Vegetarian Gourmand

While browsing the isles of Aldi for some good deals, I came across smoked garlic which was brought in from the Orkney Islands – not too far from Aberdeen. A very exciting find as I’ve never seen smoked garlic before. I purchased it and was quite excited to bring it home to try.

It has a very strong, smoky smell and a little can go a long way. Smoked garlic is wonderful roasted, and perfect used in place of normal roasted garlic – anywhere you would like a nice smoky flavour to accompany your dish. I find being vegetarian, I am exceptionally happy when I find ingredients other than meat which have been smoked. Often times it’s smoked meat that is available, so finding a nice smoked cheese, smoked paprika, or smoked garlic can do wonders for vegetarian taste buds.

Perfect uses for smoked garlic include roasted and squished onto crusty bread with some olive oil, and maybe some Brie or Camembert cheese. Or highlight it in a pasta dish – spaghettini with smoked garlic, diced tomatoes and parmesan cheese.

Poached eggs aren’t something I have tried to make very often. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever tried to make them before. I only had them for the first time I can remember last year, when I had my first (vegetarian) Eggs Benedict at a diner in Vancouver. I did enjoy them, but they don’t often cross my mind in the mornings as a perfect breakfast food – until now.

Yesterday, I decided to give it a try. I had the general gist of it, I knew keeping them together was a challenge, and somewhere along the way learned there should be some vinegar in the water. Likely on a cooking TV show, I watched someone swirl the water to keep the egg whites together.
So to the internet I went to get more details, cooking times, any extra tips. I found a Gordon Ramsay recipe, which along with using a teaspoon of vinegar to hold the eggs together; it also describes creating a ‘vortex’ by spinning the water really quickly in a circle. So off I go for my first attempt at poached eggs.
The first egg yoke broke before it even hit the water, however I wasn’t deterred as my boyfriend prefers the egg yokes cooked, I could pretend this was intentional. With my vortex spinning, I poured the egg from the bowl I previously cracked it into (which caused the yoke to break), and into this vortex. Immediately, the egg split into many small little strings and lost all resemblance of an egg. I thought about taking a picture, but it wasn’t very pretty.

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I have decided now is as good a time as any to start learning more about wines, and to stop feeling so lost when choosing a wine. I would love to be able to sip a wine, and comment on the soft My plan is to start paying attention to the wines I’m drinking, and work my way through there. There have been many wines I’ve had which I enjoyed, but I forget which they were. I know I like Riesling. I know white wine is served cold, red is served at room temperature.

A friend of mine just gave me the book ‘Understanding Wine – A guide to wine tasting and wine appreciation’ by Michael Schuster. So I’ll use this, along with the internet and my own opinions and go from there.

So, where will I start today? I purchased a 2008 South African Chardonnay to drink with dinner. Why this wine? Well… I like white wine… Sainsbury’s gave it a rating of 2/7 in their dry/sweetness and I like dry white wines. It was also listed as on a half price sale, so it was 4 pounds instead of 8 pounds. But I also tend not to believe those signs – it was likely only ever sold for 5 pounds. However, why not start with a wine that’s supposed to be 8 pounds, but fits into my cheap budget.
My budget is slim, but luckily being in the UK right now rather than Canada wine is much affordable here. Dinner tonight consists of a butternut squash lasagne with a creamy ricotta sauce. It’s creamy and cheesy, but there’s no red meat nor other heavy ingredients. Red or white wine? My guess was white.

According to Wine Lovers Page I’m doing alright -

On pastas – “If it’s a cheese sauce like Fettuccine Alfredo, consider Chardonnay.”
On cheese – “Ripe, creamy cheeses like Camembert and Brie: Rich, buttery Chardonnay. Or for a change of pace, try them with Champagne. ”

Though they also say this about vegetarians, “Frankly, it’s hard to be a serious wine lover and shun meat.” …hmm…and yet popcorn stands alone as a category for wine matching.

Onto the wine.

According to my new, handy, understanding wine book, Chardonnay is one of the least distinguishable wines. ‘full and round, with a moderate acidity’ and is only distinguishable through elimination. One with an established palate would know it’s Chardonnay because it’s not Mascadet, Sauvignon, Riesling, etc… Could I tell that? No.. (Or, not yet, I shall say). In order to keep track of which wines I like, and to deepen my understanding of tastes, I’ve started to take notes of each wine – as seen below.

My handy book also tells me sometimes the oak comes through in the flavour, though in this Chardonnay I’m not tasting the oak. Ultimately, on it’s own, I don’t care too much for this wine. It’s acidic, doesn’t have much depth, and … [insert more descriptive wine words here]. However it is nice with cheese – the cheese seems to cut the harsh acidit taste. Would I buy this particular bottle of Chardonnay again? No. Would I try another Chardonnay? Sure, but I’ll do some research first so that the next bottle I buy is a fair representative of what Chardonnay should taste like.

Scientists in a New Zealand research institute have recently developed a new ‘tear free’ onion, expected to hit the onion market in a decades time. There is a gene in the onion which creates an enzyme that will induce tears. This gene can be ’switched-off’ by this new technology. They also expect the health and flavours will be enhanced.

This must only be a profit seeking venture – as I don’t see any harm in a few tears shed while cutting an onion. Onions have been enjoyed for over 5000 years, I don’t think onions are in danger of being passed by due to their tear-inducing behaviour. I have established quite a tolerance to this enzyme I believe, as I frequently watch others around me in tears while I’m slicing an onion with dry eyes. This can be rather entertaining.

There are some major concerns with genetically modified crops – including environmental, human health, and economic concerns. While there is no way to tell what the long term consequences of tear-free onions may be, that may be the exact reason why we should be concerned.

Scientists create ‘no-tears’ onion
More on Genetically modified foods
More on the History of the Onion