Photo from adactio

ZUCCHINI SOUP WITH CINNAMON, CUMIN AND BUTTERMILK

Serves 4

This is a quick, and simple soup. It’s a wonderful base to which you can add all manner of things including cooked shrimp, sautéed mushrooms, spring peas, etc. I often will drizzle on a little fragrant nut oil as a garnish. Serve the soup chilled or at room temperature. We don’t always think about room temperature soups but it’s a nice variation on a warm day.

1 pound trimmed zucchini
2-1/2 cups rich chicken or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon seeded and minced serrano chile, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1-1/2 cups good quality buttermilk
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Garnish: Chopped fresh cilantro or mint and lime or lemon wedges

Chop zucchini in large chunks. Add broth to a soup pot, bring to a boil and add zucchini. Reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until zucchini is barely tender but still bright green. Off heat and cool.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a small, non-stick frying pan. Add onion, chile, fennel, cinnamon and cumin, and sauté until onion is soft but not brown and spices are fragrant.

Put both mixtures into a food processor and pulse until well chopped but still with some texture. Pour into a bowl and stir in buttermilk and season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill for at least 2 hours. Serve garnished with a sprinkling of cilantro and added drops of lemon or lime juice to taste.

Recommended Wine: The tart buttermilk, fresh herbs and spices would go best with a crisp, clean chilled white wine with similar flavors such as a Sauvignon Blanc. Italian whites such as Pinot Grigio and Spanish whites such as Albarino would also work fine.

COLD CUCUMBER AND HONEYDEW MELON SOUP WITH CRAB

Photo from Robert Verzo

Serves 6 – 8

The combination of the cucumber and honeydew is an intriguing flavor combination and also visually interesting. Being a west coast boy, I think Dungeness crab is the best, but use whatever you like. I’ve used cream here to add richness to the soup. You could also leave it out or substitute buttermilk if desired. All are good. I recommend serving this in wide shallow bowls for best dramatic effect!

2 quarts roughly chopped peeled and seeded English (burp less!) cucumbers
1 quart roughly chopped and seeded ripe honeydew melon
3 tablespoons or so fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
Salt
Drops of hot sauce
10 ounces fresh picked crab meat (1 cup or so)
3/4 cup seeded and diced yellow and/or red tomatoes
1/2 cup diced firm ripe avocado
2 teaspoons each chopped fresh chives and tarragon (or basil)

Garnish: Fresh herb sprigs and/or chopped nasturtium flowers and leaves, if available.

Add cucumbers, melon, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and sugar to a food processor and puree until smooth. Strain through a medium strainer pushing down on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Stir in cream and season to taste with salt and hot sauce. You should end up with about 1 quart of soup. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Gently combine the crab, tomatoes, avocado and herbs. Season to taste with salt, hot sauce and lemon juice. To serve: Gently press crab mixture into a 1/4 cup or so measuring cup and unmold in the center of a large, flat soup plate. Ladle chilled cucumber mixture around and garnish with herbs and/or nasturtiums.

Recommended Wine: There is a bit of sweetness in this soup and you’d want to try to find a nice chilled white with a similar level. Look for a Chenin Blanc, Riesling or Gewürztraminer that has a bit of residual sugar in it.

Photo from B Rosen

At sports victories we’ve all seen the winners shaking a bottle of champagne and then opening it so the cork flies off and the wine showers out of the bottle.  Fine for a sports celebration, but you definitely don’t want to do that at home.  Here are a few tips for properly and safely opening sparkling wines:

1.    Always remember that a bottle of bubbly can be dangerous.  It’s packed with six or so atmospheres of pressure (90 pounds per square inch) within each bottle.  That’s about the same as a truck tire.  Never, never point the cork toward anyone (including yourself) when you open the bottle.

2.    Be sure to chill the bottle before opening, to at least 45 degrees or lower.

3.    Make sure the bottle hasn’t been handled roughly before opening.  You don’t want to agitate the carbon dioxide gas and make it even more explosive.

4.    Hold your thumb on the cap with your left hand as you remove the wire cage.

5.    Hold the bottle at 45 degrees and then turn the base of the bottle with your right hand to loosen the cork.  The cork should be released with a hiss and not a pop.  You don’t want to lose any of those precious bubbles!!
A final note – -Pour the wine slowly into the glass so it doesn’t foam over and be sure your glasses are sparkling clean.  Glasses with any soap or other residues hinder the bubbles!

