Grocery Outlet Wine!

Can you believe I bought all 9 of these bottles from Grocery Outlet for $50? Okay...I fib just a little...I went over by $1. ;-)

Grocery Outlet gave me a $50 gift card with which to buy wine and review it here on my blog. Sweet! The first wine I am reviewing is a 2007 Renovales Malbec. I have been trying to research this on the internet but have come up with nothing. My Google-Fu is failing me! I bought this at Grocery Outlet for $4.99 and their price tag said to compare it to $9.99 in other stores.

Front of the bottle:


Back of the bottle:


I do know that Mendoza is a good place for Malbecs. I have a soft spot in my heart for Malbecs so that's why I decided to start with this one.

I poured it in my glass and let it breathe for a little bit. It looked beautiful and dark.



At first there was an oaky taste to it but that dissipated the more it breathed. Also at first there was a bit of a dull pomegranate taste to it and Mr Mary Cooks swears there was a ruby red grapefruit taste to it (I didn't get that at all). The tannins are very tame which makes this wine very approachable for someone who maybe has not had a lot of experience with red wines. This wine would be awesome with a creamy cheese like perhaps a chevre or even a stilton. I can imagine eating a salad comprised of arugula, rocket, pear, walnuts, and chevre while sipping on this wine.

Instead, we had bacon-wrapped filet mignon (which will make another appearance later this week) and twice-baked potatoes.



This was a Christmas present from family of Mr Mary Cooks so it made this meal very economical!

Anyway, back to the wine. It's much better when consumed with food. We drank the whole bottle so it definitely passed the test as it took very little effort to drink it all. It was mildly fruity and I bet it would age pretty well for another year.

The only negative thing I can say about this wine is that there was an odd sedimentation in the first pour which was strange because it had been sitting upright for two days prior to opening it.

I would definitely buy this wine again. It was delicious and for 5 bucks, an incredible deal!

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Stay tuned later this week for an announcement! Grocery Outlet has given me a $50 gift card to give away here on the blog! There are some stipulations (you have to have a blog and post what you bought with it) which I will list tomorrow. I'll start accepting entries to the giveaway on Wednesday and announce the winner on Friday evening. Hooray!!!

Wine + Grocery Outlet = LOVE

(Note: these are not the wines I have purchased from Grocery Outlet...I still have to do my shopping!)

I am super excited to announce that I am going to be blogging my wine purchasing experiences with Grocery Outlet next week! During the remainder of this week I will be putting together a menu comprised mostly of the awesome bargains you can find at Grocery Outlet along with the fantastic wines they offer.

What?! You didn't know G.O. sold wine?! What?! You didn't know G.O. sold AWESOME wines?! Where have you BEEN???

Stay tuned. They have provided me with a gift card for me to purchase wines and another gift card to give away to my readers. I'll announce how to get in on the drawing for the gift card over the weekend when I announce my meal plan for next week along with wine accompaniment provided by Grocery Outlet.

This is going to be so great!

Greek Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad

This is so easy to make it's ridiculous. It can also easily be made vegetarian.

Ingredients:
3/4 c. to 1 c. kalamata olives, halved
1 can artichoke hearts, quartered
2-3 roasted red bell peppers, cut into strips
1 c. feta
1/2 red onion, cut into slices then quartered
2 chicken breasts, grilled then cut into 1" chunks
1 lb. rotelle pasta, cooked and rinsed with cold water
1/3 c. or so Greek salad dressing





First, I sliced half a red onion then quartered the slices so they became manageable pieces for eating.



Meanwhile, I grilled two chicken breasts that I had seasoned with Cavender's Greek Seasoning. (So delicious! Good on french fries!)



Quarter the artichoke hearts. I like to get these in cans without marinade. That way you control the flavor AND the fat content!



I get my roasted red peppers in a jar without any fat also. I sliced these into strips.



Cut the kalamata olives in half. Try not to eat too many as you're prepping this dish!



After the pasta has cooked, rinse it with cold water until it has totally cooled.



Admire the feta and the dressing since you don't have to do anything to prepare them...



Once the chicken is cooked thoroughly, let it cool for about 15 minutes.



Cut into bite-sized chunks and add to your salad bowl.



Add the pasta, feta, and dressing. I "eyeballed" the dressing. In the end it was about 1/3 cup but you can use more or less, depending on your tastes. In our house we like a lightly dressed salad in general for just a hint of flavor. I don't like to overwhelm the flavors of the other ingredients.



Now it's done and time to serve! This pasta salad is excellent for a weeknight dinner and if you double it, I can definitely see it being very popular at a potluck. If you leave the chicken off it's vegetarian friendly (so I'll add the vegetarian tag anyway).

Everyone in the family loved this dish. The preschooler picked out the onions but liked everything else. Middle son and husband had three servings!!

Tuna and White Bean Salad

To placate my masses I must re-emerge with a wonderful recipe, one so great that once you make it yourself you will moan with delight and forget all about my absence here from the blog. This, my friends, is just such a recipe.

I came across this recipe when some coworkers and I took an Italian cooking class. Really, it was more of a cooking demonstration and tasting since there were no hands-on opportunities. Regardless, I came away with one of the best recipes I've ever tried in my life. No, I am not exaggerating!

Tuna and White Bean Salad
2 cans Italian tuna, in olive oil
2 cans cannellini beans
1/2 red onion, sliced very thinly
Leaves from celery (the light green parts inside)
Juice of one lemon
6 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of sugar

Ingredients photo:



(2 lemons pictured because I wasn't sure how much juice I'd get from one. Only use one, which should give you about 4-5 Tbsp. of juice.)




Close-up shot of the tuna. Find this tuna! Specialty markets may have it. I found mine at an import food shop here in Seattle. It's worth it...trust me on this. If you like, you can use regular tuna canned in oil or water but the flavor will be different and not as rich.



Take off all the stalks from the celery. You're after all of the light green leaves. You can use some of the darker green leaves but not too many! The green leaves have a wonderfully delicate flavor that adds so much to this salad.



Special Italian beans...yum! These tasted amazing. I got them from the import shop as well.



Slice the red onion verrrrrrrrry thinly. You can use a mandoline if you like but I just used a knife.



Mmmmm...tuna.



Mmmmm...tuna. ^_^



Put the lemon juice in a separate bowl.



Add the olive oil.



Now add the salt, pepper, and pinch of sugar.



Incorporate the dressing carefully. You don't want to break up the tuna too much.



Enjoy! Yes, I did eat this whole bowl. No, I don't feel guilty. It was amazing!



Obligatory cocktail shot: this time a dirty martini for Mr. Mary Cooks!

Wow!

It has been a really long time since I updated. I have some photos of food that I am going to upload this weekend. The kids will be gone so I should have some quiet time to really work on the blog and get things updated. Maybe I'll launch a new look, too!

I just wanted to drop a note that I am still around. I've got some great posts to put up with regards to great products I've been able to try thanks to Foodbuzz!

Check back over the weekend!