review – Page 2 – Peacock Orchard

Best ever pizza crust recipe and Wine Review: Colimoro Montepulciano D’abruzzo

Years ago, 11 to be exact, I married my amazing husband and began my experimentation in the kitchen. I have developed a large variety of go-to recipes over the years but none surpass my amazing pizza crust recipe. I experimented with SO MANY recipes before settling on this particular one. It’s so versatile and so forgiving. Plus it didn’t need to rise in the fridge, which is great since I once forgot I had a crust rising in the fridge and it kind of became it’s own entity that took forever to clean out. I don’t remember where I discovered this recipe. I haven’t used an actual recipe in years and years. I go by look now. I have a basic recipe that I change depending on our mood. We’ve added honey and different seasonings and it’s still been an amazingly well put together crust. So, without further ado, here is the recipe:

Easy Pizza Crust

2 ¼ tsps yeast
1 tb sugar
1 cup warm water
3 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
3-5 cups flour
Your choice of seasonings to taste (I use Italian seasoning, paprika, garlic and onion)

Pre-heat the oven to 420 degrees. In a medium sized bowl mix the yeast, sugar and water. Add seasonings to taste. Then add the salt and olive oil. Next add the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Set aside to rise while the oven is pre-heating.

When the dough has risen spray your hands with cooking oil and shape the dough as desired, add toppings and cook for 20 minutes.

Note: I live in high altitude. A longer cooking time may be necessary in lower altitudes. Just keep an eye on it.

Our usual toppings are pepperoni (deli pepperoni and the regular old bagged kind you find in the store), olives, onion, bell pepper, meunster cheese and mozerella cheese. The taste is sublime. Love it!

A pizza baking experience would not be complete without at least one child demanding ingredients. Daughter demanded cheese, cheese and more cheese. Then, when all the cheese was gone she moved on to demanding pepperoni. I also have a few very loyal “please drop something tasty” dogs waiting in the wings.

Now, I usually just use a plain pizza sauce, no seasonings, on top. I figure the crust is seasoned well enough it doesn’t need added flavor. However, we had an amazing tomato harvest this year which has led to a LOT of canning. So, we made our own pizza sauce while the dough was rising. It was pretty amazing. I am going to share that recipe next week.

We usually sample a wine on Friday nights. It’s an enjoyable, relaxing time for us as a couple. But…I really wanted to fine a great wine to go with our pizza. So off to the liqour store where I asked the amazing wine guy what wine would go best with pizza.

That is how we ended up with this wine:

Colimoro Montepulciano D’abruzzo

Description: [from the wine makers website] Colimoro Montepulciano d’Abruzzo is bursting with aromas of dried cherries accented by a hint of spice. Medium in body, this is a fruit-forward wine balanced by moderate acidity and soft tannins. Aged in large Slavonian oak casks for 6 months, this is an easy-drinking wine best enjoyed young with everyday meals.

The back of the bottle explicitly says it pairs well with pizza.

Wine Review:

This wine has a really strong flavor in my opinion. It has a nice scent, very “winey” for lack of a better term. It is rather dry, and thus, bitter, but not bad. I enjoyed my first few sips. However, even though it is specifically to be paired with pizza and pasta I thought it over powered every flavor. We tried this first with the pizza and again, later, with some home made spaghetti. Still, too strong.

I did start out thinking this wine was pretty great. I had a few sips before I started eating and thought it had a pleasant flavor and that it was going to be a “whole bottle” kind of wine tasting. It wasn’t. I just had the one glass. I like to taste my pizza and this just didn’t afford me that luxury. Also, I felt it grew more bitter when paired with the food. So I had my 1 glass and was done, both times we tried this wine.

I think I’m going to find a nice chianti and try that with the pizza.

Review: Dark Horse Sauvignon Blanc 2014 and Lobster

Wine:

Dark Horse 2014 Sauvignon Blanc $

[Description from the Wine Makers Website] The most refreshing wine from Dark Horse, our Sauvignon Blanc offers bright aromas of grapefruit and gooseberry lined with fresh green notes. Layers of citrus and melon flavors create a crisp taste with medium viscosity and a long, refreshing finish.

Cheese:

None. We ate Lobster. The kids ate crab. The Red Lobster website suggested that Lobster paired well with sauvignon and we happened to already have the Dark Horse wine so…..yay!

Lobster was cooked according to the recipe on the Red Lobster website.

Wine Review-

The wine was very enjoyable. Certainly something I’d have a glass of alone. However, it paired so well with the lobster that I was simply in heaven. Obviously lobster is an expensive but enjoyable meal no matter what. Pairing it with this wine simply brought out the best flavors in this exquisite crustacean and made the meal a real pleasure to have.

Of course, I was cracking crab open non-stop for our children. I swear our Daughter can eat a pound of crab without blinking an eye. Son is not quite as voracious and prefers to crack the claws and then talk non-stop about it. Daughter did not like the lobster. Son claimed he did but refused seconds. That is his usual way of pretending he enjoyed something. He usually reserves that for eggs and cheese.

