Hiatus for Hiking, Pagosa Springs- Day 1

Day One in Pagosa Springs-
The Rainbow Trail (also known as the West Fork Creek Trail) to Hot Springs

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Left Behind, Montpellier Pinot Noir

Montpellier, California Pinot Noir- 2008

After sweeping up the chip crumbs, wiping down any and all flat surfaces of queso remains and searching for empty beer bottles in the rose bushes, there are a few pleasant elements of hosting the party at your place. Take for example: an assortment of microbrews left in the refrigerator, half full bottles of Tito's and Bacardi in the freezer, and a few unopened bottles of wine left on the counter.

The bottle of wine you see pictured above is the Montpellier, California Pinot Noir from 2008. Valued at $6.00, I was super-skeptical of this particular pinot. As many of you may know, pinot noir is one of the most expensive wines to produce because of the grape's sensitive and unstable characteristics in both growing and winemaking. Expensive to produce = expensive to buy. So, you can see why I was a little leery of a $6 bottle of Pinot from Napa. Pour, swirl, sniff and taste. The color is a juicy, vibrant, clear cherry red and the nose is bright and fruity. Flavors of light oak and young cherries, it is fruit forward and simple - simply pleasant. The finish is not long and there is hardly any complexity, but I would not expect that from a bottle of this price. But overall, this is a nice bargain wine. It is enjoyable to drink and well suited for a late summer's dinner. Do not expect too much out of the Montpellier and you will not be disappointed; I would recommend this for you easy drinkers (or the white wine fanatics). Read more!

Celebration Farmer's Market - 7.15.09

Last week, I traveled to the downtown Dallas Farmer's Market. I remembered this article in the DMN and decided to try a much closer farmer's market outside Celebration Restaurant & Market. It was very small but still had great produce and a large selection of vendors like: The Mozzarella Company, Oak Cliff Coffee, Texas Honeybee Guild and Lucido's Pasta.

I spent $18.50 on a large piece of the Mozzarella Company's Blanca Bianca ($6.00- a great price! Retail normally sells for $18.70/lb), 2 lbs of Lucido's Basil Garlic Linguine ($6.00, 8-10 servings of pasta), a large basket of Grand Saline new potatoes, a couple of large tomatoes from Holt Farms (not so local, but friends of Lemley in Tennessee) and a few freestone peaches from Lemley's Farms in Canton.

On Sunday, I cooked the pasta and roasted the remaining cherry tomatoes from last week's market run. The pasta, fresh but quick dried, takes only about 5 minutes to cook and you can cook only as much as you need. It will last up to 3 weeks on the shelf. We tossed the cooked pasta with homemade basil pesto and topped with the roasted tomatoes. Nothing tastes more like summer than basil, sweet roasted tomatoes and fresh pasta.

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Leggo my Prosecco

Italian DOC region of Prosecco, Valdobbiadene Hills

Today, we will learn a lesson Italian wines and their classifications. For this lesson, I will be using Karen MacNeil's The Wine Bible and Hugh Johnson & Janice Robinson's The World Atlas of Wine. The Italian government is sometimes frustrating, corrupt and just plain confusing. Let's be honest, here. And their wine regulations and laws are no exception.

In 1963, Italy enacted their DOC laws (Denominazione de Origine Controllata) to regulate standards for certain types of wine. Shortly thereafter, winemakers across Italy were up in arms because the standards were based on "traditional" practices and "traditional" tastes. Certain winemakers (making undeniably great wines using nontraditional, innovative practices) got tired of their wines being considered vino da tavola (table wine, the lowest status), because of these regulations. In 1980, the government passed a new -and misleading - regulation DOCG (Denominazione de Origine Controllata e Garantita), wines of exceptional quality and renown. The standards were enven more strict than the DOC. Examples of DOCG wines are: brunello di Montalcino, Barolo, Chianti Classico, and many more. As with the DOC, there were problems with DOCG regulations: the word "garantita" implied the quality was guaranteed when it was not, and it applied to an entire region sometimes including the most plebian of wines. So instead of reforming the regulations, they just created one more IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) to include the country wines. The IGT wines are thought to be good and sometimes great wines, but historically are not as recognized as the DOC and DOCG wines. Jump for more!