At the retreat, my assignment was to create a couple of simple dishes that attendees could make at home and that matched to the earthiness and complexity of Kosta Browne’s amazing Pinot Noirs.  Below are the recipes.  I hope you’ll enjoy!

WILD MUSHROOM PATE

Makes enough to fill a 3-cup mold or dish

The simplicity of this recipe belies its great taste.  Serve with crisp little croutes, toasts or crackers of your choice and, as the French do, with some little cornichons and grainy mustard on the side.

1 ounce dried wild mushrooms such as porcini
5 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped shallots or green onions (white part only)
1-1/4 pounds thickly sliced fresh wild or exotic cultivated mushrooms*
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons curry powder or to your taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup toasted, preferably unsalted cashews
2 tablespoons toasted nut oil such as walnut or olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, chives and/or basil
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Rinse the dried mushrooms quickly and let soak in warm water to cover for 15 minutes.  Drain, squeeze dry and chop.

Heat the butter in a large sauté pan over moderately high heat.  Add the shallots, all mushrooms, garlic, curry and cumin and sauté and stir until mixture is just beginning to brown and all liquid has evaporated.

While mushrooms are cooking add the cashews to a food processor and process till finely chopped.  Add oil and continue to process to make a paste or butter.  Add the mushroom mixture and process till almost smooth.  Stir in the herbs and zest and season with salt and pepper to your taste and place in a 3-cup pate mold or other ceramic dish.  Can be stored covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.  Allow to return to room temperature to serve.

*A caution here – - only use wild mushrooms that you are certain are edible.  If you are not a hunter you can certainly substitute wild or cultivated mushrooms found in the market such as chanterelle, shiitake, cremini, portabella, oyster, etc.

COUS COUS RISOTTO WITH OLIVES, ARUGULA AND SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

Serves 4 – 6 as a main course

This recipe uses a kind of cous cous known as moughrabiye or Israeli cous cous.  It is made from the same toasted semolina as the regular granular Moroccan cous cous with which we are most familiar.  Israeli cous cous is larger in size and round- about the size of whole peppercorns.  There are even larger ones made known as Lebanese cous cous which can also be used in this dish.  They are about the size of petite peas and take longer to cook.  This also makes a nice side dish or base for simply cooked meats, fish and poultry.  The great thing about cous cous is that you can make a risotto in half the time of a rice-based version.  Additionally, cous cous is a little more “forgiving” in that it doesn’t completely mush out as it sits!

1/2 cup chopped shallots or green onions (white part only)
1 tablespoon slivered garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups large Israeli type cous cous
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups rich chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted olives such as Cerignola
2 cups or so baby wild arugula
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup (or more) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Garnish: Fried basil sprigs and drops of truffle or smoked olive oil, if desired.

Sauté the shallots and garlic in olive oil until lightly colored.  Add the cous cous and sauté for a minute or two longer.  Add the wine and 1/2 cup of the stock and stir occasionally until liquid is nearly absorbed.  Add remaining stock in half-cup increments and continue to cook and stir until stock is nearly absorbed.   Continue in this manner until the cous cous is tender but still has some texture (about 10 minutes total).  Stir the olives, arugula, tomatoes, zest, chives and cheese into the risotto. Serve immediately in warm bowls topped with the basil sprigs and the truffle oil.

Photo from isante_magazine

I’m sharing Tom Simoneau’s “Best Wines of 2010″, which I think you’ll find interesting.  Tom is “The Wine Guy” on KSRO radio where I have my show, “The Good Food Hour”, broadcast every Saturday morning at 11 AM Pacific.  You can hear it live on the net or check out archived shows at www.ksro.com.  If you are in Sonoma County you can hear the show at 1350 AM.

Be sure to share your thoughts on these wines after you’ve tried them.  I’d love to hear what you think!

Tom Simoneau’s Wines of the Year 2010

Best Whites:
•    Sparkling Wine : J Vineyards and Winery, 2001 Vintage Brut, $50. Always among the top California Sparklers. Owner Judy Jordan and wine maker George Bursick make up a dynamic duo in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley.  250 million bubbles in each bottle. It has just been discovered that Champagne bubbles contain up to thirty times more flavor than the wine itself. The bubbles act like a flavor escalator.

•    Chardonnay: Saintsbury, 2008 Carneros , $19. From the original cool region appellation, lots of talk about the Russian River, but don’t forget Carneros. Multi-clone, 100%ML, unfiltered, and lees stirred – a classic. And it’s screw capped.

