Our cookbook club chose the A16 Food+Wine cookbook several months ago.

I brought two dishes, Croccante cookies and the Chocolate and Sea Salt Shortbread Cookies. Both were the celebrated success of the evening.

Ingredients
1 ¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon flour
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Penzeys Dutch Process)
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup or 8 ounces room temperature unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon sea salt

Directions
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder. In a mixer, combine butter and sugar, beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until pale and smooth. Switch to low speed, add the flour mix in 3 additions, beating after each addition until just incorporated. Add the chocolate, vanilla and salt and mix just until blended.

Divide the dough in quarters. Put the first quarter on a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough into a log about 1 inch diameter. Repeat with the next three. Wrap the logs separately in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.

Put the oven rack in the middle and upper third and preheat to 300.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat-type lining.

Cut the logs into ¼ inch rounds, set out on the baking sheet. Bake, rotating the sheets once from front to back, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until baked through but still soft. Transfer the sheets to wire racks. The cookies will firm up as they cool.

And damn, they’re delicious.

We’ve been “enjoying” our own holiday disaster over here, a viral infection of brutal and angry proportions. 

Thankfully, only one of us new parents over here had it at a time and the baby is yet unscathed (knocking on all kinds of hard surfaces over here).

This reminded me of one of my least favorite Christmas celebrations on record, Christmas 1983.  I was eight. 
(That was the year I got a microscope.)

We went to Grandma’s house every Christmas Eve for seafood stew and a $20 bill for each of us.  We loved it.  In 1982, she had candies, desserts and Grandma-style treats all over the house.

Being eight, I could not resist.

I ate and ate and ate and ate and ate.  I found these chocolate covered graham crackers that  were unlike anything I’d ever tasted before.  I ate some more of these.

I ate until I was sick.
The sickness absolutely ruined Christmas morning.

There was no looking at a graham cracker until…
…until last year when I invented these Inside Out S’mores.

Ingredients
1/2 package small marshmallows
4 oz dark chocolate
1/2 cup almonds
18 graham crackers

Melt the chocolate in the microwave on high for 45 seconds. Stir until glossy and soft. Add marshmallows and almonds, stir until all is covered. Take a tablespoon of the chocolate marshmallow mixture and set on graham crackers. Let sit until chocolate has firmed up.

See? Goodness can come from overindulgence.
Happy holidays!

It’s that holiday time,
where we take a break from the news and doom,
where we look inward, to family, friends and lazy days,
where we finally take a second to stop and be grateful.

So I’d like to make my list here:
I’m thankful for
my daughter’s healthy birth,
my handsome husband,
the fact that we live and work in Napa Valley (most lovely place I’ve seen),
our ladyfriends at BlogHer
the folks at (oops) for being so flexible with me after the birth of my daughter.

I’m lucky to be here, writing this post.
I’m lucky to work with such great people, making great wine.
I’m lucky.

We’ll be giving thanks at home with some friends this year.
I’ve got the turkey brining in a icy cooler in the garage,
pie crusts have been baked off and
the cranberry sauce is in the fridge.

And since it’s pretty food friendly up and down the table, (oops) Cabernet Franc will be there too.

Speaking of cranberry sauce.
Man, that sauce was painless.
Cranberries, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of orange juice, bring to a boil and heat until bubbly and 2/3 of the berries have popped. Give it a squirt of lemon after it’s cooled and voila! Cranberry sauce.

In December, we’re running a contest in which you share some of your glorious holiday disasters.
To kick it off, I’ll spill the beans on some of my holiday oops.
(Hint: home permanent solution)

Happy Thanksgiving!

As soon as the weather turns (which in Napa Valley has only been this week).
As soon as the weather turns, my husband starts to request Braised Short Ribs.
Oh man, it’s every week.
“Can we have them yet? Can we have them yet?”

Tonight I said, “Yes. Yes we can have them.”

They’re embarassingly easy, really.

I brown four meaty short ribs over high heat in an oiled cast iron pan on my stove.
Before I do that, I cover them in kosher salt and pepper, especially pepper.

(They’re meatier if you ask your butcher for them. They’re less gorgeous if you just take the package in the grocery store… Still good, but less meaty.)

I cut up two leeks, six carrots and mince four cloves of garlic and add them to a slow cooker.
I then add two bay leaves for emphasis.

After the short ribs are browned on the outside, I stand them up in my slow cooker.
I pour a can of beef broth in the slow cooker and turn it to low.

Roughly eight hours later, they’re ready to go.

