Monthly Archives: January 2010
Kielbasa vegetable stew and Four Gates Cabernet Franc
Two weeks ago Friday night, we were looking for a lay low food that was delicious, hearty, warm, and downright good home cooking. We had a Kielbasa sitting in the freezer, and so I went looking for a recipe. I found many recipes, but they either wanted the stew to be beans and cream or over the top tomato. I finally found a wonderful recipe that I could modify (as usual), and it turned out to be from the wonderful folks at the Food Network. The recipe is OK, but I like my meat browned and I like far more onions and an eggplant to boot, would not hurt. So here is the modified recipe, for those who care:
Kielbasa and Vegetable Stew
- Olive Oil
- 1 pound of Kielbasa cut on the bias into one inch chunks
- Two or three sweet onions cubed into 1 inch squares
- 2 or 3 good shakes of sea salt
- 4 or more garlic cloves
- Paprika
- Cumin
- Pepper
- 4 or 5 carrots cut into one inch chunks
- 3 or 4 parsnips cut into one inch chunks
- 1 or 2 eggplant (depending on size)
- 4 or 5 Yukon gold potatoes cubed into 1 inch squares
- 3 cups of vegetable or chicken soup stock
- 1 cup of red wine
- A cup of rice milk to finish or reheat in
Start by taking a large dutch oven and place into it a tablespoon or two of olive oil – just to coat the bottom. While waiting for the oil to get hot enough, cut the Kielbasa into 1 inch cylinders on the bias, and then start to brown the cut edges. Once one side is browned, flip them to the other side. Once all sides are browned, take the meat out and drop the cubed onions into the oil. Add the salt to the onions to help the onions release their liquid. Sauté the onions and once browned, throw in the spices and garlic, and make sure the onions are fully coated with them. From there on, add the vegetables into the pot one at a time. Once the vegetables have released their water, add in the 4 cups of stock, along with the sausage cylinders. Cook the stew until the vegetables and meat are combined into a singular and uniform form.
I must say that the stew was KNOCK OUT awesome, and the best part of it is that ALL the food is edible. You see, that there are no bones, no nasty fat and sinew, or inedible parts. All in all, sausage stew makes for a tasty and enjoyable stew. Finally, when I reheated the stew before the Sabbath, it looked a bit dry, so I added a half or full cup of rice milk. It added some flavor and moisture.
To pair with this monster stew, I pulled out a bottle of 2005 Four Gates Cabernet Franc. I loved the bottle, but it took a ton of time to come awake. It was stored really cold, so that may have been the problem, but I think that the bottle is in a slight dumb period, and will be back soon. The wine note follows below:
2005 Four Gates Cabernet Franc – Score: B+ – A-
This wine has not changed much since the last time we tasted this. However, it is in a slightly dumb period, and required a ton of time to open up. Once it did open it was quite a joy to drink. The nose on this garnet to black colored wine is a very interesting twist on Cabernet Franc. It starts with a ton of dark chocolate, cherry, currant, plum, and follows on with classical franc notes of bell pepper and a bit flowers and oak. The mouth on this complex medium to full bodied wine is packed with velvety tannins that are integrating quite nicely along with cherry, raspberry, and currants. The mid palate is flush with fruit and balanced almost perfectly by bright acidity along with oak and integrated tannins. The finish is spicy and laced with vanilla and sour cherry.
Bean and Rice soup, Roast, Meat Sauce, Roasted Vegetables, Rice Pilaf, and a bunch of wine…
On the weekend of January 8th, we had a Friday night party, with my nephews from Chicago and from around the Bay Area, and Benyamin Cantz. The meal started with a wicked cool soup that we made for the first time and then followed it with a roast, some meat sauce, brown rice, roasted vegetables, and fresh salad. The soup recipe is below, and is from a recipe book – fittingly called – Soup! We laughed about the soup book, because my Sister is the owner of Source Books, and we bantered around about how much time she would have spent on just the picture on the front of the book, which of course is a bowl of soup! After the soup, we made some roasted vegetables (sweet potatoes, beets, rutabagas, parsnip). The vegetables were so good because we roasted them until they released their water and started to crystallize the sugars – which makes them extra yummy! They went along nicely with the roasted shoulder meat, which was braised with peas and carrots, and a bunch of wine – recipe can be found here. The meat sauce was a lot like this one, without trying to make meatballs out of it. They were all paired with a lovely brown rice pilaf and a fresh green salad.
