Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Pesto Chicken with Tomatoes

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Pesto Chicken with Tomatoes: Pesto chicken with tomatoes. My wife and I made this dish the other night. I'm not a big pesto fan but I still can't get over the taste...

Pesto Chicken with Tomatoes

Pesto chicken with tomatoes.
My wife and I made this dish the other night. I'm not a big pesto fan
but I still can't get over the taste. Enjoyable.
I think we have about a hundred chicken recipes.
Some with marsala, red wine, white wine, cream sauces;
Some fried, broiled, baked, cubed, shredded, and more...
Somehow, pesto keeps crawling back from the recipe book.
Must be that GREEN color, or maybe the smell of the basil.
Guess I found my weak spot. Pesto.
Or should I say: "Pesto !"

Here goes:

1 box of whole wheat pasta. I like elbows or ziti.
Wheat pasta, less fat.
Penne works great here.
http://www.barillaus.com/aggregator/prodotto_barilla/1084

1- 2 chicken breasts, depending on how much chicken you like.
I think my friends on the east coast have Perdue.
http://www.perdue.com/Products/
We have Foster Farms.
http://www.fosterfarms.com/products/
1 cup of baby (cherry) tomatoes.
2 cups of freshly chopped basil leaves
1 cup of pine nuts
1 cup of parmesan cheese
1 garlic, smashed and diced
juice of 1 lemon + 2 Tbsps. of lemon reserved for the marinade
1/2 cup of olive oil + 4 Tbsps reserved for the marinade. I like Bertolli oil.
http://www.villabertolli.com/

First, I take the chicken breasts and remove all the fat.
Slightly flatten (aka) pound the chicken breasts.
I (lightly sprinkle) salt and pepper each side of the breasts.
Set aside.

For the chicken marinade:
2 Tbsps. of lemon juice
4 Tbsps. of olive oil
1 Tbsp. of poultry seasoning.
Poultry seasoning is basically dried ground onion, garlic, basil, sage, coriander,
 black pepper, paprika, rosemary, and marjoram.
Both The Spice Hunter
http://www.spicehunter.com/products.asp
and McCormick make dry spices.
http://www.mccormick.com/Products.aspx
Blend (infuse) the oil with the lemon juice and stir in the poultry seasoning.
Pour over the chicken breasts.
You can marinate the chicken in the fridge for 1 hr.,
but remember to let the chicken get to room temp before cooking.
My preferred cooking method:
Barbecue.
I oiled my barbecue. (Or you can spray with Pam.)
http://www.pamcookingspray.com/non-stick-spray-products/
Cooked the chicken over medium setting, roughly 5 minutes
per side until lightly scoured with grill marks on both sides,the chicken juices run clear
and the meat is white and moist.
Also, barbecued my tomatoes until they are  blistered (popped open.)
Let both rest

Pesto.
Place the pine nuts in a small pan.
Place over low heat on the stove for 2 minutes to loosen the oils and aromatics
 from the pine nuts.
In a cuisinart or food blender:
 mix the 2 cups of finely shredded basil, the cup of pine nuts that you roasted, the juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1 cup of parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook the pasta in a pot of salted water. Al Dente: 8 minutes.
Drain. Do not rinse! Do not oil!

Dice the chicken into shreds or cubes. Cut the tomatoes in half.
Place in a serving bowl with the pesto and pasta.
Mix well.
Serve chilled or room temp.

Now for the fun stuff...
I'm filtering and bottling my chardonnay today.
Everyone say Yeahhhhhhh!

Life is beautiful.
Thanks Kath, Luv u.

Steven
steveneatsquiche@gmail.com

Little Red House - cabernet / syrah

Finished making cabernet / syrah ("Little Red House") last month. My newest wine was made this morning.
Work has been slow this week so I thought it would be nice, while we are having a break from the "global warming" rain  & cold, to start the process of making a chardonnay for the summer.

The cab / syrah is aging. Bottled, finished and waiting to be enjoyed later this  summer.
Completed processing the grape liquid with my yeast and wine clarifiers.
Now the fermentation begins.

Will be checking the filters and water levels the next couple of weeks until the sulfites will be added.
The long wait begins. maui sunset here we come. Yes, that is the name of the chardonnay.
Kierann my soon to be 6 year old came up with the title and will be creating the artwork once the bottling process begins.

