Mise en Place

Wine, Food, and Other Vital Things

A bottle for the weekend. (Brockhaus Images)

A Bottle for Saturday and Roast Chicken

August 23, 2026 / / 0 Comments

The weekend is here, and a roast chicken is part of it. On Wednesday morning I liberally sprinkled salt and pepper on a chicken, stuffed some thyme and garlic under its skin, and put it in the refrigerator, uncovered. It would stay there, brining, for about 40 hours.

Some of you might have, upon reading the above, thought of Judy Rodgers. Yes, I based my prep method on her beloved recipe, which you can find in one of my favorite collections of recipes, “The Zuni Café Cookbook.” I was not to make the bread salad this time, for various reasons, but if you have never enjoyed this dish I urge you to try it — either make it yourself, or get a table at the San Francisco restaurant.

A perfect way to roast a chicken. (Brockhaus Images)

What I had in mind for my chicken was to enjoy it over a few days and meals, the first one being a dinner of roast chicken, baked spaghetti squash, and a beet and chèvre salad. On the next day I would boil potatoes I had sliced, then add some green beans to the water for about three minutes at the end of the process. I also sautéed green bell peppers. I put all of the warm vegetables into a large bowl and covered it loosely while I pulled the leftover chicken into suitably sized pieces.

Cast-iron bird: Crisp skin, tender meat. (Brockhaus Images)

To the warm vegetables I added salt, black pepper, some red wine vinegar, thinly sliced shallots, and olive oil. Finally, the chicken went in. That mixture was gently tossed, then tasted for seasoning. More salt. Plated it in a bowl, and topped with a few dollops of chèvre. Comforting, wonderful acid from the vinegar, crisp beans, and melting-sensation potatoes.

A light-golden hue in the glass: The 2023 Rhys Vineyards Mt. Pajaro Chenin Blanc has a lot going for it. (Brockhaus Images)

To the bottle of wine, which I paired with both dishes. It was a chenin blanc, from Rhys Vineyards, the 2023 to be exact, fruit from Mt. Pajaro Vineyard. This is a stellar example of domestic chenin blanc, full of gravelly minerality and ocean influence — Mt. Pajaro, about 8 miles from the Monterey Bay, is Rhys’ sole vineyard in the southern region of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the soil profile of the 18-acre vineyard has had a profound effect on this wine. Brown and black shale and sandstone, plus shallow topsoil, have produced concentrated fruit and a wine with thrilling tension. The vineyard lies between 717 and 980 feet above sea level.

I am working on a longer, more in-depth piece on Rhys, because these wines are impressing me and they deserve attention.

The wine spent 12 months in oak — 100 percent neutral barrels — and six months in stainless steel; whole cluster was used. The clone here is 982, and Rhys farms .94 acres of chenin blanc in the vineyard, which is mainly planted to pinot noir and chardonnay. On the palate, I appreciated the combination of wet stone and paraffin, along with lemon and pear. You can find this wine for around $60, and I’d love to taste this vintage five years from now.

Mt. Pajaro Vineyard was planted by Rhys in 2014 and 2015. (Rhys Vineyards)

Here’s a look at a few other things I have cooked lately, including a banana bread into which I swirled a mixture of chocolate and peanut butter; picadillo tacos; two-egg pasta with a long-simmered Bolognese made of beef and pork; and king oyster mushrooms.

A bread made with five overripe bananas, sour cream, and a few eggs. (Brockhaus Images)
A touch of chocolate and peanut butter … (Brockhaus Images)
Sautéed corn, radish, Good Mother Stallard beans, and queso fresco are all here. (Brockhaus Images)
Flour, egg, and olive oil: pasta of irregular shape but wonderful texture. (Brockhaus Images)
Beef and pork a good Bolognese make. (Brockhaus Images)
I found these at a local Asian grocer. (Brockhaus Images)
Score the mushrooms and the sauce permeates them in grand manner. (Brockhaus Images)
Carlo Luján uncorks a bottle tableside at Tony's. (Andrew Hemingway)

Carlos Luján Has the Wine List at Tony’s in Great Form

August 8, 2026 / / 0 Comments

I have enjoyed many meals at Tony’s, one of my favorite places in Houston. Tony Vallone first opened the doors to his restaurant on April 1, 1965, and it is now serving guests in its third location. A small group of longtime diners has taken a majority stake in the iconic restaurant and a renovation is underway. I look forward to seeing its new look when I am next in Houston, and ordering white bolognese rigatoni and lamb.

