Monday, August 6, 2012

Don't get drunk, but getting a bit high may be unavoidable


One of the fun things I did during my last visit back to the U.S. is touring wineries and tasting their products. As we traveled, we did the tourist thing and took some photos for the album.




My stepdaughter took us to two wineries.
The first one was Kalrya Winery in Santa Ynez




Our second visit was to the Sunstone Winery also in Santa Ynez.
I loved Sunstone. The winery was beautifully built to capture the Spanish classic design of California's history. The place is so COOL!

     They sold their wines and other specialties like flavoured olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar.
The flagstone patio with a beautiful view beckoned everyone to sit and enjoy a glass of wine.








After tasting all the wonderful wine and getting a little high it was time to leave the wineries behind and head off to the small tourist town of Solvang for dinner. One advice from Aunty Lucy: Don’t get drunk, but getting a little high is forgiveable (unless you are driving). In fact, it is almost unavoidable, if you visit more than one winerie. They pour as much as you want in the tasting room. Drinking too much is awful and will just spoil your day.

We arrived in Solvang at just the right time for an early dinner before the drive home. We dined at a small restaurant called Mustard Seed.


The restaurant looks very nice but the food there was just so-so, nourishing but lacking flavour. I think we should have gone home and made the chicken roulade shown below for dinner. It would have been much more satisfying.


Chicken Roulade





Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
1 medium carrot (blanched and thinly sliced)
1 capsium (roasted, skin removed and in 8 slices)
1 cucumber, (seeds removed and thinly sliced)
4 tbs grated cheddar
16 -20 slices pancetta
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Method:
Butterfly the chicken breast and lay them open on the cutting board. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Lay slices of cucumber, capsicum, carrot and 1 tbs of cheddar cheese on the chicken. Roll the chicken breast around the filling and then wrap each roll with pancetta. Secure the pancetta strips with toothpicks or tuck the ends under other wraps to hold in place. Brown the rolls evenly on all sides. Put the chicken roulades on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake in the pre heated oven at 350 degrees F until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170°F. Should take about 15 minutes.

I served it on a two layered bed of lightly sauteed fresh spinach and grits flavoured with parmesan.


48 comments:

  1. Beautiful people and beautiful photos - then good food = HEAVEN!


    Wishing You a Sweet Week
    with Aloha from Waikiki
    Comfort Spiral
    <(-'.'-)>

    > < } } ( ° >

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    1. Cloudia, thanks, you always have nice things to say. XOXO

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  2. Gosh, I'm getting high just looking at all your lovely pics! I know I'll definitely get zonked visiting wineries. For me, 3 glasses and I'm about to fall asleep and beet red! :)
    The roulade looks great! Not too fond of breast meat tho ... I'll use boned legs.

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    1. hahaha, you are like the other Peng, when she drinks, I can switch of the lights and my house will glow. If you of you drinks in my house, I can save electricity. I thought true "Quay Po" love chicken breast? Okay, you are not so "Quay" after all.

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  3. Your chicken roulade looks good.... and such lovely photos of the wineries. You look like a rock chick in your Ed Hardy teeshirt.

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    1. Rock chick?? Oh yeah! Yo! you think so? hahaha, I just love the art on those Ed Hardy teeshirts. I bought a tons when I was in US. Cannot afford to buy so many in KL, too expensive.

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  4. Love all the colorful photos! Wish I was there..haha!

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  5. Sorry to say that I have not been to any winery before but definitely fall in love with all your beautiful photos. Lovely people, beautiful photos.

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  6. The scenery at the wineries are so gorgeous. And you look so youthful! The chicken roulades are so tempting and like Ping, I don't like chicken breasts :)

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    1. Phong Hong, yes wineries are gorgeous and thanks for the compliment. Most Asian do not not breast, they find it too dry. My Quay Lo love breast meat and I have to say my breast meat was juicy.

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  7. I like white...but I'm off liquor now. Hmmm... chicken roulade looks alluring! Next time I do KL, you cook for me, can?

