Sancerre and Scallops!

Hello (Dave here) So I live in Rhode Island, the Ocean State and I absolutley love seafood, scallops in particular. I was looking for something I could make as an appetizer with a good Sancerre and the scallop won.

Sancerre is a region of France located within the Loire Valley. Most readily available is the white version of Sancerre known as Sancerre Blanc. The grapes in this wine are Sauvignon Blanc, and the flavors are marked by refreshing citrus on the nose with a grassy, green peppery gooseberry finish. It has a crisp acidity which cuts through the briny savory scallops. Lucien Crochet makes a great Sancerre but in general, if it says Sancerre on the bottle, its probably good.

Let yourself go and drown yourself in a sea of Sancerre. If you manage to survive, and you still know where you are, try the wine with my seared sea scallops. I serve them with a corn, pepper, and scallion salsa.


Seared Sea Scallops with Corn, Pepper and Scallion Salsa

6 Sea Scallops
3 ears of fresh corn cut off the cob, or a cup of frozen corn
2 scallions, chopped using green and white parts
Fresh Basil, purple, green, whatever, different kinds are great!
olive oil
salt
pepper
lime juice and zest from 1 lime
1/2 a red pepper

To make the salsa, sautee the corn, red pepper and scallions together for a couple of minutes. Add the lime juice and zest and sautee for a minute. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Toss in the fresh basil and stir off the heat. Set the salsa aside.

Heat a sautee pan on high heat with enough olive oil to coat the pan. When the oil is smoking add the scallops. Sear on each side till brown (1 1/2 minutes or so on each side). Place a pile of salsa on each plate and serve with a scallop on top as an appetizer.

Rubber Chickens Are For Pranks

Hello everyone! Dave here, thrilled and delighted to present a new wine with one of my favorite culinary creations. I was asked the other night to make chicken. "We want chicken for dinnah" was the actual request.

Now, chicken in and of itself is boring. If not made with love, chicken is often flavorless, dry and best reserved for your dog. But with a little endorsement from the international department of flavor, your chicken can go from dog food to award winning masterpiece.

In fact, being asked to make chicken is kind of a gift. Chicken is a lot like tofu because it tastes like whatever you pair it with. Weather it be fruit, vegetables, herbs or spices, chicken will always taste as good as what you put into it.

With that said, when asked to make chicken I got really excited. I wanted to incorporate big flavors and make it really good. I also knew that I wanted an interesting red to go with it. I went shopping for the wine first (which I don't always do) and decided on a red from Sonoma County made by Ferrari Carano. The wine is called "Sienna" in reference to Tuscany where Sangiovese is the big boy grape of choice, most famously used to make Chianti. Sienna is a blended wine composed of mostly sangiovese with malbec and syrah added to the mix. The wines are vinified seperately, then blended and aged in a combination of French oak and Hungarian puncheons (which are like big casks). Because of this type of fermentation, the wines are rich, complex and incredibly supple.

I decided to pair this wine with a robust Orange and Rosemary Chicken. It has become one of my favorite dishes and I know you will love it also. I chose bone in chicken thighs for this preparation because they are one of the best kept culinary secrets. Everyone wants the expensive boneless chicken breast, but really the thigh is where its at. The flavor is delicious and the price is low. Trust me, this chicken will knock your socks off.

Orange and Rosemary Glazed Chicken

4 bone in skin on chicken thighs
olive oil (doesn't have to be the best but don't use the cheap crap either)
2 big cloves of garlic (or 3-4 small ones)
2 oranges, 1 zested, both juiced
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375. Salt and pepper the chicken thighs. Heat up a large flat pan with enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan plus a little extra. Make sure its good and hot (a little smoke is ideal). Add your chicken thighs to the pan skin side down and sear until brown (2 minutes or so). Remove and place on a sheet pan and roast for 10 minutes or until cooked through. While the chicken is roasting, take the pan you seared the meat in and pour off some of the fat, leaving enough to coat the pan. Turn the heat on to medium and add the garlic and rosemary. Sautee until fragrant (1 minute) then add the orange juice honey and orange zest. Stir everything together then add the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and add the butter. Cook until the sauce thickens. Taste for salt and add as needed. Take your cooked chicken thighs and coat them with the sauce. Serve with Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage and Brown Butter. Add a simple green salad for color and nutrition and poof....like magic....dinner is served!