•    Sauvignon Blanc: Lake Sonoma Winery, 2009 Dry Creek Valley, $14. Lean and lightly grassy, delicious. Lake Sonoma Winery – part of Heck Estates which also includes Korbel, Kenwood, and Valley of the Moon.

•    Alternative White:  Hess Collection, Gruner Veltliner 2009 Small Block Series Mount Veeder, $36. This hard to find varietal with Austrian roots is worth a search. Hess is not afraid to stretch the envelope and I applaud them. Melon, granny smith apple, and snap peas.

•    Off Dry White:  Mill Creek Vineyards and Winery, 2009 Gewurztraminer, Dry Creek Valley, $19. How does that song go? “We are family.” Local boy and girl make good owners. Bill and Yvonne Kreck both attended Healdsburg High. Bill’s dad planted their Cab in 1965. Their son Jeremy is the winemaker while his brother Brian runs the web. Can you say locavore?

•    Rosé:  Boeschen Vineyards, 2009 Katie Rosé Merlot, St Helena, $20. I first discovered Boeschen through the Napa Valley Vintners and St. Helena Star Tasting Group. Every time I taste them, Boeschen is in my top three. This year’s discovery – a father, son, and son-in-law team.

•    Best Value White: Chateau St. Jean, 2008 Chardonnay Sonoma County, $14. Solid, best value, available everywhere, often discounted. Food friendly sipper that is a can’t miss, if you like Chardonnay, you’ll like this wine.

•    Dessert Wine: Merry Edwards, 2008 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley, $39 for the 375ml. Miss Russian River Valley known for her stunning Pinot Noirs scores big with this sweet nectar from the wine gods. Fruit drops, cane cut, bird netted, picked on Halloween, cold soaked, then finally barrel fermented producing a wine begging for fois gras, if you are so inclined, or dessert in the form of a white peach gallette.

Best Reds:
•    Cabernet Sauvignon:   Rodney Strong Vineyards, 2007 Reserve Alexander Valley, $45. Rodney Strong was a pioneer of Sonoma County’s modern wine industry. The Klein family purchased the winery in 1989. Every bottle of wine produced under their ownership has Sonoma County on the label. Their commitment to Sonoma is second to none. And this reserve is a great example.

•    Zinfandel: Wilson Winery, 2008 Sawyer Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley, $34. In the Dry Creek Valley the name Wilson is synonymous with Zinfandel. Fruit forward and perfectly balanced. An electrifying, yum, yum of a wine.

•    Rhone Style: Bella, 2007 Syrah Lily Hill Estate Dry Creek Valley, $40. Bella Vineyards is a family owned red wine house located deep in the heart of Dry Creek Valley. Bella, Italian for beauty, was named after owners Scott and Lynn Adam’s daughter, Julia Belle.

•    Blended Red: Lancaster Estate, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, $65. A blend of all five of the Bordeaux varietals from their Alexander Valley hillside estate. 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 9% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. Could be the best yet from Lancaster.

•    Luxury Red: Opus One, 2006 Oakville, Napa Valley, $160. The head of the class. Opus One, the original cult wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon based wine with all 5 Bordeaux Varietals, 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 5% Cab Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, 3% Malbec.

•    Alternative Red: Kent Rasmussen, Esoterica, 2007 Cabernet Franc, Napa Valley, $40. Originally intended for use as a blending component in their Cabernet Sauvignon, their Cab Franc was so good they bottled it separately and with one taste you’ll be glad they did.

•    Best Value Red: Columbia Crest, 2007 Grand Estates Syrah, Columbia Valley, $12. Washington State ranks second only to California in total U.S. wine production. Land cost and grape prices are the reason Washington State equals big wine value. And Columbia Crest is big on value and taste.

•    Most Fun Wine:  Parducci, True Grit 2007 Petite Sirah, Mendocino County, $29. So good they named a movie after the wine… or was the wine named after the movie? The latter is correct and let’s just say this is a John Wayne of a wine. True Grit the movie, the wine, the sequel.

•    Alternative Packaging: Black Box Wines, 2008 Malbec Argentina, $24.99 for 3 liters. The wine business is global and a wise wine consumer can find value if he or she is not afraid of innovation. Wine in cans, in plastic, and in boxes. Big on value and on the environment.

