Top Chef in Your Own Living Room - The Celebrity Chef Game

It's not a secret, I've always wanted to be on Top Chef or the Food Network. The only issue is that I don't cook...well, that is. I'd like to shout my own catchphrase ala Rachael Ray and EVOO while smiling at the camera . So until the Food Network takes me up on my fabulous idea to air wine segments (I'm out here waiting, with reel in hand, Food Network!) I'll get my satisfaction with this fantastic at-home game. Celebrity Chef! The Game is the perfect way to live out your culinary dreams. It's like a combo of Cranium and Top Chef - both of which I love. Celebrity Chef! is a board game created for people passionate about food and have crushes on chefs (shout out to Tom Colicchio and his wife expecting their 2nd kid!)

The object of the game is to become a Celebrity Chef,. You have to in over fans and achieve milestones like cookbook deals, television shows, own restaurant empires, get love from the press, and get the most coveted cendorsements. The player with the most points wins the game and is crowned the Celebrity Chef.

Check it out for your next game night as a prelude to the Top Chef Masters finale

celebritychefthegame.com

Confident Entertaining with the Purcell Sisters

I'm so jealous of this duo - what I wouldn't give to throw fabulous parties with my sisters and then publish our secrets in a fabulous book. That's just what Lauren and Anne Purcell have done in their book "Cocktail Parties, Straight Up! East Hors D'oeuvres, Delicious Drinks and Inspired Ideas for Entertaining with Style." You can get the Sisters' Secrets to Confident Entertaining here, just in time for all the summer parties you promised to throw.

My favorite party theme from their book is the "Map-Happy Evening for Anyone Who's Been Everywhere." Here's how it works: Every traveller has a travel tale/disaster/triumphant just-happened-to-stumble-upon-it discovery to share and this party brings out the stories as a way to inspire brilliant, laughter-filled conversation among the best of friends or guests who just met. All you need for this party are an oversized world map and plenty of pushpins to tempt guests to "mark their spots." Instead of lamely asking each other "So, where are you from?" they'll be exclaiming, "Wow, you've been there?!"

It's an easy entertaining theme but works so well with wine. Invite guests to bring a bottle from a country they've visited to go with the theme. And there you go - party planned, easy-peasy.

Here's a favorite recipe from the Purcell Sisters that works well with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc:

Cucumber Goat Cheese Spread -This spread is a hit even with guests who think they don’t like goat cheese. Tarragon’s subtle hint of licorice gives the spread an interesting flavor that people invariably ask about.

Ingredients

1 hothouse (seedless) cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

8 ounces soft mild goat cheese

1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh lemon zest

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

salt

Directions

In a food processor, purée 1 cup of the cucumber with the goat cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice until almost smooth.

In a bowl, stir together the goat-cheese mixture, remaining cucumber, tarragon, 1 tablespoon of onion, and the pepper. Add salt to taste.

Garnish with the remaining tablespoon of onion and serve with slices of soft, crusty bread.

Makes about 1 1/4 cups of spread.

Make-Ahead Factor:The spread may be made 2 days ahead and kept covered and refrigerated. Let it soften and stir before serving.

SwirlSavvy's New Wine Column on Culinate

It's official! I have my first regular wine column. I'll be writing "Swirl," a fun Q&A wine column for a food and cooking-oriented community/social network site called Culinate. It's one of domestic goddess Rachael Ray's favorite sites and I hope it becomes one of yours too.

The first column "Making a good bottle choice" is included below. Send over questions you'd like addressed in the column. And again, thanks for your support.

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I got hooked on wine while living in San Francisco. After moving there, I quickly began spending as much time as possible (without raising eyebrows) in Napa and Sonoma counties. Shortly after discovering this new world, I fell in love with how passionate everyone in the industry is about wine — from winemakers to vineyard caretakers to the people who poured the wine in tasting rooms.

Wine wasn’t something they learned about and drank to impress their friends or colleagues. Instead, they believed, as I do now, that wine is something of the earth, which makes us slow down, at least for a bit, to take time truly to commune with others.

