Winter Blahs

I promise I'm working very hard on my post all about our Charlottesville wine experience. Really! It's just taking much more time than I expected, plus I haven't even uploaded the pictures yet, plus I'm totally drained and need another day off. I am officially sick of winter. I yearn for the days when I don't even think about coats and sandals are standard footwear. I am dying to get back to the farmer's market and have a really fresh caprese salad when I get home. I am determined to go fruit picking this coming season as often as possible and I will be canning!

Until then I am beyond pleased to watch the snow melt and count the days until March (8!).

Virginia wine post tomorrow (hopefully).

Virginia Wine-Charlottesville Edition

For Valentine's Day Ken and I decided to treat ourselves to a trip to Charlottesville. Usually on Valentine's we stay home, one of us cooks dinner and the other makes dessert (feel free to gag at any time). However, to celebrate our first Valentine's as a married couple we decided some sort of trip was in order. And one of our favorite Charlottesville wineries just happened to be having a wine dinner so it made the decision easy.

Here is a sampling of some of the best places we visited, in no particular order:

Keswick- This was one of our first stops on our way to Charlottesville. Keswick won the Virginia Governor's Cup last year for their 2007 Cabernet Savigion , so we were hopeful that it would be worth the stop. Thankfully, it was. They have a lovely tasting room with something I don't think I've ever seen before: bar stools. What an excellent idea! Though I will say they should add a few more. The wines were solid throughout the tasting. I personally enjoyed the unoaked and oaked Viogniers and the reds were also very tasty. I'm please to see that winemakers are really playing with Norton to take away some of the over-riding jaminess and making it more approachable. It's becoming one of my favorite wines.

Blenheim- This is one of the newer wineries in the Charlottesville area-and they have a female wine maker! Not something you see very often in the industry. Their tasting room is beautiful and I wished it was spring so we could have had our picnic on their lovely balcony. Overall: the wines were good. You can tell they have a young winemaker but their wines showed lots of promise. We actually bought a Merlot which is pretty rare for us so kudos to them. If you visit: they are sort of on Kluge's property. Kluge is a huge winery and IMHO is overpriced and too snobby for their own good. But, if you really like champagne it might be worth your time.

Del Fosse- I probably can't say enough about this winery. First of all, it's beautiful. Second, the wines are amazing. Third, repeat. We had our Valentine's Day dinner here and it was lovely, though we didn't do a standard tasting. However, I did try the new Petite Verdot and it was fab. Claude (the owner) is always there and you always have an opportunity to chat with him. Their most "famous" wine is the Reserve D'Oriane (when Claude hired his wine maker he gave him the task of making three blended wines to be named after his three children) It's a white blend that is so unique it's almost no wonder why it has received so much attention.

King Family: OK, I'll be the first to admit when I saw the sign saying "Wine and Polo Matches" I almost turned around. I've been to enough wineries to spot a snobby one a mile away. However, much to my surprise (and relief) they were not as snobby as the sign would indicate. You can bring your own food! You can sit on their grounds! Surprisingly, these are The lovely thing about visiting wineries in the winter is that they are less busy. We were able to enjoy their fireplace, a glass of wine, three games of checkers, oh and of course the views. King family is nestled in a cute little valley surrounded by mountains. They have expanded their wine selection since we last visited and I was pleasantly surprised by their Chardonnay/Viognier blend.

Jefferson: Thomas Jefferson was an avid believer in Virginia Wine. He was convinced that Virginia could produce wines that rivaled France's. He never saw that come true but someone did see the advantage in putting a winery right by Monticello (which is great fun to visit) so lo and behold Jefferson Winery. This winery has also expanded its wine selection and they now have a fair extensive tasting. Surprisingly enough, we enjoyed the whites here more than the reds. Look for the Pinot Gris it's a great food friendly wine. While Jefferson may be on one of Thomas Jefferson's original vineyard sites its not much to look at. From the outside it looks a bit like a trailer. So, I would suggest checking out their website to get excited about visiting.

White Hall: Another beautiful property, with some fairly unique wines. First, the one we were most excited for: Touriga. A Portuguese varietal most commonly found in ports in the US. A few Virginia wineries use it in red blends with fairly good results. This single varietal is very ambitious and I was concerned it would be too "dirty" but this was well cleaned up and had a great berry quality. Probably would go best with lamb or venison. They also have a Syrah which is also very ambitious, especially for Virginia where Syrah and Pinot Noir are almost guaranteed to fail. However, the Syrah here was not bad, definitely much much lighter than anything to come out of Australia. Would probably need to sit for a few years to really develop.

