Splurge!

I love to cook. In the past I spent years in the fine wine and gourmet food business. In those days, Mrs. Giuseppe and I ate like royalty on a fairly regular basis. I only drank 'real' wine, and there were always multiple blocks of imported cheese, fine chocolate, specialty meats and the like in our kitchen. It helped that I was a buyer for the places I worked, and the samples and bribes from distributors and sales reps was non stop. That was in the old days before children and unemployment. Now we mostly eat noodle based casseroles that can reheat for three days and whichever meat is on sale this week at 'More for your Dollar' Market Basket, where there is sawdust on the floor.

For my birthday, my parents gave me a cast iron griddle pan and $50. My dad also likes to cook, so he's always got a good eye for kitchen tools:So what to do with the money? There was no question in my mind, the answer was simple. Real meat and real wine.

So I went to Bob's Imported Foods in Medford, where there is an actual butcher counter, and purchased 0.92 lbs of thick juicy steak:A side note on Bob's: I love places like this. It is packed to the seams with every Italian delicacy known to man, but the atmosphere is very down home, my grandparents kind of people. They don't sell this stuff because yuppies like prosciutto, they sell it because back when they opened the store the neighborhood was full of Italians. For them this is just normal nourishment. The lack of pretension here is rare, especially for a 'gourmet' establishment.

Then I headed to the wine lover's secret, a local packie whose name I refuse to divulge. The place is sandwiched between some housing projects and a crummy supermarket. They specialize in 1.75 liter closeouts, 40 ounce beers, and $1 nips. But the wine department is full of downright ridiculous bargains if you know what's what, such as this:

I remember when the 2000 vintage of Bordeaux first hit the stores. The press was outrageous, it was being touted unanimously as the best vintage in Bordeaux in a century. The wines were great, right on down to the cheapies, and they were gone in a matter of months, all of them. But that scummy little packie ( packie: noun, short for 'package store', Massachusetts slang for a low brow liquor store, for those who don't know) magically has this Medoc for less than $20. They also sell nips of Bushmills 10 year old single malt for $1. Must be a mob front, or else they're hosting after hours cock-fights in the basement, or something.

So, pan+meat+a little bit of danish blue cheese+wine+roasted squash with red onion and sage+baby spinach in a homemade Dijon mustard vinaigrette= happy.

Finish the whole thing off with a thick slice of 1930's style carrot cake, with candied pineapple, golden raisins and cream cheese frosting, courtesy of Mrs. G:

I do miss this kind of stuff, but my tendency towards iron-clad stinginess make these treats all the more delectable. It was good in the old days when we ate this way a lot. Tonight it was like the food of the gods.

p.s. In reading this post back to myself, I realized that even though I titled this one 'splurge' i talked most about a bargain on wine and a homey neighborhood store. I guess I really am far gone.

p.p.s. we're headed to a holiday party tomorrow night, so out come the red cords.

p.p.p.s. anyone know who still makes brown leather and tan suede saddle shoes? i want some. what ever happend to "Walkover"?