Beef Tongue 60C / 48 Hrs

Ah Beef Tongue how weird and creepy it looks raw and out of the bag. Touching it and realizing the the tongue is rough like a cats tongue made it even more creepy, if thats even possible at this stage.

So this is my first time cooking beef tongue I bought it at the farmers market from a lady who owns a ranch up in northern BC Empire Valley Beef, they raise Angus Open Range Beef. Also I had dinner at this Italian restaurant La Querciain Kits and ordered the beef tongue because I've only had it once before and it was good (Fuel Restaurant). So I thought time to cook this tongue up

The Facts:
Beef Tongue is a tough piece of meat, it has a an outer membrane which is not edible and needs to be peeled.

With that out of the way I took it made a salt marinate with Salt, Mustard, Brown Sugar, Black Pepper and Touch of Merlot Vinegar. Wrapped it in Saran wrap and left it over night to cure / marinate.

Once that was done I cryo vac'd it in a bag with 1/4cup of demi thyme and more black pepper. and Sealed. Threw it into my water bath I had setp up in my stove which was sitting at 60-69C and let it cook for 48hrs.

A note on the water bath it was a large stock pot no lid, because it was long braising I wasn't worried to much of temperate fluctuations. But If I was going to sous-vide a steak or even a chicken I would definitely want something more accurate and that didn't fluctuate.

In the end it was awesome the large section of the tongue the back part tasted way better then the tip of the tongue it didnt have as much fat and dried out. The back was melt in your mouth delisious and because I used alot of pepper it had a corned beef flavour.

All in All a very successful 3 days

Poplar Grove 2004 Merlot

Wow talk about big nose, has that Turpentine / Pine nose just big that I pick up from the Malbec maybe its just big smell it from a mile away.

The Stats:
Poplar Grove Winery
Merlot 2004
95% Merlot 5% Malbec
18 months in French Oak barrels, 12 motnhs bottle ageing
686 cases produced
14.5% alc.

Sight:
Tawny Brown, Bing Colour Juices.

Aroma:
Turpentine/pine, Cherries, Clove (spice), caramel (later on at the end).

The Aroma is big just bang hits you right in the face very "new world" style I would say.

Taste:
Silky Smooth, round with being 14.5% you couldn't tell it was so high in alc. the flavour I couldn't pick up Maybe need more time it has a nice acid balance but the tannins were just nice a smooth.

Paired well with the 48Hour 60Degree Sous-Vide beef Tongue which I cooked the fatty gaminess went really nice with the wine

Poplar Grove 2007 Chardonnay

The Stats:
Poplar Grove Winery
Okanagan Valley
2007
14.5% Alc.
50% Barrel Fermented New Oak 6 month Sur lee
50% Stainless Steel
405 Cases produced
22$ (From Winery) 24-28$ Liquor store

Sight:
Pale Golden, with a tinge of green, light colour.

Aroma:
It was definitely opened picked up passion fruit mixed with apricot hints of vanilla and lime. Their was a hint of Rubber Cement Petrol'ness to it.
(My mom said she picked up some mineral notes too it)

Taste:
Dry wine with fruit more on the tropical side and a little bit of "bitterness" from the Oak the Pheonal notes. It was creamy definitely from the Barrel Fermentation.

Went well with vegetarian egg rolls and with Sea Salt Caramel.

Overall Score I rated 14-15. It was a nice white had the oak'iness which I like in Chardonnays.

The After Work Drink of Choice

So at work I get two drinks a night part of my pay (salary, tips, 2 drinks). What I end up choosing every night (about 75% of the time) is Blasted Church Chardonnay Musque 2007. It is a refreshing wine that just at the end of the night I fall into drinking, there are about 10 wines by the glass to choose from, its the one I pick. Why do I pick it, one reason is its a big seller so the bottle is always fresh even on the slow nights, and the Monster Vineyard Pinot Blanc 2007 is a little fruity for an after work drink (10PM~). The Monster Rose is awesome btw (I think its 2007) and the Pinot Blanc 2006 was really nice had the nice fruit / acid balance.

Anyways Back to the Blasted Church, it has the fruit, the acid, the refreshing'ness for an after work drink. And To quote cellarmaster from Urbandinar.ca forum "I call it Chardonnay for people who don't like Chardonnay." Which in reality I am. The Chard is Unoaked (Which Im not generally a fan of). I like my chards oaked but barrel fermented oaked like the 2005Pacific Breeze Chard. (Made in New Westminister BC, grapes from California.

My First Post! Tua Tua Bay Sauv Blanc and CHICKEN!!! (Sous-Vide Duh)

Ok this is my first wine “review” with food pairing. So bare with me. Didn’t do to well in high school with the grammar and such. More of a math geek. Also a big thanks to Lou for giving me this wine tasting / journal very nicely done helped me break down flavor and go through the wine step by step.

I knew what I was cooking and decided to pick a wine from my mini wine fridge (holds about 30 about 15 types of wine in it).

How I came across with wine was through the opimian wine society of Canada I'm a member and ordered this last year

For Dinner

Sous-Vide Free Range Chicken Breast glazed with Chestnut Honey, Bird eye Chili and Fresh Thyme (from my backyard) served with Israel Couscous; Carrot Scented (hints of brussel sprouts and tomatoes in it), and for veg (just because I should be healthy) wilted Swiss Chard [Champagne Vinegar, and no its not fizzy hah, Caramelized Onions and Garlic and Butter]

What I paired it with

Tua Tua Bay

Marlborough

Sauvignon Blanc

2007

13.5% Alc

Why Did I pick this wine you ask, well I didn’t want to drink red wine for dinner firstly I looked through all my wine saw some reds that could of went but really with the bird eye chili glaze (not really that spicy when I ate it) Chestnut Honey (has a medicinal taste can be over powering) and carrots (sweet duh!) I figured I nice NZ Sauv Blanc would work [Though the Alsatian Gewurtz was calling my name too btw and the Mini bottle of Champagne was looking mighty tasty]. I went with the Sauv Blanc.

The Wine First off

Sight:

Clear with pale yellow / tinge of green colour very light.

Taste:

The Nose med intensity had a sweet smell of Tropical fruit Guava I would say with touches of Grass/hay combination on the green side hints of Herbaceous’ness to it mixed with maybe a little of the methanol family (eucalyptus)

Taste:

Taste of lime, pears, pineapple, grass meets wet dampiness? Crisp clean medium finish didn’t linger on and on but at the same time it lingers where you don’t want it to go on forever it has the right lingerness (mm got to love the English language add ‘ness to everything and it makes it sound just right) soft texture too

For the Pairing:

The big question you are all asking is did it pair?!?! Well with the swiss chard I thought it was perfect because the high vinegar content of it made me want to drink the wine because it just washed away that acid on your tongue in a good way. The Israel couscous was too mild and the wine did over power it think Israel Couscous “Macaroni and Cheese” minus the cheese hah. The chicken it did go with the sweetness/acid from the wine went nice with the sweetness/”spiciness” of the chicken remember chestnut honey is a funny thing can be Way to strong on certain items especially the one I have. It isn’t made for Granola and yogurt in the morning; it will put hair on your chest.

All and All A tasty meal, wish I had more Couscous it was a good comfort food, and the wine almost finished the bottle as I write this.