishes in delectable splendor. This authoritative, down-to-earth guide reveals that pairing food and wine is no great mystery—anyone willing to explore or experiment can create bold and memorable combinations.  Get a copy today!

Evan Goldstein is a Master Sommelier and a four-time James Beard Award nominee for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year. He is the author of Perfect Pairings (UC Press) and Five Star Service: Your Guide to Hospitality Excellence, and is President and Chief Education Officer of Full Circle Wine Solutions.

The Good Life Guy Wine of the Week:
mastroberardino_lacryma_christi_del_vesuvio_bianco_doc2008 Mastroberardino – Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio
100% Coda di Volpe del Vesuvio. A wine with a prestigious name and a history entwined with legend: God cried as he found a corner of heaven stolen by Lucifer. Where his tears fell, there grew the Lacryma Christi vine. Given the extraordinary nature of the territory, where the vine must struggle through terrain rich in ash, lava and volcanic rock, who could ignore such natural force in the expression of aromas and flavors.

The Tears of Christ…whatever, it’s a great wine for the heat of summer.  Aromas and flavors of peach, pineapple and a fair dose of minerality.  Pick up a bottle at Jacob Liquor Exchange and also get a copy of the recipe that Whitney paired with this wine.

Video Wine of the Week

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August 7 – The Sweet Kitchen & Mudbugs Cajun Music

Posted on August 2, 2010 by Guy

First up is pastry chef and author Regan Daley with her new comprehensive baker’s companion – In The Sweet Kitchen

sweet kitchenIn the Sweet Kitchen truly is the definitive guide to the baker’s pantry. While many cookbooks include chapters on tools and ingredients, Regan Daley’s award-winning tome begins with almost 400 pages of introductory information. From her descriptions of ingredients to explanations of food science, it’s clear Daley’s done her research, and she offers a wealth of information as reference for both the professional and the novice. She covers every ingredient in a baker’s pantry, from flours and sugars to eggs, fruits, nuts, spices, and flavorings, in a way that is both interesting and informative. She discusses how to choose them, use them, and why they do the things they do. She’s tested tools and shopped around, and even recommends price points for your purchases. She explains myriad techniques, such as how to cook sugar and icing and assemble layer cakes. The writing is clear and intelligent and the instructions are easy to follow.

If she’d stopped at 400 pages, this would already be a must-have for anyone at all interested in the sweet side of the kitchen–but there’s more. Daley’s collection of recipes follows, and they cover the gamut from simple and straightforward to seductive and exciting. Some are actually quite complicated, but her explanations and descriptions of each step ensure success. Many recipes feature a flavor twist that will take your breath away, such as the Sweet Potato Layer Cake with Rum-Plumped Raisins and a Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting, Lemon Anise Churros, and Caramelized Banana Tart with a Lime Linzer Crust and a Warm Caramel Sauce. Other recipes bring back childhood memories, such as her All-in-the-Pan Chewy Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Butter Icing (mixed right in the baking pan) and Wild Blueberry Pie. This exhaustive volume was the 2001 IACP Cookbook of the Year, an award that it richly deserves. Make a place on your kitchen bookshelf for In the Sweet Kitchen–it’s one cookbook that you shouldn’t live without. –Leora Y. Bloom – Amazon.com

mudbugs group photoIn the second half I’ll be talking to Jamie and Carter Green, husband and wife members of “The Mudbugs” a local Cajun and Zydeco band that is taking the Midwest by storm.  You may have seen them at the Wichita Riverfest this year and if your lucky you got one of the just released CD’s – get you one now at: www.mudbugsband.com

Band members are:
Carter Green – Fiddle, Vocals
Greg Ewing – Accordion, Vocals
Erin Craddock – Triangle, Vocals
Brian Cochran – Guitar
Adam Ewing (AKA Ea$y Money) – 5 string Electric Upright Bass
Jaime Green – Drums
Juliah Ewing – Washboard

