Rapitalia Piano Maltese Bianco
is a Sicilian wine that's composed of equal parts of two native grapes:
Grillo and Cataratto that shows fresh, crisp, clean and fruity flavors,
with lots of lemon and apple character, a medium body and a lively
finish. Chateau Tour de Mirambeau Sauvignon Blanc This delightful wine has citrusy fresh flavors with floral aromatic notes, a great backbone with clean acidity on the finish. Sauvignon Blanc is native to the Bordeaux region of France; crack open a bottle and discover why we like white Bordeaux so much here at Farmstead!
Abel Clement Rosé
Summertime means Rosé, and Abel Clement's bracingly good bargain cuvée
of Grenache and Syrah is our year round most popular rosé. This
pretty wine shows bright, fruity flavors of strawberry and melon, and a
hint of tangy fruitiness. Its a young, light, delightfully pleasing
summer sipper. Drink it cold, with cold cuts, and grilled veggies. My wine trip to Argentina last year was revelatory - it was great to see so much passion, so much energy and so much great wine being made at astonishingly low prices. This month, we present Maipe Cabernet Sauvignon (the third wine from Maipe that we've presented in the Bargain Club!). Sourced from 35 year old vines, this Cabernet Sauvignon has an intense ruby red color with aromas and flavors of ripe blackcurrant, red pepper, mint, chocolate and vanilla hints. The fruit and tannins are perfectly balanced to give a wine of excellent structure making it ideal for grilled meats, game, pasta or pizza.
Then, there's Carro,
old vine Monastrel (Mourvèdre) blend from Yecla in Southeastern Spain.
The Candela family established the Barahonda winery in 1925 and own and
manage some of the oldest Monastrel vineyards in the province. Carro
is a blend of 50% Monastrell with lesser amounts of Syrah, Tempranillo,
and Merlot. Purple-colored, it reveals a fragrant bouquet, of violets,
damp earth, incense, and blueberry. On the palate it has surprising
grip and concentration for its humble price and a lengthy, fruit-filled
finish.
Finally, we have Vale de Bomfim,
a luscious Portugese table wine from the Symington family, whose Port
house of Dow has been making high quality Ports for 350 years. The Vale
do Bomfim Reserva is produced from 45% Touriga Franca, 20% Touriga
Nacional, 30% Tinta Roriz, & 5% Tinta Barroca. This is an example
of modern winemaking from established vineyards with traditional grape
varieties from the upper Douro Valley. This elegant wine with a deep
purple/red color and delightful aromas of black fruit, oak and spice
has lovely flavors of blackberry, cherry, cocoa and pumpkin pie spice
and a hint of oak. Recipes:
For the Sauvignon Blanc: Chicken Salad serves six
Simple things are often the hardest to make come out right. Each choice you make in the preparation has an impact on the final outcome. What is that impact? Why do I do what I do? Here is a chicken salad recipe/reflection that I hope will help you improve your own version. I offer chicken salad this month because it seems like the perfect picnic food to go with the Sauvignon Blanc, a perfect picnic wine.
- 1 chicken broiler, 4-5 #
- ½ red onion
- 3 stalks of green onion
- 1-2 stalks of celery
- 1 red pepper
- Mayonnaise
- Salt
- Pepper
I think the key to chicken salad is to properly roast and cool a whole chicken. This will yield savory, moist meat that is then enhanced by the dressing.
Take one chicken ( I like Smart chicken brand, Empire Kosher chicken, and Marys natural. Hoffman game birds is the very best around, but you have to go the farmers market to get these. I know that Smart, Marys, and Hoffmans are all air- dried after slaughter rather than thrown into ice water to cool. This yields a much tastier chicken in my opinion. If all else fails just try to get the most free-range chicken to you can.) Season it liberally with salt ( are you using Kosher salt or Sea Salt? You should) and pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about an hour. Preheat your oven to 375-400.
