Tag Archives: easy recipes

A Delicious Discovery for World Verdejo Day

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Happy World Verdejo Day, readers! This may be the fastest blog post I have ever thrown together in a day (pant, pant – June is BUSY!) but the word must go out. The blog must go on! Plus, I also share an easy recipe that will pair exceptionally well with this wine. And, last but not least, drum roll… Happy 100th post to The Rambling Vine! ❤

I first had this wine at a Spanish wine class at Total Wine. As someone who prefers red wines, I tend to reluctantly try white wines with low expectations. But this cheerful and exuberant white made me check my biases and thrust me into full-blown enjoyment. When a white wine makes me say “whoa” after the first sip, I know I’m on to a good thing. It’s also a fantastic price ($16.99) for a truly fantastic wine.

So what is Verdejo? Verdejo is a white wine grape grown in Rueda, Spain. Rueda is a region that uses mainly Verdejo grapes to create amazing white wines bursting with tart acidity and plush, full fruit flavors. If you’re a New Zealand Sauv Blanc fan, wait until you give this a try!

Check out the Finca Vallejo Rueda Verdejo 2022:

Finca Vallejo Rueda Verdejo 2022

Love the label

  • $16.99/bottle
  • 13% ABV
  • Rich, pale gold color
  • Knockout aromas of lime, peach, grapefruit, fennel, melon, etc.
  • Light body with plush, creamy mouthfeel
  • Powerful, refreshing acidity curtailed by juicy citrus fruit flavors
  • Screams “I wanna party with some seafood!”

My “recipe” for fish tacos is simple in the extreme, but wonderful. We all need more easy-to-pull-together dinners. Four basic ingredients. Try it when you’re floundering for what to make for dinner (pun unintended, or not). 😉

The Rambling Vine’s Fish Tacos in a Cinch

  • Flour tortillas (or tortilla/wrap of your choice)
  • White fish fillets of your choice (cod, rockfish, halibut, etc.)
  • Bagged coleslaw mix
  • Brianna’s ® Home Style Creamy Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing

Warm your tortillas so they’re pliable. Cook your fish to doneness: throw several fillets on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush fish with some olive oil, salt, and pepper (keep it simple – the dressing will add more flavor later). Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until cooked to a safe internal temperature of 145 degrees.

For each taco, lay a tortilla flat on a plate, lay on a fish fillet, scatter on a handful of coleslaw mix, and then drizzle on the Brianna’s ® Home Style Creamy Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing (don’t skip that). You’re done!

Brianna's Home Style Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

Love this brand and this dressing!

Pour a chilled glass of this Verdejo to go with your dinner and pretend you’re in Rueda, Spain or other warm sunny location of your choice.

Happy Verdejo Day! Let me know if you try the recipe or the wine. 🙂

Pinot Noir & Tempranillo Dance the Mitote in Alumbra Cellars’ Red Blend

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I love it when I get to tell you about wines that “grab” me.

These wines are different. Compelling. Unique. Doin’ their own thang. And, they’re really, really good.

These are the wines that stop me in my tracks and I take note of.

After just one sip of this wine at the McMinnville Food + Wine Festival this past March, I committed to a bottle immediately. That bottle was Alumbra Cellars’ 2021 Mitote Red Blend, a surprising blend of Pinot Noir and Tempranillo.

I love blends because they become greater than the sum of their parts. Some of the greatest wines in the world are blends (most notably Bordeaux and Rhône GSMs).

But what I love about this wine is that the blend of grape varieties – in this case, Pinot Noir and Tempranillo – is unexpected and exciting, much like another favorite wine of mine which blends Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. It’s not simply another traditional recipe for combining certain grape varieties together; it’s a winemaker’s choice to exercise her vision and realize the potential of two different grape varieties in creating a new style. And in this, winemaker Elena Rodriguez succeeds magnificently! ❤

In Spanish, mitote refers to an indigenous Mexican dance, but it can also mean a party or a scandalous uproar/hubbub. In this case I feel the wine represents less of an  uproar/hubbub and more of a beautiful pas de deux (in Spanish I believe it is “no dos”) between Tempranillo and Pinot Noir; more of a celebration than a brawl, ha ha.

