Photo: Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

If you were betting on Vegas for the season finale of "Top Chef Las Vegas," you've lost.

The finale of the show will be filmed in Napa, Bravo officials said Monday.

Be sure to check out Slashfood's latest recap of the series here.

I'm one of those geeky gardener-cooks who tries hard to close the loop: I grow veggies and herbs, compost the scraps, and throw it back into the garden to make even better veggies and herbs. But thus far I haven't taken the final step--harvesting rainwater from the roof--because I've never found a rain barrrel I liked enough.

Now a company called TerraCycle has partnered with wineries in Napa, including Kendall-Jackson, to make rain barrels out of their used oak wine casks. According to TerraCycle, once casks have outlived their use in the winery, they're typically burned--not the most environmentally friendly way to get rid of them.

Hence the concept of "upcycling," or finding a new use for formerly non-recyclable materials. And when the new product is pretty, well, I'm a sucker! Find the rain barrels at Sam's Club and Home Depot for $149 each.

Married ...with Dinner visits the Fatted Calf Charcuterie in Napa.

Via: Married ...with Dinner

I'm posting images of sausage counters the world over each weeknight (and occasionally weekend) witching hour (until I run out), so please use the comments section to post links to your Flickr or personal site faves, and perhaps you'll see 'em posted here late some evening.

Previously -- Midnight Sausage: Toluca, Mexico

I have quite a collection of different salts in my spice cabinet due, in no small part, to the general popularity of flaked salts, sea salts and other, more exotic salts from all over the world. At first, I was just following the trend, but as I tried more salts I found that I bought them for their different textures, many of which still come through in a finished dish. I regularly use only a small portion of the salts: Maldon or a pink Australian salt for finishing dishes, kosher or sea salt for cooking and any more finely ground salt, including ordinary table salt, for baking.

The reason I don't use the rest of the salts is that they rarely differ significantly where flavor is concerned. If you're looking for flavor, I'd suggest opting for a salt that is has been purposely flavored. This set from NapaStyle has three different varieties: Sundried Tomato Garlic Gray Salt, Roasted Garlic Gray Salt and Citrus Rosemary Gray Salt. All will add a very impressive flavor-boost to a dish before serving, along with the look and texture of a coarser salt. The grey salt used as a base for the flavors is a sea salt from France that has a light purple-grey color and a slightly moistness to it, which many feel contributes to an increase of flavor during cooking.

Perhaps the best use for these salts, especially if you don't feel like cooking, is as a popcorn seasoning, turning a bag of plain microwave corn into a gourmet snack.

They went to New York first, but this week, the inspectors for the Michelin Guide made their designations around the San Francisco Bay area. 356 restaurants were listed. 23 received one star (*), four received two stars (**), and only one restaurant received the coveted three star rating (***): Thomas Keller's The French Laundry in Yountville (Napa Valley).

It's not totally surprising, as Keller also received three stars for his restaurant Per Se in New York. However, some folks, like Paul Franson, a wine country writer and author of the weekly Napa Life newsletter, were surprised that more restaurants didn't receive the highest rating.

The San Francisco Chronicle Wine section has officially moved from Thursday to Friday.

Wine tasting isn't exactly a cheap pastime, but still, California wineries drew more visitors than Major League Baseball in 2003. Because tasting rooms are a critical source of income for many wineries, they're stepping up wtih creating fancier, more elaborate :destinations." If you're planning to go tastin gin the Wine Country, the Chronicle aslo has tips for how to do it like a VIP, and ratings/reviews of tasting rooms. This week, the ylook at Coppola and Parducci, both of which get three out of four stars (***).

The Wine Selection of the week is South Central Coast Zinfandels, which "could convert Zinfandel naysayers by demonstrating that high alcohol and fruit can be present but not overshadow the wines' other charms."

To pair with the Zins? Braised meatballs. If you're drinking something along the lines of "a red wine that is not too serious or weighty, such as a California-appellation Merlot," then pair it with Beecher's Handmade Flagship, a Cheddar-like cheese from Seattle.

The question is, would you really go all the way to the Napa Valley wine country and not taste wine?

Doubtful.

However, Mimi Sheraton thinks that Napa has enough of a gourmet food offering - farms, cheesemakers and restaurants - that one could skip the vineyards, particularly during the September harvest season.

