Follow Up: The Wine Cellar - Fayetteville's New Wine Bar

I was lucky enough to make it to the grand opening of The Wine Cellar here in Fayetteville and I couldn't be happier. I suppose it helped that opening day was the same day I found out I passed the bar exam so my mood was already elevated.

I was mostly correct on my earlier description of the place. I can add that the exact brand of wine dispenser is the Enomatic, a custom-made Italian model. When you first walk in the door, the first thing you see is the Enomatic dominating the left wall just in front of you. 16 reds and 8 whites can be featured at any one time. The machine itself sets the mood with its sleek metal and wood construction. According to the staff, the supplier sent the wrong model for dispensing the red wines because customers are unable to select the glass size.

The whites are encased in a refrigerated compartment behind clear glass so the view of the bottles is unobstructed. With the whites, customers are able to select the 1 oz tasting size, 2.5 oz half glass or 5 oz full glass. Since I'm not a huge fan of the whites, I was pretty disappointed not to be able to get smaller glasses of the reds. The Italian manufacturer should arrive in the States before long to correct the problem.

The Wine Cellar does offer some appetizers. Cheese plates, served with all the fixin's, a wonderful red pepper hummus - which will be available only occasionally - and my personal favorite, the smoked salmon plate. Some others I've not had a chance to try, but the Bruschetta ordered by a neighboring table looked great!

Finally, the staff has to be mentioned. They are knowledgeable, friendly and there to make sure your visit is absolutely perfect. Barb, the Cellar's wine afficionado, has been self-educating in wine for ten years. Aleks, a certified sommelier, is a wonderful host and educator as well. A visit to their website shows a 12-month calendar of wine appreciation. Each month will focus on certain varietals or certain regions, and will be sure to expand the knowledge of customers.

I hear from Aleks that he will soon be leading some wine education/tasting classes. You can count on me to be there and I hope many more will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. I encourage you to join their email list at the website (link at the top of this post) and they'll keep you up to date!

Limoncello Adventures

So a couple of friends and I decided to make limoncello for Christmas gifts this year. The only problem with a gift like this is that you definitely can't wait until the last minute. We chose this past Saturday to start and we'll have nearly four months for the entire process, which is plenty of time. I made limoncello once before, maybe three years ago, and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. There are only three steps in the process - the rest of the time is waiting, waiting, waiting. I'm only going to post the first step tonight, but if I feel inspired before two months elapses, I'll go ahead and post the full recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon jar with a tight-fitting lid (preferably a screw-on lid)
• 20 ripe, bright yellow lemons
• 2 bottles (750 mL) decent vodka (you don't need to splurge and get Grey Goose, but don't be a cheap ass and get Popov or some equally hideous excuse for vodka)
• Vegetable peeler or paring knife.
  

The booze is where many recipes differ. The first time I did this, I used one bottle of vodka and one bottle of Everclear. Some recipes call for all Everclear. This time, I went with all vodka.

Step One:

Be sure to wash and dry your gallon jar. Even though the alcohol will probably kill anything in there, you want it to be clean. Pour the two bottles of vodka in the jar.

Then, painstakingly peel the skin from the lemons using a peeler or paring knife. Be sure you don't get much or any of the white pith. Too much in your liqueur and your final product can turn bitter (the picture below shows how the strips should look from the bottom). We learned as we went along last weekend that new peelers and most knives tend to cut too deep and you ended up spending more time scraping off the pith from the rind. If you have a dull peeler lying around, it'll probably work perfectly. I try to make long strips of the lemon peel because it will make it easier to fish out when straining the final product in Step Three.


This mixture will need to sit in a dark, cool place for two months. Mine is in a kitchen cabinet. DON'T put it in the refrigerator. As long as the lemon peels are fully submerged, the alcohol will keep them from going rancid. If you think about it, give the jar a shake every week or so, just to make sure all of the lemon peels are exposed. Now you're good to go.

Rachael Ray Dog Food

So it appears that Rachael Ray has come out with a new line of frozen dinners inspired by dishes she has featured on 30 Minute Meals. Nah, just kidding.

Apparently ol' Rach is coming out with a real line of dog food called "Nutrish." And yes, the name of the dog food is every bit as annoying as her Rachael-isms (and the ol' gal herself). But, it is for a good cause-the proceeds from the sale of Nutrish go to her rescue organization, Rachael's Rescue. I can't say I understand her love of Pit Bulls, but to each her own. I have to say, though, that the bags (above) with her cooking, really do look a bit like frozen bag meals.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I hit the quarter-century mark today. I don't feel old, but my niece told me this week that she thinks I'm ancient. That makes me feel great! I'm celebrating tonight with some friends by going to my favorite Fayetteville restaurant, Bordino's, for some great food and a good bottle of wine. All this will be followed by a little fun at Willy D's Piano Bar. I can't get too rowdy, though - I have the Arkansas bar exam coming up next week and I can't let a hangover get in the way of my last minute cramming!

NFNS Week 8 (a/k/a the Worst Episode Ever)

Shoot me in the face. We're down to three contestants remaining in Week 8 and it's time for them to put up or shut up. Going in, my ranking was Lisa, Adam, then Aaron. Coming out, it's still the same since the judges didn't have the balls to kick anyone (Aaron!) off.

The first challenge faced by the contestants is to film a 30-second commercial spot, in motion and interacting with other people or objects. Lisa had the coolest role and was filmed playing the part of a wine angel ascending the Aureole's 4-story wine tower. Adam was the one who stole the show in this challenge though, performing on a show stage with a couple of showgirls.

