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Every so often, a wine article is so compelling that the reader simply must seek out a particular bottle, however obscure it may be. This recently happened while reading a piece by wine editor Ray Isle on a small but growing community of DIY winemakers who are challenging the traditional standards of wine production in America. I looked up from the pages of my Food & Wine magazine and vowed to run out and buy his recommendation, the 2008 Tatomer Vandenberg Riesling.

Isle described the bottle as "one of the best Rieslings I'd had all year" — a bold statement for someone who tries a lot of wine. Nonetheless, that wasn't the real reason why I was sold on sampling the Tatomer. My real motivation? The wine, a California Central Coast Riesling, was the epitome of unusual. The Golden State isn't known for Riesling, especially not the warmer, sunnier Central Coast appellation. To top it off, this wine is named after the nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base — an unlikely inspiration for a wine if I've ever heard one.

By day, Graham Tatomer makes chardonnay and pinot noir as an assistant winemaker at a local winery, but he's a Riesling fiend at night — one who was fanatical enough to start making his own version. He makes only 700 cases of wine a year, and his wines, like this $24 Riesling, are incredibly priced. (To put that production number in perspective, E & J Gallo Winery makes 70 million cases annually.)

It's easy to taste the care put into each bottle. The Vandenberg is made in the style of an Alsatian: full-bodied without any sweetness. Its floral, pear-like bouquet drew me in, but what kept me drinking was the flinty minerality that bordered on savory and a creamy texture with a bracing green apple finish.

A chiffonade is an elegant cut of leafy vegetables into long, thin strips. The technique is incredibly simple, and the result is a really beautiful cut or garnish.

Stack three to four leaves of whatever vegetable you're using (I used basil here).

Roll the leaves up tightly, and hold them together at one end.

To see more steps (and photos for each), keep reading.

The heat wave has (sort of) made its way to San Francisco, and for the first time in longer than I can remember, I am craving fresh, raw produce. After making three batches of scones last week, I've surpassed my dairy quota and sought a way to make a creamy, satisfying chilled soup, sans cream or milk.

Summer corn is sweet and tender when eaten raw. To make use of its seasonal height, I juiced corn kernels and made a milky soup starter. When blended with avocado, this soup develops a thick creaminess, plus the avocado imparts a mighty green hue. The salsa garnish provides a contrasting crunch, and the lump crab meat is a salty little bonus (however, it's also easy to leave out for vegetarians). All in all, the recipe is quick to prep and serve, keeping you and your kitchen cool when it's boiling outside. See the recipe for the chilled corn and avocado soup now.

• Jamie Oliver, Top Chef, No Reservations nab Primetime Emmy nominations — Eater
• David Chang addresses that notorious California cuisine dis — Zagat
• Details on the world's first undersea wine cellar — Delish
• Genius twists on classic cocktail recipes — Kitchen Daily
• Cool down with yogurt and cucumber soup — Food52
• On the finale of Around the World in 80 Plates — Grub Street NY
• The best and worst restaurant chicken strips — HuffPost Food

Know what your Summer is missing? The POPSUGAR Must Have bag! There's only one day left for you to join in order to get our inaugural shipment full of some of our favorite Summer goodies. In case you don't know what POPSUGAR Must Have is yet, we're so excited to announce our brand-new monthly subscription bag. For just $35 a month, we'll deliver you a bag full of our picks in fashion, beauty, home, fitness, food, and more. For five years we've been sharing our monthly picks and now we want to show you the up-and-coming brands we've discovered, as well as our tried-and-true staples, all curated by Lisa Sugar and her staff of editors. Time is running out to get our inaugural July bag, so check out tons more information and sign up here now for the POPSUGAR Must Have to get in on the fun!

String beans and dumplings are both hallmarks of Northern Chinese cuisine, but putting the beans inside the dumpling makes this dish from eatthisatethat fresh and new.

For the recipe, check out her blog, then be sure to share your most creative combinations with us in our Kitchen Goddess community group. If you're on Instagram, share photos with us by adding the hashtag #savorysight.

Makes a 2 layer 9-inch cake

2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
2 teaspoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1 ounce bottle red food coloring

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound (2 -8-ounce packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups powdered sugar

Making the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Set aside.
2. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together. Reserve.
3. Combine the eggs, vinegar, vanilla and buttermilk in a glass measuring cup and whisk together until blended. Reserve.
4. Place the oil in large mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-speed slowly add the sugar and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the food coloring and beat until bright red. Alternate half of the dry and wet ingredients on medium speed. Repeat with remaining ingredients ending with the wet ingredients. Beat until the batter is completely mixed together and there are no lumps.
5. Transfer the batter evenly between cake pans. Place on a baking sheet and bake about 34 to 38 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of each cake. Remove and cool in the pans. When cool, carefully loosen the sides of the cake and invert onto cooling racks.

Making the frosting

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer on medium speed. Slowly beat in the vanilla and powdered sugar until incorporated; the mixture should be a thick frosting-like consistency.
2. Place one cake layer upside down on a cake platter and spread frosting over the top and sides. Place the remaining cake right side up and frost the top and the sides until all of the cake is covered. Try to evenly cover the cake. Clean off any residual frosting on the platter. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving. This can be made up to one day advance and kept refrigerated. Remove from the refrigerator 20 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings

3 cups heavy (double) cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
2⁄3 cup (sugar)

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Place six 3⁄4-cup ramekins in a shallow roasting pan.
2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream and vanilla. Cook until small bubbles appear around the edges of the pan, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand for about 15 minutes to infuse the cream with the vanilla.
3. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with 1⁄3 cup of the sugar until pale yellow, 2–3 minutes. Slowly whisk the warm cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
4. Pour the egg yolk–cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the ramekins, dividing it evenly. Pour simmering water into the roasting pan to come one-third of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the pan with aluminum foil.
5. Bake until the custards are set but the centers jiggle slightly when the ramekins are gently shaken, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the water bath, and then lift out the ramekins. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or at most overnight
6. Just before serving, remove the custards from the refrigerator and transfer to a baking sheet. Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift the remaining 1⁄3 cup sugar over the tops of the custards to form a thin, even layer. Using a kitchen torch, and holding it about 2–3 inches from the surface, caramelize the sugar by constantly moving the flame over the top until the sugar bubbles, about 30 seconds. Alternatively, preheat the broiler (grill). Slide the baking sheet under the broiler 3 inches from the heat source and broil (grill), turning the ramekins to cook the sugar evenly, until the tops are caramelized, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.