When the meat is done cooking, I remove the ribs and put them on a platter with the vegetables tucked around them. I make a little gravy with the remaining pan juices and well, that gravy is so special, it’s for another day.

I serve them with my labor-intensive whipped potatoes and sauteed greens.
(You would too.)

The (oops) Cabernet Franc is always the wine we pair with our short ribs. It’s my favorite of the bunch and the purple looks good on the table next to the meat.

Sprinkle finely chopped parsley over the whole thing and your partner will swoon.
Happy slow cooker day!

This recipe is a welcome respite from a giant roast bird that everyone’s expecting. It’s a stylish way to serve a little more than expected. It’s great for smaller groups too — those Thanksgivings with your urban family.

Ingredients
2 Italian sausages with the sausage removed from the casing and browned
2 cups of baby spinach, steamed
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
Salt and pepper
1 4-pound boneless turkey breast
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Steam the spinach in a skillet over medium heat. Just before removing from heat, add the garlic to the spinach and heat through. In a bowl, combine the sausage, spinach, Parmesan and oregano. Add salt and pepper until you taste it and it tastes right (grin).

Place the turkey breast skin side down on the cutting board. Flatten the turkey breast, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Spread the sausage/spinach/cheese stuffing on top of the breast and roll the turkey. Wrap kitchen twine or string around the roll and tie snugly.

Put the turkey roll in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and season again with salt and pepper. Roast about 1 hour or until the temp inside the roll is about 165°F.

It’s important to let the whole roll rest for 10 minutes, before you remove the twine. Slice the turkey vertically and put the rolled slices on a platter. Pour those oozy tasty pan juices over the slices and serve.

Stylish, tasty and perfect with our (oops) Cabernet Franc Carmenere.

There are definite perks to being the (oops) wine blogger.

One such perk?
A shipment of the new vintages* to taste.

One such drawback?
As you may remember, I had a wee baby girl a few months ago and sleep deprivation has interrupted my wine tasting. So slowly, slowly, we’re making our way through each wine, being careful to make comments and plan our pairings.

My husband’s current favorite of the bunch is the (oops) Cheeky Little Red, Carmenere Merlot.
(I’m not saying that it’s not my favorite, I’m just holding back on claiming a winner until all the votes are in.)

It’s the bottle with the red top.
It’s a little spicy, a little fruity and I really like drinking it alone.

We tested it with pizza, beef and broccoli stir fry and tomato soup and grilled cheese and, well, it worked beautifully.

But like I said, I really like drinking it by myself.
When the baby sleeps.
When I can fit that in.
(Grin)

Following, you’ll find the beef and broccoli recipe that we tasted it with. And I’d imagine beef and broccoli to be a fairly tricky pairing for wine — there’s a little garlic, a little heat and that broccoli.
But the Cheeky Little Red did just fine.

Behold, the Beef and Broccoli

In no particular order, the ingredients:

1 pound flank steak
1 pound broccoli
1 bell pepper
1 inch of ginger
4-5 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sherry
3 tablespoons chicken stock
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
5 tablespoons Oyster sauce
1/4 c peanut oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
a few green onions if you have ‘em
Steamed rice

Cut the flank steak into pieces about two inches by 1/4 inch. It can be easier if you freeze the steak first for about 15 minutes, serrated knives also help.

Set the steak in a bowl and pour the marinade over the top. Put the bowl in the fridge and make some sauce.

In a liquid measuring cup, mix the sherry, chicken stock, oyster sauce, brown sugar and corn starch with a whisk until it’s all thick n’ viscous. Add more corn starch if it seems a little thin.

Set out of your way.

Now get chopping!
Chop the broccoli into small, same-sized trees.
Chop the red pepper into much smaller same-sized pieces.

Mince the garlic and the ginger and put them in a bowl with about two tablespoons of the peanut oil.
Pull the meat out of the fridge and drain the soy sauce.

Now you can start the rice. One of the nicer things about this recipe is that the rice finishes cooking at practically exactly the same time as the beef and broccoli.

Heat a large frying pan or wok pan or wok to smoking hot.

Add half the beef to the pan–don’t touch!–for about a minute.
Stir that beef all up and cook for another thirty seconds.
Remove to a bowl to rest.

Heat up the pan a bit, add a little more oil and add the rest of the beef.
Rinse and repeat.

Now the broccoli needs to be cooked!
YAY! MY FAVORITE PART!
Set the broccoli in the pan for another thirty seconds and add a half cup of water.