Alumbra Cellars 2021 Mitote Red Blend
14% ABV
60% Tempranillo, 40% Pinot Noir
$32/bottle

Alumbra Cellars 2021 Mitote Red BlendHere are my rambling, effusive tasting notes to give you an idea of the fun carnival of scents and flavors I delighted in. Promise me you will sip some for yourself!

  • Mesmerizing, mysterious nose hinting strongly at cinnamon, cayenne, cumin, pepper
  • Black cherry, bark/wood, blackberry pie à la mode, a sweet minty herbal note (sassafrass?)
  • A bouquet of heady, savory spices but also light, sweet spices
  • Toffee, gingersnap, vanilla, candied rose floral aroma, whiff of leather saddle to tip me off to the presence of Tempranillo
  • Medium ruby with purple core – color actually very close to the purple of the bottle label
  • Medium body, silky smooth texture
  • Minerality showing up
  • No harshness, tartness, bitterness
  • Silky, gentle tannins
  • Warm, prolonged finish
  • More medium body feel even though alcohol level higher

I have no negative criticisms of this wine. Zero.

I foresee this wine going very well with a number of foods, particularly Mexican food.

For a delicious accompaniment to a glass of this wine, grab a bag of your favorite and freshest tortilla chips and whip up this Mushroom Pico de Gallo. I first had a version of this unbelievable dip at a Mexican restaurant in Belfair, Washington. Forget the salsa and bean dips; we couldn’t get enough of this pico and polished off a couple bowls (after that, what’s the point of dinner?). This recipe is the closest thing I could find to what we had in Belfair.

With a little more effort (or another helper), pile some cooked meat on the side and call this dinner!

Some of the best meals to go with wine (I think) are where you just throw a few, simple foods together and then let them all work their collective magic. A mitote. ❤

¡Buen apetito! 🙂

Mushroom Pico de Gallo

Your new favorite dip.

Mushroom Pico de Gallo
Liberally adapted from a recipe by Nina Lee | Food.com

INGREDIENTS

  • 16 oz. crimini mushrooms
  • 1 small red onion
  • 1 jalapeño
  • A giant handful fresh cilantro
  • 4-6 T avocado oil (or olive if that’s what you have)
  • 6-8 T cooking sherry
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 limes, juiced (or to taste – I felt this needed way more acid than the original)

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Finely chop all of the ingredients and mix well in a bowl.
  • Add your avocado oil, lime juice, and cooking sherry to the bowl, mix well, add more if needed.
  • Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Let sit to allow flavors to meld for about half an hour, if you can even wait that long. Dip in freshest tortilla chips you can find.

Ciao, Frappato: Meet a Charming Sicilian Wine

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Disclosure Statement: This post contains affiliate links. When you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I receive a commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own.

Here at The Rambling Vine, I have a tendency to befriend unusual grape varieties: basically, to pick the weird wines. This sometimes results in many a dud (I’m looking at you, $4 bottle of Georgian orange wine), but sometimes I unearth vinous treasure. 🍇 As much as I am a purist and love the classics, I also like to take chances on less common grape varieties. It’s my source of adventure! My philosophy is hey, it’s just wine – if you go wrong, order a different glass or bottle. No biggie (well, unless you’ve really splurged, then that bites).

But I also want this site to be a place with reliable recommendations that are delicious, so I never post on anything I don’t love or that I wouldn’t buy myself. Sure, all of our palates vary, and they even change over time (I’m sure I have one wine on here that I reviewed over a decade ago that I don’t like now). But if you are at least enjoying the majority of the wines I’ve got on here, then I’m doing a pretty good job. 🙂

I was originally planning on saving this wine for a post in November as a Thanksgiving meal wine recommendation, and I still stand by that. But there’s no reason to wait that long to share this special wine with you (plus I have other great wine recommendations for Thanksgiving).

