Category Archives: Wine

Sometimes You Forget Pictures

Posted on September 5, 2012 by AnnieRie

Yeah, I forgot to get the camera to record the awesome skirt steak salad I made for dinner tonight. I did go get it to take a picture of the lovely 11 year old Virginia wine that went with it.

2001 Naked Mountain Raptor Red

Old wines are definitely different. Not as fruit forward. This one, from a stellar year in VA, was still hanging in there nicely. What is interesting about older wines is how they change rapidly as the meal progresses. Upon opening, they can be strange, until they settle out and soften. This one would linger after you swallowed it. Love older wines.

The skirt steak came out of the freezer. A JW Treuth steak from last spring’s CSA. Late last March, so six months in the freezer. My limit for keeping meats. Still very nice. Pan fried in balsamic, olive oil and garlic. Served over a salad.

I was busy today. I processed another boatload of basil to make two ice cube trays full of pesto.

Basil before becoming pesto

Even though I forgot to take pictures of dinner, I do have one great recommendation. While peaches are still in season, get some. Cut them in half. Put them cut side down in a pan with balsamic. Cook them until they soften. We had peaches I picked up outside Kendall Hardware this morning. I put one in the pan after removing the steak. It is amazing how intense the peach flavor is.

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Not Crazy About Cardoons

Posted on September 3, 2012 by AnnieRie

Lots of work. Really woody tasting. Don’t know if it was my method or the cardoons themselves. Oh well, at least the wine was excellent. And, so was the sausage with my tomato sauce.

2010 Boxwood Trellis

The wine was a blend of Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. These grapes generally don’t star in Bordeaux blends, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc being chosen as more dominant grapes. I like the fruit forward aspect of this wine, easy to drink while it is young. It went very well with Italian sausages baked with my chunky tomato sauce.

Sausages with sauce, and cardoons

The cardoons. Who knows? I may not have simmered them long enough, but they were in the pot for an hour and were “fork tender”. I baked them for 45 minutes, with the bechamel sauce, cheese and bread crumbs on top.

Classic cardoons in bechamel

They looked good. And the sauce was good to eat. The cardoons were definitely chewy. Not something I will make again. This is one item that will go into the swap box if I ever get it again from the CSA.

Sometimes you win with the CSA. And sometimes you don’t. Like last year, when I discovered how great salsify was.

Still waiting for the horned melon to ripen. That is another new exciting item in last week’s basket. It is sitting on the windowsill getting yellow in places. CSA baskets can be intimidating or interesting. It is all about how you approach things.

African horned melon, not yet ripe

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Make Mine #vawine

Posted on August 30, 2012 by AnnieRie

Hashtags. Trending. Tweetups. Lots of new jargon to learn. When I started blogging and tweeting, I learned quite a bit about using social media. Today is Cabernet Day in the twitter world. So, people are tweeting about drinking Cabernet Sauvignon.

2005 Linden Avenius Red

83% Cabernet. One of the higher percentages of cabernet in a Linden Red. Only 47 cases produced. A massive wine. With mouth filling flavors, predominantly of cherries.

Dark, rich and not even ready to drink after seven years. Cabernet Sauvignon done right will last at least a decade. The best, two or three decades. We paired this wine with a beef dish.

Take Linden wines and add food. It is nirvana on a plate and in a glass. It is why we chose to collect local wines and cellar them. Sometimes they just amaze us.

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“The Chew” Inspired Dinner

Posted on August 28, 2012 by AnnieRie

OK, now that I am retired, I tend to watch the noon news. A while back, I started watching The Chew, or at least I had the TV on while I was doing other things. It is The Chew that inspired this dinner.

Green Tomato Pasta and Prosciutto and Melon with Arugula

Pasta based on a Mario Batali recipe, as well as the melon salad, based on an MB carpacchio. Oh, let’s not forget the cocktail. A Michael Symon inspired Meyer Lemon Basil Fizz.