Roast the chicken breast side down for about 30 minutes and then turn and roast for 30-45 minutes till done. This really depends on how big a chicken you get. I generally test by pulling on the leg and when it gives and breaks out of the meat it is done. (There are those people who advocate turning it on it side, and then the other side, and the basting. I am not convinced yet that all this extra work yields a better chicken. Turn the chicken breast side down and let it rest. All this turning and fooling around is to get the juice into the breast meat where it will be reabsorbed and so not turn out dry. When the chicken is cool, refrigerate.
Take the chicken out of the fridge and place on cutting board. Be sure to scrape any juice that has congealed back into the pan. Lift off any congealed fat so that all that remains is the juice. Use a spoon and a paper towel to get as much off as possible. Place the juices into a sauce pan and reduce down to about ¼ cup. ( If juices are lacking you can stretch it with a bit of low sodium chicken stock from a can, unless of course you have some homemade lying around!) Let cool and when the meat has been prepared, pour it over. This will give the salad more chicken meat flavor. Take the skin off the chicken and discard. Peel the meat off the bones being careful to catch any small bones, cartilage, or gnarly gristly pieces. Take a knife and rough chop the meat into the fairly uniform size pieces.
Place in a bowl, add stock reduction.
Dice ½ small red onion, 3 stalks of green onion, 1 red pepper, and 1-2 stalks of celery. Add to the chicken. Add mayonnaise to taste which means that everybody has a different level of wetness that they like. Just add it a little at a time until it is there. Season with salt and pepper. If it tastes flat, squeeze a ½ lemon into the mix. Chopped parsley also looks nice in the salad.
Refrigerate. The flavor will develop as it sits so it is nice to prepare this several hours ahead.
For the Sicilian White: Octopus and Radicchio Salad - Insalata di piovra e radicchio serves six
This recipe is a wonderful mix of bitter and sweet flavors that produce a delicate dish. Don't be afraid of octopus. It is easy to cook, has a wonderful dense texture, and is fairly inexpensive. Break out of the familiar with this dish along along with the Sicilian white... two new tastes together!
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs. cleaned fresh or frozen Octopus
- 9 oz. radicchio
- fistful of parsley
- 1 - 1/2 lemons
- 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
2. When the octopus is done drain and cut onto bite size pieces.
3. Clean and slice the radicchio thinly.
4. Clean and chop the parsley.
5. In a bowl mix the juice from 1/2 lemon, garlic, the olive oil pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Mix the octopus, radicchio and parsley together in a bowl.
7. Add the oil mixture, mix in well and serve.
Notes: This is a really easy recipe the only suggestion that I have is to mix it up just before serving otherwise the radicchio looses its texture if it stands too long. You can prepare the octopus ahead of time and refrigerate it until you assemble the salad.
For the Rosé: Yellowfin Tuna with Avocado and Piment D'Espelette serves two
Here is a tasty offering from Paula Wolfert's Cooking of Southwest France that is perfect for summer. Eat this dish on a warm evening on the patio with a bottle of rosé and you just might hear Mediterranean waves lapping in the distance (actually the waves are clearer after a second bottle).
- ½ pound sushi-grade yellowfin or ahi tuna, in one piece
- 2½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
- 1 ruby red grapefruit, peeled, sectioned and diced
- Juice of ½ lime
- 1 pinch of sea salt
- 1 good pinch of ground piment d'Espelette or other moderately not red pepper
- 1 teaspoon toasted pine nuts
- 1 ripe avocado peeled
- 2 large opal basil leaves (see Note below)
Dry the tuna with paper towels. Heat a nonstick skillet over high heat with a drop of the olive oil. When hot, sear the tuna for 1 minute on each side. With a wide spatula, transfer the tuna to a cutting board and let rest while preparing the vinaigrette.
Gently toss the grapefruit, limejuice, salt, piment d'Espelette, remaining oil, and toasted pine nuts without breaking the grapefruit chunks.