I always take pleasure in leafing through the wine list at Tony’s, and here’s a look at the man now in charge of it. His name is Carlos Luján, and he’s the subject of the latest Wine Talk, which you can read here.

Making a tomato, asparagus, and chèvre tart took my thoughts away from troubling issues, at least for a while.

Beans, Asparagus, Tomatoes, Chèvre: A Bit of Cooking

August 3, 2026 / / 0 Comments

I recently became a Rancho Gordo Bean Club member, and the day I received the note admitting me to the institution was a good one. My initial shipment arrived shortly thereafter, and the selection pleased me.

A fine roster of beans.
The first bag I opened and cooked.

I chose to open the bag of San Franciscano first; I had never cooked with this bean, and was curious about its flavor, consistency, and utility. It’s a Mexican heirloom bean that hails from Puebla and Hidalgo, its color is beautiful, and it is, as I found, versatile.

Beans sorted and ready to join the fun.
A striped bean — lilac and black — that has a beautiful and complex flavor with nutty notes and a hint of cocoa.

I’ll skip the primer here about prepping beans for cooking, as I am confident most people who cook know about rinsing and sorting. I will, however, state that giving my fresh beans a pre-soak has become a habit, mainly because doing so reduces cooking time. Rinse them in cold water, discard any debris, and soak them for several hours; if you decide to do this overnight, put your soaking beans in the refrigerator. (If, however, you don’t have time for a soak, don’t fret and read on.)

I tend to start the process on a weekend morning and cook the same day. As I wrote, you can skip the soak and simply bring the beans to a hard boil for 15 minutes, then simmer until done. Exceptions to this: larger beans — chickpeas, large lima, gigante, and cannellini, among others, or older beans (more than, say, two years old) — which a pre-soak benefits in several ways, including helping to prevent their skins from breaking during cooking.

I also cooked some baby lima beans that I received from Rancho Gordo in my premiere shipment.

When you are ready to cook your beans, do this: chop a carrot or two, and an onion, and sauté them in a little olive oil in the pot you are using. Celery and garlic are also good in this mix. Add the beans, and water to cover — I follow the 2-inch rule, meaning, 2 inches of water above the beans. Bring to a hard boil for 10 to 15 minutes, then simmer, covered, until done. You can use the lid as a regulator to adjust the simmer. I like a long and slow cook, as I’ve found that allows the broth to fully develop its flavors. No rush.

I sometimes cook a full pound of beans, depending on how I plan to use them, and often cook half a bag. Either way, salt them only after they are done, and use moderation; the beans will gradually soak up the salt, so their flavor will change in stages. You can always add more salt later.

Now you decide how to eat your beans. A good move is to add them to meals throughout the week. Tacos, soups, stews … the options are infinite. The San Franciscanos were excellent served on the side of a turkey burger, and I also used some in a stew I made that included tomatoes and celery.

Cooking relaxes me, helps quiet thoughts about concerns and discordant happenings, things troubling me and over which I hold no control. War, corruption, venality on the part of FIFA’s leadership, aging parents, the DOJ’s cruise to sycophancy and criminality. On the day I first opened the San Franciscano beans I began a sourdough starter and baked a few loaves of bread.

Bread and beans …

A tomato tart has been on the recent menu as well, along with some quail, the latter served with roasted peppers.

A tart of tomatoes, chèvre, and asparagus.

I brush some olive oil on the whole peppers and cook them on high heat in a grill ; cover them with a lid or foil while they cook.

Bell peppers on their way to a roasted and smoked condition.
Quail cooking skin-side down.
These peppers paired well with the quail I cooked.
Two bottles of tequila, each worthy of one's time.

A Good Day for Tequila

July 24, 2026 / / 1 Comment

Angela and I spent some time in Mexico in April, a week in Oaxaca, then several days in Mexico City on the way back to Los Angeles. Those days included the sampling of a good number of tequilas and mezcals and an afternoon at Lalocura, a palenque. The trip was good, and I came home determined to drink more tequila (I am more partial to mezcal.)

July 24 is National Tequila Day in the United States, so that gives me a great reason to write about two bottles that I sampled recently, a blanco and a reposado, the former from Mi Campo and the latter from Casa Noble.

Casa Noble and Mi Campo tequilas: 100 percent Blue Weber Agave.

