OK – there are a few things that take a while.  First, you have to brine this overnight which means planning but it also means no prep for the meat once it is time to cook.  The sauce is easy to assemble, and I will admit that I did not have any star anise pods so I used a little Chinese Five Spice.  The flavor in the sauce it so unique and succulent that I would recommend saving the left over sauce to serve of grilled chicken and rice.  I removed all the fat from the top of the brisket.  You don’t need it for the pressure cooker – another upside!

Don’t skip the brine stage – I think it is critical to this dish.  Oh, you can skip the cream and hominy side.  While it is tasty, it is insanely caloric and rich, and the meat and sauce were fine on their own over some brown rice.

Happy New Year!

Recipe (from Tasting Table)

Brisket with Gravy and Grainy Mustard Hominy

Post Harvest Chardonnay Vines

While I worked on the reviews of the various wineries we visited, Hurricane Sandy hit the New York metro area, including Long Island.  While I am so lucky to have had the chance to visit the area when I did, it breaks my heart to think about the destruction that likely happened at the hands of the storm.  The prior year a different hurricane also damaged the vines and harvest in the area, which means two years in a row, hardship has struck the North Fork as the result of weather.  I guess the one fortunate thing relative to last year is that for most of the wineries, the vast majority of the grapes had already been harvested.

Well, back to our visit.  We had a ball.  All of the wineries & tasting rooms were inviting, tastefully decorated and unique.  The wines were great.  I was not sure that to expect in that regard, however, some of the wines  we tried were among the best I have had on my wine travels.  The climate is different than California, France and Italy, so do not expect the wines to taste like those from other regions.  The climate is cooler there so in general the wines are lower in alcohol, elegant and higher in acidity.  This makes them great for pairing with food.

We managed to fit five wineries into one day of tasting and we had a great experience at each place.  There were two visits that stood out as extra special though, and that is because of the extraordinary service and the high quality of the wines.

Our first visit was to Macari, and it really started the day off on a great note.  (see detailed review here).  The experience with our server made the visit fun and informative, and they make some truly excellent wines.

Gibson Campbell of Macari Vineyards

Another winery that was very memorable was Paumanok.  I had emailed with the winemaker, Kareem Massoud and he offered to take us into the winery on our visit and taste some wine from the barrels.  We started our visit in the tasting room though and I had the best red wines of the trip at Paumonok.  Insanely good; rich yet smooth with dark fruits and earthiness.  While they sadly are not inexpensive, they are worth the price.  Read the detailed review here.

We stopped by a few more places and detailed reviews are available via the links:

Peconic Bay

Shinn

Pellegrini

It takes about 2 hours from NYC to get out to the North Fork, however, once you are out there, it feels a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of times square.  If you are in the area and want to try some really wonderful wines, give the North Fork a visit.

In the late 60s Sauvignon Blanc was not well liked in the US.  It was too sweet and grassy and nothing like the revered but rarely consumed Sauvignon Blancs from the Loire Valley in France.  One harvest, Robert Mondavi got a stellar crop of SB and knew he could make a fantastic wine from those grapes but he was worried people would not buy the wine.  So he made up the name Fumé Blanc to overcome the SB negativity and created a perception that this new wine was akin to Pouilly-Fumé (a lovely Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire).

What did he do differently?  Well, he put the wine through malolactic fermentation which is a process that converts malic acid to lactic acid.  This softens the wine and is quite often used in the Chardonnay wine making process, and rarely in Sauvignon Blanc wine making (BTW, all red wines go through this process).  In addition, he aged the wine in oak barrels to add some different flavors and texture to the wine, again common when making Chardonnay.

What was the result?  According the WiseGeek.com, “Only two years after founding his now-legendary winery, he (Robert Mondavi) transformed one of California’s scorned grapes into one of its most loved – using a single batch of good grapes and a healthy dose of shrewd marketing.”

A few wineries make Fumé Blanc but there are no standards or rules around making this type of wine.  I picked up a bottle of the Ferrari-Carano wine as they are well known for theirs.  I wanted to see if this wine tasted more like a Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc, or find out if it was something completely different.

