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The Diva does Pink – Great Rose for your Summer!

It’s a party on the fishing docks in Vancouver.  The 9^th annual Spot Prawn Festival

Tara O’Grady Author of Seven Spoons.

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 THE SHOW

 

Wine-Diva

Wine Diva’s Summer Rose

 

Nobody loves rose more than yours truly – unless your name happens to be Daenna van Mulligen – The Wine Diva.

Daenna’s been on the road for the past 3 shows..visiting Chablis and Spain.

So we quickly huddled and decided – let’s talk about wine we both love…ROSE!

Here’s the list taken from Daenna’s very popular website www.winediva.ca

 

• Mission Hill Five Vineyards Rose, Okanagan Valley BC $14.99
• Zonin ‘Masseria Altemura Rosamaro’ Brut, Salento Puglia, Italy $25.00
• 50th Parallel Pinot Noir Rose, Okanagan Valley BC $18.00
• Kim Crawford Pansy! Rose, Hawke’s Bay New Zealand $15.69
• Gruet Winery Brut Rose, New Mexico $30.00
• Haywire Gamay Noir Rose, Okanagan Valley BC $25.00
• Henkell Rose Fine Sekt, Germany $13.99
• Quails’ Gate Rose, Okanagan Valley BC $15.69
• Pentage Winery Rose, Okanagan Valley BC $20.00
• Haywire ‘Pink Bub’, Okanagan Valley BC $25.00
• The Girls ‘Vivacious Rose’, Okanagan Valley BC $20.00
• Serendipity Rose, Okanagan Valley BC N/A
• Anna Spinato Oragnic Rose Spumante, Veneto Italy $14.99
• Famille Perrin Tavel, Rhone Valley France $25.99
• Poplar Grove ‘Blanc de Noirs’, Okanagan Valley BC N/A
• Segura Viudas Rosado, Penedes Spain, NV $16.99

 

9^th Annual Spot Prawn Festival/Vancouver

 It’s one of the best success stories anywhere.

9 years ago Chef Robert Clark was mad as hell and wasn’t going to take it anymore.

All he wanted to do was serve local Spot Prawns at C Restaurant.

None of the fishing fleet would sell him their prawns. That’s because they could get top dollar in Japan.

Robert got together with Steve Johansson and his vessel Organic Ocean and off they went..

Word got around very quickly that fresh prawns could be bought – live – off the False Creek Docks across from Granville market.

Everything took off from that moment.

Now..1000’s of people make their way there to kick off the season, which is very short. 4-6 weeks and it’s over.

Here’s who we talked to at the kick off last weekend:

 Robert Belcham – Campagnolo

Ryan Bissell – Chair of Festival

Scott Yeager – Pear Tree

Jonathan Chovancek – Café Medina

Ken Liang – Ken’s Chinese Restaurant

Scott Kwan – Kaya Malay Bistro

Mattie Christie – Go Fish

Tom Walmsley – Summerhill Wines

Barry Benson – R&B Brewing
Darren Clay  – Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (PICA)

 

spotprawnfestival.com

https://chefstablesociety.com

 

Tara O’Brady  – Seven Spoons

 

Seven Spoons is  more than 100 favorite recipes and stories taken  from Canadian blogger Tara O’Brady ..strangely called Seven Spoons.

Seven Spoons reads like a wonderful  notebook . I loved it

 recipe 5 spice steak at bottom of page. 

 

 

“Seven Spoons is so gorgeous and beautifully photographed that I just want to jump right into the pages. I can’t wait to savor these amazing dishes, all with a global bent, starting with breakfast biscuits and spicy, fried Mexican Huevos a la Plaza de Mercado; then moving on to soups and salads with flavors culled from the Middle East and East Asia; then ending with lush, compelling desserts.”

—David Lebovitz, author of My Paris Kitchen

Please welcome to the show the really fine writer/blogger/human   Tara O’Brady

www.sevenspoons.net 

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 STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

NZ Wines

First Families of Australia

Alamos – Argentina

Alois Clements Lageder

Alberta’s chefs

Sileni Estates Hawkes Bay

 

FIVE-SPICE  STEAK

This m1ght smoke up the k1 tchen, but it is worth  1   t. The five-sp1ce powder IS fused to the steak w1th the blistering heat of the pan, mok1 ng for a raspy, s1zzling crust It is finished w1th a qu1ck, flavorsome sauce of herbs, chi es, and r1ce vinegar, rounded  out biJ toasted sesame oil. The onoint1ng works like a late – addition mannode, not onliJ dressing the

meat but aslo seem1ng to keep 1t 1ncred1 bilJ soft and tender.

