Dirty South Wine

So Long to Drink on $30 and Eat on $30! Break out the Beluga, Bubbles and Blowfish!

Final entry on Drink on $30 -- Eat on $30.

The food part of this wasn't a lot of fun.  Though I enjoyed the challenge, I often didn't take the prep time, or the right strategy to really make this truly enjoyable.  Friday night's dinner was a prime example.

-Side Strip / End / Butt  / Round- Tough A@*! Steak with Brussels sprouts, Mushrooms, Peppers and Celery.  Paired with "Wrongo Dongo".  Yep, something called "WRONGO DONGO"

Though I could have bought some much better cuts of meat, this untanned hide was the cheapest thing on the shelf-  Coming in somewhere under $3.75 lb.   

 

FUD:
This meal was pretty self explanatory-
1/2 Lb of tough love (beef)
1lb of Brussel Sprouts
1 Orange Pepper
1/2 Container Mushrooms (left over from previous meal)
Remnants of Celery
Garlic,  Herbs, S&P
Brown Rice.
(Total Cost-- $6.00 w/ 2 meals from it)

The Brussels sprouts actually turned out great.  Tossed in oil, salt and pep, a little garlic, and thrown in a 450F oven for about half an hour.  The peppers, mushrooms and celery just quickly stir fried, and then the beef.  My issue with the meat was that I should have really cooked this slow, let it break down and attempt tenderness.  Short on time, I dropped it in a pan, cooked it just under medium rare, and it was tough as a turtle's leg and have the flavor of an old Birkenstock.

Wine:
2006 Bodegas Juan Gil  "Wrongo Dongo"
(Spain, Murcia, Jumilla) Monastrell variety.  $7.99 at Ansley Wine Merchants or elsewhere in the US via Snooth. Jorge Ordoñez Selections

Cherry red with medium depth.  Aromas of mixed berry, some smoked meat, and a little dusty.  Medium+ bodied, with some pretty jammy/stewy fruit (is there such thing as plum pie?), nice acidity,, medium tannins, and a decent finish.

For under $8, this is a solid red.  It has some depth, is not totally in your face, and is very food friendly.  Another interesting bottle that I'd be happy to have as inexpensive BBQ / Burger / Pizza juice.

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Looking back on the week's wines--  The most expensive was the South African Rose at $9.99 and the two Protocolo's were $5.99 each.  Not that I'm always loadin' and unloadin'' off with bottles of Krug, but the sub- $10 price point is relatively uncharted water for me.

ALL of the wines were very drinkable, and I thank Amber at Ansley Wine Merchants for putting these bottles together for me! 

When I think about these bottles and what separates them from what I usually pay up for (even in the value category)-- a sense of something artisanal.  (As much as I hate to use that word.)  Though they had character, it was often on the surface, or just below. BUT- for $6 you can find a bottle of wine that is the price of a six pack and use it to enhance your meal and the time you spend with friends. 

Though I'll be happy to shift gears a little more up-market next week, the wine part of this was an enjoyable, and much needed exercise.

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Totals-
Wine:  $30*on the nose
Food:  $44* (this included some cheating.  $6 at Willy's, $12 at Chat Patti, $3.50 at Octane Coffee)

For $30, I consumed 4 bottles.  Which is 1-2 more than I open in a week.

Food was tough.  I got really tired of leftovers, and needed a little variety and to get out of the house.  Though difficult, it made me spend more time looking at what I bought.  What was on sale, what was on special, what did I have coupons for, and that what was leftover had to be eaten.

Spanish Wine and Chicken Thighs! Drink on $30 day 4. #drinkon30

Half Bottles and Leftovers Piling UP!

With Tues. being a day for plowing through leftovers (food and wine), I was back in the kitchen on Wed.  improvising mayhem.  I'd never say that I'm a great cook (or even a good one), but I am very capable of following recipes.  This week has been the total flipside-- almost all shoot from the hip...  This one actually worked.

Greek Chicken Thighs with Roasted Veggies, Mint Rice, and Mushrooms in Rosé sauce-
Chicken Thighs (On Sale)
2 Carrots, 2 Stalks of Celery,
1/2 pack button Mushrooms
Brown Rice
Mint, Feta, Green Onion

I marinated the thighs in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, mint and oregano for about 90min (should have been 2-3x as long)  Browned the thighs in a pan, and then baked for 45 min with the carrots and celery. 

Rice and Peas came out of the latest Cook's Illustrated.

My mushrooms, were cooked in a Rosé wine pan sauce (from leftover Rosé) and I used some mushrooms that were starting to look a little sad.

Total:  Per meal, just under $2.25 (will make 3 meals w/ 2 Chicken thighs per meal)

Wine.

2007 Dominio de Eguren Vino de la Tierra de Castilla Protocolo Blanco
(Spain, Castilla-La Mancha, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla)  Airen and Macabeo blend.  $5.99 at Ansley Wine Merchants .  Jorge Ordoñez Selections

Yellow straw-  Aromas of mixed tropical fruit-  crisp apple, banana and a little rock.  Medium bodied, citrus, good acids, and a medium acidic finish. 

Not hugely complex, but for under $6....  This is pretty dang good.  This would make a solid, crisp, house white for the Spring / Summer.  Case price about $70...  That's a pretty sweet deal.

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Toast and cereal have been my breakfasts, and leftovers lunches and dinners.  This is a good exercise, but it is definitely challenging.

Weekly Totals:
Food:  $15.80 (12 meals total-- including 1 coffee at Octane)
Wine:  $22.00 (with 1 half bottles of Protocolo Blanco, and 1 glass left of Rose)

Leftover chicken thighs for lunch and dinner tonight.

Drinking on $30 (For the Week)- Cutting Back Doesn't Mean Cutting Out.

