The movie “Sideways” is right near the top of the list of my favourite wine movies. The first time I saw Sideways I was prepared for a comedy and had to re-adjust my mindset as the movie is quite pensive and introspective. In fact, the entire movie is smart and contemplative with the exception of one crazy, unhinged scene. Emerging from deep soul-searching and tension, the spectacle is overwhelmingly side-splitting. I gasped with laughter and tears almost rolling off my seat! I won’t spoil it for you, but if you have seen it, you know what I mean. That moment redefined comedy for me.

Miles’ love of Pinot Noir and great distaste for Merlot had an impact on cash registers for some time afterwards. Personally, I love Merlot and I love Pinot Noir. It’s all delicious and complex to me.

Maya: I like to think about the life of wine.  How it’s a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing; how the sun was shining; if it rained.

I like to think about all the people who tended and picked the grapes. And if it’s an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I like how wine continues to evolve, like if I opened a bottle of wine today it would taste different than if I’d opened it on any other day, because a bottle of wine is actually alive.

And it’s constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks, like your ’61. And then it begins its steady, inevitable decline.

~ Excerpt from “Sideways” movie script

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Last weekend I was honoured to share the stage at Waterloo Region’s Food & Drink Show with Brian Witteveen “Big Sid” of Strode’s BBQ & Deli in Brantford. He’s a great guy! And he knows meat. We shared variations on pulled pork. The pork was cooked with Rickard’s Red and we paired it with Rickard’s White for the samples. It was deeeeeeelish!

Thank you to Molson’s for working with us on this one!

I’ve been asking Brian to share this or any other recipe here on Cooking With Sin. I think my nagging is working! I’ll let ya know!

Prepping pulled pork & jalapeno "turds" with Big Sid

Rubbing butt - really!

Thank you to the organizers & attendees for making it so much fun!

This Friday at 7:00 pm I’ll be on the Cooking Stage at Kitchener’s Food & Drink Show. Joining me will be the most awesome Brian Witteveen, aka “Big Sid” owner of Brantford’s Strode’s BBQ & Deli.  Andrew Coppolino of Waterloo Region Eats will be MCing, trying to make heads or tails of the “Variations on Pulled Pork” that Brian and I will be tossing around. We’re cooking with Rickard’s Red and pairing the samples with Rickard’s White. Smart, eh?!

Did you see Chef D in there too? He’s a wonderful CWS participant.

“All the charming and beautiful things, from the Song of Songs, to bouillabaisse, and from the nine Beethoven symphonies to the Martini cocktail, have been given to humanity by men who, when the hour came, turned from tap water to something with color in it, and more in it than mere oxygen and hydrogen.”

~ H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)

Trips to the hair salon are mini vacations for me. Having someone who knows how to handle my curly mop is a really nice treat. The staff are always fun. They take my coat and offer me something to drink. When I’m sitting with the foils setting in, they bring me a whole array of magazines to peruse and I always go for the trashy, gossipy ones. I can’t resist. I would never spend my own money on them, but I think it is a riot to turn off my brain and catch up on ridiculous rumours that never materialize. Plus, that young actress who has gained all of 10 pounds makes me feel so good about myself. LOL!

Connie Campbell on the other hand uses her time at the hair salon very differently. Being a trained chef, she scours the magazines looking for delicious recipes and stores them away in the culinary file of her creative mind.

Photo courtesy of Connie J. Campbell

Last week one of those recipes came in very handy when Connie accidently left the freezer door open. It’s an upright freezer and she hates to admit it, but she’s done this before, usually because something sticks out and keeps the door from sealing. One of her freezers has an alarm on the door, plus she has also learned to strategically place the food items least likely to be ruined in the locations that warm up first.

With company coming the next day, Connie’s menu was a no-brainer. The thawed food needed to be eaten and she had most of the ingredients to create a type of bouillabaisse. Using a recipe she had found in a magazine as her inspiration, she created her own from the items she rescued from her freezer.

Bouillabaisse is a French soup recipe from Provence made with Mediterranean seafood. A thick slice of toasted French bread is placed in each bowl and the soup is served on top of it. Traditionally a Rouille sauce is served on the side. Today, it commonly served as a one-bowl soup. Connie made sure hers had a nice amount of wine in it!

This is Connie’s own recipe based on the items she had to work with. If you experience a similar freezer melt-down, you can alter it to suit your items.