Now for the chardonnay.... I am hoping for a light crisp white wine.
Somewhere along the notes of a Napa Cellars Chardonnay
http://napacellars.com/Wines/Chardonnay/
 not a Miner Chardonnay.
http://minerwines.com/

Yet, I love both but there is a time for each.
Less oaky and lighter on the fruit of apple, pear with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg.

The Cab / Syrah, although not a disappointment turned out more like a rose.
Lighter than the big blends I like (ie: Super Tuscans, Meritage, Barberas). Still enjoyable.

On a different note, I decanted a spanish wine last night:
2005 Emilio Moro Ribera Del Duero.
A red table wine from Spain. Not bad but I should have picked a 2007. 2005 might have been
ready for a bullfight.
There are times when you need to drink wines a little earlier. This one tasted fine but it needed some  time to breath.
It was darker in color but still lost some of its tannins.
Drinking and making wine. Always a learning process...

Heh, wanted to give a shout out to Thomas Riley. Fellow writer and educator.
He has a very good blog at:
http://thegrapebelt.wordpress.com/

I'm enjoying his blog. Very knowledgeable in the wine biz and a nice style of writing.

Cheers Tom!

Restaurant Reviews

I know I was supposed to write part 2 of my favorite restaurants in Oakland but I thought I would "jump jump around, jump around" over to Emeryville.
So here goes. A few of my favorites, my menu picks and the restaurants link:

Townhouse.
http://www.townhousebarandgrill.com

Can't go wrong with mac & cheese. Add bacon and onion and I'M There !
Roasted beet salad with cherries and goat cheese.
And a warm crab and avocado dip for an appetizer.
Wine for me 09 Cakebread Chardonnay.
Like you didn't know I would have picked that wine?

Myozen Sushi and Roll.
http://www.gotsushiandsake.com

I like the 3 item bento box. I get to choose some of the items I want
and can add or substitute others.
The vegetable tempura is nice. Not too heavily battered.
Good miso soup.
Light veggie salad with asian dressing.
Now for my sushi: California roll, Spicy Tuna, and Unagi (eel)

Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe.
http://iamrudy.com/

The guys from Green Day rocked the House!
Fish and Chips, get these on Friday.
Meatloaf and mash potatoes available on Monday.
2 of my favorites.I order it everytime. Can't fail with these 2.

P.F.Chang's China Bistro
http://www.pfchangs.com/index.aspx

I know, I know it's a chain.
At least it's not like that fake mexican chain of restaurants
my wife drags me to.
Chicken lettuce wraps. perfect little bites of chicken, mushrooms, onions
and more wrapped in a lettuce cup.
Mongolian beef with just the right amount of garlic and scallion onions.
Orang peel chicken with chili sauce and orange.
And I will have a TsingTao. Yes that's right no wine for me here.

Just a few here. Maybe next time I will move on over to Alameda
to check out the Park St. area restaurants.

Enjoy!
Steven

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Wine making at home

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Wine making at home: I finally got around to making some homemade wine. Started out by making a cabernet sauvignon. Never realized how much work was involved. ...

Wine making at home

I finally got around to making some homemade wine.
Started out by making a cabernet sauvignon.
Never realized how much work was involved.
Cleaning and sterilizing the bottles and tank.

And the process, I have NO patience. It has only been a week and 1/2.
I know it takes time for the fermentation to work.
But my mind keep thinking about the future...
After the bottling and then I can sample my labor of love.

Just finished adding my yeast, emulsifiers, wine clarifiers, and sulfates.
Every 2 days I check my water levels.
Added my bags of oak to the liquid.
In a couple of weeks I will be filtering the wine and the aging process will begin.

Got my youngest daughter involved.
She is designing the labels with her artwork.
She came up with the names for the varietals:
Chardonnay: Maui Sunset
Cabernet Sauvignon: Little Red Dog
Syrah - this one is still being considered at this time.

I may be (whining) "wine - ing" but I guess patience is a virtue.

Will have to wait couple of months before the taste test.

Til then,
try this one: 2008 Franciscan Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
and you can never go wrong with Conn Creeks' 2006 Anthology.

Drink well and be merry,
Steven

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Where to Eat in Oakland,CA. Some of my favorite sp...

Real Men Eat Quiche and Drink Wine: Where to Eat in Oakland,CA. Some of my favorite sp...: Where to Eat in Oakland,CA. Some of my favorite spots and what to order. This 1st in a series. B Restaurant - my rating B http://www.boa...