Welcome to our winery. Well, not exactly.

January 21, 2015Brian

As Gillian mentioned in her previous post, she grew up in Sonoma, California, so when we head back to visit her family, we have been known to frequent some Sonoma wineries like Ravenswood, Cline, Viansa, etc. Wines in Sonoma are amazing, and they are the first wines we pick when we’re in the States, but when Gillian describes where she is from, people often give her a quizzical look. Then she says “it’s north of San Francisco” and if necessary, “it’s right next to Napa” and suddenly they understand.

Of all the times we’ve been to her hometown together, we’ve hardly ventured into Napa for any reason at all, much less for some wine tasting, but then we found this place: a winery that bears our last name!

We are, unfortunately, not related in any way to the Burgesses of this winery, nor did we really “find” this place. A good friend of ours works at another Napa winery and brought us a fantastic bottle from Burgess Cellars wine a year ago, with the promise that she would arrange a trip to the winery the next time we were in Sonoma. Monica was not messing around, and despite having a 6-week-old infant, she and her husband Jason drove us up to this beautiful winery up on the hill north of St. Helena.

The winery started back in 1972 when a guy named Tom Burgess bought a 1870s-era vineyard. Tom is from Ohio (so definitely no relation to my Brooklyn-born relatives) and cultivated a taste for wine after being stationed in Europe while flying in the Air Force. When he began Burgess Cellars, there were only a handful of wineries in Napa Valley, it being a few years before Napa gained world recognition in 1976 (as depicted in the movie Bottle Shock). The woman pouring wines for us told us how much he paid per acre, and the number so low it made me long for a time machine.

It’s still family-run and a relatively small outfit with three separate vineyards totaling just over 100 acres. Their Cabernet Sauvignons, Syrahs and Merlots are all fantastic and award-winning, and they grow a total of eight different varietals.

If you find yourself in Napa Valley (and have already been to some Sonoma wineries, of course), check out Burgess Cellars. It’s beautiful and tranquil and a nice change of pace from the wineries on the main drag of St. Helena Highway.

Tastings are done twice a day (10:30 and 2) in small groups and by appointment only, so call ahead or send an email to make a reservation. $10 will get you six different wines, but the fee is waved if you purchase a bottle. Most wines range from $30-80 and we walked away with a bottle of Petit Sirah that made the long journey back the Barcelona with us.

For more info, check out their website, and when you show up, tell them the Burgesses sent you 😉

www.burgesscellars.com

Winery Location • 1108 Deer Park Road • Deer Park, CA 94576 (Near St. Helena)

Tel: 800.752.9463 or 707.963.4766

customerservice@burgesscellars.com

Oysters, Chowder & Beer on the Sonoma Coast

January 20, 2015January 21, 2015Gillian

Brian and I just got back from a month-long trip to the U.S. for the holidays, which made us feel like fancypants jetsetters. Just stops in Fairfax, New Orleans and Sonoma; no big deal. For such a long trip, it flew by, and we managed to indulge in many, many delicious meals with some of our favorite people.

hog-island-oyster — Hog Island Oyster Co., Tomales Bay

I grew up in the town of Sonoma, California, where my parents still live, and I love going home for obvious reasons. Awesome wine, food, people and scenery? Yes.

I was especially excited to make it back to Sonoma because I haven’t visited in almost two years, and Brian hasn’t gone with me in five. We must have charmed the weather gods because it was sunny, temperate and beautiful for our entire stay (a rarity in January), and we took full advantage by planning a day out on the Sonoma Coast.

Way back in high school, my friends and I would pile into someone’s car, crank up the tunes and drive out to the coast as often as we could. Mind you, a Northern California day at the beach is not a scene from 90210. It’s usually freezing. We’d wear hoodies and jackets and scarves… but every now and then, we’d get a day warm enough to get in the water. But even on the grayest, windiest, saltiest days, the Sonoma Coast is absolutely gorgeous.

Bodega Bay has always been my favorite for lounging, grilling and eating out, but we decided to go south 30 minutes and stop in Tomales Bay first for one reason: oysters. Tomales is known for its fresh-farmed, delicious oysters, which I wasn’t really aware of when I was younger. I’ve always liked oysters and would eat them grilled or cooked in butter or wine from an early age, but it wasn’t till I lived in New Orleans that I started eating them raw. Oysters on the halfshell, plain or with just a little hot sauce and lemon, are damn near perfection. They taste like the ocean in the best possible way.

