Bargain March

This month, we've got a great lineup, including a single vineyard Alexander Valley white wine blend, a Spanish red and white, a New Zealand Pinot Noir, an Italian blend, and a single vineyard Syrah.

Salneval Albariño is a perennial Best Buy from the Wine Enthusiast, and offers honey, pear and tropical fruit nose. It is racy and zesty with citrus and floral flavors in the mouth, yet is round and soft at the same time.
Perfect with fresh seafood and shellfish; is an ideal accompaniment to salty, spicy Asian cuisine; and is also great on its own as a cocktail wine.

Long Gamma White is a new project from our friends at Reynoso Vineyards, a small family owned winery in the northern part of Alexander Valley. Long Gamma white is a great springtime wine - a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and Gewurztraminer that's perfect for an aperitif, with soups, salads, sandwiches and all lighter fare.

Hinton Central Otago Pinot Noir - is a bright and fruit forward New Zealand Pinot Tasting notes
Another rich ruby red vintage with silky tannins, good length and a generous aftertaste. Medium bodied with hints of oak and just a touch of spice. A very approachable Pinot Noir with sweet spicy aromas.

Tenuta Sant'Antonio Scaia IGT is 100% Corvina, aged in stainless steel made ba Tenuta Sant'Antonio, a producer of great Valpolicallas and Amarones. Scaia is an approachable food wine with bright cherry berry flavors, some earth and underbrush, and a nice bright finish. Pair with risottos, poultry, fish and light grills.

Opera Prima Tempranillo 100% Tempranillo from La Mancha/Tierra de la Castilla. Red fruits on the nose, medium bodied, zippy flavors and medium finish. On the palate it is smooth and rich with sour cherry,tobacco, plums and spicy flavors. A versatile wine for Pizzas, Burgers, Chicken.

PB Hein Trailblazer Syrah - Paul Hein is a fifth generation Napa native with roots into viticulture and winemaking dating back to 1879 when his three times great grandfather PJ Hein had 29,000 vines on Mount Veeder. Dark garnet color with youthful aromas of licorice, blackberry, leathery notes and dried fruit; Big, ripe, young, clean, slightly oaky, blackberry fruit flavors wrapped in a rich, medium to medium-full bodied mouthfeel. Good balance with firm tannins and a moderately long finish.

Roasted Chicken with Fennel, Radicchio, Cider and Dauphinoise Potatoes

Perfect with this months Bargain whites, this chicken dish is easy, satisfying and yummy!

Serves 4

1 two-three pound whole chicken
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups dry cider
2 heads fennel – trimmed and quartered
2 heads treviso radicchio – trimmed and quartered

2 pounds potatoes – peeled and thinly sliced
3 cups heavy cream
3 cloves garlic – whole
3 fresh bay leaves
2 ounces butter
4 ounces Cave Aged Gruyère – grated
2 tablespoons fresh thyme sprigs

Preheat oven to 425F. Place the chicken in a roasting tin. Rub with the olive oil and season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add cider and ½ cup water into the bottom of the tin. Place in the preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, baste and place fennel and radicchio around the chicken. Lower the oven temperature to 325F, and roast for a further 45-50 minutes, or until done, basting every 15 minutes during the entire process.

As soon as you start cooking the chicken, place the cream, bay leaves and garlic cloves in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Let mixture stand for a further 10 minutes to allow flavours to infuse, then strain. Rub the bottom and sides of a gratin dish large enough to hold the potatoes with the butter. Place a layer of potatoes in the bottom. Sprinkle with some of the cheese and thyme, and season generously. Pour over some of the cream. Repeat the process with remaining potatoes, seasoning with other ingredients between layers. Pour over any remaining cream at the end, then bake in a preheated oven at 32F for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Remove the chicken, lettuces and potatoes from oven. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then serve.

Leek and Black Pudding Pizza

With St.Patricks Day just around the corner, and being from the auld sod myself, I have to include at least one Irish recipe this month. This pizza recipe comes from Bernadette O'Shea, who operated the highly influential Sligo restaurant, Truffles, from 1989-1997. This pizza is her response to the clutch of new recipes which were part of the nouvelle cuisine in Ireland, when age-old ingredients such as black pudding were outed. If you are squeamish about using black pudding, substitute your favorite sausage. Enjoy with any of this months Reds!

Serves 2

2 leeks, white partsonly, sliced into rings

salt and pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons mascarpone

12 ounces Irish black pudding*

1/4 cup pine nuts

4 rosemary sprigs, leaves removed and chopped

Pizza Dough:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

1 teaspoon rapid-rise yeast

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

To make the dough:

In a large bow combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar, and mix well. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the warm water and oil. Using a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until the mixture is too stiff to stir, then mix with your hands in the bowl until the dough comes together and pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn the dough the out. Knead gently, dusting the work surface lightly with more flour as necessary, for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth, elastic, and only slightly sticky.

Oil a large clean bowl, add the dough, and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, set in a warm part of the kitchen, and let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and it is ready to use.

Place a pizza stone in the oven and heat to 550F.

Cook the leeks in olive oil over medium heat until tender and slightly browned. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide the dough into 2 pieces and shape into a ball and let rest for 15 minutes. Using a rolling pin or your hands stretch the dough into two 9-10 inch rounds.

Gently spread the mascarpone over the dough with your fingers, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the rim.

Pile the leek into the center of the pizza, arrange the black pudding slices around the leek, and scatter the pine nuts in the middle.

carefully transfer to the pizza stone and bake about 10 minutes or until the crust is well browned. Scatter the rosemary over top of the pizza and serve immediately

*Irish black pudding is available at most Irish specialty food stores in San Francisco, or on-line at FoodIreland.com. Galtee makes the best commercial puddings. You can also substitute boudin noir, or any other blood sausage.

Steak Tartare and Frites

There are two main requirements in making steak tartare, the very best quality beef tenderloin you can get, and chopping the meat by hand using razor sharp knives.

Serves 4

1 pound best quality lean beef tenderloin

4 teaspoons capers, minced

4 teaspoons cornichons, minced

4 teaspoons red onion, minced

4 teaspoons parsley, minced

4 teaspoons chives, minced

4 teaspoons ketchup

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard

2 dashes Worcestershire sauce

3 dashes Tobasco sauce

Sea salt and pepper to taste

1 egg yolk

1 pound russet potatoes

Peanut or canola oil for frying

sea salt and peper

It is very important that everything is kept well chilled when making this recipe-the cutting board, mixing bowls, utensils, etc. Don't overwork the beef, so a not to bruise. Cut the beef into very thin slices, then cut the slices into very thin strips, and then, cut the strips into very tiny cubes.

Place the beef in the chilled bowl, spreading the mixture up the sides to chill further. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix quickly together with a fork until well blended. Using a 2" wide circular mold, shape and place on chilled plates. Cover and place in the refrigerator until needed.

Rinse the potatoes, and leaving the skins on, cut into long matchstick strips.

Heat 6 inches of vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or large deep saucepan to 350F and deep-fry the potatoes for 3-5 minutes or until golden and crisp, then drain on absorbent paper and season with sea salt.

Remove the steak tartares from the refrigerator, and serve with the frites in a bowl on

Bargain Wine Club

Bargain March