Wine Tasting Series Part 2: Pinot Noir and Merlot

 

 

For this week's wine tasting, I wanted to make dishes substantial enough to stand up to Pinot Noir or Merlot, but not too heavy to overpower the wine. So, I made beef carpaccio, grilled rare tuna with fresh pesto, mushroom quiche, truffle oil crostinis, pasta with grape tomatoes and basil, and served gruyere cheese.

Le Perriere, Roux Pere & Fils, Mercurey
Pinot Noir(Grands Vins de Bourgogne), 2010, Cote D'Or(Burgundy, France)
Price: $26.00

I don't remember too much about this one. It fell in about the middle of the pack.

Benton Lane
Pinor Noir, 2011, Willamette Valley(Oregon)
Price: $26.99

Very light at first taste. After it was opened and aired out for 30 minutes, the complexion of the wine changed. It developed it into a bolder wine, which was very smooth, not dry, with a touch of fruit flavor and a long spicy finish. Went from one of my least favorites to one of my favorites after airing out.

Napa Cellars
Pinor Noir, 2011, Napa Valley(California)
Price: $18.99

This one was very good. Easy drinking and some fruitiness on the front end. One of the crowd favorites and a good buy for the price.

Haut Medoc du Haut Beyzac
75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Savuginon(Grand Vin de Bordeaux), 2007, Haut-Medoc(Bordeuax)
Price: $17.50

Not much fruitiness, a little dryer and earthier than the Napa Cellars.

Sbragia
Merlot, 2007, Sonoma County(California)
Price: $24.00

This on packed a punch and was probably my favorite. It was robust, and at almost 15% alcohol, it carried some weight and full body. It displayed some rich dark and red fruit on the front end, with a smooth dry finish. I normally don't drink Merlot, but I'd buy this one again. Paired well with the beef carpaccio.

Planeta La Segreta
Nero d'Avola Blend, 2011, Sicily
Price: $12.99

Bright and fruity. Not much dryness and very smooth. This was also a crowd favorite, and sells at a price that is very affordable for an everyday wine.

Quiche

Crust
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
8 tbsp. butter, cut into cubes
3-4 sprigs of thyme
4 tbsp. ice water

Filling
1 lb mixed mushrooms(I used baby bella, shitake, and white)
1 leek
1 clove garlic
1 bunch rainbow chard(or other chard or greens)
1/4 cup goat cheese
1 cup shredded fontina
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
chives
dash of white pepper and nutmeg
salt and pepper

For the crust, mix together first 3 dry ingredients. Use pastry cutter(or food processor if you have one) to mix in butter, until the butter is the size of small peas. Stream in 4 tbsp. of cold ice water, until the dough pulls together but is still crumbly. Knead the dough into a ball and wrap it and put it in the refrigerator for an hour. When its rested, roll it out on a floured surface and line a pie pan. Put it back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. When baking at 350, line the crust with parchment paper and fill with baking beans for the first 20 minutes. Then, take the beans out, poke the bottom crust with a fork, and bake for 10-15 minutes until it browns. Cool the crust to put filling in.

For the filling, sauté the leeks in olive oil for 3-4 minutes, then add the mushrooms. Sauté until mushrooms have sweated out and browned. Add the chard and garlic(along with a little S&P) and sauté until the chard was wilted down.

Put the mushroom mixture in the pie crust after it has cooled. Layer the cheese over the mushrooms. Mix together the eggs, milk, cream, chives, spices, and salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture over top of the cheese. Bake the quiche for 30-35 minutes at 350, or until cooked through and browned. Let cool 15 minutes before cutting.

Pesto Tuna

Tuna
2 tuna steaks
thyme
red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
olive oil

Pesto
1 bunch basil
1 tbsp. pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup parmesan
salt and pepper
olive oil

Grind the pesto with a morter and pestle. Start with salt, garlic, and pine nuts. Next, add the basil as space permits. Next, add the parmesan cheese. Finish by streaming in olive oil until you reach desired consistency. This can also be done in a food processor for a quicker alternative.

Combine all the Tuna ingredients in a bowl with a spoonful of pesto. Toss and let the tuna marinate for 20 minutes. Heat the grill to really high heat. Sear the tuna for 30 seconds per side. Slice thinly and serve with the fresh pesto.

Beef Carpaccio

The best way to slice the meat is to put it in the freezer for 3 hours or until it starts to firm up. Slice it thin and pound it out as thin as possible. Served with arugula and shaved Parmesan. I drizzled olive oil over the dish, seasoned with salt and pepper, and finished it by squeezing half a lemon over the whole planter. It is important to use filet mignon of really good quality, as you are eating it raw so you need to trust the store you're buying from.

Biscuit with chicken sausage and tomato-fennel salsa

 

Using my Southern Buttermilk Biscuits and freshly ground chicken-apple sausage, served with a poached egg and fennel-tomato salsa on top.

 

The fennel-tomato salsa was quick in easy. Pulse in a food processor about a cup of grape tomatoes, 1/4 cup each of red onion and fennel, 1 clove garlic, a couple sprigs of fresh parsley and cilantro, 1-2 tsp red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper. Make sure to let it sit for 15-20 minutes before serving so the vinegar mellows out the raw onion and fennel.

Southern Eggs Benedict

 

Fresh Buttermilk Biscuits

Breakfast Sausage Patties(I used fresh ground homemade)

Roasted Tomatoes

Poached Eggs

Hollandaise Sauce

 

For the roasted tomatoes, I used a cast iron skillet which I had just used to cook the sausage. (Poured out the grease but didn't wipe out the residual.)

 

Use your favorite hollandaise sauce recipe. (I forgot to write down what I used.)

 

Classic Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

6 tsp butter, cold (plus extra to brush tops)

1 cup buttermilk, cold

Mix first 5 ingredients(dry ingredients) in a bowl. Cut up butter into cubes and lay on top of the flour mixture. Put the bowl in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

 

Once the flour and butter is chilled, take a pastry cutter and cut the butter into the flour, until the butter is the size of small peas. Be careful not to over work, as you still want pieces of butter in there. Pour in the buttermilk and combine. It is important to move quickly through these steps. You will likely need a few extra splashes of buttermilk to soak up all the flour. Put the dough on a flour surface and fold the dough over itself 3-4 times maximum(no more). Pat the dough out about 1/2-3/4 inch thick roughly into a rectangle(see picture). Cut in half long-ways with a floured knife, then divide each strip into 3, creating a total of 6 biscuits. (You can split in half once each way to make extra large biscuits.) Place on a foiled baking sheet, close together(helps create steam and makes the biscuits rise), and brush the tops with butter. Bake 10-12 minutes(I usually do second rack down to help the tops brown).

 

Note: If you want another little sweet touch, sprinkle sugar on them after you brush the tops with butter.