Food & Wine Notes to Self
Last week I had the great idea to make calamari. And by great idea, I mean I will never try it again. Without a deep fryer, it just doesn’t work. They were chewy from being in too long, and I still have burns on my face and arm…though they’re finally fading. Therefore, with the chaos of fighting oil splatters in a hot kitchen on an extra-warm evening, talking, and holding ice to my face while trying to eat, I didn’t take any notes on the Moet & Chandon White Star. I do recall, however, that it was exactly what I needed at that point, and it went down far too easily. I’ll have to get it again and pay better attention.
Meanwhile, here’s a recipe for the salad I also made to go with the Champagne, recreated in the style of the ’sensation salad’ at a restaurant where I worked during grad school. The bubbles were a good companion to its saltiness.
Sensation Salad:
Combine freshly minced garlic with a few generous pours of grapeseed oil. Drizzle in white vinegar and crumble in blue cheese and shaved parmesan or romano. Mix with lots of salt and pepper. Dress romaine lettuce and finish with homemade croutons. Yum: one of my new favorite salads.
calamari, Moet & Chandon White Star, Sensation Salad
May 15th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
I had some Moet the other night, too (thanks to a kindly friend) and yes, it went down *far* too easily. I could get used to it, and at $75 a bottle, that’s not a good idea :).
May 16th, 2007 at 9:47 am
That salad dressing sounds yummy for grilled asparagus, too!
May 16th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
Mmmmm good stuff, thanks for sharing this rockin’ dressing recipe Farley - and don’t forget, if you have some vinegar left over you can mix it with baking powder and red food coloring to make a cool volcano!
May 17th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Russ, that’s a great idea. I actually baked some asparagus in grapeseed oil the other night and preferred them to the ones I did in olive oil.
Bryon, next time I think I might try it with lemon instead.
June 3rd, 2007 at 9:40 am
[…] and I were having dinner at Il Fornaio–a lovely time over glasses of Mumm Brut and calamari made by someone other than me. At that point I preceeded to order a Primitivo. Except when the server came back to the table, she […]