Photo courtesy of Connie J. Campbell

“Oops I Did It Again” Bouillabaisse

1. Sauté the shallots and onions in the butter.
2. Heat the wine and stock in a large pot. Reduce to simmering then add the softened shallots, onions and butter.
3. Add all the other ingredients, except the seafood. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
4. Turn down the heat and add the seafood. If you have seafood in a closed shell, add them first and cook until the shells open. Then add the rest of the seafood and cook until it is opaque.
5. Actually tastes better the next day, but will keep in the fridge up to two days.

Here is Connie’s version of her story-recipe on her blog. It includes the original magazine recipe: Lemonade from Lemons, Bouillabaisse from the Open Freezer Door?

See more of Connie’s culinary expertise on her previous post: “Good Neighbour” Gluten-Free Beer Braised Beef

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Carla

Beer fans, you know you don’t need a case for it! But today I got a “cold call” email from someone at Frugaldad.com sharing this graphic …errr infographic with me.  I must admit I initially ignored the email. Having a popular blog attracts all kinds of unique inquiries and spammy stuff, but I took a moment and looked this one up. So glad I did.

I say this one’s worth a pin!

Source: FrugalDad.com

Photo courtesy of Anita Iaconangelo

“For mad scientists who keep brains in jars, here’s a tip: why not add a slice of lemon to each jar, for freshness?”

~ Jack Handy, Saturday Night Live “Deep Thoughts” comedy sketch

Did you know? Italy grows more lemons than any other country in the world. Did you know? Lemons in Italy along the Amalfi coast are ginormous! I know. I’ve been lucky to see them.

Two years ago my family and I took a tour of Italy and Greece. It was my first time in Europe and I just loved it. Because the tour was fast-paced I promised myself I would return and spend more time in some of the places. One of those places was the island of Capri. It was on Capri that we bought several bottles of limoncello.

Limoncello is sold in all kinds of small, interesting shaped bottles and it is delicious!

My friend Connie Campbell, from the post “Good Neighbour” Gluten-Free Beer Braised Beef, recently introduced me to Anita Iaconangelo. Anita is from Washington D.C., but now lives in Italy and owns “Italian Connection” tour company. She specializes in walking and culinary tours, taking people to special places most tours speed right on by. She calls herself, “an Italian free spirit trapped in an American businesswoman’s body.”

Of her life in Italy, Anita says,

If I am ever lucky enough to return to Italy, I hope to connect with Anita. She promises to take her guests off the beaten track to discover the Italy of the Italians and share the best of Italian food and wine. She treat her guests like una della famiglia—one of the family.

Photo courtesy of Anita Iaconangelo

Anita has a blog “Anita’s Italy” where she posts her favourite Italian recipes and food tips. She has several lemon recipes: Limoncello, Lemon Cake from Sicily and Lemon Granita.

Limoncello is a very simple recipe. It is just lemon peel soaked in alcohol and sweetened with sugar syrup, but take note of the details so it is clear and tastes wonderful.

“Una Della Famiglia” Limoncello

10-12 lemons

1L (4 cups) pure ethyl alcohol (95%)

600 grams (3 cups) sugar

2L water (8.5 cups) water

1. Rinse, wipe & dry the lemons so no residual dirt and wax remain on them.
2. Zest the lemons peel being sure to only use the yellow peel. The white part will make the flavour bitter.
3. In a large glass container, with a lid that seals well, put the lemon zest and cover with the alcohol. Put the lid on tightly.
4. Place the container in a cool dark place for a month. Occasionally check it and swirl the zest and alcohol together. The alcohol will start to turn yellow in only a few days. After a month of sitting you are ready for the final steps.
5. Bring the water to a simmer in a large pot then pour in the sugar and stir until it completely dissolves. Set it aside to cool.
6. Using a fine sieve, strain the alcohol and zest mix, then strain it again through a paper towel or filter. *Tip – Anita lines her strainer with dampened paper towel or several layers of cheesecloth and places it over a wide mouth jar or funnel.
7. Place the strained alcohol back in the large glass container and mix in the cool sugar/water syrup.
8. Seal the jar and put it back in the cool, dark place for at least a week or another month.
9. If it is cloudy, you will need to filter it again.
10. Taste your limoncello. You can add more sugar/water syrup if it needs to be sweetened. Bottle it when you like the taste. If you use small bottles, it makes a nice gift.
11. Limoncello often mellows with time, so the longer you keep it, the nicer it tastes. Mmm…

*Tips

a) If you can’t get 95% ethyl alcohol, get the closest thing and adjust the water content.

b) The left over lemons can be juiced. Fresh lemon juice is great for iced tea or cocktails. It can also be frozen until needed.

