2005 Madcap Pastor Fritz Shiraz

Ben brought this over for a night of grilling and drinking. It was a sub-$20 wine, which means I file this with the value keyword. The wine is a standard big, jammy, Australian affair. It comes with a screw cap, which is the trend in Australia; and normally I wouldn't mention it except I'm about to explain something and mentioning the screw cap plays into that. Most people would have just mentioned the screw cap and then said what they need to say and trust the reader to remember that they had mentioned the screw cap. Not me; this is just how I roll. And I've got lots of white space to fill.

Ben likes the screw cap because he can put it in the fridge after drinking half a bottle and it is still good the next day. So when he got to my house with it, half of it was gone and it had been open half a day. We set it on the counter to allow it to trend upward toward room temperature. In the mean time, we set about preparing dinner.

Seven Flavor Pork Tenderloin was the dish for the night. Step one: remove all the white, fatty bits with a sharp, non-serrated, 3" knife. Step two: coat evenly with just enough olive oil to cover everything. Step the third: go through the spice drawer and find seven different little bottles. Actually, we only found six because the cilantro was fresh. Step the fourth: chop cilantro into little, bitty, bits. E) apply bits of cilantro to pork. F) apply six remaining spices in descending order of size (1) oregano, (2) thyme, (3) dried red pepper flakes, (4) smoked salt spice mix, (5) spicy salt spice mix, (6) cayenne pepper, (7) chili powder. Hmm... I guess it was Eight Flavor Pork Tenderloin. Well, under promise, over deliver. Penultimate step: cook at ridiculous temperature for 10 minutes. Last step: eat with 2005 Madcap Pastor Fritz Shiraz.

Getting to the point, finally: the crazy spicy pork, combined with the fact the wine had been open for 24hrs or so prevent me from really adequately reviewing. So take with a grain of salt the following: I didn't like it, but I would drink it again.

cooking with the aussie

So, Ben says, "let's cook a feed." And the next thing I know, we're off to Whole Foods.

Fuckin' Parpadelle
0.75 Sweet Walla-Walla Onions, chopped
1.0 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
0.5 Shallots, finely chopped
2.0 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
1.0 Habenaro, finely chopped
1.0 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2.0 Cans of Tomato Sauce
0.5 Cups of Chicken Stock
1.5 Packages of Fresh Parpadelle Noodles
4.0 Ounces of Sliced Mushrooms, finely chopped
0.25 Pounds of Ground Beef
0.25 Pounds of Ground Lamb
0.25 Pounds of Ground Mild Italian Sausage
0.25 Pounds of Ground Ostrich
3 Tablespoons of Marscapone
0.33 Cups of Parmesan, grated
1.0 Package fresh Mozzarella
1 Cup of Good Red Wine
Generous amounts of Oregano, Salt, Pepper, Dried Red Pepper Flakes and Cayenne Pepper

1. Cook Onion, Green Pepper, Garlic, Shallots and Habenaro on medium-high heat until onions are translucent and everything is generally squishy. Stir occasionally, do not let anything burn.

2. Add half of the chicken stock, the mushrooms, all the spices, and all the various ground meats. Cook on medium-high heat until meat is browned, stirring often. Add chicken stock as needed to prevent burning.

3. Add tomato sauce, red wine, marscapone and mozzarella. Stir. Continue cooking on low heat for 10 minutes or so, until everything gels and a good consistancy has been achieved.

4. While that cooks, boil the Parpadelle noodles for a few minutes. They're fresh (you did get fresh ones, didn't you?) so they'll cook quickly.

5. Strain noodles, combine with meat sauce, eat with bread and good red wine.

We drank the 2004 Fox Creek Shiraz and the 2004 Sablet. They were good.

And if you're wondering what to do with the Mozzarella, you forget to put it in and just throw it in the fridge when you are done eating. This is a vital step.