A Day on the Sonoma Coast

Hog Island Oyster Co.

Hog Island Oyster Co. has oyster bars in Napa and San Francisco, but if you head out to Marshall on Tomales Bay, you can eat a few fresh-shucked beauties right on the farm. If you have a picnic reservation, you can shuck and grill your own, but we went the lazy route and ordered from the bar – which is the bow of an old wooden boat. An order of raw oysters, an order of grilled oysters with chipotle sauce, two beers from North Coast Brewing Co. in Fort Bragg: heaven.

We got there at about 11 a.m. on a Monday, the day the Golden Gate Bridge was reopening after a weekend closure for renovations. We had the place entirely to ourselves for about an hour, enjoying views of the bay while the friendly staff worked around us to a great soundtrack.

Tomales Bay Oyster Co.

After Hog Island, we drove a few miles down the coast to the next stop on our oyster tour: Tomales Bay Oyster Co. You can buy bags of oysters by the dozen for a great price (we paid $15 for ours), then carry out or pay $5 a person to shuck, grill and eat at the picnic benches next to the bay.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I had never actually shucked my own oysters before… so we got a quick tutorial (and a knife) and got to work. The oysters were amazing, and totally worth the extra effort.

The Tides

We still had a little room after our oyster appetizers, so we drove up to The Tides, an old favorite in Bodega Bay. Normally, we order a feast from the snack bar – clam chowder in a bread bowl, calamari, oysters – and eat at the tables outside if it’s not too windy (or more often inside), but it was closed that day. So we got a loaf of sourdough and a large order of clam chowder from the deli and feasted that way instead.

Lagunitas Brewery

Bellies finally full, we drove back into Petaluma and wrapped up the day at the fantastic Lagunitas Brewery. I love their beers and their funky NorCal character, and the tour and tasting didn’t disappoint. You leave wanting to hang out there all the time and somehow get a job (any job) there. Go for a visit, drink a beer in their tap room and ask them to tell you all the good stories (like the Undercover Investigation Shutdown Ale).

I miss you, NorCal, but we’ll be back soon for the rest of your oysters and beer.

I wrote this post as part of the Your Turn Challenge from Seth Godin’s team. Anyone can participate and write one blog post per day for seven days on any topic. My lovely sister Melia inspired me and gave me the kick in the pants I needed to get writing again. Gracias y besos – here’s to Day 1!

How to Make Mix-and-Match Enchiladas

December 7, 2014Gillian

I make enchiladas at least once a month, usually when I have a random assortment of leftovers and vegetables I need to use, and I am craving something a little spicy. What I like best about enchiladas is that you can make them a thousand different ways, and they’re almost guaranteed to be delicious no matter what you put in them. My commitment to creating authentic Mexican cuisine is minimal, so it frees me up to try a lot of possible combinations.

My basic formula is:

Put a few cups of cooked beans or leftover chicken, pork or beef into a mixing bowl. (This is an excellent use for slow-cooker pulled pork or dried beans that you soak overnight, then cook on low all day in the slow cooker.)
Mix beans or meat with sour cream (or Greek yogurt), a few generous handfuls of shredded or crumbled cheese, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper.
Lightly sauté some veggies in olive oil.
Take flour tortillas (or corn tortillas that have been softened by microwaving them briefly or sautéing them in a little oil) and add generous dollops of beans or meat and veggies in the center.
Roll the filled tortillas up, and nestle them in a casserole dish, seam down.
Cover with enchilada sauce and bake, adding more cheese on top for the last few minutes.

A few recipe ideas:

Pork, spinach and pepper jack cheese
Chicken, red peppers and cheddar cheese
Pinto beans, zucchini and goat cheese
Black beans, squash and cotija or feta cheese

Any variations you would add to the list?

