My computer started acting up recently so, last weekend, Robert and I put on our geek shoes and performed a few upgrades (new motherboard, processor, etc.) I also used this as an opportunity to try out a new operating system: Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft. So far, I am in love with this OS! Other linux distros that I have used in the past include Red Hat 8 and Suse 8.2 Pro. They both pale in comparison. Ubuntu lets me do cool things that I couldn’t do in linux before such as sync up my music player with my iPod. And, it’s completely free! If you’re looking for a way to save some money or just want to stick it to the man by switching to an alternative OS, give Ubuntu a try.

The word Ubuntu hails from sub-Saharan Africa and, in celebration of my new operating system, I decided to go with an African theme for this week’s winesday. My menu was pretty simple: Prawns Peri Peri, South African yellow rice and a mixed green salad. Peri Peri (or Piri Piri in Portuguese) is a name used to describe the hot African birdseye chili and also a popular sauce made from those chilies. This sauce was brought to Mozambique by Portuguese settlers in the 15th century and is now popular all over Southern Africa. The recipe that I used called for crushed garlic, chopped red chilies and lemon peel to be combined with olive oil and left overnight to allow the flavors to meld. The prawns are marinated in this mixture and then gently cooked with butter and lemon juice. The lemon flavor was nice but the dish could have easily been spicier.

My wine of choice was also from South Africa: Spice Route 2003 Chenin Blanc. The man at the wine store told me it was like Sauvignon Blanc but with a bit more palette. I think it was actually much heavier than he indicated. I don’t usually pay too much attention to “legs” when drinking wine but I couldn’t help noticing that the legs of this wine seemed to stick to the glass for an unusually long time, almost like a thin syrup. The flavor of the wine was very complex. It kept changing as I drank it making it difficult to describe but I finally decided that it had very autumnal flavors; apples, pear, toasted nuts. It had a bit more oak than I prefer but I still really liked it. Unfortunately, my prawns were too light and subtle for this wine. I think this wine would go well with spicy squash soup or even a light meat dish. I have a fuyu persimmon that’s been sitting on my counter for weeks; maybe I’ll slice it up and add it to a green salad with some toasted hazelnuts and eat that while I sip the leftover wine. That sounds like a much better match.

I selected an Italian Pinot Grigio for today’s winesday: Montelvini 2005. My meal to match was Chickpea and Octopus Bruschetta, Creamy Fennel Soup and a simple salad of mixed greens and radishes. I recently found out that Jennifer McIlvaine, creator of the bruschetta recipe and owner of Bruschettina, a popular food stand at several of Seattle’s farmer’s markets, is selling her business and moving to Italy. Sadly, I never had the chance to try her famous bruschetta but, thanks to Sunset magazine, I was able to get the recipe for her signature dish and thought I would give it a try.

I have never cooked octopus and it kind of freaked me out a little. Not in a vomit-inducing sort of way like when I pull the guts out of squid. It was more of a ghoulish experience, appropriate for the current Halloween season, I guess. I had a tough time finding baby octopus but finally managed to get my hands on some at Uwajimaya. Unfortunately, I had to buy 2 whole pounds and it was sold encased in a giant, heavy block of ice. I didn’t need the full 2 pounds for this dish so, last night, I decided to partially thaw the block so that I could break it into smaller sections and then refreeze what I didn’t use. I lugged the block out of the freezer and peered into its murky depths. I could just barely make out a mass of tentacles splayed out everywhere within the ghostly ice. At this point, I was already a bit spooked. I began to run water over the ice and slowly, one by one, as they defrosted, individual tentacles managed to squirm, poke and flop their way out of the block. They appeared to be coming to life like octopus zombies. Very creepy. Finally, one little octopus became thawed enough to fall completely away from the rest of the pack and then, when I was able to see it in its entirety and confirm that it was indeed dead, I relaxed. I was able to pick it up without fear and even considered chasing Robert around the house with it.