And most importantly, wine is simply a soulful and delicious thing to drink.

With this in mind, I’d like Swirl to take the intimidation out of wine and add more fun and adventure to the subject. As a food-loving friend of Culinate, I’m eager to answer your wine-related questions, whether related to entertaining, food pairing, what to try, how to order — whatever’s on your mind. To get this Q&A format going, please send your questions to me at Anu [at] SwirlEvents [dot] com.

How to be sure to pick a good wine

To kick off, I’d like to address one of the most commonly asked questions: “How do I make sure a wine I pick is going to be good without tasting it?”

We have so many choices in wine, whether in a restaurant or in the supermarket aisles, and we can’t “try wine on” before paying for it the way we would a new pair of shoes. Picking the “right” bottle can give some of us the trepidation we normally experience in a used-car lot.

Many of us choose wine based on a label we find familiar or attractive, and make a beeline out of the store, praying the bottle is good enough to go with the elaborate dinner we’ve planned.

Here are some methods to deal with the madness:

1. Know the importer. There are a healthy handful of great wine importers that scour the back roads of tiny villages across the world to find the best international bottles (tough job, eh?). You’re nearly certain to pick a worthy bottle by choosing one of their selections. Some of my favorite importers include Kermit Lynch, Michael Skurnik, Louis Dressner, Jenny & Francois (great for natural/organic), Terry Theise, Becky Wasserman, and Rosenthal.
2. Establish your go-to shop. I prefer shopping in small wine shops. When shelf space is precious, each bottle needs to earn its keep. Plus, a small wine shop doesn’t make me glaze over like the superstores do. A good wine shop’s staff should be well-educated about wine in general, and very knowledgeable about their particular selection. Keep going to the same store so the staff learns your preferences. And most importantly, make your preferences known. Remember one good bottle you had recently and be able to describe your experience. You don’t have to have remembered the producer or vintage. If you can say, “I recently loved this white wine because it was really fresh and tasted zippy in my mouth,” or “I’ve had a few Oregon Pinot Noirs and really enjoyed them, but want to try something a bit different,” you give the staff a lot to go on about your tastes.
3. Expand your horizons, slightly. Generally like Chardonnay? Then try its “Old World” (i.e., European) equivalent, white Burgundy. It’s the same grape, but Old World convention names the wine by its region of origin instead of by the varietal (grape) name. A few more equivalents to get you started: Pinot Noir = red Burgundy; Cabernet/Merlot = Bordeaux (red); Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon = Bordeaux (white); Sancerre and Pouilly-Fuissé, Sangiovese = Chianti.

Indian Food with Wine

Indian food and wine pairing - it can be done. Your natural inclination when choosing a beverage to accompany Indian food may be a lager style of beer, which has a clean, simple taste and immediately quenches thirst. Or you if ordered your dish Vindaloo style (basically, mouth-on-fire-hot), you may urgently reach for a pitcher of water. But the right wine can elevate your meal, keeping in mind the complexity of flavors – spicy, sweet, salty - and layering of flavors – in an Indian dish makes food and wine pairing challenging, but certainly not impossible.

Fiery dishes beg for a wine to balance the heat, not add to it. You want to stay away from anything too high in alcohol because it intensifies the spice. You also want to avoid highly tannic wines (like a bold Barolo or a heavy Cabernet Sauvignon) which can add a bitter taste to highly flavorful, pungent dishes. For spicy vegetable dishes, my “go-to” recommendation is a Gewürztraminer from Germany. Its lychee and rose aromas hint at sweetness that makes it a natural fit. Another great pairing is a Kabinett style Riesling from Germany. The slightest off-dry taste and racy acidity really works. Other options for searing hot dishes slightly heavier in texture include a Muscadet from the Loire Valley in France or, for the more adventurous wine drinker, try the up-and-coming white varietal of Torrontes from Argentina. It has a gorgeous, aromatic nose but doesn’t have a ton of complexity that would be lost with a more complex or subtle dish. A Pinot Gris from Oregon also makes a nice choice. If you have a salty or fried dish like aloo ki tikki (potato patties), cut through it with a highly acidic white wine also based on Sauvignon Blanc grapes such as a Pouilly-Fume or Sancerre.

