Everything but the kitchen sink!

It’s time for me to go grocery shopping. I’ve procrastinated a little longer than normal so have minimal food in my fridge. As I stared at my options trying to dream up something for dinner last night I stumbled on a rather tasty recipe.

It all started with Israeli couscous. I bought some the last time I went grocery shopping just because it was so fun looking. I’m sort of on this new kick of trying new and interesting items to expand my palate. If you’ve never seen Israeli couscous before think of hail – looks very similar. To me it is the Israeli equivalent to orzo. When cooked, they plump up into nice little gushy balls that make a great accompaniment to almost anything.

So I placed all the miscellaneous food from my fridge on my counter and went crazy. I came up with a hit – especially to my husband who went back for seconds and deemed it “comfort food.” Give it a try and have fun – use whatever you have around that you like and need to use up.

Kitchen Sink Couscous

3 cups water

2 cups Israeli couscous

2 Italian chicken sausage, cut in rounds

1 cooked chicken breast, cut in chunks

1/2 white onion, cut in chunks

1 clove garlic, sliced

1/2 cup cremini and button mushrooms, sliced

1 tomato, cut in chunks

1/2 cup baby zucchini, sliced in half longways then in half longwise again

1/2 cup leftover roasted fennel, carrots, and thin sliced lemons

4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1 TB cilantro, chopped

olive oil

salt and pepper

Boil water in medium saucepan. Stir in 1 tsp. salt and cous cous. Turn heat down and simmer until liquid is evaporated, stirring occasionally. Cover to keep warm.

Put 1 TB olive oil in large saute pan. Saute sausage. Throw in chicken and onions and saute until chicken is heated through and onions start to turn color.

Toss in the mushrooms, garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, and roasted veggies. Cook until veggies are cooked through. Add couscous and stir to combine.

Take off heat, stir in cilantro, feta and salt & pepper to taste.

Put in a beautiful serving bowl, drizzle high quality olive oil over top, pour a glass of wine and enjoy!

Destroyed Vines

I saw this article on decanter.com and wanted to share. What a tragedy!

Just to make it clear – I am copying and pasting this article directly from www.decanter.com…..

Thousands of Medoc vines vandalised

Wednesday 21 March 2012
by Jane Anson in Bordeaux

About 2,000 young vines have been vandalised causing tens of thousands of euros damage at a Medoc estate.

One of Chateau Labat’s vines cut off at the stem

The plot of Merlot vines at Chateau Labat, a 7-hectare cru bourgeois estate in AOC Haut-Medoc, was attacked on Friday night, possibly by a gang, the owners suspect.

The vines, in the commune of Saint-Laurent-du-Medoc near Pauillac, were not located next to a main road, and accessible only through a main gate to the estate, indicating that the vandals may have specifically targetted the site.

The plants were cut between 8cm and 12cm from the base, with almost all of the shoots and buds cut off. Around one third may be able to produce fruit again, but the rest have been destroyed, meaning a huge loss in terms of lost plants, and manpower.

‘It is the symbolic value that is most shocking,’ owner François Nony, whose family have owned Labat since 1920, and who also owns the 38-hectare Chateau Caronne Ste Gemme, told Decanter.com.

‘We have been racking our brains as to who could possibly have done this. Clearly they were very determined. For one person alone, cutting this many vines would have taken around six hours of work, so I have to assume there may have been more than one criminal.’

The plot of 5,500 vines had been planted in 2011, and was due to be used in the wine next year, for the 2013 harvest. Between 1,900 and 2,000 vines – around 20 rows – were damaged.

A police enquiry has been opened in Pauillac, but there are no obvious lines of enquiry.

Nony is vice-president of the Alliance Cru Bourgeois, working to promote the wines of the Medoc. ‘As part of the promotions team, I deal with the good news, not the bad news, and can’t see why that would attract anger. We do have occasional staff issues at the estate, as does everyone, but again I can’t see that they have been so severe as to cause this anger towards my family.’

Although extremely rare, this is not the first time that vines have been criminally damaged in Bordeaux. In March 2006, the Cathiard family, owners of Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte, found 800 of their vines had been destroyed at their Chateau Cantelys estate in Pessac Leognan.

Inspiration for the Day

It’s Saturday morning. I’m sitting on my lanai enjoying the peacefulness of birds chirping (a lawn mower :{ ) and a great cup of coffee made by my husband. I’m casually flipping through the March 2012 issue of my “Food & Wine” magazine when I settle on an article called “In Praise of Powerful Cabernets” by Ray Isle. I love what he says toward the end of the article and wanted to share with you….

“It (Cabernet) may be hard to pair with some foods, but it sure goes great with life.”

Enjoy your day….and your next bottle of Cabernet.