Rice & White Bean Soup Recipe
9 oz of white beans
Olive Oil
Onions
Garlic
Diced Carrots
Diced Zucchini
Diced Red peppers
Cubed Soy Sausage
Thyme
Bay Leaf
Chicken or vegetable stock
Half a cup of brown rice
Place the beans in water over night and then drain and rinse a few times the next day. Sauté the onions and sausage until browned. Add in the garlic, and once browned nicely, throw in the diced zucchini, carrots, and peppers. Wait for the vegetables to give off their liquid and then add in the herbs and vegetable stock. Wait for the soup to boil and throw in the washed and rinsed beans. Lower the heat to simmer and stir the soup every so often until the beans are softening (about an hour). Then throw in the rice, and whatever other seasoning (salt, pepper, etc.) to taste, and wait another 30 or so minutes.
The wine we chose to pair with this food was partly from Four Gates Winery and partly from our cellar. One wine from my cellar was a massive and huge dud, while the other one was OK. Both of the wines from Four Gates (one of which is still unreleased), were quite nice indeed.
The wine notes follow below:
2006 Cantina Gabriele Sangiovese – Score: B+
The nose on this dark ruby colored wine is rich with loamy notes, black cherry is ever evident, some violet, and a bit of plum. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is mouth coating with integrated tannins, plum, and concentrated cherry flavors. The mid palate is balanced with integrated tannins and acid. The finish is long with loamy soil, a hint of floral notes, and a ton of cloying tart cherries at the very end. The tart cherries throw off the finish and ruin the wine, which is a shame, because of the rest of the package.
2006 Hevron Heights Mount Hevron Red – Score: C-
This bottle was either really wrong or it is flawed at birth. The bottle had way too much volatile acidity, which messed up an already not so great wine. The nose on this vibrant garnet – purple colored wine is over the top with Volatile Acidity, cherry, plum, and coffee. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is flush with cranberry, plum, and eucalyptus. The rest of the flavor profile is cherry and coffee and not much more than that because of the VA.
2006 Four Gates Merlot M.S.C. – Score: A
When we last tasted this wine it was a bit redder. Now the wine has turned black (as has its younger brother the 2006 Merlot La Rochelle), and it is a crazy joy to drink and share with your friends and family. The interesting thing is that, while there are some red characteristics to this wine, the black ones clearly stand out. Who knows, it may well go back to its red past, which was still one wonderful wine as well.
The nose on this purple to black colored wine is screaming with rich oak, cassis, blackberry, plum, raspberry, tobacco, chocolate, and licorice. The mouth of this full bodied wine is full of raspberry, cassis, plum, and blackberry. The mouth’s tannins are slowly integrating and creating a lovely mouth coating experience that fills out the already full wine’s body, and the layers of fruit accentuate the palate with nice oak notes. The mid palate is balanced with acid, chocolate, nice tannins, and spicy oak. The finish is long and rich with red fruit, more spicy oak, licorice, and chocolate. The wine is a massive black Merlot that is layered, complex, and screaming with black fruit and extracted flavors.
2006 Four Gates (Yet Undisclosed Name) - Score: A-
The nose on this royal purple to black colored wine is filled with raspberry, plum, floral notes, kirsch cherry, oak, and spice. The mouth on this full bodied wine is hopping with raspberry, plum, and cherry. The mouth comes at you layer after layer on a plush mouth with mouth coating tannins. The mid palate is balanced with acid, integrating tannins, and coffee. The finish is long with red fruit, vanilla, lovely tannins, coffee, and a hint of leather.
Herzog Wine Festivals on both coasts start next week!