White wines aren’t the only choices for Indian meals. Meaty, gamey dishes like lamb that have intense, heavier flavors including chile and garlic sauces or smokiness can stand up to red where crisp, delicate white wines would falter. One of the least known but most worthy picks is a Chinon, a light bodied, savory and earthy red wine composed of Cabernet Franc grapes with distinct violet aromas from the Loire Valley of France. Another great option is a Burgundian-style Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon or Central Otago, New Zealand. Smokier flavors are complemented by medium bodied spicy, flinty Shiraz. On the more adventurous side, try a Valpolicella from Italy or a slightly chilled Beaujolais Cru from France; both are perfect with pork dishes.

When in doubt, you can’t go wrong pairing Indian food with Champagne, whose effervescence steadily matches the multi-layered flavor present in most Indian dishes. The hi/low combination of Champagne and Indian street food makes for a hip party theme whose sense of kitsch won’t be lost on fashionable friends.

The Best $15 Bottle - San Pietro Lagrein

Learn about Lagrein and my new favorite $15 bottle of red - the San Pietro Lagrein. Lagrein might be a grape new to your ears (and mouth) but it's one to add to the list permanently. Lagrein (name of grape and wine) traditionally hails from Alto Adige in the northeast corner of Italy. Lagrein may not sound like a typical Italian grape (Sangiovese, Valpolicella) which could be because the area used to be part of Austria and is culturally Germanic. The area is also known as Sudtirol to the mostly German-speaking locals.

Despite its Germanic roots, the San Pietro Lagrein is a perfect accompaniment to Italian food. With it's intense berry and violets nose and gorgeous garnet color, you wouldn't expect the smooth, soft tannins that make this wine infinitely drinkable. It has that great kick of acidity that keeps it fresh to pair with food but isn't overpowering either. I had mine with homemade pizza and kept going back for more.

And for $15, it's definitely worth a try. It's such an overall people pleaser that I'd put in contention as my "house" wine. Got mine at Smith & Vine in Brooklyn, but you can buy yours online here at Morrell's.

Just Drink the Darn Wine

Every so often, new scientific discoveries are made in the wine world. I eagerly check these out like a doctor would review new develops in medical cure research. But this one, I throw my hands up on. DNA testing for wine. As Wine Spectator writes here , a company called Applied DNA Sciences has come up with a technology that uses one wine's "DNA" to determine if it matches the "DNA" of another wine. The instance they're saying this would be useful is if you bought a super-pricey bottle on auction and want to know if it's legit. Of course, you would already have to have a bottle of the super-pricey wine directly from the source that you KNOW is the real deal. And...you'd have to open both bottles. Are there event 10 people in the world that will use this technology? How much R&D went into developing this new test? These are the useless developments in the wine world that make me say "Shu-up and just drink the darn wine." Agree?

Easy Rose Sangria Recipe

Try Swirl's Rose Sangria recipe - it's perfect for a hot, holiday weekend or outdoor party.

-2 btls dry rose wine (I love Crios Rose of Malbec or Kluge Rose)

-1/2 cup orange juice

-1/3 cup Grand Marnier

-1 cup white rum (or sparkling water or Sprite to cut down on the alcohol)

-1 cup sugar

-fruit of your choice. Swirl prefers sliced strawberries, thin peach slices, thin lemon slices, handful of raspberries or blueberries

-a few torn mint leaves for pitcher and for garnish

Combine all ingredients except fruit in a big glass pitcher (to show off the gorgeous color). Stir to sugar dissolves. Add fruit, refrigerate for at least 1 hr (2 hrs if you're patient!).

Sit back with some Bebel Gilberto playing in the background. Bendy straw optional.