Back from Napa!

Hi everyone! (Dave Here) I finally went to California and it was amazing. The wine and the food are some of the best in the world. I had a fabulous time tasting all kinds of wines from sparkling whites to rich Cabernet and everything in between. I started out in Napa County and then drove out to Sonoma where I tasted some great wines at Ferrari Carano Vineyards. One of the wines I tried was a chardonnay called Tre Terre (2009). The Ferrari Carano Estate is surrounded by vineyards, but they source grapes from several locations. They have a house chardonnay but I wanted to try the Tre Terre as all the grapes for this wine come from the Russian River Valley, one of the most ideal areas for wine production. This wine was fabulous, rich, fruity and full bodied with notes of toasted pear, caramel, vanilla and spice. The wine was aged in both new Burgundian and older French oak giving it depth and complexity. It is a big wine but incredibly well balanced with bright fruit. A big oaky chardonnay like this is one of Tricia's favorite wines, as well as mine. Ironically enough I thought how delicious this wine would be with crab cakes before knowing that Tricia had a great recipe for them. I recommend the Tre Terre with Tricia's crab cakes (see her latest post). This particular chardonnay is hard to find outside of California, but their house label is readily available all over the country. The styles of both are similar but I will admit, the Tre Terre is more complex. Try a Ferrari Carano chardonnay and Tricia's crab cakes and let us know what you think! Here are some photos of beautiful California.

Cheers!

Dave

Ferrari Carano Tre Terre Chardonnay 2009

The Ferrari Carano Estate

Castello di Amaroza in Napa

Fog over Marin County

Tricia and me in San Francisco

Beautiful Lake Sonoma

Anchors Aweigh

Sorry I've been away for so long, I've been locked in this "secret summer" here in San Francisco enjoying the weather. I can't speak for Dave, your guess is as good as mine where in blue blazes he is, and he owes us a whole write up on Napa and Sonoma! If anyone in Providence sees him please grab him by the shirt collar out of whatever bar you're likely to find him in and drag him back to his laptop.

I'm not a huge beer drinker for various reasons, the biggest that I tend to get too full from having one or two and can't properly enjoy my food or more drinks (always the goal). I have, however, enjoyed on more than one occasion the locally brewed and bottled Anchor Steam beer that is widely served in this city.

My brother was in town over the weekend and I whipped up some great baked pasta for us for dinner one night. That has nothing to do with this post, I have no idea why I mentioned it...but we did head for lunch down at Fisherman's Wharf and I had a delicious crab sandwich that I washed down with a couple of Anchor Steams while I gazed out the window at the Pacific Ocean and the line of fishing boats docked along the side. Looking at the boats docked and the ocean always reminds me of home. New Englanders are known for their lobster and clam bakes and boils, and this beer would go perfect with that. It would also go mighty fine with my crab cake recipe below. I know the secret summer in New England is nonexistent and you're all into that gorgeous fall weather by now. I recommend throwing on a big fall sweater and savoring some seafood and beer:

1-2 lbs lump crab meat (no imitation stuff here, it's gotta be the good stuff)
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 medium purple onion
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg to bind
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 cup mayonnaise
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients and mix (use your hands here). You should be able to form small cakes in your hands and then fry them up in some olive oil in a saute pan until golden on each side, about 4-5 minutes on medium to high heat.

Cheers,
Tricia (Dave is MIA)

Baked Deliciousness

Hello from San Francisco!! Tricia here. I landed just yesterday and after some walking around already have a list of wine bars, farmer's markets (that serve wine) and tastings to get started on so there will be plenty of material to come. Not to mention Dave and I have our trip up to Napa and Sonoma coming in just a few short weeks.

This baked feta recipe is a shout out to our friend Paige who works (in my case worked) at Bacaro with us. It's as easy as an appetizer gets to prepare and make and impresses the masses to boot. I made this just before my departure as part of my best friend's birthday celebration dinner. I also happen to think that when you bake orange and lemon slices, which are part of this recipe but also serve as the garnish here, it adds a really pretty rustic look to any dish.

You can pair this with your favorite Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio, both very similar in flavor profiles. These wines are light and crisp with a good amount of acidity to balance the salty feta.

Baked Feta
1-2 blocks of solid feta cheese (depending on how many you are hosting)
1/2-3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, you can eyeball this, just want to make sure there's a good amount covering the cheese
juice and zest of one orange *easier if you zest first and watch those fingers!
juice and zest of one lemon
fresh rosemary--no need to chop it and probably about 3-4 sprigs' worth will do
fresh ground pepper and a little sea or kosher salt--easy on the salt since the cheese offers up plenty of it

You bake this at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes and done!



Serve over crackers. If you want a little twist on this you can follow the same directions but wrap the feta in phyllo dough first and serve with some crisp granny smith apples to top with it--also a really nice compliment to the Pinot.

Looking forward to posting more from this side of the Mississippi!!

