Spicy Asparagus and Beef Stir Fry

Lately I have been really into stir fry.  It is so easy to make and super tasty!   This particular recipe is pretty bomb.  The sauce has the perfect balance of flavor - sweet, tangy and spicy. The beef and the asparagus together is pure heaven! I will be putting this recipe in my permanent favorites collection.

Thai Beef & Asparagus Stir Fry

1 Pound Beef Chuck Steak, sliced thin
1 Tablespoon Dry Sherry
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
3 Cloves Garlic, roughly minced
1 Bunch Asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 Tablespoons Naam Pridk Phao (chili sauce)
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce

In a small bowl, combine the beef, cornstarch and sherry. Combine well and set aside.  In another small bowl, make the sauce by combining the naam prik pao, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Mix well to combine ingredients, set aside until needed.

Make sure you have all your ingredients very close because the stir fry goes very quickly. Also, have a small dish of water available as well just in case you need to thin the sauce a bit.

Heat your wok over high heat until very hot. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable or grape seed oil, then the beef followed by the garlic. If your wok is hot enough, your beef will cook very quickly. When the beef is seared, but not cooked through, about 30 seconds or so add the asparagus. Cook for another minute. Add the sauce. It should caramelize very quickly because of the high sugar content. If it gets too thick add a little water. Serve with brown rice.

Sangria.

I have been so excited about summer and warm weather lately that I thought it was time to make a batch of sangria. I usually make a red wine sangria, but felt like that might be a bit heavy yesterday so I switched it up a bit and made it white. I love the combination of citrus with pineapple and peaches and this was my inspiration for this recipe. You can really use any combination of fruit that you like, and berries are always a welcome addition. I like my sangria a bit tart, but if you like yours a little more sweet, then add some extra sugar. The overall flavor of this recipe is peach/apricot but it could be easily changed to pineapple if you just use pineapple juice in the place of the apricot nectar. In other words, you really can’t go wrong here, just add and taste and adjust to your liking. I know it’s cloudy again today, but if you make a pitcher of this and sit on the couch with a good book and blanket it just might feel like summer!

White Wine Sangria

2 Lemons
2 Limes
1 Orange
1 Fiji Apple

3 Peaches
1/2 of a Pineapple

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/4 cup Brandy
12-Ounce Can Apricot Nectar
1.5 Litre Bottle Sauvignon Blanc (Don't worry about using nice wine for Sangria!)
12-Ounce bottle of club soda
1 Bottle Champagne

Cut the lemons, limes, orange, peaches, pineapple and apple into thin slices and place in a large container.  Add the sugar, apricot nectar, brandy and white wine, stir until sugar is dissolved and taste for sweetness, adjust to taste. Just before serving add the club soda and champagne and serve chilled, you may need a few ice cubes! This recipe is pretty large and will be enough for 6-8 people. Cheers!

Greek Food....Word!

I had a mad craving for Greek food today after a dinner party featuring Greek food at a friends house last night. I love that Greek food can be really simple or really complicated to make, and being lazy I went with the easy recipes. I decided to make my personal favorite Taziki sauce and then I just added onto that with olives, fresh veggies, hummus, pita bread, feta cheese, and some lamb burgers so we could turn this appetizer into a meal by making gyros. It was so nice to be able to just sit outside in the backyard and relax and graze on the appetizer, which so easily transitioned into dinner. Tonight I paired the meal with a delicious 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Substance.  This would also be a great appetizer if your throwing a large party, or need a heavy snack during mid-day. Opa!


Greek Taziki Sauce

4 Cups Greek Yogurt
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice From 1/2 Lemon
1/2 Teaspoon Salt

The secret to making a good thick taziki sauce is to drain the yogurt first. Simply line a colander with 2 layers of paper towels and dump in yogurt. Let drain over a bowl for 2 hours, you will lose half the volume of the yogurt, so make sure to use the full 4 cups.

Next place the thickened yogurt into a mixing bowl, add the garlic, cucumber, olive oil, lemon and salt and stir until well combined. Cover and let rest for at least one hour before serving so that the flavors can develop (the longer it sits the more pronounced the garlic will be). Stir again and place into your desired serving dish.
To make a full appetizer plate cut up tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, feta cheese, and warm pita bread and hummus, and serve.

#WAWine Twitter Tasting TONIGHT!

Are you participating in tonight's #WAWine Twitter Tasting?  I certainly hope so.  If you aren't able to make it to one of the many tasting parties around the state I encourage you to pop open a bottle of Washington wine and tweet about it using the hashtag #WAWine.

Support Washington wine, and have a tasty evening at the same time!  You can follow my updates by following @MettD.  Hope to see your posts!

Wine and Art at Waterbrook.

Last evening I spent entirely too long enjoying wine, art and good conversation at Waterbrook Winery for the opening of a new art show, Nanology, by renowned bronze sculptor Nano Lopez.

Waterbrook's facility is one of the more visually appealing tasting rooms in Walla Walla and was a brilliant setting for many of Nano's pieces.  While Nano has his foundry in Walla Walla, he has never had a show in the valley.  Many of the pieces on display were from his Nanimals period and feature his beautiful, deconstructed signature style.

