Well thankfully that's not what happened when I attended a scotch whisky tasting put on by our friends at Eno Fine Wines that Steve Wynn had alerted us to when Dave and I were in there a few weeks ago. Before I get started on my experience at this tasting, let's use this opportunity to make note of a few differences between our dear friend Dave and me. Steve informed us of the tasting, I thought it sounded fantastic as did Dave, we agree to go. Tricia purchases her ticket online a few days later as it's a limited attendee event and informs Dave of the purchase. Dave never replies until the day BEFORE the event to say he'd like to go and also bring his date for the evening. Dave tries to purchase tickets, they are sold out.
Lesson here? Dave procrastinates, Tricia does not.
Now, this tasting was not for the faint of heart. The distillery that Eno was hosting is Bruichladdich (yup, good luck as I was informed by the representative from the company, David Ferguson, how to pronounce it but his damn Scottish accent was so strong it didn't do me any good) out of Scotland and they came with the big guns. The big guns in this case was seven scotch whiskys and a gin for good measure. This distillery was founded in the late 1800s by three brothers and has been producing fine whisky (and a gin!) ever since. Holy moly. This was by far one of the best tasting events I've ever attended, not just because of the quality liquors being tasted but the view from the Garden Terrace of the Peerless Building in downtown Providence coupled with the great snacks Eno provided and the intimacy of the event (there were only about 25 people, per the capacity of the space) all equaled nothing less than a great night.
We started with their Botanist Gin, served both neat or with a little quality tonic if you preferred. For those of you unsure about gin, I personally prefer it to vodka because of the flavors you get from it, and I'm not just referring to the juniper berry. This particular gin incorporates 22 botanicals native to Scotland amongst a few others and it reflects in the taste. It's simply a joy to consume (yes, joy...I just had to restrain myself from too much joy, this was a marathon, not a sprint).
After the gin came the whisky...and the whisky...and the whisky. About half were classic, half peated.
INSERT QUICK WHISKY LESSON: A whisky is peated when the barley is roasted over a fire built with incorporating peat moss, giving it a smoky, peat flavor. Whisky can have a high PPM (parts per million) of peat or a lower one, affecting of course the notes of that flavor you get when you drink it. I personally prefer a peated whisky as it takes the 'fire' out of it for me and I'm left with the delicious smoky, caramel hints I've come to love about this liquor.
As the list is extensive to run through each one, I'll let you know that you can find these in the Providence area at Eno Fine Wines or contact them through their website, bruichladdich.com, to find more locations or order online. We tried their Rocks, The Laddie Ten, Organic, Fino Cask, An Toras Mor, PC8 and Black Art II which ranged in price from $50 up to $200, respectively. Suffice to say if you're a whisky drinker you will not be disappointed. My personal favorite was the Black Art (naturally, it was the most expensive served that evening).
Thank you again to Steve for the invite!
Cheers,
Trish
Monday, June 25, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Apricot Fields Forever...
Okay maybe that's not exactly how the song goes...nor is there actually apricot fields. I know this because a friend of mine married into a family that owns an apricot FARM, I just couldn't think of a clever title for this post so I went with a stupid one.
Moving on.
I am talking about apricots because due to this friend of mine, who is a new "work friend" (she runs our San Francisco office and does a damn good job of it if you ask me, but no one ever does) has supplied me with some of the farm's delights, the most obvious of which is homemade apricot jam. Can you say 'mmmmm'?
Well I can, and I did when I used it to make glaze for my Easter ham this year as well as the chicken in the picture here. Just a couple of healthy lovin' spoonfuls of the stuff with some butter (half a stick), a good scoop of brown sugar and a glunk of Grand Marnier if you have it. What? Glunk is a technical term, yes...write it down. If you don't have GM in the house don't fret, it's just as good without. Let all of this come to a boil and then reduce the heat so it thickens up. From there you can bake the chicken or grill it, either way do it at a higher heat so you get a good color on the skin of the chicken. I used bone in chicken thighs that I rinsed and patted dry and then salt and peppered before pouring the glaze over them.
The smell in your house with this chicken cooking is amazing and will literally make your mouth water. You can have any wine you like with this dish...white, red, whatever it is you fancy...though I will say because of the apricot you may want to pick up a white with some notes of apricot like an Albarino, a Spanish white easily found in any liquor store or wine shop.