For the bruschetta itself, I used hominy bread from Tall Grass Bakery which is what Jennifer McIlvaine uses at Bruschettina. It had a really good flavor and texture and resulted a very different bruschetta than I am used to. Combined with the chickpea and octopus topping, it was very rustic. The wine might have been “rustic” as well. I see that on the descriptions for Italian wines a lot but, really, what does a rustic beverage taste like? I do know that this wine was very pale in color with a bright, fruity aroma and crisp, citrusy taste. And, as with most wines, I liked it!

Tonight, to add something special to my Indian vegetable curry, I made my own paneer. Paneer is an Indian cheese and it is actually extremely simple to make. You just bring whole milk to a boil, add acid to separate the whey from the curds, and then drain through a cloth and press the cheese into shape (wrapped in cloth, using weights.) It has a very mild flavor and a texture similar to firm tofu. For curries, it is best to press the paneer well so that it will be firm enough to hold up to cooking. But, you can also skip the step of pressing and instead use the soft curds in a salad, perhaps with tomatoes and cucumber and a dusting of cumin. It takes a quart of milk to get a very small disk of cheese. For each quart, I use 1.5 tablespoons of white wine vinegar as the acid. I have also read that people use rice wine vinegar, lemon juice or even soured yogurt. Paneer is a nice change of pace from the usual proteins such as tofu, shrimp, etc. Plus, it feels really cool to make your own cheese!

Since today is winesday, I chose a gewurztraminer to go with my Indian dinner. Gewurztraminers are usually recommended for serving with Indian or Asian dishes because they have a spicy, floral quality that matches well with curries and other spicy dishes. The wine merchant at Pike & Western recommended a German gewurztraminer to me, Pfeffingen 2004 Spatlese. He told me that, even though it is a Spatlese which is late harvest and usually means sweet, this was one of the less sweet gewurztraminers out there and that it had enough acidity to match well with food. I’m not so sure. It was still a little too sweet for my tastes but I did like the strong floral aroma and spicy flavor. Next time, I will try one of our Washington gewurztraminers to see how they compare.

My new mission is to learn more about wine. Nothing too obsessive; just enough to know about the basic different types of wine, which countries/regions produce the best wines and what I, myself, enjoy most. I recently read Andrea Immer’s “Great Wine Made Simple,” which I recommend, and now am reading “Windows on the World Complete Wine Course” by Kevin Zraly. Instead of wine comparison tastings, which can be heavy on the wallet, I have decided to incorporate wine education into my regular life (since I already drink wine regularly, this shouldn’t be too hard.) Each Wednesday, I will choose a new wine and plan a meal entirely around it. In addition to education, this will make planning meals more fun too! So, today marks my first ever “winesday” (that name is really cheesy, I know.)

Tonight’s wine of choice was Trimbach 2003 Alsatian Riesling. My meal to match was Riesling-Poached Trout with Thyme, Buttered Baby Potatoes and a Watercress, Endive and Apple Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette. First, the wine. I haven’t had too many rieslings in my lifetime so I was excited to try something different. All I know about them is that they are the lightest bodied of the whites and can sometimes be sweet (particularly Germain rieslings.) Alsatian rieslings are usually dry. This one was delicious: clean, crisp, and light! They say lemon, mineral and grapefruit (even cabbage) among other things online. As for the meal, it was OK. It matched well with the wine I guess but I usually find French food to be pretty boring and this was no exception. Thankfully the hatchet job I did on the trout didn’t ruin the meal. I should have just had the fish monger fillet it for me but, I was thinking that maybe one day I would like to learn how to fish and, if I did go fishing and actually caught one, I would have to learn how to do this myself. At least you couldn’t tell once it was cooked and covered in sauteed leeks. Also of note: for the salad dressing, I used the apple cider vinegar recommended by Cooks Illustrated magazine, Spectrum Naturals Organic Unfiltered. I actually sipped a little vinegar straight from the bottle and it was good. So much better than Heinz.

Overall, I would say the wine was far better than the meal but I’m going to stick with Winesdays for a while and hopefully will be able to produce a spectacular wine-meal combo. Do you have a favorite food and wine pairing that you would recommend?