Cover the pan so the broccoli can steam for about three minutes.
Remove the broccoli to a cooler, drier place so it can cease cooking.
Now it’s red pepper time.

Recipe interruption: I had some problems with pan size here. The recipe I was working from used a giant wok. Because we got married in the early aughts instead of the early eighties, we have no wok.

Point? I changed to a big soup pot, something that worked okay for the tools we had.

Now it’s REALLY red pepper time.

Add some more (a tablespoon) oil, heat that up to really hot and add the red peppers. Stir the peppers fairly frequently for about two minutes.

As they begin to change a wee bit brown, add the red pepper flakes and wake up the garlic/ginger/oil mixture.

Toss, toss, toss as if your life depended on it.
Add the broccoli to the pot and
toss, toss, toss with the garlic/ginger/oil/red pepper mixture.

Add the beef back to the pot.
Toss, toss, toss that with the garlic/ginger/oil/red pepper/broccoli mixture.

Now grab the sauce, remember that sauce?
Grab the sauce and rewhisk it a touch until it’s thick and incorporated and lovely all over again.

Pour the sauce into the garlic/ginger/oil/red pepper/broccoli beef mixture and
toss, toss, toss with fervor and passion.

Let the whole messy, gloppy mixture heat through for a minute or two or the time it takes to remove the rice from the pan and put into a serving bowl.

And like I said, goes super well with the Cheeky Little Red.

*A vintage is the year that the wine was made. So (oops) is coming out with 2006’s and 2007’s right now for serving.

Spicy chicken soup, well, it has chiles.
It’s tasty.
It’s good for you.

Ingredients
1 can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 chopped red bell pepper
3 chopped green onions – greens and whites
3 cloves worth of minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cooked chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
2 cans chicken broth
1 can chopped tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (such as Del Monte)
1 (11-ounce) can whole-kernel corn with sweet peppers, drained

Directions
Remove 1 chile from the can; save the remaining chiles and sauce for another time.

Chop the chile fine. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onions, garlic, and cumin; saute 4 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Stir in minced chile, chicken, broth, tomatoes, and corn.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until you’re ready.
Voila!

Hot chocolate pops are good for those random hot days in September.  When randomly, a 90 degree Saturday hits and you were ready for beef stew.  They’re easy, tasty and really do taste like frozen hot chocolate.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons flour
2/3 cup sugar
3 3/4 tablespoons cocoa
1 dash salt
2 cups milk
12 ounces can evaporated milk

Directions
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add all ingredients and stir well. Cook until thick and spoon-coating. Remove pan from heat. Stir in evaporated milk. Pour into plastic popsicle makers or disposable cups. Insert popsicle sticks and freeze for at least two hours.

It’s getting chillier.
So it’s time for black bean soup.

I love this with the Carmenere.
But the official wine people may have a beef with that.
Speaking of beef, there’s none in this recipe

Ingredients
2 cans black beans
2 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chicken stock
1 large onion
1 lemon
2 dried bay leaves
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1 T dried cilantro
½ tsp cayenne
Kitchen Shears
Roasting pan or cake pan
Broil pan or grill
Aluminum Foil

Directions
Dump the beans in a colander and rinse until the water runs through clear. Heat olive oil in bottom of large soup pot to medium high. Dump in the onions and carrots. Saute for 5 minutes and then introduce the garlic. (”Garlic, meet the Onions, Onions, Garlic”)

About 2 minutes later show the cilantro, cayenne, coriander and cumin the way to the pan. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze both halves into the pan. Try not to squeeze the lemon seeds in. Stir ‘em all up and pour in the chicken stock (or veggie stock if you’re so inclined). Pour in the beans and the bay leaves. Let the whole thing simmer for about 30 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool a little.

Remove the bay leaves and pour the whole thing into a blender. You may have to ladle the soup into the blender a scoop at a time if it’s too big to put into the blender at once.

Blend it to your favorite consistency. Serve with tortilla chips or Doritos. Sprinkle with cheese and put a dollop of sour cream and a splash of hot sauce on the top. You can even use it as a dip after it cools.

This recipe was devised by my husband, who has been eagerly helping me on the food front since the baby arrived.

4 boneless chicken breasts
1 jar enchilada sauce
2 tablespoons cumin
10 drops Tabasco sauce

Mix the following in a slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on low.
1 hour before serving, shred the breasts with two forks.
Serve on warmed corn tortillas with cilantro, Mexican sour cream and Monterey Jack cheese.

Even tastier!