Friday, March 28, 2008

First BBQ of the Season!






Was able to do my first real legitimate BBQ of the season. Fresh Wild Salmon and Prime Baseball Filet's. Arguably the best job on Salmon Ive ever done using the cedar plank method. I swear to god Chef Pauls Salmon Magic is the pent-ultimate seasoning since the dawn of man for Salmon. You simply cant go wrong. I used RinkRats method for the filet's and it worked like a charm. Probably the closest Ive come to re-creating the Clearmans Northwoods Inn style of steak. All in all I'm very pleased with my first go round of the BBQ season. The wine was OK simply using a pretty standard bottle of Penfolds Cab/Shiraz blend. I found a couple of internet friends who work at Trader Joes so this summer will most likely feature a lot of wine varietals from them. Considering the economy isnt exactly firing on all cylinders this may be "Summer of the Budget Wine." And before I sign off I leave a personal message for LGKs Homer-Homer; I hereby give you full permission to use any of the pictures here as your next avatar. Furthermore-We will have you and Mrs Homer over soon for a future blog addition. Cheers!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Couple of Quick Wine Reviews

Rays Stations


The people at Wine Pavilion really hyped this wine and that may have been its undoing. Not to say its a bad wine...for the price Its a pretty good deal. I had this on Saturday and typing this on Monday AM I probably didnt do any favors to the reader by waiting so long as I really cant recall any details that made it worth. Better then Fetzer for sure.


While I was there I picked up another bottle that was lower priced on a whim...and what a whim it was!
http://www.laurelglen.com/laurelglen/catalog/view_product.jsp?product_id=1031&cat_id=1001





This wine tasted very similar to the Ghost Pines wine I reviewed a couple of months ago but at 1/2 the price. Very nice balance and very smooth, it had more wood/oak overtones then the fruit bomb it was advertised as. I had it with some BBQed chicken and it was marvelous. Even the wife commented on how compared to the previous nights Ray Station the Lodi Reds seemed to have a higher taste/feel to it. At the price I really should go back to the Wine Pavilion and stock up. Its only a couple bucks per bottle more then Yellowtail for crying out loud and at this price why not?