A few days ago I made the green tomato spaghetti. I still have lots of greens, and quite a few tomatoes that fall off the vines before they are fully ripe. They ended up in this dish. I did substitute some organic basil and cheese ravioli tonight, and my pesto is one of those mutt varieties. All sorts of greens. Leftovers, so to speak.

This pesto was made with carrot tops, radish greens, mint, basil, parsley, pistachios, pine nuts, parmesan and garlic. Olive oil drizzled in. I didn’t measure anything. It was all done by taste. Sometimes winging it gives you awesome food.

Then, I took those tomatoes that fell off the vines in the storms Sunday night. Sauteed them in olive oil with scallions. Added only salt and pepper.

The pasta was from David’s. A basil based organic ravioli. The salad. Made with arugula, melon and prosciutto. Mario Batali had a melon carpacchio the other day. I don’t have salami around, but had prosciutto. Clean and fresh. You can build layers of flavors using four simple ingredients. Cantaloupe. Prosciutto. Arugula. Pepper.

Melon prosciutto salad

The wine. One of our favorite New Zealand style Sauvignon Blancs from Glen Manor in Virginia. Cuts through that richness of the pesto. I had enough pesto left to keep for another meal. There will be more green tomatoes.

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Eating Locally In Style: RdV Volt Dinner

Posted on August 27, 2012 by AnnieRie

Eating Locally In Style: RdV Volt Dinner.

Eating Locally In Style: RdV Volt Dinner

Posted on August 27, 2012 by AnnieRie

OK, I had to drive over 100 miles round trip to eat food from Frederick. It was so worth it. My foodie and locavore worlds collided, as well as my VA wine addiction. For our anniversary this month, we treated ourselves to dinner at RdV, in Delaplane, prepared by Bryan Voltaggio of VOLT in Frederick. The food and the wines did not disappoint.

RdV

We first met Rutger de Vink when he was an apprentice at our favorite VA winery, Linden. In 2002, he was pouring wine at the barrel tasting of the wonderful 2001 vintage. We lost touch with what he was doing, only finding out that he found his place on a hillside in Delaplane where he planted grapes and started his own winery. Rutger’s mission was to use terroir to the extreme. Granite deep into the ground.

The granite in the cave walls

His first vintage, 2008, sold out quickly to the Ambassadors, his wine club members who took the tour and drank wonderful reds from three year old vines. His 2009 wines, a good year in VA, are stellar. Big, in your face, yet balanced reds. Two of them. Getting there is hard. Make a reservation for a tour. Taste the wines. Buy in. Be guaranteed to buy every year. These wines aren’t available in stores. Only a few restaurants sell them. They are, simply, awesome reds.

2009 Rendezvous, the red we drank last night

The winery holds chef dinners periodically. We were lucky, as two of the 40 people in attendance to have a celebration of local foods with Bryan Voltaggio, paired with wines whose grapes shared that same granite terroir. We had a Loire white, an Alsatian white, a Morgon Gamay and 2009 Rendezvous, with appetizers and dinner. The menu for dinner.

dinner menu, RdV and Volt

The appetizers were served in the upper level of the winery, below that lovely silo. Trout roe with pork skins and arugula cream, clams casino, an incredible sausage on a delicate cracker, all paired with a Muscadet Sevre et Maine sur lie. Then, we descended into the fermentation cellar to be seated and treated to an amazing dinner prepared by the chef. I only have good pictures of the lamb and the dessert. Here are the stars of the dinner.

Lamb, head to hoof

Berries and cream, vanilla shortbread and goat cheese ricotta

Bryan and Rutger enjoying the appreciation after the meal.

