Category: Delicious Whites

I have been inspired in the wake of my visit to Bonnie Blue Farm, and before my bags were unpacked I was in the kitchen working on just the recipe for these beautiful, fresh goat cheeses.

Deliciously rich spinach-fêta tarts

I developed a lovely, rich, creamy Spinach-Fêta Tart that incorporated Bonnie Blue’s delicious fêta cheese with baby spinach and fresh eggs from my Spoiled Suburban Hens. I wrote down the recipe against my own natural tendencies just so I could share it with you. Even if you don’t have access to fresh goat cheese you can still make this tart with a wide range of sheep fêtas from your local grocery; you might want to experiment a little to find a type that has just the right flavor for your personal taste.

I happened to have a bottle of 2005 dry Frascati (Fontana Candida) in the refrigerator, and it turned out to be delightful with this tart. Frascati is an Italian white wine from the area around Rome, and it is made with a blend of three very ancient grape varietals (Trebbiano, Malvasia, and a grape simply called Greco). It was light, floral but not too sweet, and it perfectly balanced the richness of the tart ~ a complete accident of Fate that turned out in my favor. If you pair this tart with wine, you might choose something similarly light; even a sparkling wine would be nice.

Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Jen

I know some of you will be enjoying a nice wine with your Easter dinner this weekend, and if you are serving ham you may have already guessed that this is a somewhat difficult pairing. The meat is generally salty, and it is often coated with a sweet or spicy glaze. This combination of flavors, while quite delicious, is tricky to pair with a decent wine. The curing salts run the risk of clashing horribly with reds, making a most unpleasant, tinny flavor in the mouth.

What’s a wine lover to do?

My suggestions are:

Rosé
There are some very interesting rosés out there these days, and your friendly local wine merchant should be able to choose one for you. Select something of at least medium sweetness if your ham will have any sweet glaze on it.

Riesling
Rieslings have the acidity to hold up against the ham’s sweet-saltiness, and they also have a lovely way of playing off exotic spices like cinnamon and cloves. If you select a German Riesling, try at least a Spätlase or Auslese (this will be listed on the label) to get enough sweetness. Those in the States will be able to find the always-dependable Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling, which will give you the right floral sweetness at a very reasonable price ($9.99 - $12.99). I would make sure not to get the dry Riesling if my ham had any sweetness in it. (The dry Riesling features a green bar on the lower part of the label.)

Dessert Wine ~ Orange Muscat
How about trying something different this year, like an Orange Muscat? I can think of two absolutely delightful ones from California’s Quady Winery that are full of gorgeous orange blossoms and stone fruit on the nose, and follow with the most beautiful peach-apricot lightness on the palate.

The Quady Essensia ($21.99 - $24.99) is slightly fortified, and features an intense stone fruit flavor and heavier sweetness and mouthfeel that is most appropriate for dessert pairing.

The Quady Electra ($12.99 - $14.99) is lighter and has lower alcohol content, and its light fruitiness would allow an interesting pairing with dinner or dessert. If you don’t want to serve them with dessert, why not try the Electra with your glazed ham? Neither one of these is at all cloying in its sweetness, and the perfume is just gorgeous and springlike. Make sure you serve in large glasses so you can really enjoy their beautiful aroma. You might have to do some digging to find Quady wines, but it is well worth the trouble.

Well, I am off to buy my own wines for Easter weekend. What is my choice? Well, as dinner is fleeting and the evening is long I will purchase a sumptuous red beauty and wait until after dinner to crack it. ;)

“May you live in interesting times.” The old Chinese curse is more true now than ever, I think, and it only takes a quick scan of the headlines to understand we are perhaps living in some of the most interesting and intense times in human history. The lives and deaths of world leaders, of business moguls, those of the rich, the famous, and the madly ridiculous are displayed for all to see. There is a grand drama playing out on a global level, but what does that mean for the rest of us? What, then, for we Simple Folk? The Camelot villagers? I am not the philosopher to answer that question for you, but I assure you it is discussed at the Jenotopia dinner table almost daily—and it is my hope for the new year that it is discussed at your table, too. The mere exercise of the discussion may well be more important than its conclusions.

The end of the year is inevitably cause for reflection, I suppose, and reflection is nearly always improved by the uncorking of a bottle of good wine. I have enjoyed many good wines this year, and even a couple of great ones. My wine choices are not generally dictated by the food I intend to eat, but by my particular wine preference at the time. However, as even a blind squirrel sometimes finds a nut, I have stumbled across some stellar food-wine pairings this year that are worth mentioning.