•    Pinot Noir:  Goldeneye, 2007 Anderson Valley, $55. Dan and Margaret Duckhorn of Duckhorn Vineyards established Goldeneye with the goal of creating a Pinot Noir house of equal stature to their Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot. They chose Anderson Valley and the wine defines the flavor of this Mendocino Appellation.

Merlot:  Duckhorn Vineyards, 2007 Napa Valley, $52. Duckhorn Vineyards was one of the first North American wineries to champion the idea of producing exceptional quality Merlot as a stand-alone varietal. Duckhorn played a big part in creating Merlot popularity. This ’07 is outstanding.

Winery of the Year: Duckhorn Vineyards. Since Duckhorn Vineyards was founded in 1976 they have grown slowly and thoughtfully through the years. Today the brands include not only Duckhorn, but Paraduxx, Decoy, and Goldeneye. Are you detecting a theme here? Hint – waterfowl. New Zealand born Bill Nancarrow is the executive winemaker.

Photo from It's Holly

A few more thoughts about collecting and cellaring wine:

• Wine is best kept in the dark.  While incandescent or fluorescent lights seems to have no effect over the short term, long term exposure to light can affect the quality of wine especially whites and sparkling wines.  In France a lot of work has been done on the effect of ultra violet rays on Champagne.  Apparently in certain circumstances ultraviolet can lead to the creation of hydrogen sulfide, which gives off an odor similar to rotten eggs or cabbage.  The condition is known as gout de lumiere.

• Let wine rest in the cellar, especially precious old wines, after they’ve been transported.  Active motion seems to “stir things up” and subtleties can be lost.  A fragile old beauty may need a rest of 2 or more weeks before it’s opened.

• Although attractive shelving can be beautiful in a cellar, I prefer to leave bottles in their case.  Cardboard cases are good insulators and bottles are protected even better when wrapped in newspaper.  Both of these help maintain constant temperature and keep out the light.

• Wine as an investment:  If you are serious enough to build a cellar then it means you have some interest in wines.  For a short time in my life I actually got infatuated with the idea of buying wine, holding it in my cellar for a few years and then selling it at a gigantic (I hoped) profit.  I came to realize that this isn’t why I bought wine.  I bought wine for the love of its flavors and more important my ability to share it with my friends and family.  To see it only for its commercial value demeaned why I came to it in the first place.

• Collecting more wine than I’ll ever consume:  I have finally resolved this.  I’ve given myself permission to collect as much as I can afford, never to hoard it and share it at every opportunity.  If there is some left over in my cellar when I pass on, then what a wonderful gift to my children and friends!

1. How much wine could I realistically expect to consume before it began to fade?

2. How much could I afford?  I unfortunately was becoming a bit addicted and was beginning to collect some impressive trophy wines.  As I look back now I’m not sure who exactly I was trying to impress!

3. How much space did I have to properly store the wine and what did it mean to “properly store”?

When you store wine, you need to realize that wine is a “living” thing.  Like it or not, from the moment that a wine is bottled there is a gradual, seemingly imperceptible but absolutely inevitable, change in the flavors in the wine.  Two bottles filled with the same wine and stored in the same conditions will be different over time.  In the beginning the young fruit flavors dominate but over time as these soften and diminish through the action of chemical changes (basically aging of the polymers) and sometimes bacteriological influences.  The “loss” of the primary, up-front fruit flavors will usually (but not always) be more than offset by the gain in secondary flavors and characteristics. Even with all the tools that modern science has for analysis such as gas chromatographs or ultraviolet and infrared spectrophotometers, the reasons for the flavors that develop is still not clearly understood.

The whole question of which wines to age and for how long, unfortunately is a bit of a crapshoot.  Since none of us have exactly the same preferences and tastes, YOU, in the final analysis, have to be your own judge and jury.  This means that you’ll need to monitor the progress of your wine by sampling a bottle or two over time to determine when it hits its peak for you.  Obviously this is one of the great reasons to have a cellar!  Again, a good merchant can help council you in this process and give you some time ranges to operate within.  Usually, (but not always) the best candidates for cellaring are red wines with their tannins and color (mostly anthocyanins).  As these slowly change because of the interaction with oxygen introduced at bottling time and also through a “seepage’ through the cork, red wines will soften and gradually change color from deep purple to a brick red or tawny color.

Though reds are usually the best candidates for cellaring it should be noted that some white wines would also age beautifully even though they are much lower in tannin and have no anthocyanins at all.  I can remember having old Rieslings from Germany or Vouvrays from France that when young were bright and crisp and over time softened beautifully to flavors of rich butter, toast and sherry.  Both ends of their life were wonderful but clearly different.  Sort of like all of us, I hope!