Today, I’m taking the vineyard row less trampled and seeking out something truly exciting and extraordinary. Say, “Ciao, Bella!” to a rare grape from the Mediterranean island of Sicily – Frappato! Tenuta Valle dell'Acate Il Frappato About this wine:
Il Frappato | Vittoria Frappato | DOC Sicilia | Valle Dell’Acate

  • 100% Frappato dry red wine
  • 12.5% ABV
  • Price between $20 – $30, depending on where you purchase
  • Aromas of cranberry, strawberry, and herbs blast out of the glass. I have never smelled anything quite like this wine. This is up there in terms of all-time favorite smelling wines.
  • On the palate: high acid but with soft fruity tannins. Delightful slightly chilled. Made for food.
  • From the winery’s tasting notes: “Aromas are fresh and overpowering with hints of red fruits, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, violet flowers and sage. Fresh and vivacious flavors with a pleasant and persistent closing. Medium bodied with silky tannins. Best paired with fresh and aged cheeses, Sicilian red tuna, sushi and sashimi.”

I first tried this Frappato along with some other fantastic wines from this same winery at Arista Wine Cellars in Edmonds, Washington. My husband and I were so smitten with this baby we purchased a bottle and then ordered three more shortly thereafter.

The Tenuta Valle dell’Acate estate is in the southeast corner of Sicily and boasts organic vineyards. In the last 15 years or so, the quality of Sicilian wine has improved by leaps and bounds, thanks to better vineyard practices and new folks carrying out the work of growing the grapes and making the wine. As our tasting sheet noted, “It’s a good time to be drinking wine from Sicily.”

This may be true, but caveat emptor! In addition to this wine, I have tried two other Sicilian Frappatos, and neither one was molto bene. So keep in mind that not every Frappato will be as noteworthy as this one. This is the one to get!

To order this wine, purchase here.

As this wine is such a wonderful partner for food, I’ve also got an EASY dinner recipe that goes beautifully with this wine. Here is my riff on Joanna Gaines’ Grilled Raspberry Chipotle Pork Tenderloin from the Magnolia Table cookbook, adapted for the oven instead of the grill. As she states in the recipe introduction, this was the first way she cooked pork tenderloin and it’s been the only way she’s done it since. Ditto!

To round out the meal, serve it with steamed green beans, and either potatoes or rice.

Raspberry-Chipotle Pork Tenderloin
Recipe adapted from The Magnolia Table Cookbook by Joanna Gaines
Yields 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 24 oz. bottle raspberry-chipotle sauce, preferably Fischer & Wieser (too much – save some to serve on the cooked pork)
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 4 T honey
  • 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 2 tsp. garlic salt
  • 2 lbs. pork tenderloin
  • Vegetable oil

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • In a bowl, whisk together the raspberry-chipotle sauce, soy sauce, honey, garlic, garlic powder, and garlic salt. Place the pork tenderloins in a Pyrex baking dish and pour over the marinade. Roll it around a couple times to thoroughly coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 hours.
  • Remove the pork from the marinade and place it in a greased baking dish. Brush the pork with some of the marinade, then discard the remaining marinade.
  • Bake until pork reaches a safe internal temperature of 145°F
  • Transfer pork to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice crosswise and serve.
  • Tightly wrap leftover pork in plastic and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Leftover cooked pork can dry out if reheated, but it makes delicious cold sandwiches and a quick taco filling.

Have you tried Frappato? Or made this recipe before? Comment!

Albariño: A Spanish White to Sip this Spring + Recipe

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Happy Spring, readers! We are now fully plunged into the midst of this glorious season (at least for those of us who don’t have allergies). Hopefully you are being met with plenty of sunshine, gentle breezes, beautiful flowers that don’t make you reach for the antihistamines, and wine aplenty! 🙂 🍷

While any type of wine is perfectly fine any time of year, there are certain types of weather and seasonal cuisine that spur us to open up specific bottles for specific times. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

One white wine that I haven’t gotten to know and appreciate until now is Albariño. I’d heard it praised among “folks who know” but the scant times I’d tried it my world did not turn upside down and it left me feeling “meh” in much the same way most Pinot Grigio does (unless they’re these). Those disappointing recommendations can cause you to question the “experts” and wonder why you’re not picking up on the same qualities they are. It can lead to self-doubt. Exploring wine should be fun and lead to self-confidence, even if you disagree with another’s assessment of a wine.