2002 Zealear Fusion Zinfandel with Sweet-Hot Ribs

The Great Rib Quest—Part I of 2007 was quite an enjoyable pastime, and RT and I discovered many new and delicious recipes for cooking ribs. Last summer we grilled, we smoked, we braised, we roasted, and we ate a wide variety of ribs in an imaginary quest for the perfect rib recipe, and it was fantastic. (These quests generally end up in a Zen-koan conclusion: all are perfect.)

One warm day we took inspiration from the Bon Appetit summer recipe contest winner and made a sweet-hot rib recipe (with sauce AND a rub), herbed corn on the cob, lemon parsley salad, and delicious grilled cantaloupe painted with honey and cayenne pepper. As I was seeking the ultimate rib experience I figured I needed a really juicy, fruit-forward wine that would not be put off by the spiciness of the food. A California Zinfandel seemed just the ticket, and I knew the juiciest, fruitiest choice could only come from Zealear (thank you, Jim, for bringing this gem to the shop way back in our early days). I pulled a bottle of 2002 Zealear Fusion Sonoma County Zinfandel ($19.99), laid out our feast . . . and entered a heaven of culinary bliss that even now makes my mouth water. The combination of the wine’s berry fruit and the sweet-hot rib spices was absolutely incredible, and the grilled cantaloupe was the icing on the already-perfect cake. The spice of the food danced around with the Zin’s pepper and spice, and each bite of food made each sip of wine even better. I have tried several wines with ribs, and this was by far the most delicious, lip-smacking trip to paradise I have experienced. (How many times have I used the word “delicious” in this paragraph?) More info on Zealear’s juicy wines may be found at http://zealear.com/ .

2004 Ferrari-Carano Tre Terre Chardonnay with Lemon-Artichoke Crab Dip

The other notable pairing occurred in early fall during a visit from my wine-loving aunt and uncle. I made an unplanned visit to the folks’ house, and before leaving I hastily whipped up a lemon-artichoke crab dip (once again, thanks to my @$$-saving pantry). Knowing my uncle loves California Chardonnays, I grabbed a bottle of 2004 Tre Terre Russian River Valley Chardonnay from Ferrari-Carano ($24.99) and headed out the door. Our little unplanned happy hour was studded with this gem of a pairing: Tre Terre is a powerhouse of a Chard, with layers of lemony custard, vanilla and complex fruits opening in a wine of great depth. The Russian River Valley puts out wines with precision and elegance to their flavor profiles, and this wine was no exception. The sur-lie aging (aging on the lees, or crushed grapey bits) added nice weight to the mouthfeel, and it finished off with a delicate spice. Alternating bites of lightly-lemony crab dip with this creamy Chardonnay was absolute Nirvana. Each made the other taste even better—and that, to me, is a very fine pairing. (Incidentally, the Ferrari-Carano website also holds a collection of really good recipes: http://www.ferrari-carano.com/ )

All this talk of wine is making me quite thirsty—but alas, I have chosen to abstain from wine for the days preceding New Year’s Eve. I want my palate to be in fine form for the 1996 Pol Roger sleeping in my wine cooler. Although it is probably not within my personal taste preference, I have great expectations for Winston Churchill’s favorite quaff—and I am already trying to decide whether it should be enjoyed alone or as part of another Ultimate Pairing. My summer of 1996 was filled with plenty of Champagne and pate, so perhaps a good pate with those thick, crunchy Carr’s Wheat Biscuits is the answer. I have two more days to decide.

I really like these kinds of choices. Life ain’t so bad for this villager.

I was in the mood for a white Bordeaux, and my 2005 Château Ducasse (Kermit Lynch, Importer) more than satisfied my craving. Tonight I was tired of all the heavy reds, and so I sat by our still-unadorned Christmas tree, swirled my Bordeaux blanc and hatched my Christmas plans. This wine, a Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc-Muscadelle blend, was gorgeous medium yellow in color and carried light floral and honey notes, with a slight hint of fresh peach. The palate followed through with just a hint flowers and honey (from the touch of lovely Muscadelle), and carried a gorgeous, round minerality on the mid-palate (courtesy of the Semillon) that was very satisfying. A wash of nice, balancing acidity finished things off (typical of Sauv Blanc). I cannot for the life of me recall why I don’t drink these more often. My wine choices are often made without consideration for the food I end up eating, but this one would have been just lovely with fresh seafood. At around $15 retail, this is a great price-value ratio!