Daily Archives: January 31, 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.