It wasn’t until I took a Spanish wine class that I tried a delicious one and understood a little better what makes this wine special. It made me say, “Whoa!” which in wine tasting is usually a good thing (depending on vocal inflections, of course). This white immediately captured my attention and is well worth seeking out for its great taste, price, and versatility. Your spring wine arsenal is incomplete until you get this!

But first, a brief bit of background on this fun-to-say grape from its fun-to-say place: Albariño (Al-ba-ree-nyoh) is a thick-skinned white grape grown in the region of Rías Baixas (REE-ahs BYE-zhas), in northwest Spain, or Galicia. Galicia, also known as Green Spain, is situated near the Atlantic coast, where abundant rainfall yields abundant greenery. Here, Albariño is made into a lively white wine that is drunk with seafood, and this hallowed pairing has become famous the world over. As someone who lives in the Pacific Northwest, another seafood destination with a climate similar to Rías Baixas, it puzzles me that I haven’t heard Albariño touted more often in restaurants and other wine settings? Well, time to upset the wine press and show this grape the amor it deserves!

Albariño Val Do Sosego Rías Baixas
Denominación de Origen
Albariño Val Do Sosego Rías Baixas

  • $18.99 at Total Wine & More
  • ABV 12.5%
  • Great citrus, peach, and mineral aromas
  • Pale straw yellow
  • Medium body
  • Great acidity in the mouth but not so much that that’s all you get
  • This has a little more fullness/roundness/body/elegance like you get from a Chardonnay, but still with the zippy, highly aromatic fresh fruit you get from a Sauvignon Blanc.
  • This Albariño is beautiful, delicious, spring worthy, and a very agreeable change of pace from your regular white wine (unless that happens to be Albariño, ha! But even so, hunt down this particular wine!). 🙂

I may have mentioned this before, and I believe it still holds true, but Spanish wines have some of the best price to quality ratios in the world (quality is about double the value, at least in the US). So if you buy a bottle of Spanish Tempranillo in the US for $30, the quality of the wine will be on par with more of a $60 bottle of wine. And another one of my favorite things about Spanish wines: because of aging requirements, they are ready to drink upon purchase. No scratching your head, googling how long to age a particular bottle, etc. Open and chug (after decanting, if needed)! Best. News. Ever.

While I did not whip up any fancy seafood dishes like octopus or halibut to pair with this wine (if you do let me know what you made), I did find a tasty and easy recipe that I think you will dig, especially for the spring season, when lighter foods are more de riguer. Here is a lovely light lunch to accompany a glass of this Albariño. I personally found the ratio of bread to filling to be lopsided, so I would recommend more of a tartine/open-faced sandwich concept: a griddled piece of herbed foccacia, topped with the cheese mix, and then with a lightly dressed (O & V) spring mix side salad to balance the dish. You can also use it as a cracker dip. Keep it as a sandwich if you like; it was just way too much bread for me in one sitting (but if you’re drinking a lot maybe you need those extra carbs). 😉

Whatever you do, drink this Albariño outdoors on a beautiful spring day with a friend. It will taste even better. ¡Salud! 🌷

Cherry Ricotta Tartine
Recipe adapted from Jackie Freeman’s book, A Hearty Book of Veggie Sandwiches
Yields 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup dried tart cherries
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
  • 2 tsp. fresh orange zest
  • 1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 pieces herbed foccacia bread, sliced in half
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for grilling

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Soak the cherries in hot water for 15-20 minutes. Drain well and chop.
  • In a bowl, combine the cherries, ricotta, parmesan, almonds, orange zest, and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Preheat a panini press or skillet over medium-low heat. Spread each slice of foccacia bread with olive oil. Griddle bread until deep golden brown. Remove, and top with cheese mixture, and serve along side salad.

