Why are you so into Pinot?

Uh, I don't know, I don't know. Um, it's a hard grape to grow, as you know. Right? It's uh, it's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's, you know, it's not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and uh, thrive even when it's neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. You know? And in fact it can only grow in these really specific, little, tucked away corners of the world. And, and only the most patient and nurturing of growers can do it, really. Only somebody who really takes the time to understand Pinot's potential can then coax it into its fullest expression. Then, I mean, oh its flavors, they're just the most haunting and brilliant and thrilling and subtle and... ancient on the planet.


The Eagles play the Giants tonight and I have a very easy day planned. Two of the kids are heading out on play dates, the other daughter will spend most of the day outside playing with the neighbors, and the boy will sleep at least 4 hours of the day away. I have some cleaning up to do, some leaves to blow, and some laundry I'd like to get done.

I don't really care about football today other than the eagles tonight, and the poker thing is just pissing me off cause I can't be there. It would be cool to be there and hand out with these folk, but December is just around the corner and I suppose I'll have some time to do it then.

So after all of my chores are finished, I am planning on making a dinner for the wife and myself to enjoy BEFORE the Eagles game, so that I can go over to the neighbors house and dust off a good weeks worth of pay playing some heart hand diamond, Acey Deucy, and Skat.

The dinner along with all of the house cleaning should buy me some nice equity to do this without being called and "asshole". Cause I' doing it anyway. Just now it will be with permission.

So the dinner is something I am going to do Brazillian style. This really has become my favorite cuisin as of late because of the fantastic flavors, yet ease and simplicity in preparation and cooking.

I am making Chicken and Rice. That might sound boring, and you might think something along the lines of "who cares if its Brazillian or Polish? It's chicken and rice for christs sake?!?"

But alas, this all come down to HOW it's prepared. I have a soapstone cooking pot which really is the catalyst for the unique flavors of this dish. First step is to saute the chicken in a 12" skillet. I will oly be using breast meat ("give me two big breasts!"), with the skin on, on medium high heat, in some olive oil and a little butter. To that I add lime juice until it is browned crispy, yet the meat still tender.

The rice is just as simple. In the stone pot, you sweat some onions and garlic in vegetable or canola oil. You add the dry rice once the onions have become barely browned, and saute the dry rice for a good 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Then you cover the rice with water and put the lid on the pot.

Keeping you eye on the rice, you continue to add water in little bits just to keep the rice moist. You will notice that the sides almost carmalize and that's when you know it's done.

As soon as the rice is finished, you remove from the heat and head back to the chicken. I will pour some passion fruit juice, which is very syrupy, into the pa and let reduce for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from the pan, plate it, and sprinkle some chilli powder, Cumin, or a mixture of both over top. One more splash of lime juice and it's ready to go.

Add some chopped up fresh Cilantro to the rice, fluff up, and plate that as well. I will usually plate the rice first and put the chicken right one top of it.

Then I watch the Eagles win! Enjoy your Sunday