Mountain Views News     Logo: MVNews     Saturday, August 23, 2014

MVNews this week:  Page A:7

7

FOOD AND DRINK

Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 23, 2014 


IT’S WINE 101

It’s been awhile (Holidays) since I have written about my first love, yes sparkling wine, I’ll drink 
it at any time and moment with any meal. Summer rain winter… you get the idea. As long as it’s 
quality It’s my first choice from the wine list. Though there is a difference between champagne and 
sparkling, remember to be champagne the wine must come from that region of France. In 2000 the 
millennium year, Newsweek magazine did a story on the “best” bubbles for celebrating New Year’s 
I took their advice and 14 years later I am still enjoying Roederer Estate’s Brut NV sparkling wine 
from California’s Anderson Valley.

 To this wine geek Roederer has got to be one of 
the best value sparkling wines around. So much 
so that I’d rather purchase two bottles then one of 
a Vueve Cliquet or a Mumm, not say they are bad, 
but we are talking exceptional value here.

On this home assignment I poured the liquid gold into a chilled 
champagne flute and watched the Tiny bubbles rise persistently 
forming to and around the rim of the glass. I enjoyed by bubbles with 
a creamy soft cheese, almonds and a handful of pistachios. Oh my!

If the name sounds familiar, it is owned by Louis Roederer estates the 
same winery that produces Crystal, so the linage is there.

Roederer Estate Brut NV is a traditional method sparkling wine, in 
that the second fermentation took place in the bottle. It is a blend of 
about 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, all from estate vineyards.

Dills Score 89

Retail Around $14 on sale $11 $10 if you buy a six pack -wide 
distribution throughout So Cal

Each week I will give you my Dills Score. Starting with a base of 50 
points, I added 8 points for color, 7 points for aroma or “nose”, 8 points for taste, 9 points for finish, 
and 9 points for my overall impression, which includes my value rating.

Email Peter at thechefknows@yahoo.com and follow me on Twitter @KINGOFCUISINE. Listen to 
Dining w/Dills on KLAA 830 AM on Sundays at 11 AM PM 

KFC ORIGINAL 

CHICKEN RECIPE

TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dills

thechefknows@yahoo.com

INGREDIENTS:

3 lbs Chicken Parts

2 pkg Good Seasons Italian or Mild Italian Salad Dressing Mix Used Dry

 From The Package

3 tsp Flour

2 tsp Salt

¼ cup Lemon Juice or Vinegar

2 tsp Margarine or Cooking Oil

1½ pt Cooking Oil

2 cup Milk or Club Soda or Beer

Aunt Jemima Pancake Flour

DIRECTIONS:

Make a paste of the flour Good Seasonings and lemon juice. Spread this evenly over dry 
chicken pieces. Stack in bowl; cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or better yet overnight. 
About 1 hour before serving, heat oil in heavy saucepan 9-inches in diameter with depth of 
oil about 3-inches to a temperature of 425 degrees. Put milk in deep narrow bowl and dip 
each piece chicken in the liquid, letting excess drip off. Dust lightly but evenly in the pancake 
flour. DO NOT OVERCOAT!!! Dry pieces a few minutes without letting them touch each 
other on wire rack. Fry a few pieces at a time for 5-6 minutes each. Place on sprayed cookie 
sheet without letting them touch each other and bake uncovered in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.


Get ready for the most exciting, creative sale in the San Gabriel Valley: 

THE ANNUAL CREATIVE ARTS GROUP 
FLEA MARKET

An amazing assortment of fun and useful items will be up for grabs, including framed 
artworks, picture frames, toys, crafts, collectibles of all kind, furniture, books, sporting goods, 
videos, music, and unexpected odds and ends. The event always offers plenty of surprises.

It will be held 9am to 3pm Sept. 6 at 108 N. Baldwin Avenue, Sierra Madre.

Creative Arts Group has served the community for more than 50 years by providing a wide 
array of classes in the fine arts for hobbyists and professionals alike. Popular classes include 
drawing and painting, ceramics, textile art and jewelry-making.

The organization also provides free art classes every year for every student at Sierra Madre 
Elementary School.

Another popular event is the upcoming Sierra Madre Scarecrow 

Festival in which residents compete for awards and everyone can vote for their favorites.

The Festival will kick off with a workshop Sept. 13. Registration will open Sept. 19 and 
contestants have until Sept. 28 to submit their work. The winning scarecrows will be honored 
at a ceremony on Oct. 17, and will be on display at city hall through November.

For information on the Flea Market and the Scarecrow Festival, call the Creative Arts Group 
at (626) 355-8350. 