Think Pink: International Rosé Day + Delish Salmon Recipe

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Summer greetings, and Happy International Rosé Day! Take time to stop and smell the roses and rosés. 😉

RoseEarlier this month, I was very confused, but then some quick Googling cleared everything up (Googling usually has the opposite effect): in June, there is not only a National Rosé Day but also an International Rosé Day, which is today. I briefly panicked because I’d been planning to share this particular rosé with you for some time, and was afraid I had missed my window of opportunity. Oh, the agony!

As a Washingtonian, I suppose picking a Columbia Valley Rosé isn’t very international of me, but for those of you not in the USA it qualifies. I’ll admit, I’m starting to enjoy rosé more and more, but I even had to create a blog post category for rosé 11 years after starting The Rambling Vine! So while I haven’t covered it much in the past, this one is worth mentioning, because it’s delicious AND the first type of rosé I’ve had using this particular grape. I’m all for distinct and uncommon wines.

I’m also sharing a favorite recipe that is the ultimate easy, yummy, and gorgeous summer meal. It is charming with the wine.

For those not in the know, rosé is a style of wine, not a wine made from pink grapes. 😉 Sorry to break the news. Red wine grapes are harvested, crushed, and the grape skins are allowed to soak with the grape juice for varying periods of time before being separated in order to impart anywhere from the lightest hint of pink to deep fucschia colors. Rosés generally taste more like white wines but I’ve had some that really straddle the line between both red and white wine in terms of their body, tannin, acid, sweetness, and fruit profile. They truly run the gamut of styles.

Common grapes used to make rosé wines include Sangiovese, Barbera, Pinot Noir, Grenache, Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc (this is just a few examples).

This rosé, however, from the lovely Pine Lake Cellars of West Seattle, is made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Columbia Valley AVA, and is the only rosé I’ve ever had made from this grape. Cabernet Sauvignon is the “king” of the red wines, and the ultimate steak dinner pairing. It was so interesting to taste this grape as a rosé wine!

Glass of Pine Lake Cellars Rosé

I had to let it outside, it was begging

You can purchase this wine at the Pine Lake Cellars tasting room in West Seattle or through their website, which I’ve linked below. If you’re in the area, check out their cute, stylish tasting room that has food for purchase and is kid and dog friendly. They also feature outdoor covered and heated seating areas. My sweet friend treated me to a tasting here a few months ago and we had a stellar time.

Fair warning: they are running low on this rosé, so if you’d like to try it, get on it. A different rosé of Syrah will be showing up soon. I sincerely hope Pine Lake Cellars revisits this particular Cab rosé in the future. In the mean time, I look forward to trying the Syrah rosé.

Pine Lake Cellars Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 Columbia Valley
Pine Lake Cellars Rosé

  • $25/bottle
  • ABV 13.8%
  • Serve slightly chilled
  • In the glass: color is pale copper pink, like traditional ballet tights (you dancers know what I’m talking about)
  • More medium-bodied, unctuous, mouth-filling, hint of sweetness, yet still with crisp, refreshing character
  • Nose: light cherry, honeydew, watermelon, rhubarb, tarragon (?)
  • Mouth: tangerine, plum, black currant cream, celery/fennel, gummy peach candy on finish
  • This is a lower acid rosé

And here is one of my favorite easy summer recipes that goes “swimmingly” with the wine. 🙂

Salmon with Strawberry Scallion Tapenade

Copper River, baby!

Salmon with Strawberry-Scallion Tapenade
Recipe courtesy of Jamie Vespa, RD of Dishing Out Health
With my adaptations | Yields 4 servings
*Get that Copper River Salmon right now if you can!

