Larks’ Tongues in Aspic

What did you listen to when you were young? And do you still play the same records? Looking back, I may have been indicted as excessively broad, as wantonly eclectic for its own sake: Experimental jazz, baroque classical, LA punk, progressive rock (whatever that means), and lots of metal, a scattershot gang of vinyl finery parading across my turntable.

Sauce Slut: A Glossy, Crimson, Zinfandel Reduction

I confess, I'm a total sauce slut: My wife could legitimately accuse me of infidelity, if only she had thought to proscribe lustfully leering at the 5 mother sauces in our vows, and I might happily eat a shoe, if only it were first slathered with a demi glace of sufficiently high quality.

A Rainy-Day Braise: Ancho Chilis, Zinfandel, and Beets

I think this is a killer one-pot dish for a dank, inclement night although, in point of fact, I'm cheating, because neither beets, nor my protein of choice - young goat shanks, from the Owen Family Farm up in Hopland - are technically in season right now. But the mild heat and smoky undertone from the chilies, together with the spicy-sweet peppery jam of the wine, seemed a natural bedfellow for dense, rich, and slightly gamy flavors...