First, for those who are not overly familiar with the terms, a primer: reposado, which means “rested” in Spanish, is aged in oak barrels for a minimum of two months but less than 12 months, while blanco (“white”) must be bottled within 60 days from when it comes off of the still. Both of these types are worthy of your attention, depending on your palate and preferences. (There is also añejo and extra añejo/extra aged, not to mention mixto versus 100 percent blue agave. I’ll leave these terms for another time.) Note: Both of these bottles are 100 percent Blue Weber agave.

Back to the tequilas of the day. I begin with the Mi Campo, which is fermented in open-air tanks then double-distilled before resting for as long as one month in French oak barrels that previously held chardonnay.

This would be perfect in a Margarita.

In a glass, the Mi Campo appears mostly clear, but held up to a light source a faint yellow hits the eye, a mark of resting in barrel. Aromas of coconut, toasted almond, and orange peel are evident, as well as a hint of vanilla and a beguiling note of chocolate. On the palate I appreciated orange and, to a lesser extent, honey. A touch of agave herbalness is there, but a touch only, and some might pick up green and black pepper, as well as bell pepper. Whether you find the finish sweet or not depends on your palate; the effects of the barrel are certainly there. This is a solid tequila for the price, around $25. Search here.

(I ran across conflicting sources when I attempted to determine if Mi Campo Blanco contains any additives. The brand says nothing is added, while some drinkers say that because Mi Campo is made at La Cofradia distillery (NOM 1137), a facility that produces both additive-free and additive-containing tequilas on a contract basis, there is bound to be some measure of additives in Mi Campo. Some even speak if the “Cofradia taste,” which they describe as “funky” or “solventy.”)

The Casa Noble Reposado spends 364 days in new French oak barrels, edging right up to the añejo neighborhood. It has a lovely muted amber color in the glass, one I find inviting. On the nose it is distinct, sharp, full of pepper and bitter orange, perhaps even burnt apricot. A taste offers hazelnut, a hint of cinnamon, closing with soft vanilla and chocolate. I did not find anything obtrusive about the effects of the barrel here.

Casa Noble Reposado is a fine sipping tequila.

I liked this tequila quite a lot, and can see myself sipping it on a regular basis. I think it would appeal to both casual drinkers of tequila and those who consider themselves aficionados, and that’s a good place for this bottle to be. It has an SRP of $49.99. Search for it here. I’ll likely sip the Casa Noble, and use the Mi Campo to make Margaritas, Ranch Water, and Palomas.

Matthew Crafton oversees winemaking, and much more, at Chateau Montelena. (Brockhaus Images)

Wine Talk: Matthew Crafton Has Chateau Montelena In a Great Place

July 23, 2026 / / 2 Comments

The estate is iconic. A stone winery constructed in 1888 by Alfred Lovering Tubbs is its centerpiece. Tubbs hired a French architect, who used French stonemasons and imported stones to create the A.L. Tubbs Winery. Spending a few hours there is something I recommend.

This building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
(Chateau Montelena)

The estate, located in Calistoga, California, is now known as Chateau Montelena, and Matthew Crafton, the latest Wine Talk subject, is its president and winemaker. He’s been with the estate since 2008, and his guidance and vision are worthy of attention. Click here to read what Crafton has to say about the future of the wine industry, where he likes to drink a glass of wine when he’s not working, and other things.

Matthew Crafton has a degree in economics but found his love and passion in the wine world. (Chateau Montelena)
Don Schroeder has been at Sea Smoke since 2003. (Courtesy Sea Smoke)

Wine Talk: Insights from Sea Smoke’s Don Schroeder

July 11, 2026 / / 0 Comments

There’s something to be said for a winemaker’s long tenure at one estate. It would be a fine thing to, season after season, become one with a vineyard, with its vines and insects and rows and birds and microclimates. Don Schroeder, the winemaker at Sea Smoke, has been at the estate since 2003, and he knows every square inch of it.

I met Schroeder recently in Los Angeles at a Sea Smoke lunch tasting. The wines were very good, and I enjoyed speaking with him about his experiences in Alaska (we both once lived there), his education, his family, and his enthusiasm for Alsace, which I share. We also, of course, talked about the wines he makes.

Schroeder is the subject of the latest “Wine Talk,” which you can read here.