Quarter the avocado or, if desired, thinly slice. Tear basil into small pieces. Thinly slice the tuna. Arrange the avocado and tuna on 2 plates. Spoon the citrus vinaigrette with the chunks of grapefruit over the tuna, scatter basil on top, and serve at once.
Store the piment d'Espelette in the refrigerator.
Opal basil is intensely flavored and colored deep purple. It is available in Asian markets.
For the Mourvèdre: Seared Tuna with Black Pepper and Coriander serves six
This is a very easy way to prepare tuna for guests as it holds very well and requires no last minute preparation. You can sear it in a couple of minutes and hold it for an hour or so. This dish is rich enough to stand up the full bodied fruit of a red wine such this month's Carro
- 2# loin of ahi tuna
- ½ cup of cracked black pepper
- ½ cup of cracked coriander
- salt
New potatoes with butter and soy sauce
- 1 lb tiny organic new potatoes, washed and unpeeled
- Salt
- 2 Tbs. butter
- 1 Tbs. soy sauce
- Sansho pepper*
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Put the potatoes in a pan with water to cover; add salt (the water should taste almost as salty as sea water). Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. (Do this while the oven is heating up.) Drain the potatoes. Melt the butter in the same pan and add the soy sauce. Mix the potatoes and butter-soy sauce well, and put onto a baking sheet.Roast for 25 to 30 minutes until the potatoes are browned and cooked through. Serve warm or at room temperature sprinkled with a little sansho/sanshou pepper
*(available at Japanese grocery stores) or black pepper.
For the Cabernet: Herb-Cured Filet of Beef Carpaccio 12 servings
This dish is elegant and easy as long as you have a sharp slicer. This will make a generous 12 servings.
* 1pound filet of beef ( tenderloin or top round)
* 8 sprigs of fresh tarragon
* 8 sprigs of fresh parsley
* 8 sprigs of fresh basil
* 10 springs of fresh thyme
* 1 ½ tbs of coarse sea salt
On a piece of aluminium foil, make a bed of half the herbs and half the salt. Place the filet on top of the herbs and salt, cover with the rest of the herbs and salt. Cover securely and refrigerate for 48 hours. Place it on a plate to catch and drippings from the meat.
Two hours before serving, place the filet in the freezer. This will make the beef easier to slice thin. Remove from the freezer, brush away the herbs and salt with the tip of your knife. Slice as thinly as possible. Dress with excellent extra-virgin olive oil and fresh cracked black pepper.
For a deep red wine: Lamb Kebabs with Fresh Figs serves six
This is an easy recipe that takes advantage of the terrific fresh figs that are in the market all through September. If you have never had a grilled fig you are in for a treat. The figs carmelize and pick a little smoke making them a not too sweet compliment to lamb. Try this with something ripe and grapey.
- 6 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or 2 tablespoons dried mint
- Juice of 2 large lemons
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves
- 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 pounds lean boned leg of lamb; trimmed and cut into 48 (1-inch) pieces
- 24 large or 48 small fresh California figs, washed and stemmed
- 2 red onions
- 2 fresh sweet green peppers
Combine mint and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Measure one half mixture into large zip-top bag. Add yellow onion and lamb; seal and marinate in refrigerator at least 20 minutes, turning bag occasionally. Set remaining marinade aside.
Meanwhile, cut large figs in half lengthwise. Cut each red onion into 6 wedges; cut each wedge in half crosswise (for a total of 24 pieces). Remove seeds and stems from peppers; cut into 6 wedges and cut each wedge in half crosswise (for a total of 24 squares). Add to reserved marinade and toss gently to coat. Set aside.
Remove lamb from bag and discard that marinade. Drain marinade from figs and vegetables; reserve. Thread 4 lamb pieces, 2 figs, 2 red onion pieces and 2 green pepper squares alternately onto each of 12 (10-inch) skewers.
Prepare grill or broiler. Place kebabs on grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Cook 4 minutes on each side, basting frequently with reserved marinade, until done.
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