Bean, Mushroom, Red Pepper & Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients

Enchiladas:
1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked pinto beans (about 1 16-ounce can)
1 onion, diced
1 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 cup wild or white button mushrooms, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 - 1 ½ cups sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 bag shredded cheese (about 200 g or 8 oz)
10-12 small flour tortillas
Salsa or hot sauce (optional)
Pickled jalapeños (optional)
Avocado (optional)
Salt and pepper
Sauce:
1 large can whole peeled tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Spices to taste (chili pepper, cumin, salt, pepper, oregano, cayenne, etc.)

Instructions

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan and sauté pepper, onions and mushrooms for 5-8 minutes, until vegetables start to soften. Preheat oven to 375° F.
Make the sauce in a separate saucepan: sauté garlic in olive oil for 1-2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and their juices, crushing them well with your hands as you go and breaking them up more with a spoon or spatula. Season with spices and let simmer uncovered for about 15-20 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender if you want a smoother sauce.
In a large bowl, mix pinto beans, cilantro, sour cream and half the bag of cheese. Add a few good shakes of salt and pepper, and mix well.
Grease a 9 x 13 casserole pan with a bit of olive oil to keep enchiladas from sticking. Place heaping portions of bean mixture and veggie mixture on a tortilla, roll it up and place it seam side down in the pan. Repeat until the pan is full and you use up all the filling.
Pour the sauce over the enchiladas. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for about 40 minutes.
Take the enchiladas out of the oven, remove the foil and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Return to the oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are starting to get crisp on the edges.
Serve with extra toppings: sour cream, jalapeños, salsa, hot sauce, avocado, lime, cilantro, etc.

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2014/12/07/how-to-make-mix-and-match-enchiladas/

Gumbo-Filled Arancini (Rice Balls)

November 3, 2014November 4, 2014Gillian

We made a big pot of chicken-sausage gumbo last weekend and had just enough leftovers to make this wondrous dish.

Gumbo-filled arancini. Life-changing, y’all. I’m obsessed.

We fell in love with arancini – Sicilian fried rice balls – when we lived in Naples (the ones filled with meat sauce are my favorite) and have been dying to try this New Orleans variation for some time.

Do yourself a favor, and take the following steps immediately:

Make a huge pot of gumbo – we played around with a combination of recipes (one from our friend Kathleen and one from The New Orleans Cookbook) – and invite people you like to come share it with you. This is an excellent idea for, say, a football game. Bonus points if it’s the Saints game.
The next day, make these gumbo-filled arancini, and prepare to be amazed.

arancini-preparation — Prepping the gumbo and rice balls

rice-balls — Starting to look more like arancini

arancini-before-frying — Breaded arancini, ready for frying

gumbo-arancini — Gumbo arancini with extra gumbo

Gumbo-Filled Arancini

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Gumbo-Filled Arancini

Ingredients

Leftover rice
Leftover gumbo
3-4 eggs
Breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil
Hot sauce

Instructions

Take the rice out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you start cooking so it has time to warm up a bit. Take the gumbo out of the refrigerator just before you are ready to use it.
In a large mixing bowl, blend leftover rice with 2 beaten eggs until it is slightly sticky and holds together.
Beat remaining egg(s) in a small bowl and set aside. Pour breadcrumbs into a separate bowl and set next to the egg mixture.
For each rice ball, make two small patties out of the rice. Add a dollop of gumbo to the center of one patty, then place the second patty on top. Form the two patties into a round shape.
Dip each rice ball in egg mixture, then roll in breadcrumbs.
Heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a pan until it is hot but not smoking. Fry arancini in the oil, turning so that each side turns golden brown. Remove from pan and place on paper towels.
Serve with a small bowl of gumbo and extra hot sauce.

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2014/11/03/gumbo-filled-arancini-rice-balls/

Slow-Cooked BBQ Pulled Pork

October 27, 2014Brian

As Gill mentioned in a previous post, last weekend we went to our friend Claire’s place to put on a barbecue. It had been too long since we had done so, and Claire was kind enough to indulge us.

The recipe I’ve been using for a few years is one I found in ReadyMade Magazine, which unfortunately shut down in 2011. The article was called “How I Learned to Cook Southern-Style Barbecue on my Fire Escape” and was written by food writer, JJ Goode. Mr. Goode’s recipe is adapted from Adam Perry Lang’s book Serious Barbecue (he also happens to do the writing in that book) and is so freakin’ good that I’ve been carting the torn-out, dog-eared article around the world for the last five years.