The Sea Smoke Estate shares an intimate relationship with the Pacific Ocean. (Courtesy Sea Smoke)
Chateau Montelena's Judgement of Paris kit.

Spirits of ’76: Chateau Montelena Debuts a Sparkling Wine and Brandy

July 2, 2026 / / 0 Comments

It was 1976, and a little thing we call The Judgement of Paris took place that year. In short, American wines largely bested their Gallic counterparts in the tasting, as determined by some fine French palates. The world noticed.

Chateau Montelena was one of the American producers involved in the tasting, and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the auspicious event the estate is introducing a sparkling wine and a brandy in limited editions. These bottlings mark the first time that the estate has made a sparkling wine or a brandy.

The 2023 Blanc de Blanc and Brandy Release #01 go on sale today, July 3 (the brandy is available in California only). The wine is $125 for Chateau Montelena wine club members and $150 for everyone else, while the brandy sells for $75 (members) and $95 for non-members.

“The Blanc de Blancs and the brandy both trace back to the same ground that produced the 1973 Chardonnay,” said Matthew Crafton, president and winemaker at Chateau Montelena. “They aren’t recreations of that wine, nothing could be, but they are honest expressions of the same vineyards, approached with the curiosity and discipline that have always defined Montelena.”

Matthew Crafton, president and winemaker at Chateau Montelena, sits with some bottles at the estate. (Brockhaus Photography)

The sparkling wine’s fruit — 100 percent chardonnay — comes from Napa Valley’s John Muir Hanna Vineyard, which played a pivotal role in the 1973 Chateau Montelena selection that finished on top in the chardonnay category at The Judgement of Paris. The brandy was distilled from fruit (all chardonnay) harvested from the John Muir Hanna, Belle Terre, and Bacigalupi vineyards, the three sites that provided grapes for the famed 1973 vintage. Montelena plans to release nine additional bottlings of brandy over time.

Speaking of the Spirit of 1976, Montelena put together a great kit for the sparkling wine and brandy that includes a bottle of each, along with all of the ingredients needed for the Montelena 76, a cocktail I am looking forward to try.

In honor of a grand occasion and a storied cocktail. (Brockhaus Photography)

If you want to get a bottle of the sparkling wine, click here beginning on July 3. As noted, the brandy is for the moment available solely in California — contact the winery for information on that.

The Fay Vineyard, a famous spot of land in Napa Valley.

A Fateful Judgement in 1976 Reverberates 50 Years On

June 22, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Steven Spurrier receives most of the accolades, but Patricia Gallagher and Jon Winroth Broneer deserve a lot of the credit as well. I’m referring to The Judgement of Paris, which took place in Paris in 1976. Wines from California bested French wines, according to some discerning Gallic palates. The world of wine changed forever on that day.

To mark the 50th anniverary of the tasting heard ’round the world I’m taking a look at bottles from some of the wineries involved in it. First up, the wines that finished first in their categories: Chateau Montelena (chardonnay) and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars (cabernet sauvignon). Read the story in in PaperCity Magazine here.

The trio prepares for the U.S.-Paraguay match.

A Dream Start for the U.S. Team as the World Cup Journey Proceeds

June 13, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Was Paraguay that bad? Was the U.S. that good? After some thought, I’d say the latter is the more accurate assessment. The United States men were that good yesterday in Los Angeles before 70,000-plus fans in SoFi Stadium.

A solemn space at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Larry, Scott, and I prepared for the big event by attending the FIFA Fan Zone in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, itself a grand venue. Another former teammate of mine, John Ryan, from my Florida playing days, had traveled to L.A. with his girlfriend to attend the match (the two of them are also making their own journey up the coast to Seattle during this World Cup) and we met them at the coliseum.

Scott, Larry, and James outside SoFi before the match.

All was orderly and efficient at the match stadium, entry lines moving briskly, excitement visible. Reuniting with Larry and Scott for the tournament has been a surreal experience for me, and that sensation was heightened as I thought back to our Germany days. Fußball was and is front and center for us; we were in our safe space.

The K-Town trio at SoFi.

I won’t go on about the match. I enjoyed it thouroughly. Pulisic was splendid in the first half (he was substituted out at the half after sustaining a “kick” to a calf), there were two stellar goals — one from Balogun, one from Reyna, the latter my favorite, a curling piece of poetry that he curved around the keeper — and the U.S. side played a nearly flawless match. If they play close to this level against Turkey on the 25th things will really become exciting for U.S. supporters.