Her reasoning is multi-fold. The region benefits from the lingering after-effects of culinary giants like Alice Waters, Jonathan Waxman and Jeremiah Tower. There is also a branch of the CIA, Greystone, in the town of St. Helena, where Sheraton recommends appetizers (rather than a full meal). In the town of Napa, Copia, the American Center for wine, offers classes, demonstrations and tastings. There are farms thar provide the local restaurants with fresh ingredients, and the restaurants themselves are notable: La Toque, Mustards Grill, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, Terra, and of course, Thomas Keller's Bouchon and French Laundry.

Still, I think I'd want to squeeze in at least one vineyard.

Yesterday, NPR's All Things Considered featured a story about how current restrictions on flying with liquids is affecting Napa Valley tourists and wineries. Obviously, it's common to bring some wine back from the wineries you visit, but not being able to carry those bottles on-board a plane is posing a problem that has many wineries worried. The situation is especially troubling to small wineries that rely on sales directly to visitors, as opposed to distributors. Checking glass of any kind in one's luggage is a scary prospect, of course. So, some wineries are offering styrofoam wine carriers that they hope will protect checked wine. Others are offering free shipping on large enough purchases. The styrofoam box pictured here comes from Uline Shipping Supplies.

Joel Peterson sold the winery he founded, Ravenswood, for $148 million, but he didn't just take the money and run. He stayed on with Constellation, the world's largest wine company, and manages the Ravenswood brand.

The Wine Selection of the Week is Cabernet Sauvignon from the Central Coast, with 2003 Smith & Hook Grand Reserve Santa Lucia Highlands Cabernet Sauvignon from Monterey County earning the highest rating of the listed wines, three stars. To pair with any of the Cabs, make Marinated Skirt Steak and Onion Wraps. On the bargain side, there's a list of Sauvignon Blanc, most under $10.

Old-fashioned cottage cheese is a rare find, but they found Nancy's Lowfat Cultured Cottage Cheese.

If blondes have more fun, than the golden yellow tomato take on the Bloody Mary, the Blondie Mary, is having a blast.

The Food section yesterday mentioned it, but today's wine section gives full attention to the re-enactment of the 1976 wine tasting, "The Judgment of Paris," in which California proved that it could make wine as good as any other region in the world with Napa Valley Chardonnay and a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Saturday's Napa/London simul-tasting resulted in another California sweep, thirty years later.

The feature story may have been California vs. France, but the wine selections this week are from other parts of the world. Bargain Wines lists Italian Pinot Grigio, all for just around $10. The Wine Selection of the Week is German Riesling, with a focus on 2004. There's some good information about what "Spatlese," "Auslese," and "Eiswein" mean, as well their list.

Spicy foods have typically been a tough pairing, but this week's Riesling is a perfect match. The recipe is for Five-spice Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce. The Cheese Course is from Andante Dairy in Sonoma, called Nocturne, a soft cow's milk cheese. The suggested pairing is a medium-body Pinot Noir.

The New York Times recently featured a story about the tastings and tours offered by several California olive farms. Located mostly around Napa, many of these olive-growing, olive-oil-producing farms allow visitors to check out their facilities and sample what they produce. The article also gives some insight into the blend of old and new technology involved in harvesting olives and creating a variety of nuanced oils. There's also talk of the proper way to taste olive oil, which, if done correctly involves lots of slurping and coughing.

[Photo: Peter DaSilva/NYT]

Top Chef has but two episodes left to go this season, if you count the "reunion show" next week along with the Las Vegas finale on May 17th. This week's episode was all about luxury and being able to showcase ingredients. It is unfortunate that Stephen was eliminated last week because he probably would have done very well in the elimination competition.

First up was the quickfire challenge, after the show took the viewers though a quick tour of the household dynamics to point out that no one really likes Tiffani very much. For the challenge, a table bearing plates of junk food - from corn dogs to ding dongs - was presented to the chefs. There was a moment where they all looked crestfallen, sick of having to cook with such unwelcome ingredients. Fortunately for the chefs, however, the task was to reinvent the junk food as a gourmet food and they had 45 minutes to do it.

 

Winemaker Don Sebastiani & Sons has released its 2002 Used Automobile Parts. Huh?

The wine is a new luxury label that follows the trend of somewhat offbeat names for wines. At Don Sebastiani, they've already got names like Screw Kappa Napa and Smoking Loon as part of their Three Loose Screws group. Used Automobile Parts is a red table wine, a blend of 43% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petite Verdot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 9% Malbec, all from the Napa Valley. According to the winemaker, UAP pairs "best with the quality cuts of beef."

Yes, for some reason, used automobile parts with my prime rib is so wrong, it's right.

[via: Luxist]