Have you ever had crispy gnocchi? It sounds weird and counter intuitive, as gnocchi is soft and dough-like, but trust me, crispy gnocchi is delicious! I first thought to lightly pan fry the gnocchi after boiling them a few years ago.
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The Thompson Kitchen
Picking the Perfect White Wine
David Sipress Cartoon from The New Yorker
Is anyone intimidated by white wine? Red wine, sure, I feel like I kind of know what I’m talking about, or at least know what I like. But white wine? Forget about it. I think my intimidation stemmed from not knowing much about it or finding a white wine I truly enjoyed. Then it was 90 degrees out and suddenly I decided, this was the summer I was going to learn about white wine.
My first step was to go to my local wine store, The Twisted Vine and ask for help. This was the best thing I did. I told one of the owners my feelings on white wine and what I liked and didn’t like. I don’t like Chardonnay because I don’t like the oaky-ness of it. I don’t like Riesling because I don’t like super sweet wines. And I don’t like Pinot Grigio because I don’t think it tastes like much. Turns out I’m not alone.
The owner started asking me more questions and we came to the conclusion that I like white wines that are crisp and have mineral undertones. This lead to my new found love of French white wines. He suggested a few to try, all under $15 a bottle (score!). I bought a few (or 6) bottles and began my “research.” I can honestly say I enjoyed all the French white wines I took home. More importantly, I’m not so intimidated by white wines anymore. When I’m out to dinner I stick to the French whites, from a region I have had a few bottles from, and have continuously had good luck.
The process of finding wine you enjoy can be intimidating when it should be fun. Here are some of my suggestions to finding wine you love:
- Go to a wine store, or a wine shop within a larger grocery store, and find someone to help you. Seriously, the people that work in the wine department want to help, and 9 times out of 10 they know what they’re talking about.
- Identify flavors you like and don’t like, i.e. sweet, acidic, oak, citrus, etc. This way you have a place to start the conversation with the person helping you.
- When you find a wine you like, go back to where you got it and tell them, they should be able to help you find similar ones that you’ll also like. Plus, the staff will eventually get to know your tastes and recommend new wines you haven’t even had a chance to ask about.
- Don’t be afraid to try new things, including wine from small producers.
Cheers!
Goat Cheese Tomato Toast
This is one of those magical “non-recipes, recipes.” Goat cheese tomato toast sounds so simple, but when you use fresh summer tomatoes and good bread, this is something you’ll end up dreaming about. I used heirloom tomatoes, which I think have a deeper, more complex flavor, but fresh on-the vine tomatoes would work great as well. The sweetness of the tomatoes, creaminess of the goat cheese, crunchy-ness of the toast, all topped with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper make the perfect combination.
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Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt
My Aunt Kathleen is my person. She’s the only person I could call and talk for 30 minutes about how my recipe will turn out if I use 64% versus 69% cocoa chocolate.
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Blueberry Cake
This blueberry cake is what summer dreams are made of. Light, fluffy, and full of sweet blueberries. My mom and I used to make it when I was growing up and my most distinct memory of it is making it for my Papa for Father’s Day. Mom and I couldn’t resist the sweet smell of the cake baking, so mom suggested we each try a piece, insisting that “Papa wouldn’t mind.” Well, a piece lead to half the cake, so when I presented the cake to Papa it was something like, “Happy Father’s day! Here’s half a cake.” Let’s just say, mom was wrong, Papa did mind we ate half his cake. Joking aside, the cake is just that good.
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