Serves4 to 6

1 bone-in rib steak,

2 inches (5 em) thick, weighing approximately

1Y:i pounds (680 g)

1Y:i teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder

1 teaspoon medium-grain kosher salt

Y:i teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1-inch (2.5 em) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 smallred chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced

1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar

2 teaspoons tamari

1 teaspoon natural cane or Light brown sugar

3 green onions, white and

Light green parts  only, minced

2 Large handfuls of cilantro, Leaves and tender stems, chopped

Season the steak allover w1th the five-sp1ce powder, salt, and pepper. Dab on the sesame  o1lw1th a brush.

Place a large cost-iron pan over med1um-h1gh heat. Once the pan

IS good and hot,lo y 1n the steak. Let 1 t coo k, undisturbed,for 2 to

3 m1nutes, then check for even color and move the steak around

1f necessorlJ. Keep shuffling untilwellbrowned, 2 to 3 minutes more. Flip the steak, and continue to cook unt1 lthe second s1de IS equolliJ charred  and cooked  to your lik1ng. (An Instant-read thermometer 1nserted in the thickest por t,without touc hing bone,should read 120’F [50’C] for med1 um-rore, and w1lltoke opprox1 moteliJ 3 to 5 m1 nutes alter fl1pp1ng to the second s1de.) Set the steak aside and reduc e the heat to medium-low.

Add the garlic, g1nger, and ch1le to the skillet and cook,st1rr1ng, for 1 m1nute. Stir together the r1ce v1negor, tomori, and sugar, then pour 1t 1nto the pan, scrop1ng u p oniJ browned bits and

ollow1ng the liqu1 ds to reduce, about 1 m1 nute. Scrape the sauce

1nto a smallbowlw1th half the green on1 ons and half the Cilantro.

Present the steak whole at the tabel , or slice across the gmn and arrange on a plotter. W1th e1ther, pour some of the sauce over the meat and shower w1 th the reserved green onion and Cilantro. Offer the rest of the sauc e alongside.

 

 

 

 

 

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This weeks show airs at 9am pacific on TSN1410

  Naramata Bench Part Two. Talking with The Hawk!  Chef David Hawksworth. Joel Peterson, The Godfather of California Zin and Chef Robert Clark helps kick off Vancouver’s hugely popular Spot Prawn Festival.

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 THE SHOW

 Joel Peterson  Ravenswood Zin

 

Widely regarded as the “Godfather of California Zinfandel,” Ravenswood Founding Winemaker Joel Peterson has been named to the 2011 Vintners Hall of Fame by The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).  The induction recognizes  Joel’s significant contributions to the California wine industry and in particular, his unswerving devotion to and protection of California’s old-vine Zinfandel vineyards—a living testament to the state’s earliest winegrowing history.

 

 

Joel Peterson is one of just three contemporary California vintners to be inducted into the 2011 Vintners Hall of Fame!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following an apprenticeship with Joseph Swan—one of California’s outstanding craftsman of Zinfandel—Peterson founded Ravenswood in 1976 with $4,000, no vineyards and no winery.  His vision from the start was to craft high-quality, complex and spirited Zinfandels that would express the unique character of their specific vineyards.

A key to his success was seeking out vineyards chosen for their location, age, yield and unique flavor characteristics.  By forging collaborative relationships early on with the grower-owners of these exceptional sites (some more than 100 years old), Joel was able to build a distinctive portfolio of single vineyard-designated Ravenswood Zinfandels that together illustrated how well the grape reflects its precise locale.  Since many of these vineyards are also among the oldest in California, Peterson’s wines helped to preserve them.

Joel  has also worked tirelessly on behalf of the industry as a whole to build consumer awareness and appreciation for Zinfandel as California’s most historic and authentic wine grape.

More than 30 years following his first harvest, Peterson continues his Zinfandel quest.  He is currently spearheading a project with fellow Zinfandel winemakers and ZAP called the Zinfandel Heritage Blends Project.  The program aims to reestablish California’s most unique and original wine, the Mixed Black Field Blend.  Primarily a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Cariganne and Alicante Bousche (among many others), Joel believes strongly that the Mixed Black Field Blend was the most interesting and important wine that California made before Prohibition.  As Joel says, it was truly the “once and future wine of California.”

Along with fellow winemakers and the University of California at Davis, Joel is also currently spearheading the Heritage Vineyard Project, which was established to preserve, investigate, propagate and distribute clonal selections from a wide range of California ancient heritage Zinfandel vineyards.

All Hail The GodFather!

 www.ravenswood.com

Naramata Bench Spring 2015  Part Two

Couldn’t fit everyone into last week’s Naramata special..so here’s part two..which features Spring 2015 wines from

 

 

 

 

 

Luke Smith – Howling Bluff   www.howlingbluff.ca

Stefan Arneson – Poplar Grove and Monster Vineyards   www.poplargrove.ca www.monstervineyards.com

Dick Lancaster – Black Widow Winery  www.blackwidowwinery.com

 www.naramatabench.com

Chef David Hawksworth/ @Hawksworth

 It all started with an email from Barbara-Jo at Books to Cooks.