Cheers,
Dave and Trish (Dave's here in spirit)

A Delicious White Wine and Asian Cuisine--The Grill Gets Hot and Dave Gets Hotter!

Tricia and Dave here, finally reunited after some time apart due to our busy schedules. We are getting very excited for our Napa and Sonoma trip in September...if anyone has any places they want to suggest we check out let us know!

Summertime Fusion: Alsace meets Asia and the grill gets hot, white hot!

The wine is Hugel et Fils 2009 Gentil “Hugel”

This wine is from the Hugel family of winemakers which extends as far back as the 1600’s. Alsace, for those of you who aren't aware, is a region of France that borders Germany and Switzerland. Wines from Alsace include Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, among others. This particular wine is a blend known as Gentil and is made from 5 grapes: Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Muscat and Sylvaner.

The wine is dry and refreshing with a crisp acidity. If you sip closely you'll taste beautiful floral and fruity flavors reminiscent of white peach, green apple, wild flower, grass, and freesia. Look for the 2009 vintage as it is one of their best. This wine blends very well with the subtle spiciness of the following dishes (Dave not included):

Asian Slaw
1 (3-inch) piece ginger, grated fine
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 head Napa cabbage, sliced thin
• 1 red bell pepper, julienne fine
• 1 yellow bell pepper, julienne fine
• 1 large carrot, grated fine with a peeler
• 3 green onions, cut on the bias, all of white part and half of the green
• 2 tablespoons chiffonade cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Hot pepper optional

Ginger and Brown Sugar Rubbed Pork Chops:
• 4 bone in pork chops
• 5 tablespoons brown sugar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• A few drizzles of sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• A splash of rice vinegar
• Vegetable oil for the grill

This recipe is easy as can be. All you do is mix everything up in one bowl, marinate the pork, and throw it on the grill. Perfect for summer, but if its winter, the dish can be pan seared and finished in the oven. I’ll give you both preparations.

Summertime is the right time to grill!
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and taste it. It should be sweet and pungent (much like Tricia) with garlic and ginger. You can add more brown sugar or more ginger and garlic if you like it really flavorful...it’s totally up to you. Place the pork chops in a big plastic bag. Pour in the marinade, close the bag and rub the pork chops all over. Get them good and dirty! Let them sit for at least an hour. They can be marinated overnight if it makes your life easier. Next heat up your grill. Medium to high heat works well. Make sure to brush the grill with plenty of vegetable oil. You could use grill spray if you want, but real oil seems more natural and healthy to me. Grill the pork for about 3 minutes on each side or until the pork chops are cooked through. 160 degrees is the recommended internal temperature to ensure you don't end up bent over the toilet later. I happen to think 160 degrees equals overcooked pork. If you buy very fresh good quality chops, there is no reason to feel worried. I suggest taking the pork off when it reaches 140-145 because it will continue to cook as it sits. You can use any meat thermometer, just stick it right in the middle of the chop. Serve the chops with asian slaw and a mixed green salad of your choice on the side.
Winter: Some of you nut jobs probably like to grill in winter but I would much rather turn on the oven. (it’s too cold!) So if you want this pork in January here is my suggestion:

Preheat the oven to 400. Wipe the marinade off the pork and set on a plate. Because you are removing some of the marinade I suggest you choose to marinate the pork overnight. This way it will have lots of flavor. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with vegetable oil and turn the heat on high. Get the oil really hot! Brown the pork chops for 2 minutes on each side and place on a platter. Finish in the oven on a baking sheet for 4 minutes or so until cooked to 145*. Allow to rest for a few minutes before serving. The temperature should rise to 155 by the time you cut into it.

Cheers,
Dave and Trish

Sunday Supper

We all remember my friend Regina who took the beautiful pictures of our Chardonnay throwdown and the author of her own photography blog www.chaperonphotography.blogspot.com. She is the queen of her palace shall we say, which includes her husband Toby and beloved Golden Doodle named Holly. Regina's backyard has undergone a complete transformation since they purchased the house a few years back. With the addition of a stone patio, fire pit and outside lounge furniture we've taken to referring to it as the Lido Deck.

When Gina approached me about doing a wine pairing dinner to open the season on the Lido Deck I was more than happy to oblige. I love summer cooking...it's light and easy. Gina did a beautiful tablescape with linens and fresh flowers and I decided to do simple 3 courses: Tropical Shrimp Salad with a Pineapple Vinegarette, Creamy Lemon Chicken Pasta for the entree and a chocolate raspberry confection to pair with a dessert wine I had in mind from our Jam On It post a while back. The salad would go well with a rose, the main with an oaked Chardonnay, and the sweet Shiraz with it's red fruit flavors could honestly be dessert in itself.

