Wine & Dine

NPHuskerFL · January 2015

Barefoot Pinot Grigio. Used the vinturi and it definitely made a difference.

RW with a couple of Applewood chunks.

CI pan blackened Grouper.

Pears from Harry & David from our good friends in PA from Christmas.

Plated.

cazzy · January 2015

Looks good Blake! Your wine thing to me is what my rack was to some. #-o

cazzy · January 2015

If I had to guess...does it add air to your wine?

stemc33 · January 2015

Two thumbs up. :-bd Is the MM the favorite now? Way to sneak in the BGE S&P shakers. I like mine, salt pours out like a McDonalds shaker salting fries.

johnmitchell · January 2015

Great looking meal... =D>

NPHuskerFL · January 2015

@cazzy‌ Thanks Carl! Yes, the vinturi instantly aerates releasing aromas and exquisite flavor that would normally require a bottle to "breathe". This does that to each glass poured through it instantly. We have one for white wines and one for red wines. There's definitely a difference in flavor etc. using the vinturi.
@stemc33‌ Thanks man. The MM is used a lot for sure. Not sure about favorite. I love em both. But, the MM size compels me to use it in smaller cooking situations. I do tend to use it a lot. This was a meal for 4-5 people. The MM is definitely earning its keep around here. B-)
@johnmitchell‌ Thank you

AUCE · January 2015

Nice...very nice

Jeremiah · January 2015

cazzy said:
Looks good Blake! Your wine thing to me is what my rack was to some. #-o

@cazzy‌ You have a rack? That explains a lot... :-\"

VandyCatGator · January 2015

Meal looks awesome (and healthy). Can you give some more info on your setup? Looks like you used a plate setter? What was your temp? How long does fish sear for? Thanks for the help. Been wanting to try more fish besides salmon on the egg.

hapster · January 2015

Great looking meal!

Fred19Flintstone · January 2015

I let my beer breathe only the amount of time it takes to pick it up and swill it.

yzzi · January 2015

We have a venturi we got at Costco but is there a different one for white and red wines?

blind99 · January 2015

Looks awesome. Blackened grouper sandwich is one of my favorites. What seasoning do you use?

Acn · January 2015

Looks great, I have some cod I need to cook tonight, I think I know how it is going to happen now.

NPHuskerFL · January 2015

yzzi said:
We have a venturi we got at Costco but is there a different one for white and red wines?

Yes. Two different venturi for red & white. Don't ask me the difference

DMW · January 2015

That looks great, I might need to pickup some fish today while I'm out.

SmokeyPitt · January 2015

Great looking cook for Wine Wednesday. I might have to look into one of those aerators. I have had success using an immersion blender but the presentation leaves something to be desired.

Sea2Ski · January 2015

We have a venturi as well. How is this one for you....

A very unscientific blind taste test was done by drinking the wine from the same bottle among 10 different Cab Sav wines (the type of wine they say benefits from breathing the most) ranging from $8 - $63/bottle. One glass went through the venturi and the other did not. Among 6 of us, we were able to tell which one went though it exactly 50% of the time. Interestingly, we did notice a big and better difference in both the least and second most expensive bottles. Like day and night difference. It was the bottles in between which yielded different results to different people as to which glass tasted better after going through the venturi.

Fast forward a few weeks: we did the same test, but no venturi. 9 of the 10 bottles were the same wines used in the previous test. We opened the bottles 4 hours before the test began. Immediately upon opening, we decanted 12 oz of each wine into brand new glass jars, filled them to the rim, and put the glass lid on it eliminating as much air as possible. The balance of wine was left in the bottle with the cork removed to allow it to breath naturally. Results: 4 people chose the wine allowed to breath naturally as being better 7 out of the 10 glasses. The 2 people chose the naturally breathed wines in 9 of the of 10 glasses as the preferred glass. What was more interesting: one wine that was chosen to be better among all taste testers when it did not breath.

Interesting, huh?

Since we usually know what we will be eating well before we start cooking, we open the bottle and decant it into a decanter between 2-4 hours before drinking whenever possible. If we will not be home in that time window, we will sometimes open it in the morning, and leave the cork off it to allow it to breath all day in the bottle.

We are not wine snobs but we do like wine. A lot. We drink it often - 2-4 bottles a week.
We have a good idea of what to pair with what dish. 90% of our wines are between $8-$14. Of course there are some bottles that are for special occasions and opened only when it is the two of us.

Foghorn · January 2015

@Sea2Ski, our results have been similar although our experimental methods are slightly different.

We drink 1-2 bottles a week. When I open a bottle, I typically pour one glass through the aerator and one glass straight from the bottle. Then I have my wife taste them both without knowing which is which. She usually (maybe 60% of the time) prefers the aerated wine. I taste them both but I am obviously not blinded. I usually prefer the unaerated. I then let her drink whichever glass she prefers. What has become very interesting to both of us, is that when we don't aerate, we can really appreciated how the taste evolves over time. We particularly like how most wines taste about 20-30 minutes after they have been poured. This has made me suspect that using an aerator provides an immediate 1-2 hours of "breathing" such that some wines benefit, but some others overshoot the mark?

Regardless, as long as you don't take it too seriously, it is a lot of fun to play around with this stuff.

@NPHuskerFL, great cook. The Barefoot wines are some of our favorite inexpensive wines. How did you cook the pear? How do you know it is done?

GATABITES · January 2015

Meal looks very healthy.

NPHuskerFL · January 2015

I'll describe the cook later. Working...

NDG · January 2015

very nice cook - that is my kind of meal! Also, that minimax looks bada$$

sodigthisbigcrux · January 2015

very nice...can I ask where you got that CI pan?

Eggcelsior · January 2015

Love my Venturis. Makes me feel sophisticated.

SmokeyPitt · January 2015

Eggcelsior said:

Love my Venturis. Makes me feel sophisticated.

Are you implying that wine in a blender lacks sophistication???

NPHuskerFL · January 2015

sodigthisbigcrux said:
very nice...can I ask where you got that CI pan?

HuskerMaMa got that one on Amazon when it was on sale a while back. I don't see it on there anymore (shows unavailable). It is a 10" Camp Chef fluted pie pan and it's available at many different locations per a quick Google search. It works perfect in the MM.

henapple · January 2015

Oh biff, is it from Napa or Murfreesboro?

NPHuskerFL · January 2015

@Foghorn‌ the pears really don't get done per se. The only thing I would have done differently is removed the plate setter so they would have got more radiant heat for better color. On these I was at 450℉ indirect with PS Woo set-up. They were real ripe and already soft so I didn't want them to become too mushy. They were on the egg maybe 5-7 minutes.

henapple · January 2015

@NPHuskerFL‌. ..red pears halved and hollowed, goat cheese, walnuts and wrapped in bacon. Match with a nice Chardonnay.

DMW · January 2015

henapple said:

@NPHuskerFL‌. ..red pears halved and hollowed, goat cheese, walnuts and wrapped in bacon. Match with a nice Chardonnay.

I thought you just followed recipes???

NPHuskerFL · January 2015

@blind99 the seasoning I used on the Grouper (and most of the blackening I do) was Badia Gourmet Blend Blackened Redfish. I like it. Some blackening blends are too salty and this one has great flavor (I just dust it and let the pan do the work).

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