Eat up,
Trish
Moving on.
I am talking about apricots because due to this friend of mine, who is a new "work friend" (she runs our San Francisco office and does a damn good job of it if you ask me, but no one ever does) has supplied me with some of the farm's delights, the most obvious of which is homemade apricot jam. Can you say 'mmmmm'?
Well I can, and I did when I used it to make glaze for my Easter ham this year as well as the chicken in the picture here. Just a couple of healthy lovin' spoonfuls of the stuff with some butter (half a stick), a good scoop of brown sugar and a glunk of Grand Marnier if you have it. What? Glunk is a technical term, yes...write it down. If you don't have GM in the house don't fret, it's just as good without. Let all of this come to a boil and then reduce the heat so it thickens up. From there you can bake the chicken or grill it, either way do it at a higher heat so you get a good color on the skin of the chicken. I used bone in chicken thighs that I rinsed and patted dry and then salt and peppered before pouring the glaze over them.
The smell in your house with this chicken cooking is amazing and will literally make your mouth water. You can have any wine you like with this dish...white, red, whatever it is you fancy...though I will say because of the apricot you may want to pick up a white with some notes of apricot like an Albarino, a Spanish white easily found in any liquor store or wine shop.
Eat up,
Trish
I've Got Friends In All The Right Places
Happy Sunday to everyone out there! Summer is officially here, and in New England it came in roaring with temps in the mid to high 90s all of last week. It's calmed down a bit since and it was a gorgeous beach worthy weekend here in the Ocean State.
Speaking of beaches, I love 'em. Like don't feel okay if I'm not near one/need them to survive/completely obsessed with owning a house on the beach one day love 'em. And for that reason I am a lucky girl to have friends in some great places for gazing at the ocean, never mind living in a state that offers me plenty of opportunity for that. Our very own Dave (yep, the one that co-writes this blog with me) was born to parents with a gorgeous house in Bristol, home of the country's longest standing 4th of July celebration, that offers a panoramic view of the Narragansett Bay (sigh). I have a close family friend in Hawaii, multiple friends in Florida, an office in San Francisco and a couple of my close friends in a little town called Newburyport in Massachusetts, just north of Boston. It's these friends I went and visited recently to check in with, share some stories from our lives and have my first look in person at their very precious and most beautiful 9 month old twin daughters. I love Newburyport, it's seaside and home to one of my favorite little wine shops, Grand Trunk Old World Market. This shop has a great selection of mostly old world wines, with a few new world along with cured meats, cheeses and some specialty gourmet foods. As it's rose season, it was the place to hit on our walk with the girls to pick up something to sip on back at the house (while Husband cooked for us :)
INSERT QUICK WINE LESSON HERE: Rose is not a sweet wine and should never be confused with White Zinfandel (which should also never be consumed incidentally). My friend had not had much experience with this varietal and was concerned from the get go. I reassured her by purchasing two great bottles of the stuff to go with our cured meat and cheese, a perfect pairing for rose wine. Rose wines cover the spectrum of the red family in color depending on the winemaking technique used. Some are left in contact with the skins of the black grapes for 1-3 days, some roses were born of the pink juice that remains and is fermented after a French technique applied to some red wines, and some are just mixed red and white wine that gives it the pink color. These wines can be still, semi-sparkling or sparkling. I like them all (shocker I know).
I do need to give a shout out to Husband here as he cooked one of the best dinners to go with our rose I could have asked for. As is traditional here in New England, he boiled up some lobsters and made a melted butter with fresh parsley to go with. On the side he introduced me to salt potatoes, which is basically exactly as it sounds...fingerling potatoes that he boiled and then added some healthy cracks of good sea salt, some butter and parsley and of course some fresh corn on the cob with lime, olive oil, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. Deeeeelish!!!
I would normally add a picture here of the spread here, but I was too busy drinking and eating. I did however, manage to get a picture of those girls, just don't think this is how your lobster should come out looking like (yes, that's a disclaimer...you'd be WAY off track).