We selected a Portugese Rose from winemaker Casal Garcia. This wine was super inexpensive and recommended by the store owner. It was truly delightful and perfect for a starter wine at our party. It's slightly effervescent with red fruit flavors, strawberry being the most prominent, and good acidity. I had grilled the shrimp for the salad after marinating them in olive oil, salt and pepper. I marinated overnight but as long as you give it a couple of hours the shrimp will be good. The rest of the salad was as easy as you can get: bed of greens, your choice, I used mixed field greens, sliced red onion, pineapple chunks, the shrimp and then the pineapple vinegarette. The dressing is also super simple...you want about 2/3 pineapple juice to 1/3 part extra virgin olive oil, a splash of a white vinegar of your choice (I used a rice vinegar) and a good amount of salt and pepper, taste as you go. Just whisk it all together and you have a delicious, light dressing for your salad. I toasted some crostini topped with gorgonzola cheese to serve with the first course and voila!! We were on our way.

Clos Du Bois out of Sonoma in my opinion does some good wines, again at very affordable prices. I had decided to do a creamy lemon chicken pasta after Regina told me she had 3 lbs of chicken breast she had bought fresh and froze it that she wanted to use in the entree. Once that was figured out, I knew a Chardonnay with some butter and lemon would be the perfect accompaniment...shocker I know since I never really drink Chardonnay (enter sarcasm here). I cooked the pasta, fettucine, in chicken stock and 1/4 cup lemon juice...I was using the whole box of pasta given that dinner was for 7 people so I used 3 cups of chicken stock. The pasta cooks in that for about 20 minutes boiling...that way it absorbs all of the liquid and there's no straining necessary. From there, reduce the heat down and add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon flour and lots of fresh lemon zest to top it. I had grilled the chicken ahead of time after marinating it in olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper so the preparation of the entree was about 30 minutes in total and I didn't have to miss all of the gossip! You can find the Clos Du Bois Chardonnay in almost any liquor store that has wine. Chill in a bucket of water and ice or in the refrigerator before serving. Because of the creamy pasta with the lemon flavors it was a great compliment to the food.

Our friend Jill took dessert off of my hands when she made chocolate raspberry cupcakes that had a raspberry filling. These cupcakes quickly became my best friends and worst enemies all at once. If you remember from the Jam Jar post this wine is a lot of jammy red fruit so the raspberry and the chocolate dessert created a literal match made in heaven. If you're interested in the cupcake recipe email me at tricia.bielinski@yahoo.com and I can see if Jill will relinquesh the secrets!

Obviously Regina needed to snap some shots of the whole thing, below are a few samples of what she took.

Here's To You, Mr. Coop

Well folks...hell may just have frozen over...or pigs might be flying. Either way, our dear David is finally graduating with his second degree in Creative Writing. Praise Jesus because if I had to hear about that thesis one more time I was going to set it afire.

So in honor of David's big day I decided to concoct a cocktail. Now, I never need a reason to think up drinks but when there is one it makes me feel even more successful.

Dave likes his gin. Actually, Dave LOVES his gin. So of course gin is the main ingredient in this little number I've decided to call Coop de Ville...paying homage to Dave's last name of course. It goes a little something like this:

Collins glass filled with ice
4 oz. gin
2 oz. fresh lemon juice
Splash of Chambord

My suggestion is to sugar the rim of the glass and enjoy! Congratulations David!!!

Trish

Cinco de Mayo Cook and Brown Style

Tricia here, happy Friday!

Dave and I have some great posts coming your way including an Argentinian feast and an Alsatian white review. We're coming into a great season for food and wine, not to mention beach and picnics! We appreciate all of your interest and follows and we promise not to disappoint in providing some helpful grapes and summer dinners.

Just a quick note on a great place here in Providence, the Cook and Brown Public House. I hadn't yet been but had been reading some great reviews on it. It was Cinco de Mayo, the weather couldn't make up it's mind and Dave and I hadn't seen each other in over a week and were experiencing withdrawals.

Our solution was to go check it out. Our review: you should go check it out too...GREAT cocktails most of which are the creations of the bartender himself, Jesse Hedberg. Dave tried and loved The Bicycle, which I could tell you more about if he had been a gentleman and offered me a taste...hmph. Regardless, all cocktails are made from the best ingredients with fresh herbs and juices.

We had a couple of lovely starters including a chilled asparagus salad with smoked scallops, croutons and a lemon cream sauce as well as a tempura soft shell crab on a bed of lemony greens and lightly pickled cucumber. The crowning moment was the C&B burger we split...mouthwatering and served with house made chips. We washed this down with a bottle of 2009 Cusumano Insolia from Sicily, a white wine. It had a great nose of floral and leather, which made us think there was some oak involved in the fermentation. It had a full mouth of floral, a little apricot, some vanilla and finished quickly. Absolutely delightful! It went fantastic with the starters which called for a white and stood up to the burger we ordered as well so it was surprisingly versatile.

Cook and Brown is in a beautiful neighborhood at the edge of Providence's East Side. Take a stroll down the Blackstone Boulevard and pop in to try some of their offerings. They also do a brunch from 10-2 on Sundays.

Until next time,

Dave and Trish