 

 

 

 

Hawksworth, David – ISSUE 114 – Art Culinaire

• Wednesday, May 20, 2015
• 6:00pm  7:00pm
• Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks

Art Culinaire has been producing a Hard Cover Magazine, four times a year for the past 28 years.  This periodical has been popular mostly with the chef and restaurant community, but is also popular with the culinary traveler.   Issue 56 featured a number of local chefs and restaurants.

This Wednesday evening, we launch Issue 114 with our own David Hawksworth taking the centre stage in both the book and our shop.

Please join us to celebrate with David as he regales us with his culinary adventures.  Thanks Barbara- Jo!

Once David and I got settled at Hawksworth headquarters we covered a lot of territory.. including Art Culinaire plus a

Recent spate of awards he and his staff have won, Top 100 Restaurants in Canada..Hawksworth #2.

And the new restaurant he’s opening this Fall in one of his favourite heritage buildings on Hastings.

(Here’s a hint..it has a pizza oven, so you know it’s more casual.)

Always love talking to David..

https://hawksworthrestaurant.com

 

 and finally… Sunday brings the hugely popular Annual Spot Prawn Festival at the fishing docks in Kitsilano.

Starting around 10:30/11am

Chef Robert Clark is a co-founder of this event and really was the driving force behind reclaiming our Prawn Fishery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Years ago Robert discovered that not only were we shipping our local prawns to  Asia, he couldn’t even BUY them for his restaurant.

So off he went to find Steve Johansen and his vessel Organic Ocean. The two of them created their own fishery and the rest is a wonderfully successful story.

I’ll see you on the docks. Bring a bag or bucket for your prawns.

(ps..Roberts cooking instructions..pour boiling water over your prawns and serve 30-45 seconds later. That’s it)

http://www.thefishcounter.com/

www.spotprawnfestival.com

http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2015/04/17/get-ready-for-vancouvers-spot-prawn-festival-2015/

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Spot+prawn+season+opens+with+great+haul/11053486/story.html

@OrganicOcean

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STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

 

• Alamos/Argentina
• Lageder/Italy
• Tara O’Brady/Seven Spoons
• New Zealand pours in Vancouver.
• and The Return of The Wine Diva

hello

 
It’s the 7^th annual Naramata Bench Wine Tour through Victoria and Vancouver.
Part One features Elephant island. Upper Bench. Bench 1775. Lake Breeze. Tightrope. Hillside. TerraVista. Kettle Valley. Misconduct. Deep Roots.
Red Rooster. Therapy. Van Westen. La Frenz. Serendipity.   

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THE SHOW

Having spent the better part of five years living on the Naramata bench and getting to know most of my neighbours… when they bring their travelling wine road show to Victoria and Vancouver..I just have to be there.

It’s a two parter, so next week we’ll finish the story with Howling Bluff. Poplar Grove. Monster and Black Widow.
 
 
Naramata Bench is just an exceptional destination..not only for the wine grower but also for  the wine fan.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Running above Lake Okanagan… East and North of Penticton, BC… it has the perfect soil and climate.
Big heat in the day… cool lake breezes at night.
It has also attracted some of the most interesting winemakers/growers  in the business. They all have a  story to tell.
Here’s the line-up and websites    –     www.naramatabench.com
 

In Victoria:

Del Halliday – Elephant Island   https://www.elephantislandwine.com
Gavin Miller – Upper Bench  www.upperbench.ca
Val Tait – Bench 1775  www.bench1775.com
Garron Elmes – Lake Breeze and Spice Jar  www.lakebreeze.ca
Lindsay O’Rourke – Tightrope  www.tightropewinery.ca
Kathy Malone – Hillside  www.hillsidewinery.ca
Senka Tennant – Terra Vista www.terravistavineyards.com
Tim Watt  – Kettle Valley  www.kettlevalleywinery.com
Richard Da Silva – Misconduct  www.misconductwineco.com
Will Hardman –  Deep Roots  www.deeprootswinery.com
Karen Gillis – Red Rooster  www.redroosterwinery.com/
Steve Latchford – Therapy www.therapyvineyards.com
In Vancouver:
Rob Van Westen – Van Westen www.vanwestenvineyards.com/
Jeff Martin – La Frenz  www.lafrenzwinery.com
Judy Kingston – Serendipity  www.serendipitywinery.com
 

 

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STORIES WE’RE WORKING ON

The Naramata Bench Part Two
Hawksworth
Tara O’Brady – Seven Spoons
Argentina
New Zealand