Perhaps the most important consideration in the cellaring of wine is an understanding of how the cork works.  Since it’s a natural product, (the bark of the cork tree) it will slowly allow a bit of oxygen to makes its way into the wine.  Since no two corks are the same and in fact no two necks of the bottle are exactly the same (so the cork will “seat” itself differently) these two things together will allow more or less air or oxygen to meet up with the wine.

One other thing figures in here too.  The greater the airspace between the bottom of the cork and the top of the wine (known as the ullage) will also speed up, even if slightly, the oxidation or chemical change in the wine.  Over a long time, corks will deteriorate and allow unacceptable amounts of oxygen to interact with the wine.  This is why great “museum” wines are routinely recorked after a decade or two.  The action of the cork then will have much to do with the successful life of the wine.

It must be noted here that because corks are sometimes not perfect and subject to variation (like all things in nature), a better closure for a wine bottle is actually the screw cap.  They are inert, seal better and are nearly perfect as closures.  Screw capped wines will still age due to the fact that some oxygen is stored in the wine itself when it is made, but more slowly, which isn’t a bad thing.  A number of blind tastings have been held over the years in many parts of the world and the conclusion has invariably been that screw capped wines were fresher and showed no “corky” flavors that sometimes show up in natural corked wines. So why don’t we see more screwcaps?  I suspect we will as the quality of cork comes more into question. A lot of the resistance, I think, comes from the fact that a natural cork pulled from the bottle sounds infinitely more romantic than the “pling” of a screw cap!

Given the importance of the cork then, there are at least three related components for an ideal cellar:

1.  Constant and Ambient Temperature

Having a constant temperature all year round is actually more important than the degrees.  A cellar that varies between 58 and 72 during the day is not nearly as good as one that is consistently 70 degrees.  Changes in temperature can become harmful because both the wine and the cork expand and contract allowing a greater exchange of air or oxidation.  The rule here is the lower consistent temperature the better, ideally around 56 to 58 degrees.
2.  Good Humidity

Humidity in a cellar should be in the 70 percent range.  Much lower than this and the cork begins to dry out.  In the short term, the end becomes brittle and crumbles when you try to extract it with a corkscrew.  Over the long term, with low humidity the cork will actually shrink and lose its elasticity.  As a result it becomes an imperfect seal and eventually allows more oxygen in than is desirable.  Many wine cellars use air conditioners to maintain temperature.  Unfortunately conventional refrigeration units dehumidify the air substantially.  It’s why vegetables and cheese dry out so quickly left unwrapped in your refrigerator.  It’s important then to also have a humidifier in your cellar if you are using refrigeration in order to maintain cork “health”.
3.  Still Air

Though less important than the two conditions above, air movement, especially in cellars with air conditioning units, also can have a tendency to dry out the ends of corks.  It should be noted here that any kind of movement of the bottles should be kept to a minimum.  You’ll need to be careful not to draw out your prized babies and fondle them too much.  Excess movement seems to affect the quality of the wine.  This may be the reason that wines tasted near their birthplace don’t taste the same once they’ve been shipped across an ocean.

I learned that day the most important rule about enjoying wine:  It should also be seen as FOOD.  It’s just another part of the plate of flavors in front of you, all to be enjoyed together.  It’s why I have such a problem with “wine weenies” that insist on rhapsodizing about the wine and ignoring the food.  Or, competitions in which wines are compared without bouncing them off against food.  The two are meant to be enjoyed together with neither being more important than the other, and they do change in each others company.

When I discovered how much I loved wine with my food, I began to collect like a mad man.  I got on everyone’s mailing list and went to endless tastings.  I plunged in, tried everything and kept a few notes so that I could document what it was that I liked.  One of the great tragedies I think is trying to recall a great meal with wine and because the memory fades after a while, not being able to recall the specifics.  It’s why I think the practice of keeping a daily journal is such a good practice.  It helps you recall life’s adventures more vividly, including your most memorable food and wine pairings.

We had an amazing guest lineup including Kate MacMurray, daughter of actor Fred and host for this event at MacMurray Ranch in the Russian River AVA.  This is one of the best wine and food events that I’ve ever been a part of and if you haven’t had a chance to go in the past, put it on your calendar for Labor Day weekend 2010!