This year, Royal Wines and its wine producing arm, Herzog Cellars, will once again be hosting wine festivals. For the past four years, Royal has had a wine event in New York, to showcase their wines before Passover, as that is one of the busiest times of year for kosher wine stores. Think of it as the Black Friday for kosher wine producers, importers, and stores. Well, to further showcase their California winery, Three years ago, Royal Wines started a west coast version of the wine festival. I have had the great luck to be part of the past two International Food & Wine Festivals. The first International Food & Wine Festival was grand, with many wine vintners; tons of great wine, and great food. The second International Food & Wine Festival was a huge success, with some new and returning vintners; some great new wines, and as usual Chef Todd Aaron showcased his wares from his world class Tierra Sur Restaurant.
The New York event will be on Monday February 1st! This is the first year that the New York event comes before the Herzog Cellar wine festival. Also, Adam Montefiore (of Carmel & Yatir) will be at the New York event, but not at the west coast Wine Festival – which is a real bummer!!!!
The West Coast event – the 2010 International Food & Wine Festival will be on Wednesday, February 3rd.
Hopefully we will see you all at the 2010 International Food & Wine Festival this coming Wednesday! Please remember that you should not drink and drive. So, please get a designated driver, or get a room at many of the hotels near the winery!
Pepper encrusted Roasted Chicken and 2006 Hagafen Pinot Noir Prix Reserve, Fagan Creek, Block 38
On Friday Night, January 1st, 2010 amidst the noise of fire crackers bouncing off our roof top (seriously), bottle rockets firing off left and right, and a few star bursts to boot, we somehow found a way to sneak in some shabbos serenity. My wife made pepper encrusted roasted chicken, a rice pilaf, along with a fresh green salad. It was a nice off week, but absolutely not a quiet one! Our neighbors were firing off so many fire crackers, it sounded like a gun range. Mix into that all the other plethora of fireworks and it is a miracle that we ever got to sleep. However, the craziest part was the sound of fire cracker hitting our roof! Yep, it sounded like a hand grenade hitting a bunker roof in a movie, just crazy and absolutely surreal. I suppose, the dude or dudette who tossed the hand grenade in our direction never imagined it would go that far. Thank goodness there was no fire.
That was not the only madness that revolved around me that week. The wine I tasted that week was bright and powerful and over the top. However, another bottle of the very same wine a few days later was not nearly as good. I had a third chance to taste this wine, a few more days later, and it was still not as good. Man, I have heard of bottle variation, but this was crazy. Still, I will say that in the end, my friends who drank the bottle a few hours after I did thought it was a bit more smooth and drinkable, while others thought it was thin as water. I guess I will chalk it up to an experience. The wines note below is of my Friday Night / fireworks experience.
The wine note follows below:
2006 Hagafen Pinot Noir Prix Reserve, Fagan Creek, Block 38 – Score: A-
The nose on this dark ruby colored wine is smoky, with nice mineral notes, black cherry, rich sweet oak, coffee, and cinnamon. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is spicy, with a rich mouth of dark cherry, raspberry with soft to integrating tannins. The mid palate is acidic, with tannin, sweet oak, and smoke. The finish is smoky and long, with coffee, cherry, integrated tannins, cinnamon, and a dollop of vanilla. The red fruit lingers on your palate long after the wine is gone. The mix of spicy smoky red fruit, nice extraction, and coffee, makes it all fun, but still not a classic Pinot Noir in any way.
Friends, Spaghetti alla Puttanesca, and a lovely 2005 Ella Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
On the last Wednesday night of 2009, my friends from out of the country swung by the house for dinner. So we made one of our favorite dishes to share for them, Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. It is an awesome dish that we have made many times before, and thank goodness this time was no exception. To pair with the Puttanesca we made fresh green salad and some nice whole wheat penne. As usual I am not content enough with making the watery puttanesca sauce; instead I add 32 ounces of the ground soy meat to thicken up the sauce. It adds texture, heft, and a bit of flavor to the sauce, which is all good for me, but of course it flies in the face of tradition. I understand that, but what can I do. The recipe I use can be found here.
