Refreshing Riesling

With temperatures solidly in the 80s here on this holiday weekend, refreshing is a high complement for a wine. Whether you're waiting for the grill to heat up or having a picnic on a warm day, a light white wine can be just the thing for a summery day. The 2008 Willamette Valley Vineyards Riesling ($15) definitely qualifies.

This Riesling sports a citrusy bouquet. It tastes of subtle green apple and a touch of honey. There is also a slight effervescence and a nice clean finish, adding to the refreshing quality of the wine. I would note that I'm not a fan of sweet wines, but this has just a touch of sweetness which I find enjoyable. It's low alcohol content (10%) also make it good for drinking on a hot day--you could enjoy it on a picnic and not be out for the count!

The Riesling is the 3rd bottle we've tried from a sampler pack from Willamette Valley Vineyards.The Pinot Gris also qualifies as a refreshing summer wine, though I'd say I like the Riesling a bit better. This Oregon winery has long had a strong commitment to sustainable practices, another reason to enjoy their wines.

I served this wine with a simple pasta dish, Farfalle with Goat Cheese & Greens. I caramelized a vidalia onion, added half a red bell pepper diced and 2 cloves minced garlic along with 2 tbsp of the wine, then wilted about 5 ounces of mixed baby salad greens. I tossed the veggies with the cooked farfalle, goat cheese and a tbsp of lemon.

This Riesling is a versatile food wine--it worked well with this light pasta dish, and I can see it working well also with white fish, spicy Asian food, or as an aperitif.

Full disclosure: This bottle was included in a complementary sampler pack from Willamette Valley Vineyards.

Grilled Tuna Steak with a Gamay Noir

Tuna steaks were on sale last weekend, and it was grilling weather, so it seemed like a good chance to give this Food & Wine recipe a try. This simple preparation has distinctly Mediterranean flavors, with shallots, mustard and ground fennel the primary ingredients for the marinade.

I don't have much experience with tuna, so was looking for ideas for a good wine to serve with it. The Food & Wine article suggests pairing it with a rose from Southern France. Ray & Lori at Pairings make a lot of tuna, and said they typically serve it with a red. I didn't need much convincing to pick up a bottle of the 2007 WillaKenzie Estate Willamette Valley Gamay Noir, a bit of a splurge at about $30.

I'd tried a taste of this Gamay Noir during a recent tasting dinner I prepared, just enough to know I wanted more! Previously I'd only tried this grape featured in Beaujolais, but WillaKenzie has done very well with it in Oregon. This red has a big bouquet, conjuring up images of a forest floor on a summer day. It features a complex, well-balanced taste of raspberries and a hint of charcoal.

This wine definitely picked up the earthy flavors of the marinade nicely. I'd say a light to medium red works well with this dish, but I'd anticipate the rose they mentioned would work well too. This preparation of grilled tuna is tasty, though I cooked it a bit more than optimal--take care if you make this, cooks very fast on the grill!

Pesto & Picpoul

I love pesto--making it, inhaling that basil aroma; and of course eating it many different ways. Nothing says summer (or late spring!) than a quick meal of pasta topped with pesto and some fresh chopped tomatoes. My standby recipe for pesto can be found here.

But I'm not here to simply talk about pesto but rather to discuss wine pairings for pesto. Now, as I've discussed before at the post reference above, this is a food that does have a generally accepted perfect partner--Sauvignon Blanc. Don't get me wrong, I'd still happily drink Sauv Blanc w my pesto--Seaglass or Cakebread would be especially nice. But lately I've been more interested in exploring new wines and combinations, so was ready to try something new.

During a recent visit to Pairings, Ray suggested the 2009 Saint-Peyre Picpoul-De-Pinet from the Coteaux Du Languedoc might be a good match for pesto as well, and he was spot-on with this recommendation. This white grape varietal from Southern France showed bright acidity and a clean crispness that offset the sharp bite of the pesto. Sauvignon Blanc is a safe choice for pesto to be sure, but there are a lot of other tasty whites worth trying with it too!

Cilantro & Lime Marinaded Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle Cream

This dish starts with a marinade which is essentially the same as this pork chop recipe I posted recently. In fact, it was the success of the humble pork chop recipe that inspired this somewhat fancier dish to be featured in a recent dinner party I did (details coming soon, I promise!).

I'll write this version for 1 tenderloin, which is a good amount for a few people, but it scales well (I made 3 for the party). The Sweet Potatoes with Cumin-Sage Butter make a great side for this one!

1 pork tenderloin, about 12-16 ounces

**

For the marinade

3 to 4 tbsp fresh lime juice

2+ tbsp chopped cilantro

2 clove garlic, minced

pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

***

For the cream

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp adobo sauce from small can of chipotles packed in adobo

**

Combine all the ingredients except for pork in a small bowl to make the marinade. Place the pork chops in a large plastic bag, pour the marinade into the bag to cover. Close the bag, shake it up to coat the pork. Marinade for at least 1 hour...most recently I marinaded for 5 hours or so (refrigerated) with good results.

Pre-heat your oven or grill to cook the pork. Remove tenderloin from the marinade, scrape off the bigger pieces of garlic. Place on grill or in oven, 15-20 minutes on a grill medium/high heat should do it, turning once. Pork tenderloin should still have a bit of pinkness, it will continue to cook when resting. Remove from heat and tent with foil while you make the cream.

To make the cream, pour the heavy cream into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 5-10 minutes, until it is reduced to about 3/4 of a cup. Stir in the adobo toward the end of cooking.

