Wild Mushroom and Riesling Stuffing

This is one of my all-time favorite dishes. I never really liked stuffing before I started making this. (Sorry Mom! No likey-likey necks, gizzards, and hearts...) Besides...this stuffing calls for one cup of Riesling! The quick public math easily estimates there will be several glasses of wine left over to drink while you cook. BONUS. (Side note...Italians don't make very good Riesling. Lucky for us, the region that does make ok Riesling is right here. Other side note...going to Germany next week for a work trip, wil buy several bottles of Riesling...hope they last)

The next best thing about this stuffing is the bread and mushroom. It calls for peasent bread and wild mushrooms. Not sure what peasent bread is. I always buy a heavy bread and go for it. In Italy there a ton of differnt breads. Fresh! So, of course Shelly and I eat a little and use a little. She is a good taster. The wild mushrooms were also a blast finding. The local market where I found a mix. Never before have I found a mix of mushrooms. I've always had to buy differnt kinds. I'll let you know how it turns out this year.

The hardest part about cooking this Wild Mushroom and Riesling Stuffing...is well! Cooking it! It smells so good. Earthy, fresh, seasonal, Thanksgivingly YUMMY! The prepwork and pre-cooking take about an hour. (I have slow knife work!) During this time you're fighting your temptations...your urges...your plight in life.

OH Wait! There is one more cool thing about this stuffing! I always make too much...which means left-overs. Who is coming?

This is uncooked. The real picture comes later!

Roasted Turkey Stock

This is what I make every Thanksgiving. It is sooo super yummy. I use it for my turkey and stuffing. Then with the left over turkey I make a killer soup. You'll just have to make your way to Italy if you want to taste. If youplan to stop by, please call or e-mail first. Feel free to drool. Just clean up your mess.

OK Beer...Had Better!

Found another Belgium beer at the store. I'm a sucker for Abbey beers. I think it is so awesome monks make beer. In all actuality, I've spent a good bit of time thinking about this. Here's how the thought process goes. I believe in God...check. I believe in good beer...check. I look good in brown....check. Making beer for the lord has to be the best gig in town. Right? :)

Here is my take on Affligem Blond 1074: It poured very nicely, fantastic head, aromatic smells, and a bold color. However, when the beer reached the back of my mouth, the taste went a bit wonky. It still is a good beer and I would drink it again.

You should check out Affligem's website. Some wicked cool chanting monks. You can't visit the abbey, but you can visit the cultural center where you can also buy cheese and wine.

Yummy French Beer?

Well, this trip to France made things really clear to me. I think I'm more French than Italian! Shelly and I chowed down on some great food during our stay. However, we did pick a crappy salami. I however, redemed this sloppy choice with the fantastic La Goudale beer. This 7.2% Blonde poured out with a creamy head. Their website says it is a recipe dating back to the middle ages. Translated: This beer is awesome! The problem...you probally won't be able to find it in the USA. According to the website:

Among the major distributors : Atac, Auchan, Carrefour, Casino, Champion, Cora, Géant, Intermarché, Leclerc, Match, Monoprix, Super U.

There are a few places in the states you can find it. Check out RateBeer to find a place near you.
This beer has intense malty flavors, with hints of some earthy undertones. The flavor fills your mouth and goes down smoothly. Beer Advocate gave this beer a solid "B." I give it a solid "A." If you ever find youselves in France...stop by an Auchan or Champion and pick some up. You can thank me later.

The ALL New "Two Great Tastes...That Taste Great Together!"

You may or may not know my son only eats a limited diet. Shelly and I have joked about buying him a shirt with "I Love Carbs!" on it. Two of Ollie's favorite foods are French Fries, (who doesn't love them?) and Pizza. We had our fair share of fries in Germany. I'm a firm believer Germans make the best fries in the world. Now of course we live in Italy...where many would argue you can find the best pizzas in the world. Imagine the joy in my foodie heart when I discovered the unthinkable. Imagine the silent thought proccess of the possibility of this unthinkable possibility in Ollie's mind. By now I think you might be thinking what Ollie and I were thinking...Is there a new "TWO GREAT TASTES THAT TASTE GREAT TOGETHER?"

OH YES! IT IS TRUE! WE HAVE FOUND THE FOODIE MECCA...at least Ollie's.

Notice how Ollie's amazement changes to uncertainty as he slowly maneuvers the first piece of what could do for his food enjoyment, what Einstein did for science. CHANGE THE WORLD! It wasn't long before he discovered the truth. FRENCH FRY PIZZA IS "THE NEW TWO GREAT TASTES THAT TASTE GREAT TOGETHER!"

Maddy soon followed in this discovery. And while I can't prove this, (becuase the pictures were deleted by the very adults eating this pizza; which Ollie and I believe might also create world peace) many adults at the table either enjoyed this awesome pizza...or at least smelled it's heavenly aroma.

Yummy Italian!

OK! So we've been in Italy for almost a year and I'm now just getting to my first Taste This! blog. Suffice to say I've had my fair share of: wine, risotto, bruschetta, pizza, parmigiano, mozzarella, speck, soppressa veneto, balsamic, and soups...which I will post about later.

My first blog begins now...

The other day I duped Shelly into a trip to a small shop in our town. It is very small and non-descript...with the exception of what appeared to be a large jug I've seen locals fill with wine. Lots and Lots of wine. I've been trying to get Shelly into one of these stores...called an Enoteca for awhile now. (FYI, you can also buy fresh milk this way too!) Today was my lucky day. We walked into the enoteca and it was decked out with old fashion radios, wine, olive oil, balsamic oils, and even some beer. (Of course I bought that too!) Along the side wall were four giant tanks. They kind of looked like old gas pumps. Then the mecca! The back wall had 40-50 taps. The tanks and taps all had different types of local/regional wines. YEP! This place is like Costco, except they only sell wine in bulk. Here's the kicker! IT IS SUPER GOOD & CHEAP! You pick the wine you like, and give the owner the vessel of you choice. No lie, someone brought in a water bottle and filled it up! You can buy as little as a water bottle up to 50 liters. We opted for the 5 liter option. (Roughly 1.3 gallons.) Of course the fun didn't stop there. We then had to buy bottles and lids...and as you can tell, drink a few glasses before we made the transfer to small 1 liter sized bottles. The price per liter for this wine is about $6. If were to buy this wine in a bottle at a regular store the price would be around $12. Shelly and I have been drinking this wine all weekend. It is sooo good in fact, I was suppose to go TDY for an overnight trip, but stayed home and drank this wine instead. Of course I had to get up super early the next morning for my news story coverage.

The fun in the store didn't stop there! The owner was very hip and happy to speak English to us. Our Italian is waay bad still. He told us he loves to drink and eat. Shelly and I thought to ourselves..."We Do TOO!" He said, he only likes to eat and drink the best, so that is why he has this store full of only the best. He brought us over to the olive oils. There were three different levels available. Light (leggero), Medium (medio), and Intense (intenso). Normally, we pay about $4-6 for a large bottle of olive oil. The oils here ranged from $15-50. Thankfully, there was a sample pack. We spent the majority of Sunday eating bread with these oils and drinking our new wine. It was a good Sunday!

There was also a nice selection of balsamic vinegars. Some aged up to 30-years. The owner was very nice to us and gave us two samples of 30-year vinegar. We've not tried it yet. We also bought a case of some Italian beer that has won several gold/silver medals in world-wide best beer contests. More to come on the beer!