INGREDIENTS

  • ¾ cup diced strawberries
  • ⅓ cup pitted and chopped green olives (I recommend Castelvetrano olives)
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced scallions
  • ¼ cup fresh chopped cilantro or parsley (or a mix of both)
  • 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp. lower-sodium soy sauce or tamari
  • 4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 4 (6-oz.) skin-on salmon fillets or one salmon side to feed 4
  • ¾ tsp. kosher salt, divided
  • ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, divided

INSTRUCTIONS

  • In a medium bowl, combine strawberries, olives, scallions, herbs, vinegar, soy sauce, 2 Tbsp. of the oil, and ¼ tsp. each salt and black pepper; toss to combine. Set aside.
  • Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Blot salmon fillets or side dry with a paper towel, place on baking sheet, and coat flesh evenly with remaining 2 T olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
  • Place salmon in oven once preheated. Cooking time will vary depending on cuts of fish, but for a side of salmon I find 16-18 minutes is just right. Smaller pieces will take way less time. I prefer cooking fish in the oven to save time and especially to avoid oil splatter on the stove. Salmon should be cooked to a safe internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Transfer salmon to a serving platter and spoon tapenade over top.
  • Perfect with fresh bread, arugula salad, and Pine Lake Cellars Rosé! 🙂

Let me know if you try this wine and/or make this recipe.

Cheers to pink food and drink (and even a kitchen sink)! 😉

Eat Your Sweetheart Out: Snickers Cheesecake

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Eeeeeeeee! It’s the season of sugar! (You really can’t make weight loss resolutions until after Easter, seriously). Valentine’s Day is today, and I sure hope your pancreas is ready for what I’m about to dish up. 🙂

It started with the urge to make a decadent cheesecake for my mom’s birthday.

When I googled snickers cheesecake, I came up with results that showed cheesecakes with swamps of Snickers bar chunks on top. This seemed like a good idea (and it’s not bad, I’ve had it at the Cheesecake Factory before), but not quite what I was hoping for, as far as great flavor and texture are concerned. Instead, I decided to pay tribute to the spirit of a Snickers bar, with roasted, salted peanuts, hot fudge, caramel, and whipped cream on top. I think I’ve created a winner! Snickers Cheesecake

If you’re looking to make dessert this Valentine’s Day (or any celebration, for that matter), you’ll appreciate this cheesecake recipe. It’s not too hard (considering) and it tastes way better than shoving mutilated candy bars in your cheesecake batter. 🙂

Ditch the box of chocolates, Forrest Gump… you and your Valentine will die and go to candy heaven with this recipe.

Ode to Snickers Cheesecake
(Heavily adapted from a recipe for Irish cream cheesecake from Favorite Old-Fashioned Desserts by Pat Dailey)
(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases)
By Brenna Arnesen

CRUST
1 – 9 oz. box Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
4 T unsalted butter, melted

FILLING
1 c. plus 2 T granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 lbs. (4 – 8 oz. packages) cream cheese, softened
1 T cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla extract

TOPPING
Hot fudge sauce
Caramel sauce (I used jarred for both, quick & easy)
Roasted salted peanuts, coarsely crushed
Whipped cream (from a can)

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Crush the cookies into fine crumbs in a food processor or blender. Add the butter and mix well. Transfer crumbs to a 10-inch springform pan and press them into an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Bake until the crumbs are set, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

For the filling, mix the sugar and eggs in a food processor or with an electric mixer for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cream cheese in batches and mix until thoroughly smooth. Add the cornstarch and vanilla and mix well.

Pour the filling into the crust. Bake until the cake is just set in the center, about 35 – 40 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 5 minutes, but leave the oven on.

Take your crushed peanuts, approximately 1 – 1.5 cups worth, and sprinkle on top of cheesecake. Return cheesecake to oven and bake for 6 minutes or so, until peanuts set and get slightly toasted. Cool to room temperature. Drizzle with room temp hot fudge sauce and caramel sauce to your liking. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours before serving, and then serve with whipped cream.

And snicker at how easy this dessert was to make! 🙂

Have a sweet Valentine’s Day! What are you eating and drinking tonight?