So how was the Rendezvous? Exquisite. A baby. Deep, rich, a perfect match for the lamb. This is a wine with the ability to last for years. RdV is certainly raising the bar when it comes to making big reds in Virginia. He learned quite a bit from Jim Law. It will be fun in October to see them go head to head at L’Auberge Provencale. Think of it. Hardscrabble versus Lost Mountain. Terroir squared. I am happy to see Virginia winemakers pushing to elevate their reds to that level of excellence found in Bordeaux. Last night was a magical evening. As we left late in the night, the silhouette of the winery framed the skyline.

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Posted in Adventures, Food, Locavore, Restaurants, SSFC, Wine and tagged commentary, Food, foodie, Linden Vineyards, Locavore, real food, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

The Ultimate Fifteen Minute Gourmet Dinner …

Posted on August 17, 2012 by AnnieRie

… courtesy of Wegmans and my garden. Scallops. I love them and Wegmans has great day boat scallops.

Pan searing sea scallops

Add to that my tomatoes and basil, and my green beans mixed with some romano beans from the CSA, you too could have a killer dinner in 15 minutes.

Fifteen minute local based dinner

The potatoes were microwaved. They came from my CSA. The beans were steamed, then finished in the pan with butter and the scallops. The mozzarella came from Roots. The chocolate stripes tomatoes were from my garden, as was the blue basil.

The wine, Linden, of course. Local, and beyond words. 2009 was a banner year in the area. Hot, dry, and conditions were perfect to make big wines. This Boisseau Chardonnay had the characteristics of a good California chardonnay. Big, bold, a perfect match to the creaminess of the scallops. From start to finish, this dinner was fifteen minutes to make.

Linden VA chardonnay from a great vintage

Dinner cost less than $45, including wine. $25 for wine. $12 for scallops. A few dollars for vegetables, olive oil, marinade and butter. Why go out for dinner when a few minutes with a frying pan will reward you with a dinner this good?

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Patience is a Virtue

Posted on August 10, 2012 by AnnieRie

Have patience and be rewarded with great old wines, like this one.

100% Hardscrabble blend of Cab Franc, CS, Petit Verdot and Merlot

A blend of 44% Cabernet Franc, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Petit Verdot and 11% Merlot. Cellared for at least ten years. Opened for our anniversary last night. We like opening old wines for anniversary dinners. Being patient enough to leave them alone until they have reached that stage of softness, yet lush enough to make you understand why you buy good wine to cellar.

Perfect with lamb chops.

Anniversary dinner

I pan fried the loin and rib chops with garlic, onion, salt pepper and rosemary. Parboiled some CSA potatoes. Made a Jamie Oliver mothership tomato salad with my tomatoes and basil from the garden.

Mixed heirloom salad with African blue basil

I picked up a six pack of Smith Island Cake Pops to savor with the last of the wine. Red wine and dark chocolate is a perfect match.

I enjoy making a fairly simple dinner for anniversaries and opening an old wine from the cellar. This wine did not disappoint. It was hardly showing its age. No brown edges. No off scents on the nose. Deep, rich, complementing the lamb. What is so interesting about these wines, even with the predominance of franc in them, is the absence of bell pepper usually found in VA francs. This wine has cherry and smoky scents, and a long lingering finish.

I am not sure what went best with it. The lamb or the chocolate. Very interesting experience. Glad I still have two bottles in the cellar, to see how they change. If you have never considered cellaring wine, you might.

It is a hobby that gives so much pleasure with less expense than dining out and paying large markups for wine with dinner. Our strategy was to invest in a case from winery visits over the years. Most of the case would be inexpensive whites to drink in the near term, and a few bottles of good wine to cellar. We would put away the good ones and keep them for anniversaries and birthdays. You have to have patience to do this. We didn’t build a fancy cellar with wooden racks. We made them with kits from Conran.

Now, we are rewarded with exceptional wines for special occasions.

Like being married for 32 years.

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Recipes, and Why I am Bad at Them

Posted on August 6, 2012 by AnnieRie

Many times for my SSFC posts I have posted pictures of dinners made to use local foods for the food challenge. Since our current challenge to use local foods for one meal is heading into the season of tons of squashes, I have been trying to find ways to use them creatively.