The verdict?  A lovely wine.  Quite different than any California Sauvignon Blanc I have ever tried, but definitely not a Chardonnay.  There is a little touch of sweetness on the finish, but just a touch.  This is definitely a dry wine.  It is light in body like a SB with lush fruits on the nose (a little peach or melon perhaps?).  None of the tart sweetness that I sometimes find in SBs that does not suit my palette.  I could easily enjoy a glass on the porch in the afternoon or with dinner.  This wine would pair very nicely with my beloved brie and red grapes.

Butternut Squash and Pork Lasagna

This lasagna does not use noodles, but instead, substitutes thinly sliced butternut squash.  My husband and niece are both gluten free so this recipe would work for everyone, and the pork ragu sounded really tasty.  And it was!  However, this recipe was so much more work that I had anticipated.

Layering the squash

I love butternut squash but I really do not like peeling or cutting it.  To make things more difficult, I bought a huge squash hoping to not have to peel more than one (I find bigger ones even more daunting).  I have a mandolin which made the slicing easy (but scary as I am convinced I will slice a finger off one day on that thing) but I really would not try this recipe without one.  By the way, you should have a mandolin if you cook a lot – it is a saving grace for au gratin potatoes, fries, cole slaw or any recipe where you need thinly and evenly slice fruits or veggies.

The ragu uses some really unique flavors that create something special relative to traditional lasagna.  Fennel, celery, onion, cinnamon stick and bay leaves all come to together to add something neat to this dish.  I was worried it might be too “different” for my husband and three year old son but they both licked their plates clean.

This dish makes a huge lasagna, so if you are not feeling 10+ people, freeze some for a rainy day.  I highly recommend this dish if you have the time and want a unique, gluten free, veggie laden yet meaty lasagna (the recipe also includes spinach and mushrooms).

We enjoyed a ridiculously delicious wine with this meal from one of my favorite producers – Pride Mountain Vineyards.  This Merlot is rich and decadent yet pairs nicely with savory dishes like this.   If you ever have a chance to visit the winery or try their wines, I cannot recommend them enough.  They are pricey though which is why we save them for special occasions.  In this case, the occasion was celebrating finishing cooking this lasagna.

I found this recipe on Pinterest which is a great place for recipe ideas.  The label for the recipe on the original blog, Witty in the City, is “man-pleasing chicken” which is very appropriate.  Both my husband and my son devour this recipe every time I make it.

The funny thing to me about this dish is the combination of the two ingredients in the sauce – dijon mustard (I use Grey Poupon) and maple syrup (use the real stuff please) is not what I expected.  It is not a sweet dish and it is not really “mustardy”.  And it also does not taste like chicken dipped in honey mustard dressing.  For some reason, either the proportions or the fact that you cook the chicken in this sauce create a really unique and quite savory dish.   I like to serve the chicken over chewy brown rice to make sure none of the sauce is wasted!

My love of all things Rhone continues so I paired this with a beauty from Chateauneuf-du-Pape.  This area of the Rhone is in the south and it is hot, so like many wines from warmer regions it is full bodied and rich.  And mighty tasty.

This wine is mostly Grenache (75%) and Syrah (15%) with some Mourvedre and Cinsault.  It is rich and spicy with an alluring and seductive nose.  Wines from this area are very well regarded so if you have not tried any Chateauneuf wines, you should fix that very soon.

For the most part this recipe turned out well.  There are a few things I would change next time but it was still really tasty.  The amazing thing about the pressure cooker is that it can cook dried beans in 25 minutes.  I had a hard time believing this was possible so I did soak mine for 20 minutes in hot water but I don’t think this was necessary.

“Real” cassoulet which hails from the south of France calls for duck confit (duck braised in fat) which I can’t get at my local store.  I wanted to use chicken anyway to keep the fat g-s down a little.  The “real” recipe also calls for quite a bit of lard, which I also don’t know where to get and that is ok.  A little olive oil was used to brown the meat and it was still a very rich dish.