On to the main challenge, the three of them have to cook for and present to a bunch of Vegas types - showgirls, cast members, a few drag queens and some chefs from the Wynn Hotel. Long story short, Lisa's presentation was amazing and the food was pretty average, which wasn't great for her. Adam's presentation was so-so, though Susie called it "boring" but his food ("Adam's Las Vegas Smoketacular") was the best overall - his smoked pork chops were chosen as the best dish. Finally Aaron. Poor, pathetic Aaron. I don't even know what to say about his presentation - fake crying, eating disorder, forks in his pocket...lame, lame and more lame. Plus, his food apparently sucked - the best thing he made was crab cakes and it's really not that difficult to make good crab cakes.

So, we get to the final judging phase (you know, where Aaron should have been kicked off?) and the judges can't screw up the courage to put him out of his misery. It's getting painful to watch him - he's a fine enough cook, but a thick tongue does not a good TV star make. If, by a horrible stroke of luck, he wins the competition, I really hope they get that man into speech therapy. In the end, the judges were the ones who lost this week's battle.

NFNS Week 7

Here we are in Week 7 and we have Lisa, Kelsey, Aaron and Adam left. This week, they are flown out to Las Vegas to stay in the fabulous Caesars Palace and, yes, I did see Kelsey and Lisa jumping on the bed in their sweet suite.

Paula Deen is the guest judge for this episode and the contestants start the week with a sit-down dinner with Paula and Bobby Flay to talk about their strengths and weaknesses and what the judges really need to see out of them in the Week 7 challenge. The challenge itself is quite interesting - the contestants are pitted against each other Bobby Flay "Throwdown" style on their signature dishes: Lisa and her cassoulet, Adam's lobster mac 'n cheese, Kelsey's chicken parmesan and Aaron's pork loin with apple.

First is Lisa vs. Adam. Adam hit a home run with his lobster mac'n cheese, even with Ms. Paula who said she'd never liked the dish before. I can't say, though, that gourmet mac 'n cheese is something made for the Food Network. Lisa's attempt was a flop. How can you screw up something as simple as mac 'n cheese? Paula even said she "hated it." Winner of battle mac 'n cheese: Adam.

Likewise, Lisa hit a home run with her duck confit cassoulet - it may have even been a grand slam. Tusch called it a "truly masterful dish." Paula said it was "truly wonderful" and Bobby said it was probably the best cassoulet he'd ever had. Adam only managed a "beginner" stamp for his attempt at the dish. Winner of battle cassoulet: Lisa.

Next up is Kelsey's chicken parmesan vs. Aaron's pork loin with apple glaze. Kelsey had a tough go with the judges. They had a problem with the deconstruction of the dish because the chicken and sauce didn't come together. Paula hit Kelsey on the petite-ness of the dish and gave Aaron good marks for the heartiness of his dish and his adherence to the status of chicken parmesan as a familiar comfort food.

On to Aaron's pork dish, which isn't as much a signature dish as it is a cut of meat that can be done in any number of ways. Aaron came out fine and the judges liked the way his sweet and spicy glaze worked with the pork. Kelsey got hit again by Paula for the small portion size but not didn't get much feedback.

An important side note here: You have to know when you've got Paula Deen as your judge that she's not going to be impressed by pretty little dishes. The woman who stuck her tongue under a chocolate fountain wants a pile of food on her plate so you better give it to her! Paula in her own words: Mmmm, Southern Cooking is like a long walk in the meadow, you just can never seem to fill up enough on it.

After all this we get to the judging. The judges are still concerned with Lisa's intensity when she's trying to cook in front of the camera. The judges found Adam uncharacteristically cold during his presentation. They didn't have much bad to say with Aaron except to point out his obvious lack of knowledge about ingredients, but please please get that boy some speech therapy!

I predicted, not too long ago, that this season would come down to a battle of youth - Shane vs. Kelsey. I was way off base because Shane was eliminated in Week 6 and Kelsey in Week 7. In the end, the judges must have though Kelsey lacked the real life experience they wanted in their Next Food Network Star. I have to go back to a point I made earlier in the season - the judges obviously put personality over skill in the kitchen. Adam has some kind of hold on the judges because he has been at the bottom of the barrel as far as knowledge and skill for a while now.

So we say goodbye to Kelsey this week, but surely not forever. She's young and already has a great deal of skill. Once she gains some real life experience, we'll doubtless see her back on the Food Network in some capacity.

Lisa Garza, Drama Queen Extraordinaire

So this is the image of Lisa Garza that we have become accustomed to every week on Next Food Network Star. Ms. Glamour Girl and drama queen. I saw a bit of normality the week she fell in her high heels and splashed sauce all over herself (Found at 1:55 - 2:00 in the Season 4 Recap Vid). Before and after that incident, she's really not shown much of herself, certainly not a person the Food Network viewers can relate to. She's still one of my favorites, but she's got to make some changes if she wants to keep moving on in the competition.

After her big shut down in Week 6, she emailed The Food Network Addict blog to complain about being "censored" and overall unfair treatment. While the segment shown on NFNS may not have told the entire story, NFNS is aired to a national audience to get viewers and sell advertising time. Lisa is a successful restaurateur, see her restaurant Suze in Dallas, but if she doesn't loosen up a bit, she's going to lose her chance at her own Food Network show. Who knows, maybe she just needs to get laid but seriously, loosen up a bit! Maybe if she changed out of the thousand dollar duds and put on something that looked more Main Street cafe than Paris runway? Something like this, perhaps (no idea where the pic came from, just found it on a GIS):