Waterbrook was pouring two of their wines officially last night, the 2007 Melange Noir and the 2008 Melange Blanc.  The wines were quite tasty, especially for the price.  I find Waterbrook's lineup to be pretty solid, and some of their wines (2008 Chardonnay, for example) give wines twice as expensive a run for their money.  The Noir was ripe with berries and tobacco and had a nice cedar-ish finish in my book.  The Blanc, while a bit sweeter than I typically care for, was rich with honey and stone fruit on the noise.  The palate was reminiscent of watermelon and peach with a surprisingly crisp finish.

The biggest surprise of the evening was a devilishly good Shiraz from Shingleback of McLaren Vale, Australia.  Precept Brands (the owners of Waterbrook) recently partnered with Shingleback and are their distribution partner in the United States.  Their 2005 Shiraz had a beautifully rich and complex nose punctuated by dark chocolate, ripe berries and pencil shavings.  The wine is extremely full-bodied and velvety, filled with rich fruit and just the right amount of oak.  This wine was amazing as it finished and lingered on my palate for quite some time after I finished it.  I would highly recommend you check this guy out if you have the opportunity!

Spring Release Weekend Dos and Don'ts - Courtesy of the Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman

It’s that time of year again, when we make our lists and we check them twice, trying to find out which wines are naughty or nice.  That’s right.  It’s Spring Release in  Walla Walla!

We love our wine tourists from near and far.  We want you to get the most of your Spring Release Weekend.  Now, you have probably heard all of these tips from me before, but here are some easy Do’s and Don’ts to ensure a great weekend for you and everybody.

Do hydrate-hydrate-hydrate. Drink lots of water and your head will thank you for it.

Do eat a big breakfast.  This isn’t the time to be all dainty and munch on a granola bar.  You are going to need some fuel to contain the wine so make it a biscuits-and-sausage gravy-kind of breakfast. Okay, if you insist, make it a Kobe beef striploin, foie gras hash browns and quail eggs paired with espresso.  But you get my point.

Do step away from the fragrance.  You may not be able to smell yourself, but everyone in the tasting room can, making their Merlot taste like grandpa’s “Old Spice.”

Don’t forget a designated driver.  And seriously, even if you have a designated driver, what is the point of visiting 15 wineries in one day?  Even after five wineries the palate begins to fatigue after several tastes and you become obnoxious.  So pimp the ride, but un-pimp the ‘tude.

Do keep your cell phone ring off and if you must keep it on so your Secret Service people can keep track of you (because we know how important you are), at least keep it on vibrate.  And if you must talk on your phone, please take it outside so your call doesn’t distract from the tasting room ambiance.  Nobody wants to hear about how many poo-poos Johnny made in his diaper.

Do keep an open your mind to wine. Seriously. Don’t be turning your nose up at the tasting room staff when they ask if you would like to try a chardonnay, riesling or a pretty pink rosé. Taste it. Who knows? You might even like it. And it’s okay for real men to drink rosés. Really.

Do join a wine club.  There are many great wine clubs in the Walla Walla Valley offering affordable memberships with discounts and special one of a kind releases.  It’s also a great way to get in on some fabulous wine club events that will leave long lasting memories.

And one more thing.  In the words of  Robert Fulgham’s  All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten :  Share everything, play fair, don’t hit people, put things back where you found them, clean up your own mess, don’t take things that aren’t yours, hold hands when you cross the streets, say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody, wash your hands before you eat and flush.

Have a great time in the Walla Walla Valley!

Visit Catie's blog at http://wildwallawallawinewoman.blogspot.com/

Egg Dyeing?

So since I have several dozen chickens I tend to have a grip of eggs on hand at any point.  Rather than do productive things with my Sunday, I spent a chunk of my afternoon dying eggs for no good reason.  I don't think I had dyed eggs in years and years, but it was extremely easy and sort of fun.  Probably would be more interesting if you had small children though.

Things you need:

• Eggs (hardboil them first)
• Hot Water
• White Vinegar
• Food Coloring
• Coffee Cups
• Spoons
• Tape or Vinyl
• Exacto Knife
• Paper Towels
• Crayons

First off, hardboil your eggs to make them easier to work with.  I generally put about 8 cups of water in a stock pot and add 12 - 18 eggs at once.  Turn the heat to high, and after about 15 minutes your eggs should be ready.  In the meantime boil water in a teapot to make your dye.  Collect a number of coffee mugs (one for each color you plan to tackle) and put one teaspoon of vinegar in each.  Add one cup of hot water and then anywhere from 2-20 drops of food coloring depending on how intense you want your colors to be.  

Once the eggs are boiled and you have decided on your colors you can cut decals out of tape or vinyl to apply to your eggs to achieve desired patterns, or color gradation.  You can also use crayons to draw on your eggs to keep the dye from latching on to certain areas.  Once the eggs are sufficiently decorated drop them in your dye and stir it egg around a few times.  Within a few seconds you will notice the colors start to sink in.  Keep the eggs in the dye however long you like to achieve your desired hue.  Once you are content you can remove the eggs from the dye, and dry off with a paper towel.  Remove any tape or vinyl you applied and re-dye in the same or other hues to get color variations if you like.