{"id":4994,"date":"2015-08-14T15:02:45","date_gmt":"2015-08-14T15:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=4994"},"modified":"2015-08-14T15:02:45","modified_gmt":"2015-08-14T15:02:45","slug":"grilled-portobello-sauteed-peppers-grilled-zucchini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=4994","title":{"rendered":"grilled portobello; saut\u00e9ed peppers; grilled zucchini"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"portabello_peppers_zucchini\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s not red, and it’s not even meat, but it sure is scrumptious.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’m not really trying to engage\u00a0specific food categories with these dinners; I actually just like variety. This time the meal\u00a0wasn’t just vegetarian, but\u00a0genuinely\u00a0vegan,\u00a0although,\u00a0had a carnivore\u00a0not been informed in advance of the nature of its components, a guest\u00a0might have easily been oblivious of\u00a0that fact.<\/p>\n

Regular visitors to this blog know that\u00a0it’s not about meat, so when I talk about meat substitutes it’s not so much about me.<\/p>\n

I’ve always laughed at\u00a0the idea that vegetarianism may\u00a0too often\u00a0involve the fabrication of dishes which imitate\u00a0animal flesh, as in so many boring tofu configurations. \u00a0If\u00a0you can’t get to a good South Indian restaurant, or if\u00a0the objective is Western-like food with the\u00a0suggestion\u00a0of meat rather than the real thing, grilled portobello mushrooms would do it,\u00a0and there is\u00a0absolutely no nonsense or fakery, or a strain on the environment.<\/p>\n

I always knew that mushrooms, and these mushrooms in particular, can easily evoke both the appearance and the taste of meat, but without the mess, or the perhaps a bad conscience, but I really haven’t done much to demonstrate it to myself, or anyone else – until now. \u00a0This was a delicious, totally satisfying dinner\u00a0on every level.<\/p>\n

Additionally, there is real\u00a0convenience for the cook, because\u00a0each of the elements of this meal\u00a0is equally as\u00a0tasty whether served at room temperature or\u00a0warm, making it\u00a0a perfect summer prescription.<\/p>\n

Now if I could just find a mushroom to evoke the appearance and the taste of seafood<\/em>… \u00a0Oh, wait, there’s the Oyster mushroom<\/a>. \u00a0That will just have to be another Food Blog outing.<\/p>\n

Last night’s\u00a0meal\u00a0also invited some thoughts about wine pairing.<\/p>\n

The wine with which we accompanied it was a very special discovery we made during\u00a0our\u00a0Qu\u00e9bec trip two months back. \u00a0‘Special’, also, for still\u00a0being totally invisible on line.<\/p>\n

We had tasted Maurice Dufour’s surprisingly good white (surprising only because of the far northern latitude of its origin), a Muscat, while we were in Charlevoix <\/a>in June, but we had not enjoyed his newest offering, a red, until Barry suggested we try it with this meal. The Le Charlevoyou was an excellent companion to the\u00a0slightly quirky seductions of the vegetable plate. \u00a0If we were asked to describe the wine in the most general terms, we would both probably say something about it’s resemblance to a Bordeaux.<\/p>\n

This is a link<\/a> to a beautiful short video from ‘La Famille Migneron de Charlevoix’, whose first and primary occupation is the production of some excellent cheeses<\/a>; there are\u00a0images of the vineyards beginning almost half of the way through.<\/p>\n

Yes, I know Norway<\/em> has vineyards too, and it’s much closer to the North Pole, but the Gulfstream doesn’t come even close to Baie-Saint-Paul.<\/p>\n

We’re now looking forward to Dufour’s ros\u00e9, one\u00a0bottle of which we had also brought back from our visit to that beautiful province.<\/p>\n