Until next time,
Tricia (Dave started dating again, it may be a while before we hear from him)
Speaking of beaches, I love 'em. Like don't feel okay if I'm not near one/need them to survive/completely obsessed with owning a house on the beach one day love 'em. And for that reason I am a lucky girl to have friends in some great places for gazing at the ocean, never mind living in a state that offers me plenty of opportunity for that. Our very own Dave (yep, the one that co-writes this blog with me) was born to parents with a gorgeous house in Bristol, home of the country's longest standing 4th of July celebration, that offers a panoramic view of the Narragansett Bay (sigh). I have a close family friend in Hawaii, multiple friends in Florida, an office in San Francisco and a couple of my close friends in a little town called Newburyport in Massachusetts, just north of Boston. It's these friends I went and visited recently to check in with, share some stories from our lives and have my first look in person at their very precious and most beautiful 9 month old twin daughters. I love Newburyport, it's seaside and home to one of my favorite little wine shops, Grand Trunk Old World Market. This shop has a great selection of mostly old world wines, with a few new world along with cured meats, cheeses and some specialty gourmet foods. As it's rose season, it was the place to hit on our walk with the girls to pick up something to sip on back at the house (while Husband cooked for us :)
INSERT QUICK WINE LESSON HERE: Rose is not a sweet wine and should never be confused with White Zinfandel (which should also never be consumed incidentally). My friend had not had much experience with this varietal and was concerned from the get go. I reassured her by purchasing two great bottles of the stuff to go with our cured meat and cheese, a perfect pairing for rose wine. Rose wines cover the spectrum of the red family in color depending on the winemaking technique used. Some are left in contact with the skins of the black grapes for 1-3 days, some roses were born of the pink juice that remains and is fermented after a French technique applied to some red wines, and some are just mixed red and white wine that gives it the pink color. These wines can be still, semi-sparkling or sparkling. I like them all (shocker I know).
I do need to give a shout out to Husband here as he cooked one of the best dinners to go with our rose I could have asked for. As is traditional here in New England, he boiled up some lobsters and made a melted butter with fresh parsley to go with. On the side he introduced me to salt potatoes, which is basically exactly as it sounds...fingerling potatoes that he boiled and then added some healthy cracks of good sea salt, some butter and parsley and of course some fresh corn on the cob with lime, olive oil, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. Deeeeelish!!!
I would normally add a picture here of the spread here, but I was too busy drinking and eating. I did however, manage to get a picture of those girls, just don't think this is how your lobster should come out looking like (yes, that's a disclaimer...you'd be WAY off track).
Until next time,
Tricia (Dave started dating again, it may be a while before we hear from him)
Saturday, June 2, 2012
ENO Wine Shop
So we decided to pass the afternoon with some brunch and browsing in Downcity. Whether you're looking for something elegant for a special occassion or a value wine to pour down your throat, ENO has just what you need. The staff is knowledgable, friendly and approachable so don't be afraid to ask questions, Steve Wynn was the best! Once you check it out, you may not go anywhere else! Now on to the wines we tasted:
Passerina Fausti 2010 This delicate white wine from the Marche region of italy was just lovely. Uncomplicated and refreshing, this is a sure winner on a hot summer afternoon. Light fruit notes, delicate aromas and a clean finish characterize this very approachable wine. The grape (Passerina) is quite unique to the Marche region, so if you are looking for something a little different give it a try. This wine is not very well known and at less than 15 bucks it is a great value. Great on its own, or try it with lighter foods and appetizers on a Sunday afternoon.
The red we tasted Tricia and I actually had the privilege of helping Steve select as his planned Italian red was bought out before the tasting began. We decided to go the route of the Portugese and cork a bottle of Frei Joao Bairrida DOC 2007. This is a different red option and has a nice medium body with good structure. The flavor was a bit fruity with notes of cherry and plum. The flavor was a little bit earthy with a touch of minerality, resembling ever so slightly a medium bodied Bordeax wine. This red begs for food and would be very good with grilled salmon, roasted veggies with peppers and tomatoes or even some rich cheeses. This wine is also less than 15 bucks. Try a bottle and see what you think!
So make sure if you're in Providence to check out ENO located at 225 Westminster Street in Providence. You will be quite impressed.
PS--they also carry a fine selection of liquors, liqueurs and whatever else your little alcoholic heart may desire.
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