Slice the tenderloin and serve with a bit of the cream, passing extra at the table. Enjoy!

Spectacular Sides: Sweet Potatoes with Cumin-Sage Butter

Side dishes are often an after thought for a meal, but it can really take a meal to another level when the side is worthy of attention. I came up with this new recipe for a recent 3 course dinner party, and I'd say this side dish generated perhaps the most positive feedback--both for its taste and because it's a innovative twist on a common dish. It was served with Cilantro-Lime Marinaded Pork Tenderloin and Chipotle Cream.

Two other bits of good news about this one--it's very easy to make, and pretty nutritious (it doesn't take a lot of the flavorful butter to make the nutrient-rich sweet potatoes tasty). You can make other butters following this technique to have on hand as a quick flavor boost for a wide variety of foods.

4-5 large sweet potatoes

1/2 cup milk to start, add more gradually as needed to reach desired consistency

***

For the butter:

8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick), softened a bit (leave out for an hour or so)

juice from 1/2 of a lime

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 sage leaves, chopped

1 tsp cumin

salt & pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to boil for the sweet potatoes. Add the potatoes and cook until soft--they cook a bit quicker than regular potatoes, about 15 minutes should do. As the potatoes cook, combine the butter ingredients in a mixing bowl until everything is well mixed together. You can make this earlier and refrigerate if you like.

Drain the potatoes, add the milk and butter (you might hold back a couple tablespoons and taste first...you can always offer extra butter at the table or add in if you decide upon tasting you want more). Mash in the butter and milk as you would other types of mashed potatoes. Add extra milk and butter as needed, mashing until you reach your desired consistency. Serve and enjoy!

Spring Tasting Menu: Cooking Chat Does a House Call

I used to be a proponent of the George Costanza preventing "worlds from colliding" theory (click here if you need to brush up on your Seinfeld references), but I've increasingly come to see that my "work world" (building social capital) is very compatible with my home world and interests (i.e. cooking). Sharing a meal is certainly a great way to bring people together and build social capital. So for this year's Social Capitalist Luncheon, "building social capital world" I decided to offer a three course meal prepared by your truly as one of our raffle prizes.

Well, things couldn't have worked out better. Out of 330 event attendees, it just so happened that the winner of this raffle prize wound up being the proud parents of one of honorees, Saskia Epstein. And for my first attempt at taking my cooking on the road for a meal like this, I can't imagine more graceful and flexible hosts than Don & Jane (they insisted that I not try a substitution for the lemons I forget!). They assembled a very interesting and wonderful group of people for a fun night of conversation and enjoying good food and wine.

I put together a three course menu where I tried to pick up on some of the things Don and Jane said they liked, and definitely emphasized seasonal ingredients such as the asparagus. I combined some old standbys like pesto crostini with some new creations such as the final course. And had some good help along the way from Ray & Lori at Pairings Wine & Food thinking about the wine and food matches.

Like any fairly serious cook, I can of course think of a few things ways this could be improved, but overall I'd say things went over really well. Here's the menu, with links to recipes and some additional wine info where available.

Preliminary Nibbles

Crostini with Pesto

(skipped the goat cheese for this version)

Spicy Dip & Chips

Cheeses--Camembert & Aged Cheddar

Wine Pairing: Prosecco offered by our hosts!

First Course

Shaved Raw Asparagus Salad with Pecorino Dressing

Wine Pairing: 2009 Fontezoppa Verdicchio di Matelica

Second Course

Seared Salmon topped Olive-Lemon Relish

Served with White Beans & Spinach

Wine Pairing: 2008 Crabilis Vermentino from Sardegna (white)

Reds:

2007 Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir

2007 WillaKenzie Estate Willamette Valley Gamay Noir

(people were also sipping this with the pork)

Third Course

Lime-Cilantro Marinaded Pork Tenderloin

Served with Chipotle Cream and Sweet Potatoes Mashed with Sage-Cumin Butter

Wine Pairing: 2007 Quivira Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel

Dessert

Jane nicely volunteered to handle dessert, I remember it was wonderful and featured fresh berries, but by the end of the night I wasn't taking notes!

Quick Seared Cilantro-Lime Marinaded Pork Chops

I've learned to keep it simple when cooking somewhere other than my own kitchen. Last week we were staying at the River Rose hotel in Yankton, SD. The suite was equipped with a kitchen but like most vacation rentals it was somewhat limited in terms of kitchen equipment (but overall was a great place to stay, very spacious and comfortable--check it out if you're looking for a stop on the Lewis & Clark Trail!).

This pork recipe was in line with the keep it simple principle, but was very tasty. In fact, it passed the toughest taste test of all--our 4 year old! When asked what he thought of it after 1 bite, he wiggled his eyebrows, gave a big smile and said, "Mmm, good!".

1 lb. very thinly sliced boneless pork chops (about 1/2 an inch)

3 to 4 tbsp fresh lime juice

2+ tbsp chopped cilantro

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

Combine all the ingredients except for pork in a small bowl to make the marinade. Place the pork chops in a large plastic bag, pour the marinade into the bag to cover. Close the bag, shake it up to coat the pork. Marinade for 1 hour.

Remove the pork chops from the marinade, letting the excess marinade drip off (but leave some on!). Heat a skillet on medium/high heat, spray with cooking oil. When very hot, add the pork chops. Sear on each side for about 3 minutes (should be a hint of pinkness in the center still; adjust cooking time if chops are thicker). Enjoy! A side of couscous or orzo works well with this.