Welcome to Bobby Flay Everyday!

I am not an expert. I have never even taken a class. I have no formal training - but I love to grill. I love the food off the grill and I just like the idea, the fun and the relaxation of grilling. So naturally Bobby Flay is a hero. I have his books, I watch his shows and I try out his recipes. So my idea is to grill one of Bobby's grilling recommendations everyday and see how it goes. Bobby Flay Everyday!

The idea to grill and blog is not original. Julie Powell wrote a blog that became a book and then a movie when she cooked all 524 recipes from Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But this is not French Cooking - this is backyard, after work, tailgate, American male grilling. I grill outside in a man-cave in every kind of weather. There is no "grilling season" for me - its everyday, year-round. We will skip around through Bobby's books and TV shows and grill what we like. But grilling is more than food, its an experience - so we will also report on what music we listened to or what ball game was on while we were grilling. We will keep track of what we were drinking during the grilling and later with the food. I'll try to figure what went wrong when we fall short of Bobby's perfection and pass on any tips I know about or discover along the way. Maybe it will give others some ideas as well.

The photo is of me and two of my brother-in-laws roasting the Thanksgiving turkey on the grill last year. That's me on the far right. In real life I am a college professor and pilot. I have written 12 books, but they were all about flying - here we write about grilling. We write about Bobby Flay Everyday!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Dr. Wine

This is Grilled Cheese Quesadillas with Roasted Red Peppers and Yellow Tomato-Thyme Salsa from Boy Gets Grill page 52. We actually used Red, Yellow and Orange Peppers, because they were on sale for 10 for $10. But the real surprise turned out to be that Yellow-Thyme Salsa. To be honest, I really never heard of yellow tomatoes before, but when I looked in the supermarket - there they were. Bobby said that yellow tomatoes would be sweeter than regular red and he was right. It was almost like fruit. I grilled up the peppers in a grill basket using olive oil, salt and ground black pepper. I toasted the tortillas on the grill with a little butter spray then layered on the cheeses - Monterey Jack, Mozzarella and Parmesan. Before the cheese completely melted I piled on the roasted peppers. The photo shows it open face with some sliced tomatoes and fresh Mozzarella on the side. Dorothy added a top tortilla and sliced it into triangles, I scooped the yellow salsa on top and rolled it over like a burrito. This was a great flavor blend with hot and cool all at once. 

Several weeks ago I flew from Murfreesboro down to Sewanee, Tennessee and took that occasion to fly over the Monteagle Winery. The winery is located just off Interstate 24 up on a mountain ridge that sits about 1,000 feet higher than the surrounding area. 
The winery was brought back to life by a friend of mine, Dr. Tony Johnston. It is winter time so the grapevines have no leaves, but if you look carefully you will see the horizontal rows of vine trellis. Dorothy and I helped plant some of those grapevines! Tony earned his doctors degree from the University of Arkansas in Enology. Enology is the science and study of all aspects of wine. That's right he has a Ph.D in wine! Several blogs ago, I said that 95% of what I know about wine came from three people - Tony is one of those three and how cool is it to have a friend who is a Doctor of Wine? 
 
Dr. Tony Johnston, PhD. aka Dr. Wine


Last year we joined about a dozen other eager wine tasters at Tony's home to help him conduct some "wine research." But this was no joke. Tony told us all that we would be tasting two different wines and he gave us a rating sheet in which we wrote down characteristics of the wine's color, aroma and taste. Except for the color, the two wines could not have been more different. After we all filled out our rating sheets and decided which wine we liked best, Tony revealed the identity of each wine that he had kept concealed in separate bags. To our surprise both bags had bottles of the same wine! So why were they so completely different? Tony had aged one bottle at a cool temperature and the other bottle at a warmer temperature for several months. His research was all about discovering the optimum way to store and age the wine to protect and preserve it. It was impressive how different the same wine tasted. I will help Tony conduct research anytime he asks me! 


Tony now concentrates his time teaching his classes, which includes Wine Appreciation 101. Tony has also been active in promoting wine in Tennessee for several years. I know, you don't usually think of Tennessee as a wine growing region, but it may be time to change what you think. You may be surprised at the number and quality of wines from Tennessee. Check out the Tennessee Farm Winegrowers Association's website: http://www.tennesseewines.com/


Followers Wanted! I know that many of you have been reading Bobby Flay Everyday, because I have been getting many emails - especially from the Wine Country of California - about the recipes and grilling in the winter. So, please consider joining the blog as a "follower." If you are not exactly sure how to become a follower, I found a link to some very easy instructions: http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=104226
So please become a Bobby Flay Everyday follower today - I promise to keep it interesting and keep it grilling!
Paul
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