Love,
The Rambling Vine

Decadent Toasts: Dessert for Breakfast

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Goodbye boring breakfast toast, hello fancy indulgence! Photo by Brenna Arnesen.

And now, a movie scene, concerning the luxury of toast….

Kate: You know something? Nobody gives a rat’s ass that you have to push the toast down twice. You know why? Because everybody pushes their toast down twice!
Leopold: Not where I come from.
Kate: Oh, right. Where you come from, toast is the result of reflection and study!
Leopold: Ah yes, you mock me. But perhaps one day when you’ve awoken from a pleasant slumber to the scent of a warm brioche smothered in marmalade and fresh creamery butter, you’ll understand that life is not solely composed of tasks, but tastes.
Kate: [mesmerized] Say that again.
Kate and Leopold, Miramax Pictures, 2001.

Kate & Leopold may not have been my favorite Meg Ryan chick flick (trust me, it wasn’t!), but you do have to agree with Hugh Jackman’s sentiment here… that our lives should not be measured by how efficiently we completed tasks; rather, its quality and richness is derived from the slowing down and enjoyment of color, depth, texture, flavor. I like this thought, and this is why I purposely make cooking a hobby and priority in my life: it’s important. Until we slow down and show our food a little more reverance in its preparation and savoring, we will forsake our health, quality of life, and enjoyment of life.

It was this thought of warm, oozing, pleasurable toast that led me to trying a couple of fun different toast combinations. I actually don’t eat much sandwich bread anymore… when we buy bread we get the kind without preservatives, but since we can never finish a loaf that fast, it always starts spoiling and we can’t finish it. Probably best for a couple of daily desk-dwellers to not be so heavily reliant on bread, but we do have it a little bit. These toast recipes are for when you’ve got a fresh loaf on hand and want to enjoy some toast at breakfast or brunch. Could even work for an afternoon tea!

Whole Grain Toast with Strawberries and Nutella

9 grain and seed bread, toasted medium
Butter, or healthy spread
Nutella
Fresh, super ripe strawberries

The strawberries I used were so ripe they were heavily fragrant and practically jam. Decadent! Enjoy with a pot of French press coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice. Like eating a chocolate covered strawberry for breakfast!

Topping Option #2:

Whole Grain Toast with Blueberries and “Mascarlade”

9 grain and seed bread, toasted medium
Butter, or healthy spread
Mascarpone cheese
Orange Marmalade
Fresh Blueberries
Cinnamon

Marmalade is highly underrated. It is, however, very very sweet, and a little goes a long way, especially when you have sweeter blueberries, too. Mascarpone is a fancy Italian version of cream cheese.

A toast to noble, yummy toast, and it’s unlimited versatility! What are some other deliciously unusual ideas for toast?

Orzo-Mint Salad with Prosciutto, Figs, Pecans, and Goat Cheese

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Fig: the name doesn’t quite befit this beautiful fruit, does it? Use black California Mission figs in a refreshing summer salad. ©iStockphoto.com/Ivan Mateev

Figs! When fig season is upon us, I freak out and buy as many as possible (short of troubling my digestive system), because we don’t really know how long it will last and how long they will be in the store (kind of like life, so seize the day and enjoy!).

Figs are so good for you! Did you know that figs are a great source of fiber and are highly alkaline? Alkaline means they reduce the acidity in your body, making it a hostile environment for cancer.

Here are some fun fig facts, for my fellow figophiles.

This pasta salad is yummy-licious! A friend of mine told me she made an orzo pasta with pecans, figs and mint a few years ago. I loved her idea but I upped the ante by rounding it out with some ham and cheese.

This pasta would be great with a white wine, maybe a Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, or Pinot Grigio. See? There’s my wine reference!

Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market are the grocery stores I know of that carry the fresh California Black Mission figs regularly.

In fact, during the summer, you should be able to buy this meal completely at Trader Joe’s.