Despite having made this dish on many occasions before, there were a few firsts this time around. For one, a whole pork shoulder (bone-in) was fairly easy to find here in Barcelona. Our local market here has a number of stands specializing in meat, and I simply walked around until I found the one that only had pork products (I’m not kidding, no other animal was represented under the glass at this place). A whole shoulder was something I had to request and pick up the next day, and 4-5 kilos worth of meat was only about €16.

Second, this was my first attempt at the low-tech version of this recipe. In the past I’ve had a digital meat thermometer as well as a grill with a temperature gauge. These tools obviously make maintaing a grill temp of 250°F and achieving an internal meat temperature of 193°F MUCH easier. This time around, I did not have these things, and the results were still as good as always, so clearly, they are nice to have, but not a requirement.

I won’t bore you with all the details of how to recreate this heavenly pulled pork (you can click through the images above), but I will note a few things that I’ve figured out over the years. I am by no means an expert, but maybe these are useful to you:

Patience and planning are more important than any other skill when it comes to low and slow BBQ. Leave time for salting the meat and leave time for the mustard to tenderize the meat. Above all, you simply cannot rush magic of slow smoking, so grab a book, take a nap and be patient.
Many recipes (including the one I’ve been carting around all these years) call for injecting the meat with various liquids (like apple cider) to keep it moist while it’s cooking. They are nice to do, but by no means required.
The key to slowly cooking the meat is indirect heat, meaning, position the coals so they are never directly below the pork shoulder.
Place an aluminum pan of water inside the grill and make sure it stays full. This water evaporates and the humid heat keeps the pork shoulder from drying out.
Every time you open the grill, you lose precious heat. Remember, with a target temperature of 250°F, you don’t have much to begin with. Open it only when necessary (like adding coals, or water to your pan) but otherwise, let it be. Resist the temptation to gaze longingly at the succulent meat; there will be time for that later.
When the meat is done you should not need a knife at all. You should be able to effortlessly pull out the bones and a couple of forks should be enough to pull the meat apart. If this is not happening, that meat needs to go back on the grill (probably for a few more hours).
Save the bones from the pork shoulder for use in soups, gumbos, red beans and rice, etc. A couple of hours stewing with one of these bones gives virtually anything an amazing smokiness you can only get from the grill. Freeze the bones until you’re ready to use them.
Make your own BBQ sauce. You just spent 6-9 hours cooking the most amazing meat, and you’re going to put nasty, sugar-filled, store-bought sauce on it? Please. Do not do this.

Happy grilling!

Bourbon-Chipotle BBQ Sauce

October 26, 2014June 12, 2016Gillian

Last weekend, we celebrated our lovely friend Claire’s birthday by camping out all day on her gorgeous terrace in El Gòtic and slow-cooking a ridiculous amount of pork to perfection (more about that in another post).

It was a tough day.

Brian worked his magic on the grill, and I made a simple coleslaw and this bourbon-chipotle BBQ sauce, which I have to say, turned out mighty fine. I love BBQ sauce, but I find a lot of the bottled stuff too sweet and lacking in real flavor (also, it’s strangely not a thing here in Spain).

I like a BBQ sauce with a little kick to it, and my old friends bourbon and chipotle give this recipe a moderate level of spice with a hint of smoky sweetness.

tomatoes for BBQ sauce — End-of-the-season tomatoes

I’ve made a variation of this recipe before with canned tomatoes, and it turned out well – but go for the fresh version if you’ve got ’em. It takes additional time to cook them down, but it’s not a lot more hands-on work, and I think it’s worth it.

Pulled pork with BBQ sauce — Pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and bourbon-chipotle BBQ sauce. Yes.

Bourbon-Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Yield: 2 squeeze bottles

Bourbon-Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

5 lbs. fresh tomatoes, cores and seeds removed and roughly chopped (or about 70 oz. canned whole peeled tomatoes)
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup + 1 T. dark brown sugar
1/2 cup bourbon
2 T. molasses
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, deseeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 T. cocoa powder
Olive oil

Instructions

First, make the ketchup-like base. Heat a little olive oil in a large pot, and add tomatoes, celery, onion, garlic, chipotle, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, vinegar, Worcestershire and brown sugar. Cook uncovered for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours until the tomatoes have reduced and become thick and saucy. (Use fresh tomatoes if available; if you use canned tomatoes, you can reduce the cook time to about 30-45 minutes.)
Purée with an immersion blender or in a regular blender. Push the mixture through a strainer once or twice, and discard solids.
Add bourbon, molasses and cocoa powder to the tomato mixture and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes. Adjust seasoning as needed.