When you slow cook this dish the “real” way and bake it in the oven for hours, a bread crumb crust is called for that gets punched down every hour or so.  Well, this was a screw up on my part.  I had too much liquid to allow for a bread crumb crust to sit on top.  It all sank into the broth and got kind of mushy.  Next time, I will skip the bread crumbs as they did not add anything positive to the dish.

In the photo above, the stew was transferred from the pressure cooker to an oven safe cast iron pot in my attempt to make this bread crumb crust.  Big fail on that part.

The essence of the dish is this: brown chicken (or duck) and sausages and add to a pot with white beans, tomatoes, chicken stock, herbs (I used thyme and rosemary) and cook for a really really long time.  Or cook in a pressure cooker for 25 minutes.

I served the dish over rice but when I had it again for lunch the next day I dipped toasted naan in the sauce.  Yummy either way.

I wanted to pair this dish with a wine from the same region, the Languedoc region of France.  This is a wine I love and it was the last bottle in my stash which made the meal even more memorable.

This area in France has been making wine for ages, however, most of it was not really good until recently.  Based on how much I love this wine I will look for more wines made in this area.  Because it is less prestigious than the Rhone or Burgundy, land is less expensive so the wines are less expensive.  This wine is a blend of 60% Carignan, 20% Syrah and 20% Grenache.  I love all of these grapes and in the French style they lead to elegant and earthy wines that really pair nicely with savory dishes.  Yum.

If you like to cook and don’t have days and days to make fancy dishes, get a pressure cooker.  Seriously.  Right now.
KG – If you made it all the way to end, I dedicate this post to you as I think this GF and delicious dish will be right up your alley.

Grenache is one of my favorite varietals, and even though it is one of the most widely planted grapes in the world, it is not one that everyone comes across very often.  Grenache is called by different names in various parts of the world, and often has a very different style depending on where it is made.  Called Grenache in France (it is grown in the Rhone region of southern France), Garnacha in Spain and Cannanou in Italy, this lovey grape translates into rich, smooth and often elegant wines.

The Cass Grenache I opened Friday was a medium to light bodied and earthy wine.  It reminded me of my favorite style of Pinot Noir that often is described by those characteristics.  Not all Grenache is light and earthy though.  Last week in a restaurant I had the Orin Swift D66 Grenache from France and it was much richer, riper and full bodied.  Back to the Cass Grenache though – this wine is simply lovely and pairs very nicely with foods.

Fontina and Mary’s Gone Seed Crackers

While I made dinner, I enjoyed the Cass with some fontina cheese and crackers.  The rich and creamy cheese was lovely with the acidity in the wine.  YUM!

Baked Salmon with Roasted Butternut Squash

For dinner I made some roasted salmon with fresh herbs alongside butternut squash.  The wine really complemented the subtle flavors in both dishes.  I roast salmon quite often and really think the secret to cooking it perfectly is quite simple.  Start with the oven at 400 degrees, and as soon as you put the salmon in, lower the heat to 275.  In about 20 minutes, perfectly cooked, and more importantly, not overcooked salmon awaits.  I used different herbs every time from parsley to chives to thyme to oregano.  Fresh is best but dried herbs work too.  Rub the herbs into the salmon with salt and olive oil to prevent them from drying out or burning.

What makes a wine bar great?  Well, a wide selection of tasty and interesting wines.  No boring stuff that you can get at a grocery store please.  And you need a server who is enthusiastic about wine in general and knows a lot about the wines they pour.  I want to be able to say, “I would like to try a rich but earthy red wine that is not overly oaked” and get exactly that.  This was most definitely how things worked at Bin 38.  And you need a nice ambiance that is relaxing and puts one in the mood to enjoy a nice glass of wine.

I also really love to have options regarding the size of the pour.  A small 3 oz. pour, a half glass and a full glass are all choices at Bin 38 (as is buying a whole bottle).  The small pouts are ideal when you have to make it a quick visit and want to try a few wines but think it wise not to drink three full glasses of wine before dinner.