You will need:
Extra virgin olive oil
Aged balsamic vinegar (I used lavender)
Salt and pepper
One 16 oz. package Orzo pasta (a full package is a lot, use half if you like)
One box fresh black California Mission figs, sliced into bite sizes (dry is not acceptable)
One package prosciutto, chopped (optional)
One 5 oz. log goat cheese, crumbled
One package unsalted dry roasted pecan pieces
Fresh mint leaves (to taste)

Prepare the orzo according to package instructions. Drain, run some cold water over the pasta to cool it off. Once the pot is cooled off, put the cooled pasta back in the pot and drizzle and toss with oil & vinegar. Add the figs, goat cheese, pecans, prosciutto (if any) and mint leaves. Mix well. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

If orzo pasta ain’t yo thang, substitute with cooked rice, couscous, or quinoa.

Butternut Squash Quesadillas

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Ooey, gooey, melty, yummy, they’re calling your name! Photo by Brenna Arnesen.

It’s time, ladies and germs, for another respite from vino… off on a culinary excursion! Whet your appetites, it’s gonna be really good! 🙂

I love to cook, and I love the final, tasty fruits of my efforts even more. Apart from learning basics like spaghetti and scrambled eggs from my mom, I learned how to cook real meals using recipes. Rachael Ray and her pink cookbook get huge props for helping me beef up my skills to master chef status, especially when I lived on my own before getting married (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases). I still tend to prefer using recipes when making meals, but as I gain more confidence, and the realization that not all recipes make perfect sense, I bravely make my own modifications and start trusting my own burgeoning culinary instincts… which is super important for every cook.

I’m maturing as a cook because lately, more than in previous years, I am now making up my own recipes. This is a huge step for a girl who is a cookbook maven (they are piled by my couch all the time for leisurely perusing and inspiration) and who has stuck to recipes much like a religious dedication to algebraic equations. I didn’t veer far from cookbooks, partly because I wanted to train myself by learning to follow a recipe verbatim and educating myself on process and terminology. But now I’m taking creative risks in the kitchen, and this is helping not only my cooking, but my whole outlook on life. Every time I cook, even though I’m using the same ingredients, it’s a new experience and new result every time. That’s the art of cooking.

One of the best ways to let your creative juices flow and have fun in the kitchen is to invent your own recipe. Not out of thin air, mind you, out of the inspiration you’ve gleaned from any fantastic eateries you have frequented. It only makes sense to borrow from the best and riff on them in your home kitchen. Most restaurants have their menus posted on their websites in PDF format, so you can refer back to the ingredients, or you can jot them down/take a picture with your phone when you’re dining there.

One such recipe I vowed to recreate at home and did — successfully, and even upped the nutrient quotient! — is butternut squash quesadillas from The Matador. Just uttering the phrase “butternut squash” puts me in a very happy place, so much so that I will order whatever item that is on the menu that has been blessedly paired with the saintly squash. It’s one of my favorite foods, obviously.

And this has become a new favorite recipe — made in a cinch, loaded with fiber and nutrients, and heartily filling. I just added the black beans and kale. You can find precut butternut squash at Trader Joe’s and if you would rather save time than money, this is well worth it. Of course, it’s not hard to prep an actual squash, but again, this requires planning ahead.

Purchase the quantities you need… this recipe paints in broad brushstrokes.

Butternut Squash Quesadillas
Tortillas
Sweet Onions
Kale
Can of black beans (try to make your own if you can, or scope out low sodium beans)
Cooked butternut squash chunks, perhaps a 12 oz. bag from Trader Joe’s
Goat cheese
Shredded pepperjack cheese

Slice or dice the onions (your call) and caramelize in olive oil (high heat first, then lower heat to saute). Add pieces of kale and saute. Add the cooked squash chunks and the rinsed black beans and warm through with the other ingredients. Move your filling to a separate dish. Take two flour tortillas; on one spread some of the filling and then crumble over some goat cheese and pepperjack cheese to your taste. Top with the second tortilla to make a frickin’ rad quesadilla, plop in a medium warm skillet to melt the cheese and heat through the middle, then flip to finish off the cooking.

¡Buen provecho, mis amigos!