Last week I made two dinners using almost completely local items, with a few additions. One was my eggplant parm, and another a baked chicken dinner.

Eggplant Parm

Baked chicken thighs with Amish egg noodles and roasted veggies

If I needed to document what exactly went into these two dinners, I would be in deep trouble, because when I cook, I don’t measure. When I bake, yes, when I cook, it is just whatever seems to look and taste good, and whatever I have around the kitchen.

These dinners were from Monday and Wednesday last week, mainly using up CSA items before I got my Thursday pick up. The eggplant Parmesan recipe started out from a web search that went into a half dozen places, including Martha Stewart. I think I used parts of hers but improvised because I had no mozzarella in the house.

The eggplants were a mix of Italian and Japanese. Sliced, salted and allowed to drain out moisture. The sauce was made by mixing all my overripe tomatoes with half a jar of Wegmans organic sauce and a squeeze of tomato paste from the tube in my fridge. See what I mean about measuring? I have no idea how much went into that base.

I didn’t have mozzarella so I mixed grated domestic parmesan from Roots with all the Firefly Farm chevre I had left in the fridge and the last of the Bowling Green Feta, grated. Added a little milk to make it creamier.

Dredged the eggplant in beaten egg, Panko bread crumbs and Parm, added a little salt and lots of pepper.

Coated the bottom of the baking dish (a small deep dish) with olive oil, added sauce, eggplant, cheese, sauce, eggplant, cheese, sauce and topped with the last of the Parm. Baked it for over two hours on a slow cook setting on my oven until it was dinner time.

As for the chicken thighs, same sort of thing. Put olive oil, tomatoes, onions, peppers and chicken in a casserole, Covered the chicken in herbs, salt and pepper. Put it all in the oven on slow cook setting for three hours while doing chores around the house.

Served it with Amish egg noodles. The noodles were homemade by a vendor that sells at the Briggs Chaney farmers market. The chicken came from them also. The egg noodles were quickly boiled at the last minute.

Accompanied this SSFC meal with a local wine. We belong to a cellar club at Breaux. This wine is wonderful with chicken and with seafood. I love the blend.

Breaux Wine served with Chicken

Getting back to recipes. We got a huge eggplant this week. Along with lots of lovely tomatoes, garlic, white peppers. This week’s eggplant dish may actually be a stacked version using the tomatoes and mozzarella I bought at Roots.

Veggies inspiring a variation on Eggplant Parm

Who knows what I will cook next? And, if I will remember what I did put in it? That’s the fun of being in a CSA, getting creative with What’s in the Box.

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Eating Locally: The Fruits of the Vines

Posted on July 16, 2012 by AnnieRie

This week is a fruit themed week in the challenge ten of us are taking to cook seasonally and locally all summer and fall. For me, fruit has to include grapes. At least, the liquid, fermented version of grapes.

Hardscrabble Chardonnay grapes

My Challenge Page with all the SSFC links. We have been blogging since the beginning of June about our experiences with cooking locally. This past week, it was warm and muggy and the summer fruits have been coming into many markets.

Last night after going to Linden to visit, we decided to make a simple fruit related dinner. Fruit salad with watermelon, cantaloupe and tart cherries was the main component. On the side, olive bread with herb butter. The herb butter would also be used on the fresh corn on the cob. A light wine from Glen Manor.

My tomatoes. After all, tomatoes are also a fruit. This plate included orange blossom, red fig, yellow plum, sweet olive and green grape tomatoes, all from my garden. Served with homemade tzatziki using cucumbers and mint from the garden. The yogurt was organic Greek, my free container from the last visit to Wegmans. With South Mountain not at Glenwood Market, I have lost my local source for dairy.

Heirloom tomatoes

Sometimes the simplest freshest meals are the best. Summer fruit and vegetables need little more than salt, pepper, fresh herbs and maybe a drizzle of oil.

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