To match these salty and earthy flavors, I pulled out a bottle of 2005 Ella Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The mouth on this wine is packed, complex, and mouth coating. It is a real joy, and I wonder if some underscore this one. The wine note follows below:
2005 Ella Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (non V.C.) – Score: A-
The nose on this dark garnet to purple colored wine is popping with rich and ripe blackberry, plum, cassis, meaty notes, a bit of heat out of the bottle, chocolate, and a nice side of spice. The mouth on this full bodied and complex wine is extracted and mouth coating yet yielding tannins. The mouth is layered with blackberry, cassis, and plum. The mid palate is hopping with balanced acidity, oak, licorice, and more extraction, along with not yet integrated tannins. The finish is long and smoky with spice, licorice, and chocolate, all on a plush mouth that lies under and over a lush field of spicy oak and black fruit. This wine should be tasted immediately upon opening, but will show it best face with an hour or two of air.
Alcohol and Brown Sugar Braised Short Ribs and 2007 Beckett’s Flat Five Stones Margaret River Shiraz
On the weekend of December 25th, we were north of Napa Valley hanging out at a lovely and quaint area called Clear Lake. Clear Lake is actually not the name of the city, nor is there a city near the famous Clear lake that bears its name. Still, if you tell anyone you were hanging out in Nice, they will think you went to France, and not a quiet and lovely city in California. Anyway, as we were away from home for the weekend, we tried to take the smallest number of things with us. So dinner was cooked in a crock pot and lunch was cold, which makes things simple. Dinner consisted of Flanken/short ribs, white rice, fresh green salad, and some awesome roasted new root vegetables (fresh from out of the ground), that we bought at a Farmer’s Market in Los Gatos, CA. I need to take a tangent, as usual, to highlight the difference between flanken and Korean short ribs. First and foremost – flanken – is a flat slab of meat over a single plate bone – like depicted here.
Flanken - beef on plate bone
Note that there is a single bone and a nice chunk of meat on it. This cut of meat is also known as English Cut. Also, the meat on this cut of beef is chock full of intercostal muscle and tendon, and a layer of boneless meat. The meat, is not thin and easy to cook, but rather tough and in need of a long hot bath of some finger licking good sauce. Now, in stark and obvious contrast, there is the cut of meat sometimes known (incorrectly in my eyes) as flanken or Korean Ribs, which is cut across the bones. The meat is a thinner cut, more meat and less bone, actually a few small bones. This is what the meat looks like, as explained earlier, it is cut across the bones and sliced thinly, allowing it to be grilled (with some marinating ahead of time), sautéed, or seared into perfection. That said, my favorite is still the English cut flanken, with its meaty and heavy flavors, that come to life with a nice sear on all three sides (counting out the bone of course). After the meat is seared nicely, sauté cubed onion, carrots, celery, ans mushrooms in the left over fat. Finish the dish with a nice amount of Johnny Walker or Canadian Club, along with some brown sugar to cut the bitterness of alcohol, for 5 or so hours. Anyway, remember that flanken is with the bone and short ribs are against the bones.
Korean Short Ribs - cut across the bones
For the final pièce de résistance, I present, roasted root vegetables. We had, sweet potatoes, rutabagas, gorgeous red and yellow beets that we roasted until they puckered up and released some of their sweetness. The roasting process helped to extract the water from the vegetables, while concentrating and caramelizing the vegetable’s sugar. Quite a treat and a great pairing for the meat.
To pair with the meat, I went looking for a wine that was fruity, acidic, and had just enough body to keep up with the meat and sweetened vegetables, and I found that in the 2007 Beckett’s Flat Five Stones Margaret River Shiraz. I must say that it is a HUGE upgrade from the lack luster 2006 vintage. In our previous tasting of the 2006 vintage, it came to a screaming halt a few feet after the mid palate, while the 2007 vintage is luscious and full throughout. The wine has not much pepper to be found, but in its stead is a lovely mineral and earthy tone that keeps this wine on its toes.