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2014/10/26/bourbon-chipotle-bbq-sauce/

Garbanzo, Bulgar & Veggie Fritters With Mint Tzatziki

October 24, 2014October 24, 2014Gillian

I have a tendency to cook as though I am feeding the entire Duggar family instead of two normal-ish adults. As a result, we often have leftover grains and beans to get creative with.

This week, we had a ton of extra bulgar and a bag of dried garbanzo beans begging to be used, so I cooked up some tasty (and shockingly vegan, minus the tzatziki sauce, which I do think is a necessity) fritters.

The great thing about this kind of fritter is that you can adapt it to fit whatever you have on hand. We’ve been eating a lot of bulgar lately (quick cooking instructions: 2:1 ratio of broth or water to bulgar; boil liquid, add to bulgar, cover and let sit for 30 minutes), but you could easily substitute couscous or rice. We also happened to have chard and peppers, but you could use zucchini, carrots, spinach, whatever your little heart desires.

Of course I made twice the amount in the recipe below, so I did not actually cut down on the leftover count. You get a fritter! And you get a fritter! Fritters for everyone! I think tomorrow I’m going to add poached eggs to them and call that brunch…

mint-tzatziki-sauce — Easy mint tzatziki sauce

swiss-chard-peppers — Sautéed chard and peppers

chickpea-veggie-mix — Garbanzo and veggie mixture

chickpea-chard-fritter-in-pan — Delicious fried goodness

Garbanzo, Bulgar & Veggie Fritters With Mint Tzatziki

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Serving Size: 4

Garbanzo, Bulgar & Veggie Fritters With Mint Tzatziki

Ingredients

Fritters:
1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (about 1 can)
1 small bunch Swiss chard, tough parts discarded and roughly chopped
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups cooked bulgar (or couscous, brown rice, etc.)
Juice of 1 lemon
Flour
Olive oil
Spices and herbs to taste (salt, pepper, cumin, red pepper flakes, mint, cayenne, etc.)
Mint Tzatziki Sauce:
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 clove garlic
1 T. olive oil
1 T. vinegar
Small handful of fresh mint, finely chopped (or a few T. of dried mint)
Salt

Instructions

Make the tzatziki by mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate while you make the fritters.
Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan. Sauté onion, pepper and Swiss chard until onions are soft and chard is wilted. Drain excess liquid using a strainer, and set aside.
Add garbanzo beans, lemon juice and garlic to a food processor and combine until it forms a rough paste. Add chard mix and spices and blend until mostly smooth.
Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl and add bulgar, adjusting spices if necessary.
Heat a thin layer of olive oil to medium-high heat in a frying pan. Form small patties from the mixture, and coat in flour.
Fry patties in oil until crispy and brown on each side, a few minutes per side. Serve with tzatziki sauce, salad and bread.

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2014/10/24/garbanzo-bulgar-veggie-fritters-with-mint-tzatziki/

Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos With Chipotle & Cilantro

October 16, 2014October 17, 2014Gillian

Our building has some sort of gas leak, so maintenance turned off the gas for all the apartments until they fix the problem. I should probably be more alarmed at the safety or health implications of this, but I’m mostly just annoyed that I haven’t been able to use the stovetop in five days.

Thank goodness we have an electric oven and a slow cooker, or they’d be getting an earful of my strongly worded but grammatically incorrect Spanish complaints.

I went a little crazy at the market yesterday and came home with 2 kilos (4.4 lbs.) of pork to make tacos… and enchiladas and about five more meals I have yet to dream up.

I spent a little more time making the marinade than I normally do, and it was totally worth the extra few minutes. The meat had a nice subtle spiciness – nothing too crazy – so you can adjust the chipotle and jalapeño measurements to your own taste.

I recommend serving the tacos with extra sour cream, avocado, cilantro and Tapatío. This is actually just a good life rule.

Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours, 20 minutes

Serving Size: 10-12

Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos

Ingredients

Taco Meat:
4-5 lb. pork shoulder (or other cut with some nice marbling)
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, deseeded and chopped
1 jalapeño or other medium-spicy pepper, chopped
1 T. cumin
1 T. chili powder
7 fresh tomatoes (or tomato purée), chopped
1 lime
1 bunch fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Taco Fixins:
Corn or flour tortillas
Avocado
Sour cream
Cheese
Hot sauce

Instructions

Salt the pork generously and let sit in the slow cooker while you do the rest of the prep.
Combine onion, garlic, chipotle, jalapeño, cumin, chili powder and a little olive oil and microwave or sauté for about 5 minutes, until onions are softened. Transfer to food processor.
Add fresh tomatoes, most of the cilantro (saving some for garnish) and the juice of 1 lime. Blend until smooth.
Pour mixture over the pork, turning it over a few times to coat (the meat won't be completely submerged).
Cook on high for 6 to 8 hours or low for 9 to 11 hours, turning the meat once or twice if possible. When it's done, the meat should fall apart when you touch it.
Serve on warm tortillas with your favorite fixins. Save the leftover cooking liquid to cook black or pinto beans.

https://www.travelingtotaste.com/2014/10/16/slow-cooker-pork-tacos-with-chipotle-cilantro/

Las Empas and the making of the Porterhouse Blue

October 15, 2014October 15, 2014Brian

Dag Flachet is a good friend of ours, and along with some partners, he runs an empanada joint called Las Empas, here in Gràcia, Barcelona.

Mind you, this is not your standard restaurant; these empanadas are made by the customers. I don’t mean you show up and make your own bespoke empanada, I mean customers compete using a Facebook application to design and promote an empanada of their own creation. The one with the most votes gets the opportunity to make a test batch, and if all goes well, get an empanada on the menu.

“What’s the incentive?” you may ask. Once your creation is on the menu, for every 20 that are sold, you get a free empanada when you go by the restaurant. It’s a clever business model that links social media with food in an engaging (and competitive) way, and rewards creativity with deliciousness.

Needless to say, it was enough to motivate me, so I’ll walk you through how the process went.

A couple of years ago, Gillian and I had an amazing meal at some restaurant in Hawaii that used a red-wine reduction sauce. We thought, “Why are there no beer reduction sauces?” and set to work making one. What we ended up with was a seared beef tenderloin with blue cheese and porter beer reduction, which turned out surprisingly well (consequently, it was later featured on craftbeer.com). I thought this might make a good empanada, so I gave it a shot.

Using the Las Empas Empanada Creator on Facebook is super easy and intuitive. Pick the type of dough (out of five options), pick the filling (too many to count), add the spices (also too many to count). Simple. If something essential is missing (for instance, porter beer reduction sauce), let them know, and they’ll add it to the application.

Once you’ve created and named (a good name is essential) your empanada, it’s time for shameless self-promotion. Share it on Facebook and encourage your friends to vote for your empanada. Likes on Facebook contribute to your overall score, and votes are tallied so you can see your progress on the leaderboard.

leaderboard-screen-shot — Leaderboard shows total votes and time remaining in the competition.

After a month of, as mentioned before, shameless self-promotion to friends and family who may never get to try my empanada based on geographic distance, I ended up at the top! Seriously, thank you all of you who voted.

I'm not just making this up, here's the screen shot! — I’m not just making this up, here’s the screen shot!

The next step was to met with Dag in the test kitchen and do a test run. This day started by writing all the ingredients of the empanada on his giant chalkboard wall. Being a designer who loves typography, I maybe went a little overboard.

Probably spent too long on this. — Me + Food + Typography = Way too much time making this.

I’ve never made empanadas before, but the prep of the filling was similar to what I’d done when making the original recipe. Dag had handy little patties of empanada dough and we made about 15-20, using a fork to close them up.

Putting the pieces together (Photo courtesy of Blaga Popova)

A few minutes in the oven and the empanadas were ready for a formal presentation in front of the Las Empas sign. You should note that Dag is seated and is still taller than I am when standing.

I present you Empa Porterhouse Blue. — I present you Empa Porterhouse Blue (Photo courtesy of Blaga Popova).