Butternut Squash with Sage and Brown Butter

1 Butternut squash, peeled and diced
1/2 a stick of unsalted butter (life is too short to deal without. Just go to the gym for an extra hour)
1/2-3/4 cup of milk and more if needed
a handful of sage leaves, chopped
salt to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the squash and boil for 12 minutes or until very tender. Drain the squash and put back in the pan. Meanwhile, add the half stick of butter to a sautee pan and cook on medium heat until the color starts to brown and the aroma starts to smell nutty and aromatic. Add the chopped sage and let it sizzle for a few seconds. Then add the milk slowly off the heat, stirring vigorously. Add to the squash and mash everything. Add salt to taste and more milk if it seems dry. The amount of milk depends on how big the squash is. I also like to add freshly grated parmesan cheese on top. Make sure you use a good quality cheese like parmigiano reggiano. Enjoy!


Dave

BQ, This One's For You

I have had the privilege throughout my career in recruitment of working with some of the best people that are in that line of business that I am also humbled to be able to call friends of mine. I had lunch with a former boss the other day who is aware that I am studying wine in an effort to eventually leave this wonderful world that is IT recruitment and he asked a question that got my wheels turning.

He asked what the best $12 bottle of wine was out there. Now, that's a bit of a loaded question, mostly because there are endless bottles of wine everywhere, in different stores, different states, different countries...the possibilities are literally limitless, so it's tough for me to give an accurate or even educated answer to that question.

The Duckhorn Wine Company out of the Anderson Valley in California turns out some of the best wines to ever be drank in my opinion and are also highly accessible. There are several wines that are produced by Duckhorn, but the Merlot according to my counterpart Dave is like velvet in a glass (I have yet to sample it).

They produce a less expenses line of their varietals called Decoy (look for it in your local liquor store)..it's not $12 but it's pretty close to that and the 2009 Pinot Noir will knock your socks off, I guarantee it.

Go get yourself some, light a fire and thank me when you swallow your first sip BQ.

Cheers,
Dave and Tricia

All My Cheesy Ladies

Oh my how long it's been my friends! First off, a very happy new year to all, I hope your holidays were as indulgent and relaxing as mine.

I am back from the left coast, I landed in the Ocean State on December 1 to the very welcome sight of my best friend's husby with my car ready to go for a few drinks and a bite to eat (Best Friend was to be picked up along the way in case you were wondering...with a much anticipated visit with my favorite child, their son Ryan, along the way).

Words cannot explain the feeling I felt when I landed back home after being gone for four months, it was that feeling of a blanket that is fuzzy and warm being wrapped around you. I have to say it was a mixed bag being out there for as long as I was. I lived in an amazing area (the Marina district), saw some amazing things, met some amazing people. Not a bad stint if you ask me. That being said, I realized more than ever a few things: a) I'm an east coast girl, not a west coast chick 2) Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the union, but in my opinion it's by far the best and f) nothing will make you appreciate home more than being gone for a long time.

Now, that's not to say my time out there was spent pining away for my beloved home...I made the most of it and really benefitted all around from it, personally, professionally...it was all good.

One of the best parts of SF?? The Cheese School...and I capitalize that because it's literally called that. Can you sing "Dreamweaver"??

Needless to say I had to explore and took a Cheeses of the Pacific Northwest class with a girlfriend from work. I won't bore you with all of the details, but for those of you who entertain, appreciate some cheese and wine from time to time, etc. will want to note the following that I learned:

-the really salty cheeses pair best with sparkling wines...impress your girlfriends by buying a nice bleu cheese and a reasonable bottle of Prosecco or Cava (cheaper than Champagne)

-semi hard cheeses tend to be the most red wine friendly cheeses--think cheddar if you're opening a bottle of that big California Cabernet tonight

-if you are a lover of Sauvignon Blanc (and I know a lot of you are, particularly in the summer) it pairs well with goat cheese, which is only produced in the Loire Valley in France. No mistake here the Loire Valley also puts out some of the world's best Sauvignon Blanc

And for all of my girls out there that like to do their Ladies Nights--12 Kung Fu Girl Riesling is a great wine for drinkers of all ages and phases and is extremely "cheese friendly".

Ladies (and gents)--I urge you to go out with just those few points of knowledge I've just bestowed upon you and revamp your cheese and wine nights...it's my gift to you from San Francisco :)

The best part about this blog? David is sitting right next to me typing out his own while we share a bottle of Pinot Noir...it's good to be home.

Cheers,

Tricia and Dave

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)