Last week, a number of food bloggers participated in an event to Eat On $30 for the entire week.  This was an opportunity for them to bring attention to the challenges of those who receive assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly referred to as the Food Stamp program.)  For most participants, this was a huge challenge and an exercise in planning, conservation, and doing without a lot of their normal daily luxuries.

As I read their posts, progress, and setbacks-  I started thinking about how I could do a similar activity with wine.  In reality, there is NO comparison-  No matter what we think, Wine is not vital to our survival and even at its most basic state-  it is a luxury product.  So I thought, why not attempt to Eat on $30 (or at least in the same vein), and to also try and Drink On $30 of quality wine for the week.  Different from the EAT on $30 crew, I wanted to show that while many of us are cutting back in all areas, it is still possible to drink fairly well on what many of us would sometimes spend on a single bottle.  Is my idea half-baked?  You Betcha'!

Helping me on the wines, was the f-f-fabulous Ms. Amber from Ansley Wine Merchants.  I asked her to select 4 bottles that would total for $30 or less.  I used the 4 bottle thought of 1/2 a bottle per night (which is actually more than I consume- but this is for SCIENCE!)  YES-- this could be done easily with 2 Dollar Squalor (aka 2 Bill Swill, 2 Buck Chuck), or magnums of Yellowtail, but I wanted to find bottles that still delivered quality.

Night 1: 
Rice and Beans with Protocolo Tinto.

Rice & Beans
1 Cup Brown Rice
1lb Pinto Beans (dried)
1/2 Onion, 1/3 Red Pepper, 1/2 Habanero, 1 Carrot, 1 Celery Stalk, 2 cloves Garlic
1/2 Can Veg Broth
Olive Oil, S&P, Spices.
(Approximate total- $2.25.  This should make 3 meals)

Wine:
2007 Dominio de Eguren Vino de la Tierra de Castilla Protocolo
(Spain, Castilla-La Mancha, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla)  Bobal and Tempranillo blend.  $5.99 at Ansley Wine Merchants .  Importer:  Jorge Ordoñez Selections

Deep red, and bright aromas of fruit punch (mixed berry), a lttle vanilla, and almost a like aged balsamic on strawberries.  Medium+ bodied, and tart, juicy, red fruit on the palate.  Medium+ tannins, and a medium length finish.

Price aside, this is pretty good-  But for $6, it is VERY good--  It would be a great wine for parties, a BBQ, sitting down with a simple meal, or that special bottle you bring out for your friends the Guzzlers.

The rice and beans were far from my best effort.  Normally, I would have used a whole onion, a full can of broth, and double the celery.  I did dig in the fridge and sliced off some bits of rotisserie chicken to add a little more flavor (FYI- Publix Chipotle Mole chicken tastes disturbingly like hot dogs)...

This dish worked ok with the wine-  The bites with chicken played much better, and I think if I used chicken stock instead of veggie, it would have been more satisfying.  (The dish with the wine was far better than the dish alone!)

I Vacu-vin'd the the rest of the Protocolo and stuck it in the fridge. (Keeping red in the fridge will help preserve an open bottle longer.  Just take it out when you get home from work.)

Note:  As mentioned, I will try my best to keep in the limits, but I do have a couple of meetings that require some food or beverage this week.  And in support of my local restaurants, I'm going out at least once.

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Atlanta (like the rest of the E. Coast) got some late winter snow.  Here is Lady Dirty sledding in Piedmont Park on a pizza tin.

Sledding in Atlanta on 12seconds.tv

Just A Nowhere Wine, Coming from a Nowhere Vine... and a Snake Church!

Would many of us define our place, character, and soul in infinite cookie-cutter suburban sprawl?  The endless world of "knock-em-down-all-them-trees", no-sidewalk, Poltergeist-styled homes...  Everyone needs a place to live, but few would want chose that assembly line of sameness to define us. In fact, most would want to be defined by the exact opposite-- on how we are special, good, and unique.

While trying some wines the other day, I couldn't help but think that the juice I was drinking was straight outta Nowheresville.  It could be Central Coast, CA, McLaren Vale, Australia, or Priorat.  The wine was sound, big, had what many consumers would expect in luxury juice (insane fruit, oak, concentration, huge alcohol, and instant accessiblity).  Like a cookie cutter McMansion of juice.  It had all the amenities, just no unique character.

Then comes the justification / excuses.  "That was just a hot year, that is the wine maker's style, that is textbook Grenache, this is what the customer wants, Parker loved it, it got high scores, etc..."

Is that what the customer really wants?   Currently (and sadly) I think the answer is yes--which becomes another post all together.  So just like housing, many wines were easily duplicated with overly ripe fruit, spanking new barrels, the right yeasts, the right technology, then overvalued, then undercut and wine-oceans of sameness are out there drowning the market and the consumer.

I'll take my wine with the character of an Appalachian Snake Church over vs another bottle of this stuff...

Verdejo w/ Holeman & Finch

I made a second run to Holeman & Finch this week. I toted along an inexpensive Verdejo that I’d been wanting to try.

2006 Bodegas Naia Rueda Naia
(Spain Castilla y Léon, Rueda) Verdejo varietal. Approx $12 at Ansley Wine Merchant.
NOTES:
Lovely medium yellow colored. A full aroma of lemongrass, citrus, pear (fruit cocktail like), and some minerals. Medium bodied, good texture and juicy, acidic fruits on the palate. An almost abrupt acidic finish.
CONCLUSION:
This was an enjoyable bottle at a fair price. It was a little harsh on its own- I think the acids need some food to cut- but it tore up my scallops w/ creamed corn and paired very nicely. I’d pair these two again. For $12, I’ll buy this again. It is more a food wine than a balcony sipper, but still good. Pretty Dirty.