COMPETITORS IN SIP-TEMBER COCKTAIL 
BRACKET CHALLENGE UNVEILED TO THE PUBLIC

Voting is Live Online at www.pasadenarestaurantweek.com/vote

 
64 drinks vie to be named favorite during six-week 
cocktail bracket challenge throughout Pasadena

 Pasadena, CA- Patrons decide which cocktail is 
Pasadena’s favorite during SIP-tember: a celebration 
of the cocktail in Pasadena. Through September 
25th, local restaurants will serve cocktails that will 
be paired against each other in a competition. 64 
cocktails, ranging from drinks specially concocted 
for the competition to margaritas and sangria, begin 
the competition that lasts six weeks and culminates 
in a live taste-off of the four drinks that win their 
bracket.

 Brackets were unveiled on the Pasadena 
Restaurant Week website on Thursday, August 
14th at 2pm. Which drinks will work their way 
through the competition for a chance to vie for 
the title Pasadena’s Favorite Cocktail 2014? Will 
Roy’s Hawaiian Martini or Speakeasy at New 
York Deli’s New Old Fashioned make it through 
to round 2Will Green Street Restaurant’s Broten 
Buck advance against the ix-tapa Sunrise?? Will 
the Orange Julius from Clearman’s Galley move 
forward against SORRISO’s Cantaloupe Martini? 
Will Vertical Wine Bistro’s Lolita best the Moscow 
Mule from Kings Row Gastropub? Will the Frozen 
Hot Chocolate from Bar 1886 at the Raymond 
prevail over the Spicy mango Smash from Dog Haus 
Biergarten?

 Drinks are chosen completely at random for the 
pairings. “I am very impressed with the drinks 
entered in this year’s SIP-tember Cocktail Bracket 
Challenge,” said Pasadena Chamber CEO Paul 
Little. “The variety, creativity and skill from all 
the competitors has really enhanced the level 
of competition this year. Good luck to all the 
competitors.”

 The 64 cocktails competing in 32 brackets will 
be available for viewing at the Pasadena Restaurant 
Week website at www.pasadenarestaurantweek.
com on Thursday, August 8th, a week before the 
competition goes live online.

 The first challenge takes place over two weeks and 
pit 32 pairs of cocktails against each other. Each week 
following the winners will be paired head-to-head 
with another winning cocktail until, on September 
25th, the four finalists will be matched in a live 
tasting at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena to determine 
Pasadena’s favorite cocktail. Voting in the cocktail 
bracket challenge went live online on Wednesday, 
August 15th.

 For SIP-tember, lounges and restaurants have 
entered specialty cocktails, traditional drinks, 
margaritas, sangrias, and all manner of mixed 
drink. The full list of those taking part in SIP-tember 
and the Citywide Julia Child Cocktail Party can be 
found at www.pasadenarestaurantweek.com. Voting 
is live at www.pasadenarestaurantweek.com/vote.

 SIP-tember kicked off with a citywide cocktail 
party to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of 
America’s first celebrity chef and Pasadena’s own 
Julia Child. Patrons were encouraged to dress for a 
1950s, 1960s or 1970s era cocktail party.

 The Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and Civic 
Association is a professional business organization. 
Since the earliest days of Pasadena, the Chamber 
has played a major role in the development of this 
internationally renowned city. Since 1888, when the 
organization was founded as the Board of Trade, 
the Chamber’s primary purpose has been the 
enhancement of both the business climate and the 
quality of life in Pasadena. The Pasadena Chamber 
of Commerce serves 1500 members.


GALE KOHL & FRIENDS DO TOMATOES!

At the Arboretum, 301 North Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007

Wednesday, September 17, 3-5pm

$50 Arboretum members; $60 non-members (includes garden admission)

Reservations Required: please call the Class Reservation Line at 626.821.4623

 

Summer means heat…vacation…heat…watermelons…camp…AND TOMATOES!!! Just outside 
of the Oak Room where the Fresh Cooking classes are held is a garden filled with all varieties 
of tomato plants to celebrate the season. These tomato plants were all generously donated 
by Gary Jones of Armstrong Garden Centers so do watch their growth progress as you walk by!

 

However, NO picking please as those wonderful fruits (yes…tomatoes are a fruit!) plus a 
few others will be the main ingredient in a delectable and fun class by Gale Kohl (of Gale’s 
Restaurant) and Her Friends in September that focuses on “all things tomato. ” How about 
tomato sorbet?

 

Gale’s Restaurant is consistently voted one of the very best and most popular establishments 
in the greater San Gabriel Valley! 

Gale’s Restaurant: 452 S. Fair Oaks Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91105; 626-432-6705; www.
galesrestaurant.com 


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Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com