We will now enjoy Saturday in Los Angeles, take in the Brazil-Morocco match at home, and prepare for the journey toward Seattle. And what’s that I hear? It’s Die Mannschaft calling — Germany kicks off its tournament tomorrow, and I’ll be watching as we head up the coast.

I Measure Out My Life With World Cups

June 11, 2026 / / 0 Comments

Though I love good coffee, and drink it daily, I have measured out my life with World Cup tournaments.

The 1982 edition marked the actual, live beginning of my journey with the moveable feast; Spain was the host country, I was attending school in Germany. I had, of course, seen footage of Pelé and his magic, and had a few years earlier commenced my research into the history of the tournament. But now I was in Germany, in Europe, and the sport was with me 24 hours a day.

I began playing Fußball in New Hampshire, as a junior high school student, and continued in Clearwater, Florida, on school and club teams. Germany was next. My father was ordered to duty in Kaiserslautern, a small city in the Rheinland Pfalz. My mother, two sisters, and I accompanied him.

One of my coaches in Florida, Otto Lohmann, was a German, and I learned a lot from him. He was my first genuine coach, an individual who knew the sport and knew how to manage players. At the time I had no idea I would one day play and live in Deutschland, but I prefer to think that it was my destiny. In Florida I became a fan of the television show “Soccer Made in Germany,” which was moderated by the great Toby Charles and broadcast on PBS channels.The program was a Sunday-morning priority, and Charles brought the Bundesliga into my life. I watched what would soon become my club team, 1 F.C. Kaiserslautern, on that show.

On to Germany. That’s where it all shifted into overdrive.

I attended a Department of Defense school, for which I played soccer. I also tried out for a German club team, T.S.G. Kaiserslautern, and became a member of the A-Jugend squad. Life was perfect.

In May of 1981 I found myself at the home of the Kehls, watching Germany play Brazil in a friendly. I was also there for dinner; Frau Kehl had cooked pork and red cabbage. We drank riesling that Herr Kehl made his son and me dilute with water. I had already adopted Die Mannschaft as my national team, but that match firmly placed the team in my being. Herr Kehl was my trainer at T.S.G., and I admired him greatly. He was the best trainer I would ever have. Germany lost that friendly 2-1.

The KAHS Red Raiders, a good team. Scott Babos is second from left on the bottow row, Larry Day third from left, and I am sixth from left.

Larry Day and Scott Babos were among my best friends in Kaiserslautern. They were fellow Air Force Brats, and they were my DoD school teammates. We spent hours together on the training pitch, on buses traveling to away matches and home again, and playing together for the Kaiserslautern American High School Red Raiders. Scott and I had a standing appointment at a local raquetball facility near my house, at which we played endless one-on-one matches to improve our dribbling and ball control in tight spaces. The small plexiglass window on the door of the court was the target of our free-kick competitions. Larry joined us as often as he could at outdoor three-on-three matches to stay in shape during the brief off seasons. They both played for German club teams as well.

Larry and Kelli Day in Tokyo earlier this year.

The World Cup is back, and my journey continues. This tournament is especially meaningful to me, because my two friends and I are, beginning this evening, writing another chapter of our friendship. At the beginning of this year Larry phoned and asked me to get in touch with Scott. “I’ve got an idea for us,” he said. A few days later we heard Larry’s idea: He wanted to buy tickets for the three of us to World Cup matches taking place in Los Angeles, my home, and Seattle, where Scott lives. The last time the three of us were together was in late 2000.

Scott Babos, left, two of his grandchildren, and his son, Alexander, at an FC Dallas match.

Larry is, as I write, in the air between California and New Hampshire, and Scott is somewhere between Seattle and L.A. They are joining me here in Los Angeles this evening, and tomorrow we will be in the stands watching the U.S. battle Paraguay. On Sunday morning we take to the roads in an RV, headed up the beautiful coast, Seattle our ultimate destination, where we will attend the match between Australia and the U.S.

I am measuring out this thing called life. Larry and Scott will meet Angela for the first time. These two men who mean so much to me, who became part of my story, my existence, will now become part of my World Cup journey. It’s going to be our journey. It will be, I am certain, epic. And I’ll be documenting it here.

« Older posts

© 2026 Mise en Place

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑

Mise en Place

Wine, Food, and Other Vital Things

Skip to content ↓