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    1. Arthur, why are you off liquor? mmm... sure, next time you come KL, you must spend more days. You so popular, where you got time to come to my house for dinner?

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  8. What a beautiful scenes from the winery! I've never been to any winery, hope to visit one in the future.

    Chicken roulade looks tempting, am bookmarking it :)

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    1. I am sure you will love what you see in the wineries. Scenery is serene. Look forward to hear from you how your chicken roulade turns out.

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  9. I love all your beautiful photos! Wish I will have a chance to travel that far!

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  10. The scenery of the wineries was awesome!

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    Replies
    1. Yes, it is. The wine, even more awesome. hahaha

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  11. Such beautiful wineries! Must be a wonderful experience for you!

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  12. Lovely photos!! I love reading about your trips.

    And your chicken roulade looks more like dessert with the vibrant colours. So pretty!

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  13. Darling, you forgot to mention the casino stop at the American Native Reservation (Chumash). I got bored while waiting for you and Erin. I didn't want to do a lot of gambling but noticed there were some $1 slot macines close to the main door where we were going to meet so I could keep an eye out for you while wasting some money. I fed it two 20 dollar bills and prepared myself to get voluntarily robbed. Wonder of wonders! I hit a small payday and it paid out $240.00. Dinner was on me! (^^,)

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    1. Yala, I forgot about the casino. You and Erin have last minute luck. She too won money. You know, what I remember was, I saw lots of old people gambling there.

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  14. I'm here for your chicken roulade! Haven't had this b4 but heard so much about it!

    Will & I don't really drink wine (he drinks beer, hahaha) but we still couldn't help ourselves each time when we visited the wineries here!

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    1. Yes, no one can resist the wine when at the winery.

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  15. Greetings from Kuching, Sarawak.

    Been following your blog of late. Chanced on it through Asian Food Channel Facebook page when your Otak2 recipe was being featured. Thank you for the lovely postings and for the chix roulade recipe. Will defintely try it out.
    God bless you and hubby.

    Grace

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  16. LOL to your husband's comment... see, you left the casino out cos of the wine or bec of being Lucy? What a windfall for your hubby! :)

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  17. We used to love 'doing' the wine route in South Africa. It is fun sipping wine at several different places on route but not always easy to keep quantities under control :-) Hic. Have a good week, Diane

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    1. You are right Diane. We got to be careful not to drink too much especially the driver.

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  18. Those places are awesome...I am feeling the tranquility.

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    1. Are you? You will feel it even more when you are there in person.

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  19. Very nice view of the winery. I have been to Aussie winery but never visit the underground wine cave before. Your Chicken Roulade really look good.

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    1. Me too, when I was in Aussie, I did not go to the underground wine cave too but the scenery was beautiful.

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  20. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pictures.

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  21. Veron, your food always look so gourmet :) love this roulade, must learn to make one day. Thanks for sharing. Love the photos of the wineries, remind me of aussie wineries with the fabulous sunshine.

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    1. Esther, you are most welcome and thanks for the compliment.

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  22. Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog! What a lovely trip you had!

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  23. I know just how you felt! There's so much delicious wine to sip, you end up sipping a bit too much!
    Loved your photos!

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    1. haha, you are right. I could afford to get high because I was not the driver. Thanks for your visit. Hope to see you around.

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  24. What a lovely visit, and beautiful photos. Thanks for stopping by!

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    1. Christine, it was a wonderful visit especially we spent so much time with my step daughter and her hubby.

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  25. did you use the G12 to capture all the scenery photos here or the other bigger camera? yeah, i used the program function in my camera for some of my photos now..and also the smart mode...depends. I just walked into a shop 2 days ago and checked the g12, below RM1400, thot it might be a good deal..but i'm still pondering..wait lah..

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    1. Lena, yes I did. I did not want to carry my 500D because it is just to bulky. I am glad you are now using all those function in your camera. I can see the improvement on your photos. You should invest in the G12 if it is only RM1400 now. It is a good camera and you can use it for a long time. Remember I told you, you can attach lens?

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