The wine notes follow below:
2007 Beckett’s Flat Five Stones Margaret River Shiraz – Score: B+
First of all, yes this bottle has a twist-off cap, get OVER it, now to the wine note. The nose on this dark ruby to garnet colored wine is nice with rich plum, raspberry, and cherry undertones, along with deep mineral notes, and a hint of chocolate. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has rich and bright flavors of plum, raspberry, and cherry. The mid palate has some nice oak, bracing acidity, and balancing yet not totally integrated tannins. The finish is bright and long with red fruit and mineral notes along with a few chunks of chocolate.
Mollie Katzen’s Vegetarian Chili and the 2006 Four Gates Merlot La Rochelle
On December 18th we had a slow weekend, so we looked for a fun recipe that we really love, no matter the effort required. To meet that wish, we made Vegetarian Chili from Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook. The cookbook is a classic organization of vegetarian dishes that take the best of their carnivorous brethren, while not leaving you yearning for the meat flavor or texture. The chili is labor intensive, but well worth it, as it has historically been consumed quickly by the both of us, so that leaves us with more work on the short horizon 
. Still it was grand fun to make and consume. I went looking in the cellar for a wine to pair with this magnificent creation, and I luckily chose the 2006 Four Gates Merlot La Rochelle, a wine that I have eyed for some time. The bottle has always been the stepchild of its bigger M.S.C. brother , but that was quickly remedied this week. The wine had its official coming out party and wow it was glorious. The wine clearly overpowered the food, but it was still worth it.
The wine note follows below:
2006 Four Gates Merlot La Rochelle – Score: A-
Wow this wine is starting to fill out and become rich, extracted, and in your face, but with a bit less complexity than its bigger brother the M.S.C. The nose on this garnet to dark garnet colored wine is hopping with rich plum, raspberry, eucalyptus, blackberry, sweet oak, spice, and chocolate. After a few hours, the nose turns darker with cassis and blackberry taking over the nose. The mouth on this full bodied wine is integrating nicely and the tannins create a caressing mouth feel that is coating, but a bit furry still in nature. The fruit carries over from the nose with plum, blackberry, and raspberry, but as it gains more air it turns blacker like the nose, with blackberry and cassis dominating the mouth. The mid palate is balanced with the usual Four Gates core acidity, oak, softening tannins, and spice. The finish is long and lingering with black fruit, raspberry, oak, chocolate, and minerals. This wine has evolved nicely.
Hanukkah Cheese and Wine party with Zinfandel, Viognier, and Bordeaux
This past Hanukkah saw my friends and family gathering around for an evening of cheese, latkes, and wine. The main issue revolves around finding kosher cheese. There are many issues that revolve around cheese for observant Jews, as listed in the link. For some time we observant Jews were left with things like Muenster cheese and American cheese – AHHH!! I am so glad to say that we now have real cheese my kosher friends! For our party we used cheese from many manufacturers. The first one hails from the state of Oregon – Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese. It is a nice cheddar cheese that does not taste like water. The second cheese we had was a lovely and simple Brie from the company called Les Petites Fermieres. The brie was nice and simple and not very complex or stinky, but interesting enough. The interesting part was that we had a chunk of the brie lying around in the refrigerator after the party and man did the brie turn into a nice, soft, stinky, and nutty flavored brie! So if you want the brie to get real interesting – all you need to do is unwrap the package, and leave it lying around in your fridge for a couple of weeks, and man will it turn into what I am used to when I think of brie. The third cheese we had was a simple but fun Les Petites Fermieres Monterey Jack. The Monterey Jack tastes creamy with a mild flavor, and matches well with soft wines. The rest of the cheeses we had on the table were a nice Blue Cheese and a couple of goat cheeses. I was not a huge fan of the Blue Cheese as it wrecked my palate and the goat cheeses were OK, but a bit too mild, to say the least.