Review: 2012 Oveja Negra Carbenet Franc Carmenere and Gruyere Cheese

Wine:

2012 Oveja Negra Carbenet Franc Carmenere $8.99

[From Winemakers Web Page] Wine Makers Notes: Deep fruit characters dominate, with red cherries and soft touches of raspberries against a black fruit background complemented with some tabacco and cassis notes. Firm yet smooth on the palate, this wine displays a juicy, refreshing mouthfeel that reveal elegant hints of cedar and bitter chocolate that lead to more fruity characters that appear on the finish. Cellaring potential: drink now through 2+ years

Cheese:

Gruyere Quarter Wheel $12.47

[From Wikipedia] Gruyère is sweet but slightly salty, with a flavor that varies widely with age. It is often described as creamy and nutty when young, becoming with age more assertive, earthy and complex. When fully aged (five months to a year) it tends to have small cracks which impart a slightly grainy texture.

Wine Review-

Well this was not a good wine. In fact I had less than half a glass. I couldn’t stomach it at all. The flavor was not at all to my liking. I thought it was too bitter (and this from a girl who likes dry wine) and it caused my gag reflex to act up. Of course that is with the addition of the cheese which was grainy and nasty. More on that in the cheese review.

So that’s me. My husband, however, liked it. He thought it paired splendidly with the cheese and he found the flavor pleasing and not bitter at all. He couldn’t understand my issue with the wine. Husband gives it thumbs up. I give it thumbs down. I suppose it is up to you to decide.

We will both agree that this wine didn’t have any of the tasting notes the wine maker says it does. We didn’t get that at all.

Cheese Review-

What is there to say, it’s Gruyere. I find I’m not overly found of gruyere anything. I don’t usually eat much of the cheese but I do try them. So I tried it and it’s just as disgusting as I remember from our last red wine and gruyere experience.

Husband, of course, disagrees. He ate the cheese up. He does tend to like cheese. He said the flavor improved as he got closer to the center of the cheese hunk. I declined to test his theory

Bonterra Merlot 2012 and Merlot Bellavitano cheese

Wine:

Bonterra Merlot 2012- Organic $14.99

[from back of bottle] Our merlot is barrel aged to accentuate the distinctive cherry-berry flavors and subtle aromas of cranberry and chocolate.

Cheese:

Merlot Bellavitano $5.25

[from their website] By wedding this rich, creamy cheese to the berry and plum notes of Merlot, we’ve created a marriage of flavors destined to make your taste buds say, “I do.”

Wine Review-

This wine is fantastic. It matches its description pretty well. We think you can taste the cherry accents in the wine. The wine obviously pairs well with the cheese. We think this wine would go really well with bold flavored dinner. I want to try it with beef borginoun this winter. I think that would pair fantastically. All around great wine. Drink it casually while watching the sun set or with a good meal, just drink it!

Cheese Review–

The cheese is grainy, salty and has a strong taste. I didn’t like it alone but it does go well with the wine. My husband’s exact words were, “good, yummy, very good cheese but I wouldn’t eat it alone.” So grab this cheese with some bread or crackers and the suggested wine for the best experience.

Bauer Haus Spatlese 2009 Rheinhessen and German Buttercase Cheese

Wine:

Bauer Haus Spatlese 2009 Rheinhessen $9.99

[I’m paraphrasing various sources] This is a fruity wine, light and tasty with apricot, nougat and apple flavors.

Cheese:

Buttercase Cheese $9.47

[Wikipedia] Butterkase is a semi-soft cheese with a golden natural rind, very popular in Germany and Austria for its creamy texture, buttery like taste. Its name, when literally translated means “butter cheese,” but the cheese is butter free.

Wine Review-

The wine was fine. The flavor was acceptable. It wasn’t anything special but it didn’t make me want to vomit, as another wine we tried did.

Cheese Review-

The cheese was ok as well. It was very cheesy, or how an American would expect cheese to taste. We ate it with some bread and it was perfectly fine.

A combined review: Both were good, not special, just good. They both served well on their own. They did not particularly enhance the flavor of each other. I would consume both if offered but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to get them. So take that as you will.

Mumm Napa Brut Prestige and Cave Aged Gruyere

Wine:

Mumm Napa Brut Prestige $25.99

[From the makers website] Brut Prestige is Mumm Napa’s signature sparkling wine. It is a relaxed, yet elegant, wine that earns sparkling accolades from consumers and critics alike. Brut Prestige features fine bright citrus, red apple, stone fruit and creamy vanilla aromas, with hints of toast, honey and gingerbread spice. Its vibrant flavors are balanced by fine acidity and a rich, lingering finish.

Cheese:

Cave Aged Gruyere $14.55

Wine Review- The taste is not unpleasant. I thought it was a bit less sweet than I had expected. It has good flavor though and paired very well with the cheese. The chocolate made it taste a bit dryer though. So I wouldn’t drink this with chocolate or sweets. Something mildly savory, like the gruyere, went very well with this. It was a nice celebratory drink. 11 years of marriage and looking forward to many more! We recommend this wine.

Cheese Review- This cheese was nice. It had a good flavor. I thought it was mildly salty but not bad at all. It paired quite well with the wine. We actually finished off this cheese on another occasion and would recommend.