Month: October 2020

Pot Roast … the Ultimate Comfort Food … Served with an Elegant Cab Sauvignon

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Pairing:  Pot Roast Paired with a 2014 Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley – Sonoma County)

Food: My wife and I each grew up in the 1950’s with Pot Roast as a fairly regular feature to the dinnertime meal. My mother’s go-to cookbook for such a meal was the Joy of Cooking, while my wife’s mother relied on Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cookbook as her cooking bible.

Two iconic Cookbook “Bibles” Fannie Farmer and Joy of Cooking

To this classic dish of braised bottom round beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions we’ve added mushrooms (fresh shiitake and dried porcini) and a splash of red wine to the braising liquid. Mom might be a little shocked!

Beef Pot Roast Braised with Carrots, Potatoes, Onions, and Mushrooms

Wine: Perhaps the most important wine made in the Alexander Valley, located in Sonoma County, is Cabernet Sauvignon. The grape thrives in the lands surrounding the Russian River that flows through the Alexander Valley in the warmer climates north of the city of Healdsburg. The Russian River Valley lands south of the city are cooler and foggier, perfect conditions for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Taken together, these two valleys account for some of the finest wine production in the United States.

Tasting Notes: Color is a deep violet-red … or dark garnet. The nose is rich in the aromas of cocoa, black cherry, black currant, hazelnut, and allspice. The palate furthers the black cherry and currant, and adds pepper, leather and cedar. Wonderfully complex. The black currant persists on the long finish. The Cabernet really brings out and enhances the earthy mushrooms in the sauce and the wonderful beefiness of the meat. A superb pairing!

Other Wines That Pair Well with Pot Roast: Merlot (Chile), Zinfandel (California), Barolo (Italy), Cotes du Rhone (France)

Other Food That Pairs Well with Cabernet Sauvignon: Roast or Grilled Lamb, Roast Duck, Venison, Game Birds

View the Alexander Valley Wine Region:  Alexander Valley AVA

A Source: www.wine.com

Hake Chowder … Enjoyed with a Roman Wine

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Pairing: Hake Chowder Paired with a 2015 Vesevo Beneventano Falanghina

Food:  Traditional New England-style Fish Chowder is typically made with haddock or cod. However, as these fish stocks are coming under increasing threat, some people are turning to an alternative fish that is every bit as good tasting … hake. Many would say it is even more flavorful … and less expensive. More good news … hake is being fished using more sustainable techniques. Hake is more commonly marketed on the European side of “the pond,” with Spain being the largest consumer there.

Back to the “chowdah”. Our hake chowder is made with the same broad strokes as in the making of any good New England fish chowder, substituting hake for the haddock or cod. Fry up a bit of bacon, add some chopped onion and cook until translucent. Meanwhile boil up some diced potatoes in water. Drain. Cut up hake filets into 1 inch cubes. Add the uncooked hake to a pan with fish stock, potatoes, bacon, onion, milk, parsley, salt, pepper, and turmeric (for that golden color). Heat gently until the fish chunks are just cooked through. Be careful when stirring and serving to retain good size pieces of fish. Check for seasoning. Done. Delicious!

Hint:  Make it a day ahead of time to deepen the flavors (the “cold cure”).

Hake Chowder

Wine:  Falanghina has its origins in ancient Greece. It is said that Falanghina wines were highly prized by the Roman writer and philosopher Pliny the Elder who was so inspired by the wine as to write the famous words  in vino veritas (there is truth in wine). For much of its long history, Falanghina wines have been produced mainly in the Campania wine region of southern Italy near the city of Naples. The vines thrive there in the volcanic soils that surround Mt. Vesuvius.

Vesevo Falanghina

Tasting Notes:  Pale Gold in color. Smells of green apple and apple blossom.  Apple flavors (both fruit and floral) on the palate, with a gentle, subtle hint of citrus. Flavors really emerge as the wine warms up. The delicate citrus notes very nicely complement the light saltiness of the chowder.

Other Wines That Pair Well with Hake Chowder: Chardonnay (California), White Burgundy (France), Pinot Gris (Alsace)

Other Food That Pairs Well with Falanghina:  Pear and Walnut Salad, Lightly Breaded White Fish, Caprese Salad (Mozzarella, Tomato, & Basil), Salad with Shrimp, Asparagus, Mango, and Clementine

Views of the Campania Wine Region:  Campania

A Source:  www.wine.com

Egg Fu Yung (with Shrimp) … A Delicious Pairing with a California Viognier

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Pairing: Egg Fu Yung (with Shrimp) Paired with a 2017 “Wild Thing” Viognier (Damiano Vineyard, Placer County)

Food:  Egg Fu Yung (Egg Foo Young) is a popular, ridiculously easy, Asian omelette made with ingredients one often uses in a basic stir fry. This version combines chopped celery, mushrooms, bean sprouts, scallion, ground fresh ginger, and small, chopped shrimp. Gently beat some eggs (two per person) and set aside. Put a little peanut oil in a hot wok or pan. Quickly stir fry the vegetables, aromatics and shrimp. Then, gently pour in the lightly beaten eggs. Without stirring, cook until lightly browned and carefully turn over long enough so that both sides are golden brown. Serve with some wilted spinach and topped with a light sauce composed of oyster sauce, fish sauce, and soy sauce. Interestingly enough, some people enjoy putting brown gravy on it instead.

Shrimp Fu Yung

Wine:  We most often associate Viognier with the “South of France,” the area that encompasses the extensive Languedoc-Roussillon wine region. There, Viognier is frequently blended with Roussanne and Marsanne in the making of an excellent and versatile white wine. The standard for single varietal Viognier is undoubtably Condrieu from the northern Rhone region.

With that background, let’s travel 6,000 miles west to California. Placer County is located in the heart of the Sierra Foothills wine region, one of the largest wine regions area-wise in the entire United States at 2.6 million acres. The dry, rocky, mostly infertile soils there force the roots of the grape vines to dig deep to find water and nutrients. This, in turn, produces wines of great intensity. Viognier, once near extinction with only 35 acres worldwide, today thrives in these conditions as it does in the northern Rhone Valley in southern France and now elsewhere throughout the world.

Viognier Wild Thing

Tasting Notes: The color of 14 carat gold. A complex nose of mixed tropical fruits and white flowers (notably mock orange). On the palate, one can detect mango, pineapple, and white peach. An enchanting wine by itself, and a beautiful complement to the Egg Fu Yung.

Other Wines That Pair Well with Egg Fu Yung (with Shrimp): Pinot Grigio (Italy), Verdelho (Portugal), White Burgundy (France), Riesling (Alsace)

Other Food That Pairs Well with Viognier:  Curries, White Fish, Scallops, Crab, Lobster, Dishes with Cream or Butter Sauces

View the Sierra Foothills Wine Region:  Sierra Foothills

A Source:  www. klwines.com