All this being said, there is a new DOCG (divided into two regions, actually) for prosecco. Prosecco is a grape originating from the Tre Venezie, a larger area of three wine regions that surround Venice in Italy's northesat corner. Known as the Italian bubbly, prosecco is a spumante or sparkling wine; it is less dramatic, slightly sweeter and softer than Champagne. The new DOCG regions of Prosecco will begin with this coming vintage and they are Conegliano and Valdobbiadene.

This past Thursday, Jimmy's Food Store had a free Prosecco/Sparkling Wine tasting. The wines were largely prosecco with a few moscato d'Asti. The back wine room was packed with prosecco fans and neophiles alike. It was a vivacious group of interested customers and informed wine reps. A few favorites were the Caposaldo Prosecco, one of the most traditional proseccos in the room; Rotari Talento Rose, an elegant sparkling Rose, and lastly, one of the sweeter proseccos, Bastianich Flor Prosecco. The tour of pours ended with two wines from the new DOCGs of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene. Slighlty more expensive, these wines were distinctive in structure but overall, I found the less expensive non DOCG proseccos most enjoyable. For a great buy, check out the Mionetto Prosecco Brut!

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Every Pearl Has Its Oyster - 8.12.09

In the city with "a Starbucks on every corner", The Pearl Cup, a newish coffee shop on happenin' Henderson Ave., seeks to set itself apart. And with sounds of Sigur Ros and Bjork streaming through the system's speakers and its "green" building, both in color and environmental practices, it does just that. This Wednesday I decided to try the famed Pearl Latte, D Magazine's "Best Latte of 2009", and see what this Pearl Cup place was all about.

Keep Austin Weird and Try to Make Dallas Weirder. The owners are two Austin natives and there is no disguising that factor. Small succulents as table decorations, local artistry on the walls, retro signage, doggie water bowls on the patio, bike rack out front and the list could go on. Inside, the number of people wearing skinny, vintage jeans and American Apparel outnumbers the number of white, Ikea Snille chairs. In the background, there are conversational murmurs of "Obama" and the sound of iBook keys clicking away. As I place my order for a Pearl Latte, I do not dare and ask for it "to-go"; please be carbon conscious and drink out of porcelain not plastic.

The signature drink was more expensive ( at $3.85 for the small) than I expected. Five minutes later - the barista seemed to have more interest in starting a conversation with the boy at the counter than starting my latte- a very generous "small" Pearl Latte appeared. It was served in a pristine white cup on an unproportionately large sauce; I love that! It was dramatic and had enough room to place the little sample cup of an oatmeal-cranberry cookie. Creamy milk, hints of baking spices, balanced with a deep roast espresso. A hint of Chai? It truly was unlike any latte I've ever had.

Too rich (and expensive) to drink often, it is a perfect middle of the week treat. Next time, I will perhaps try one of their tempting sweets and the "Italian Cappuccino".

The Pearl Cup
1900 N. Henderson Ave.
Dallas, TX 75206
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Gluten Glutton, Pagosa Brewing Company

The Hugger, Pizza at Pagosa Brewing Company

It was a damp, chilly evening, perfect for pizza and beer. Outside, the beer garden is largely covered – thankfully, covered – by an event tent. At opposing ends, a large stage and sound booth take up a good quarter of the covered space. When we arrived the inside was fairly empty and a few tables under the tent were occupied. By the time we left, the place had filled up and the air was warming around the buzz of good food and company.

Pagosa Brewing Company is a local company that produces award-winning microbrews and soda pop. The “tasting room and beer garden” feature the PBC brews and food from Farrago, a popular market/cafe in downtown Pagosa Springs. In the summer, the beer garden is a favorite local hang out, especially on concert nights where professional musicians play (for a small cover charge) under the festival tent.

