Sunday - November 01, 2009

drunk bloggin

I had a hankering for cheese fondue the other day. We used to do that all the time when I was a kid, but I don’t think I have had any in 25 years. I don’t own a fondue pot, and the prices are out of this world these days.

So I used a regular pot, and Italian bread since I couldn’t find French bread at the grocery store. But I made as authentic a recipe as I could.

1/2 pound Emmentaler (aka Swiss ) cheese
1/2 pound Gruyere cheese
1 clove garlic
2 cups strongly flavored dry white french wine. I used a 90% Sauvignon Blanc blend from the Loire valley.
1 tbs lemon juice
ground pepper - white pepper if you have it
freshly grated nutmeg to taste
3 tbs or a bit more of Kirschwasser
1/8 cup flour
French bread, cut into slices and the slices halved. Leave them out to stale up a good 3 hours before cooking. Overnight is Ok too.

Cut the cheese into matchsticks. Toss it in a bowl with flour and mix it around until everything is evenly coated.

Rub the bottom of the pot with the garlic clove. Give the clove a bash to break it up, and drop it in the bottom of the pot. If you have a deep no-stick pan, use it.

Heat the wine and the lemon juice. Add the nutmeg and the pepper. Don’t boil the wine, but get it pretty hot.

Add the cheese a little at a time, and stir things constantly. When all the cheese is in, and melted, stir it around for another 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to very low. Spear a bit of bread and dunk it in. Let it soak up for about 10 seconds, then drop it onto a plate. Serve. Repeat until out of bread or cheese sauce.

Damn that was good. It came out perfect. Stale bread soaked with soured white wine and covered in strongly flavored cheese sauce. You can’t beat that with a fargin’ stick.

So I gave some to my wife, the Italian. She hated it. “It’s too salty. And it has too much wine.” Arrggh. Culinary delicacies that only white people can appreciate.

Fine. So I ate the whole thing over the course of 2 days. And it was fucking fantastic. I ate until I was in pain. It was that good.

And tonight it’s spaghetti sauce. Oh joy. A jar and a half of the Classico brand stuff, mixed with 2 cans of Tuttorosso tomato chunks. And garlic. And onion. And basil and oregano. With browned ground pork and beef. Simmering away. After an antipasto appetizer of giardaneria (pickled veg) and soppresata (dry sausage). And some “naked redhead” red wine. Oh well. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

So I took the extra juice from the tomatoes and made myself a Bloody Mary. We keep a big bottle of Gordon’s gin in the freezer. And some Noilly Prat dry vermouth in the fridge. So I had my Bloody, and added a bit of Kirschwasser to it. Possible fail? Let’s just say that that could be an acquired taste. Not so great. Fine. So I made dirty martinis afterwards. What the hell, I have a fresh bottle of olives. And the sauce will take at least half an hour. Hey, maybe I can use up the last of the Italian bread. I’ll make some melted garlic butter.

I gather this kirschwasser stuff is booze used mainly for cooking. It’s the real thing, not the sugary sweet shit sold by Leroux. Nasty evil bitter orange brandy, from Germany. Actually, I rather like it. But it packs a wallop and takes some getting used to when drunk straight up.

Have to check to see if the sauce needs a stir. I know my martini needs a refill and another olive. CheerS!

Posted by Drew458     on 11/01/2009 at 07:53 PM   
Filed Under: • Miscellaneous •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2008 Domain Owner