Inspired by Anita’s post://blog.italian-connection.com/living-in-italy/limoncello-recipe-make-homemade-limoncello

This weekend a lot of people celebrate many things. Christians celebrate Easter, Jews celebrate Passover, Hindus celebrate Hanuman Jayanti and Jains celebrate Mahavir Jayanti.

Let’s enjoy the holiday with a good chuckle!

The first time I saw this sketch, many moons ago. At the time I had no idea there was so many different kinds of cheese in the world. Now I know there are even more!

Monty Python’s Cheese Shop Sketch

If you like cheese, you’ll probably like “We Are Family” Rye Bread ‘n Brie. *Note: Here in Canada we call whisky “rye.”

Image(s) courtesy VintageHolidayCrafts.com

A big “Thank You” to Everyone for your Support!

Looks like I blinked and missed the 200,000^th new visitor to Cooking With Sin! Oh well, let’s celebrate with Grammy Moon’s Sticky Buns with rum!

By the way, don’t you just love my title. Tee-hee!

Over the winter I was laid up recuperating from major surgery. I had a total knee replacement in my right knee. (I like to say I’m on my way to becoming the Bionic Woman.) During my recuperation I kept busy writing posts and I also developed a mild addiction to Cheers & Frasier reruns.

On one of the Frasier episodes, Daphne makes her Grammy’s sticky buns for breakfast, so I found a simple recipe for sticky bun sauce with rum.

Enjoy!

“I decided to prepare you a traditional English breakfast…and to finish it off, a batch of Granny Moon’s famous sticky buns. Granny made these every Sunday. Of course, she always added a pint of rum to the recipe. Nobody liked these more than Granny herself. Many’s the Sunday I’d head over to her house after church, only to find her out in the garden in her wedding dress, face down in the birdbath.”

~ Daphne Moon, character from the TV show “Frasier”

Grammy Moon’s Sticky Buns with Rum

Step 1: Bake a dozen of your favourite cinnamon buns.

Go ahead and cheat with the store bought cinnamon bun dough that you unroll and bake. I won’t tell!

You will want to pull them fresh from the oven just as the sauce is ready. Most sticky bun recipes bake the buns with the sauce in the bottom of the pan or muffin tin where it can candy a bit. With this recipe, we are candying the sauce in a pan and pouring it over the buns after they are baked.

Step 2: Prepare the Sticky Rum Sauce

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons dark rum

2.5 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons light sour cream

1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted, optional

1. In a small saucepan, stir in the brown sugar, butter, rum, condensed milk, water, sour cream and corn syrup. Bring to a boil then simmer on medium heat until slightly thick, about 2 minutes.

2. Take the pan off of the heat. Stir in the salt, vanilla and baking powder.

3. Take the fresh baked buns out of the pan and pour the glaze over each one. Sprinkle with the pecans, if you wish. Let stand until the glaze is absorbed a bit by the buns and they are cool enough to eat. Serve them while they are still warm.

Adapted from Food & Wine, January 2010

Here is a clip of the Frasier episode about Grammy Moon’s sticky buns. Just brilliant!

 See how we celebrated at the 100,000th visitor.

“100,000 Visitors! Rum Cake for Everyone!”

Monty Python is a big favourite in my family, but I haven’t seen this one before.

My Mennonite grandmother spoke low German – and thought all alcohol was “pig’s water” – plus we live in the Waterloo Region, home of North America’s greatest Oktoberfest annual celebration, so this one fits us well. Hope you enjoy a good chuckle like I did.

Monty Python’s Bavarian Restaurant

Next…. “200,000 Visitors! Sticky Buns for Everyone!”

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Happy Saturday! I hope you enjoy this classic, grape crushing, Lucille Ball clip.

“How I Love Lucy was born? We decided that instead of divorce lawyers profiting from our mistakes, we’d profit from them.”

~ Lucille Ball, 1911-1989

The very first post here on Cooking With Sin is the story that started it all when my Mennonite grandmother scolded my mom for pouring wine into a pan of chicken cacciatore. “Grandma Started It” Chicken Cacciatore