We arrived early enough for pizza; I had heard of the famous pies but on my last visit, they sold out by the time we arrived for dinner. However, this Friday night was starting off slowly and there were no shortages in sight. We began with the beers (of course); I had the Wolf Creek Wheat, a British-style wheat beer. To me, this was a very enjoyable drink, it was smooth, hearty enough with a good yeasty quality. I always get nervous when I order wheat beers, because I have a love-hate relationship with the good ol “hefes”. On one hand, I love their wheat, starchy qualities but I hate the way they fill me up as if I’ve just taken down a whole freshly baked loaf. But alas, the Wolf Creek Wheat triumphs and leaves plenty of room for the real meal of pizza.



To begin, we ordered the Thai Curry Hummus, the texture was thick and nutty but the flavor was flat. I struggled to find any bit of “curry” or “Thai” in the hummus. It was served with a side of spicy, citrus-pepper dressing; was this supposed to be added to the hummus? It would make sense that this dressing combined with the hummus might just qualify as “Thai hummus” but still, no curry to be found.

One by one, our pizzas arrived. Large, chock full of toppings, and wonderfully cheesy, these pies are not to be missed. At our table sat both camps of pizza eaters: the thin crust fans and the thick crust fans. And both camps were pleased, although Farrago’s pizza has a noticeably thick outer crust, the bottom of the pies stayed pleasantly thin and crunchy. We ordered two varieties of pizza: The Mahoney and The Hugger. The Hugger, the “girls” order, is a veggie pizza with mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, tomatoes and whole roasted garlic cloves. This pizza is memorable for a few reasons: the whole roasted garlic cloves pepper the pizza (it is not unusual to find 3 or 4 whole cloves on ONE slice), the feta cheese and sun dried tomatoes steal the show. They are scattered over the top and act as creamy/crunchy sweet foils to the savory scene. The gents all enjoyed the Mahoney, a “man’s” pizza of sweet peppers, Italian sausage, pepperoni, kalamata olives and red onions.

Rain or shine, Pagosa Brewing Company’s Tasting Room and Beer Garden is the perfect place for a summer evening. Enjoy good beer, pizza (I hear the burgers are great), and live entertainment.

Pagosa Brewing Company
“Your Hometwon Mountain Brewery”
100 N. Pagosa Blvd.
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
970.731.BREW

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Grass Fed and Farmsteads

A view of Downtown from the Farmer's Market

On Saturday, I finally made it back to the Dallas Farmer's Market. A few years ago, I lived much closer to the market and would frequent Shed No.1 for my weekly produce. Since our move, I could never quite make the trek downtown on a Saturday morning (the best day for shopping) until this past Saturday. I took $15.00 in cash as my budget for produce and my credit card for my meat purchase.

Arriving at 9:30am (the market opens at 8:00am), it was already fairly crowded in both the outdoor sheds, Shed No.1 and No. 3. I recommend shopping at Shed No.1, which is restricted to the local produce/vendors; the farms must be within 150 miles of Dallas. Take one lap around and see what looks best before purchasing anything. I left with a bag of: "Sweetest" little red onions, fresh okra, lady cream peas, J.T. Lemley's famous cherry tomatoes, freestone peaches and half a dozen organic, free range eggs. All for $13.00. After only 30 minutes of Texas morning heat, I was in desperate need of A/C. Shed No. 2, the indoor marketplace for eateries and specialty foods, was near empty and wonderfully cool. I was slightly disappointed with Shed No. 2, because when I previously visited this shed was packed wall to wall with vendors. This Saturday there were only a couple of vendors. Perhaps, the vendors get a late start on Saturday, knowing that the big crowds will start around 11:00am. Inside, I spent my remaining $2.00 on a fresh cup of coffee from Mawker Coffee, a local roaster that sells online and at the Farmer's Market only. I had the Espresso blend, it was smooth and bold. With meat on my mind, I search for Texas Supernatural Meats, a co-op of three separate farms that promise free-range, grass fed and natural meats. Feeling less than creative, I decided on a whole chicken from Rehoboth Ranch. A 4lb bird was $15.00 even. I left with a full bag of fresh goods all for $30.00.

We're going to have a cream pea salad and brown rice for dinner tonight. Tomorrow, I'll tackle the chicken and okra. After my pleasant trip and painless drive, I am disappointed in myself for not returning sooner. Stay tuned for next week's visit to the market. Read more!