My favorite wine at Bin 38

For those interested, they also have a very wide selection of small production beers.  I did not try any but loved the wall display.

The beer selection

Stop by Bin 38 for a glass of wine, or dinner (they have a full food menu).  Tasty wines, great service and a wonderful setting for a relaxing post work libation.

http://bin38.com/

3232 Scott Street at Lombard in San Francisco

Cabernet Sauvignon ripe on the vines

More vines full of ripe fruit

My first full bucket of grapes

The grape we harvested was Norton.  This is an American grape (unlike vinifera grapes like Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon that came from Europe) and is not made into wine by many wineries.  It was cool to work with such an obscure varietal!  I have only had Norton wine made by Frogtown, but they do an amazing job with this grape so I am a fan.  There were 16 other wine club members along for the fun, and several stated that the Norton is their favorite Frogtown wine.  In case you were wondering, my favorites are the Marsanne and the Reserve Merlot.

Filling up the bins with Norton

Taking a break in the shade

Gorgeous reflection on a picture perfect day

After we were done picking, we convened on the covered patio for lunch.  We were quite a sight.  Most people get a little dressed up when visiting a tasting room, so our group stood out like a bunch of ragamuffins.  We were dressed like scrubs and most of us were pretty dirty.  I had grape stains on my arms and clothes, and my hair had bits of vine and leaves in it.  The Norton grape has a low canopy that we had to get under to pick the grapes and I got caught in the vines quite a few times.  And I was the only one to cut myself with the super sharp shears but I recovered.

Learning more about winemaking, harvesting and Frogtown over lunch

Craig Kritzer, the owner and winemaker, sat with us over lunch and answered a long list of questions about the history of the winery and his philosophies around making wine.  It was so interesting and informative – I could have sat there forever.  But the Norton was sitting down in the winery waiting to be crushed.

Norton grapes getting ready for the de-stemmer

And up they go….

Picking out the jacks (little pieces of stem and other non-grape materials)

Working the line at the destemmer was exciting and a little stressful.  I wanted to make sure we got all of the bits and pieces of non-grape material out before the grapes went into the big steel vat for the cold soak.  It was fun though and a great experience for wine lovers who want to learn more about the wine making process.

Post crush wine tasting with snacks

After all that hard work, we got to taste the full portfolio of Frogtown wines (there are quite a few) with Craig and learned more about each of them.

The tasting room was hopping in the afternoon

Pre-dinner view from the patio

We took a break and met back at the winery at 7 pm for an al fresco dinner.  The view from the back patio is worth the trip up there alone.  The harvest group had become very friendly during our picking and winemaking activities so we rearranged all the tables so that we would sit together as one big group.  The dinner was a lot of fun, the wines were great and the food was delicious.  Craig’s wife Cydney is the chef and consistently prepares wonderful dinners with many courses.  This is not easy to do for a big group which makes it even more impressive.

Dinner Menu

Gazpacho

I flip flop on tomato based soups but this gazpacho was excellent.  I would have had seconds if they offered them.

Seared scallops over arugula

I think this was my favorite dish of the night because I just love scallops and they were prepared perfectly.  I paired shrimp fritters with the Vineaux Blanc earlier this summer.  It is a lovely seafood wine.

This course was followed by a pasta dish but I was so wrapped up with dinner and chit-chatting that I forgot to take a photo.

Filet with sinfully delicious gruyere potatoes

I did not save nearly enough room for this wonderful meat and potatoes course.  The potatoes were quite possibly the best potatoes I have ever had in my entire life.

Tiramisu

Yum.  dessert.  But I was so full at this point that I barely made a dent in dessert.  All in all a great meal.

If you ever get a change to participate in a harvest, do it.  It was great fun and I hope to participate again next year.

The 2009 Albert Mann Grand Cru Schlossberg Riesling.  If you struggle to find Rieslings that you like because you tend to find them too sweet for your palate, give this one a try.  Yum.