For latkes we punted and served potato pancakes from Trader Joe. They were pretty good and that is all one can ask. Finally, we went with many wines – five to be exact. Three disappeared quickly, the Bordeaux was awesome a few hours after the party, and the Italian Zinfandel (Primitivo di Manduria) was quite nice as well, after it finished opening up and smoothing out later that night.
So many thanks for all the folks who came by and the wine notes can be found below:
2007 Château Haut Philippon – Score: B+
The nose on this garnet colored wine is a rich and enveloping nose of loamy soil, cherry, raspberry, cassis, and fig. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is a nice soft wine with an enveloping mouth that is not complex in any way, but after many hours of air, the wine fills out nicely. The tannins are soft but are ever present, along with cassis, and raspberry that mingle nicely. The mid palate is balanced with core acidity and integrating tannins. The finish is long with more cassis and raspberry, rich loamy soil, and soft tannins that linger long on your palate after the wine is gone. The wine fills out with nice mouth coating tannins. This is a nice wine for the price and nice as well because it is Mevushal!
2004 Borgo Reale Primitivo di Manduria - Score: B++
The nose on this light garnet to garnet colored wine is hopping with cherry, cola, raspberry, plum, pepper, mineral, and bramble/earth/dirt. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has integrated tannins, sweet core, ripe fruit, cherry, raspberry, and plum. The mid palate is balanced with core acidity, earth and dirt, along with cola. The finish is a long earthy/dirty finish with red fruit, dirt, and nice intense pepper. A nice Zinfandel wine, that works well. It is not a wine that will fill out, drink up and enjoy.
2005 Hagafen Zinfandel - Score: A-
This wine is now close to its peak and it is opening nicely now, it was the clear winner of the evening. The nose on this purple to black colored wine is black with ripe fruit, blackberry, plum, mounds of chocolate, spice, sweet oak, and vanilla. The mouth on this full bodied wine fills out with mouth coating tannins that are integrating, but still present. The wine shows a rich, black, and full mouth with blackberry, nice tannins, and semi-sweet oak with raisins. The mid palate shows more integrated tannins vanilla, rich and sweet oak, and balanced acidity. The finish is long and supports the wine’s full mouth with more rich oak, vanilla, and bright acid that carries the rich and ripe black fruit, acting like a bow around this lovely package.
2005 Herzog Zinfandel Special Reserve – Score: A-
OK, as an honest human I must admit I hated this wine a year ago! WOW, what a difference a year makes. Man, this wine needs a ton of air, but the wine cleans up really nicely with oxygen. The nose on this light garnet to garnet colored wine has a huge and rich nose that starts with rich oak, ripe Napa fruit, chocolate, plum, raspberry, fig, intense spice, and pepper. The mouth on this full bodied wine is rich and extracted, classic ripe red berry along with rich mouth coating sweet oak tannins that are now well integrated. The mouth softens with air and becomes rich and enveloping, nice. The mid palate is soft with ever present tannins that are going to stay for a couple of years, more sweet oak, and balancing acidity. The finish is super rich and long with sweet oak, ripe fruit layered on top a few shakes of pepper, along with chocolate that is balanced by nice tannins, and more rich ripe fruit. Get a bottle within the next few months and open it and taste it, and then leave it open for a couple of hours and come back and finish it with a table of friends!
2007 Goose Bay Viognier – Score: A-
The nose of this light yet bright straw colored wine was filled with classic Viognier perfume, grapefruit, apricot and citrus aromas. The mouth of this medium bodied wine is strikingly fruity while also being infused with the perfume quality. The mid palate is strongly acidic and laced with grapefruit, lemon, and green flavors. The finish is acidic in an almost puckering way. I must say, that a nice perfumed nose and mouth while still dry, is great with heavy foods like roasted duck or turkey. But because it is so dry, it fails to stand up to spicy foods. Personally, this wine felt a bit lighter than it did before, and maybe it is coming up against the wall. So, if you have a few bottles lying around, drink one now and check out where it is for you.
Behind on my postings…..
Sorry, but I have been behind on my postings and have finally caught up with life. The postings that I will be putting up on line now, are from the past, but I hope the wine notes and information are still useful.
