June 12 - Sparkling Wine Tasting

We attended a Sparkling Wine tasting at Jimmy's (see http://www.jimmysfoodstore.com/) recently and were inspired to try a taste test at home.   Jimmy's served exclusively Bellavista sparklers (see http://www.bellavistasrl.it/prodotti.php) so we purchased a few bottles; especially to compare with our favorite sparkling wine Gruet (see http://www.gruetwinery.com/).

We compared:
1.  Gruet Brut ($15)
2.  Bella Vista Cuv'ee Brut ($34)
As you can see from the picture, we also compared two others but they were in our fridge and well, we threw them in because we had them so I won't share their names.  They were a $10 Prosecco (far too sweet) and a $20 Sparkling Wine (un-memorable ...and not because we had too much to drink - ha!).

GRUET Brut
OK, truthfully, they served the Gruet at our wedding so it has a soft spot in our hearts.  But, for the price we can't find anything that compares.  Our local grocery store (Tom Thumb) occassionaly has a good sale for around $12 and we stock-up.  It's smooth, bubbly and just wonderful.  We recommend keeping this one around for your "every day" sipper.

BELLA VISTA Cuv'ee Brut
We've seen this one sold for as high as $50 so we got a good deal from Jimmy's.  This is actually a "Franciacorta" which is a region in Italy and a type of sparkling wine.  Like "Champagne" only vinyards within the region can call their wines a Franciacorta.  At Jimmy's we tried several of their wines and they were all worth every penny of whatever you have to pay.  We love Gruet but, WOW, there is a taste differential and Bella Vista wins!  Our wedding anniversary is coming-up and we're going to pop a bottle.  We think every special occassion should include Bella Vista!

Steam Convection Oven - Steamed Vegetables- WOW!

Wow, the Steam Convection oven really does a great job of steaming vegetables.  Last night we steamed broccoli and they were amazing.  We also steamed asparagus earlier this week and they were even better.  We highly recommend steaming your veggies in your Thermado steam convection oven!

What we tried:
- 1.5 pounds of broccoli
- Oven Mode: Steam
- Oven Temp: 210
- Time:  12 minutes

Results:
- Amazing broccoli!

Steam Convection Oven - Parmesan Cheese Patties

A parmesan cheese patty is a 3"-4" circle of solid parmesan cheese. 

We attempted to use the Steam Convection oven tonight.

What we tried:
- About a 3"-4" circle of store-bought shredded parmesan cheese (stacked about 1/4" tall) on top of aluminum foil
Oven Mode: Convection
Oven Temperature:  460
Time:  About 6 minutes (from a cold oven.  We like!... who needs a microwave!)

Outcome:
We prefer the patties to be crunch, so these were too thick for our taste.  That means they were a bit chewy.  Next time, we should make them much thinner so they're more crunchy.

Steam Convection Oven - Warm-up Left Overs

Remember, this oven is new to us and we're not expert cooks.  I decided to use the steam convection oven to warm-up some left-overs that I had grilled outside the night before.  I had to find the oven's instructions to determine which icon meant Oven Mode = Warm-up left-overs (not the official Thermador name of Oven Mode). 

I did the following:
Food = Two german sausages and one chicken breast on a ceramic dinner plate.
Oven Mode = Warm-up left-overs
Oven Temp = 120
Time = 14 minutes

Outcome: 
The plate wasn't even hot.  The food was room temperature.

I guess the next time I need to increase the oven temperature?  Will try again later.

Our First Post

We had a nice kitchen but our house was built in 1987 so it was time to update a few things to compete with the McMansions nearby.  We also added lots of cool gadgets, accessories and utensils in the process.  OK, honestly, the renovation didn't stop there.  We reworked the Kitchen, Pantry, Butler's Pantry, two downstairs bathrooms, the bar and upstairs slate patio.  It took eight months and a bigger budget than we originally estimated (of course) but now that it's done we're very happy.

....The problem is we didn't cook that much before the renovation.  Now, we want to become awesome cooks!

With the renovation behind us, we have the latest appliances that Thermador offers - including their "new to market" steam and convection oven.... the drawers and pantry are full of cool utensils and gadgets...luxury-level granite on the countertops and island.... double farm sink with Delta's touch technology faucet... a painted ceiling, wallpaper, and updated lighting (including inside the upper cabinets that all have window-type doors).

... So, it's time for us to become awesome.  But, we just don't know exactly how to get there.  We're starting this blog to document our journey from novices to experts.  Wish us luck!