The Good Life Guy Wine of the Week:
WallaceBrook pgris2008 Wallace Brook Pinot Grigio from Oregons Willamette Valley
White-gold in color, the wine abounds in citrus, mineral and floral aromas. The fruit is nicely lean and tart, with some citrus flavors. It’s steely personality and good acidity make it an elegantly austere winer in a European style.  Perfect with a little spice and cajun food 😉

Video Wine of the Week

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July 31 – Frankies Spuntino & The Boozy Baker

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Guy

From Brooklyn’s sizzling restaurant scene, with the hottest cookbook of the season…my first guests, Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli join us to talk about the restaurants and their new book Frankies Spuntino – Kitchen Companion & Cooking Manuel.

20100614thefrankiesspuntinokitchencompanionFrom urban singles to families with kids, local residents to the Hollywood set, everyone flocks to Frankies Spuntino—a tin-ceilinged, brick-walled restaurant in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens—for food that is “completely satisfying” (wrote Frank Bruni in The New York Times). The two Franks, both veterans of gourmet kitchens, created a menu filled with new classics: Italian American comfort food re-imagined with great ingredients and greenmarket sides. This witty cookbook, with its gilded edges and embossed cover, may look old-fashioned, but the recipes are just what we want to eat now.    www.frankiesspuntino.com

In the second half Lucy Baker joins us with fresh off of her appearance last week on the Today show with her new book, The Boozy Baker – 75  Recipes for Spirited Sweets.

BoozyBakerThe Boozy Baker is a fun collection of recipes for cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, and more, all of which contain a healthy dose of alcohol. Home bakers will recognize classic treats such as profiteroles, peach cobbler, and spiced Bundt cake, and be delighted by the ways they are reinvented with chocolate stout, almond liqueur, and even Jägermeister. Featuring more than 30 full-color photographs, the book also includes sidebars throughout with instructions for preparing funky cocktails that add a punchy compliment to many of the recipes.  Whether you are a pastry perfectionist or a one-bowl beginner, a bonafide mixologist or just looking for a way to polish off a few dusty bottles, this cookbook is sure to become a favorite, its pages splattered with chocolate, sprinkled with sugar, and garnished with a twist.      Learn more about Lucy at www.abookintheoven.com
    
The Good Life Guy Wine of The Week…
Something cool for the last day of July!
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July 24 – What’s a Wine Lover to Do?

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Guy

Join us this week to meet author Wes marshall and learn about his new book “What’s A Wine Lover To Do – 334 Essential Oenophile Pointers and Tips” 

Wine loverMost people who enjoy wine would like to know more about it, to feel confident in what they like and why, to know the “lingo.” Wine lover and writer Wes Marshall helps readers explore the world of wine, offering plainspoken explanations to wine questions that most people have but are hesitant to ask—no question is too simple, no answer too advanced.

Like earlier titles in the series, such as the best-selling What’s a Cook to Do?, this book offers empowering information in question-and-answer format with pronunciation guides, charts, maps, and step-by-steps—plus the best-bang-for-your-buck wine recommendations from well-known experts. Is Barolo a grape or a place? What do wine scores mean? What about sniffing the cork and which glasses to use? In this newest book in the What’s a … to Do? series, Wes Marshall presents his years of wine experience and insider tips in everyday language that makes wine approachable and knowable.’

In the second half I’ll be telling you about one of my “Old Wine Friends” from Chile, Concha y Toro and Marques de Casa Concha.  One of the first and certainly one of the biggest South American wine producers, CYT continues to bring some of the finest wines to American wine lovers.  When you compare price, availability and wine scores…you can’t go wrong with CYT and the Marques de Casa Concha tier of wines!

 

cyt marques chard labelThe Good Life wines of the Week: 
2008 Concha y Toro Marques de Casa Concha
Chardonnay and Carmenere

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Posted on July 12, 2010 by Guy

Listen Live during our new time slot
Saturday; Noon – 1:00 p.m KNSS 1330AM

Food, Wine & Fun for your ears…
…now during the lunch hour!

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