The empanadas came out with gooey, cheesy, beer reductiony steak filling and were really good. With zero prior knowledge and this being my first attempt at empanadas ever, I’m extremely pleased with the results. Of course, now I see there are a few things I would optimize the next time around. Mainly, cooking the meat less time before it goes into the dough (it gets cooked again in the oven) a using LOT more beer sauce. Obviously.

These things are to be expected, and overall I had a ton of fun making empanadas and drinking beer all afternoon (we had to make sure we had the right beer for the sauce, of course). Many thanks to Dag and the rest of the Las Empas team for humoring me, as well as Blaga Popova for documenting the event. Looking forward to the next round of testing and seeing Empa Porterhouse Blue on the menu soon!

Cavatast 2014: A Weekend in Penedès Wine Country

October 10, 2014October 10, 2014Gillian

The capital of the cava region, Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, is just a stone’s throw away from Barcelona, a fact that makes me very, very happy.

You can hop on the regional train – Rodalies R4 line – at Plaça de Catalunya and be there in about 45 minutes. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you see the massive Freixenet cavaplex right next to the Sant Sadurní d’Anoia train station.

We have made it out to visit different wineries several times with friends, and for about the last eight months, we’ve been looking forward to Cavatast, the town’s annual cava festival held at the end of harvest season, this year from October 3 to 5:

Cavatast is a space for pairing the best cavas with the best food trends of the season. The exhibitors offer visitors an extraordinary range of products for tasting, savouring, enjoying and taking home.

That sounds good. I’ll have that.

Our awesome friends Kyle and Arianna were visiting from California, so it was only fitting that we head to the cava fest to take the place by storm. Kyle and I should have started some sort of Sonoma County cheer to represent for our own wine country (next time).

We got to Cavatast in the early afternoon on Saturday, walking the 10 minutes from the train station up to the street hosting the festival, and I was surprised by how uncrowded and laidback it was. A few weeks ago, Brian and I went with friends to a wine and cava festival in Barcelona during La Mercè (the festivities for the patron saint of the city), and it was a lot of fun but packed with people. The scene in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia was much more serene during the day, with no lines and plenty of standing table space, though it did get more crowded as the night went on. Yes, we were there all day.

The prices were super reasonable, and this is what we bought for each person:

Cava and glass (4 tickets + 1 glass) 6.50 €
Additional cava (4 tickets) 5.00 €
Food (4 tickets) 6.00 €
Total: 17.50 €

Each of the 30-some wineries with a stand at Cavatast offered several different types of cava, for a price of one to four tickets. We stuck within the one to two-ticket range and got to try a great selection of cavas. Two of the favorites were the brut nature from Mont Marçal and Fonpinet (we bought three bottles of each at the end of the night) – subtly dry and flavorful. We also sampled some excellent food from Restaurant Cal Blay – bacallà (cod), fideuà (noodle dish similar to paella), cannelloni with mushroom bechamel sauce and a stew with botifarra negra (Catalan sausage).

It was a long and trying day, making so many difficult decisions about what type of cava to try next. We took a late train back to Vilafranca del Penedès, 10 minutes away, where we stayed the night and regained our strength.

On Sunday, we took the train to Lavern-Subirats – next to Sant Sadurní d’Anoia – to have lunch with friends at the spectacular Cal Pere del Maset, which is a quick cab ride from the station in the town of Sant Pau d’Ordal. Our friend Joan’s family owns the restaurant, and the food is nothing short of amazing. Course after course of seasonal, perfectly prepared dishes.

A few favorites that I now dream about: crepes filled with chicken and covered in foie gras sauce and mushrooms, hake cooked to perfection served with romesco sauce, perfectly rare solomillo (best steak ever) with foie gras and truffle sauce, chocolette croquetas with bitter orange sauce. It was gourmet gastronomic experience with an insane wine selection (seriously, the wine list is bigger than dictionaries I’ve owned), fantastic service and a beautiful setting for very reasonable prices for the quality you receive. A meal like this in California would have cost far more, and Cal Pere del Maset is well worth the day trip from Barcelona. We will find an excuse to go back very soon.

All in all, Cavatast 2014 was a great experience, and heading to the festival is going to be an annual tradition. Who’s in for Cavatast 2015?