So that concludes the quickest round up ever of Charlottesville wineries. Sorry for not using all of my own pictures but the camera was dying and I forgot the cord. I wish I could have finished this post sooner but its been an interesting 4 weeks to say the least. But, I missed hauling the camera into the kitchen with me the past few weeks so I'll get back into this blogging thing. I do have a few iphone photos but Ill have to upload them to see how well they turned out. So stay tuned! I do have more coming!

WANT

Why I don't have one yet, I'm not quite sure. *Looks disapprovingly at husband*. But, I want it; in this color only.

Pear Bread, It Keeps Getting Better

An important note before we dive into the loveliness that is this pear bread: due to the extreme weather conditions here in the DC area I have LOADS and LOADS of time on my hands to cook, blog, take pictures, repeat. I can only hope I make the time to blog once reality returns (maybe on Friday?). Until then, make this recipe to keep your house smelling delicious if you are snowed in. This bread is lovely warm with just a touch of butter on top. Special bonus: this got better on the second day so I can only imagine it will be super delicious tomorrow and the day after that!

From smittenkitchen.com

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional- I used pecans instead and lightning did not strike me down)
3/4 cup butter, softened, or 3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
2 to 4 pears firm, ripe pears, depending on size (I used 2 fairly large bosc pears with good results)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl, and stir with a fork to mix everything well. If you’re using nuts, scoop out about 1/4 cup of the flour mixture and combine it in a small bowl with the chopped walnuts, stirring and tossing to coat the nuts with the flour.

In a medium bowl, combine the butter or oil, eggs, sugar, grated pear, nuts (if using), and vanilla, and stir to mix everything well. Peel and core pears, then grate them. You’ll want two grated cups total. Scrape the pear mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.

Quickly scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the bread is handsomely browned and firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Roasted Chicken with Mustard Sauce! Roasted Chicken with Mustard Sauce!

This post was going to be about my pear bread but the roasted chicken blew it so far out of the water that I just had to write about it first.

First let me point out I have never roasted a whole chicken before. Prime rib, yes. Beef tenderloin, yes. Pork roast, yes. Pork tenderloin, yes. But never a chicken. Maybe it was beginner's luck, maybe it was the spice rub or the use of fennel. But, no. I assure you, the success of this recipe was directly related to one thing. Brining. I have brined once before (a turkey for Thanksgiving) and I have learned that there are two keys to a successful brine. 1. Kosher salt and lots of it. 2. Making sure the brine covers the entire piece of meat.



Even though brining is stupid easy it takes forever which is probably why most people don't do it, however I am now believer; a big believer. My chicken was delicious and juicy (as I hope yours is). The mustard sauce was just tangy enough that you could drink red wine with this meal (as we did since the office is closed YET AGAIN.) I could go on forever and ever because it is just THAT GOOD.

Adapted from Bon Appetit September 2007 and Bon Appetit October 2003

Brine:
10 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup Kosher salt
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon/orange zest
3 sprigs fresh thyme plus 3 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
a brining bag or oven bag
3/12 to 4 pound chicken

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a large stock pot, long enough so the salt has completely dissolved. (I let mine boil about 10-15 minutes). Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool about 1 hour.



Remove the giblets from the chicken and reserve for another use or toss them. Put the chicken in your brining/oven bag and pour the brine over the bird (it's fine for the herbs and zest to get in there too). Seal the bag and put it in the fridge (or a cooler with ice!) at least 6 hours or over night.



When you're ready to take your chicken out drain the brine and all the herbs/zest. Pat the chicken dry and let it stand uncovered for 2 hours.

Stuffing, Herb Rub, and Mustard Sauce
2 large fennel bulbs tough outer layer removed, chopped
1 large onion chopped
6 cloves of garlic
4 tbsp of your favorite fresh herb mix (I used rosemary, thyme, and parsley)
2 tbsp crushed fennel seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups of dry white wine/chicken broth/water or a combination (which is what I did)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp of smooth Dijon mustard
1 tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Place the chopped fennel and onion in a large bowl, add the garlic, half of the oil and herbs, and toss lightly.



Combine the remaining herbs and oil in another small bowl (it will be fairly thick)

Take lemon halves and rub your chicken down, squeeze a bit of juice in the cavity. Loosely stuff the chicken with the fennel and onion mixture. Place remaining mixture around the chicken. Rub the chicken with the oil and herbs and place in the oven.

Roast for about 20 minutes then pour some of the broth/wine/water mix over the chicken. Roast another 20 minutes and repeat. After the second basting, flip your bird and roast another 20 minutes, or until the juices run clear when pricked with a fork. Transfer the chicken to a plate and let stand for about 10 minutes. While chicken is standing put your roasting pan across two burners. Add any remaining wine/broth/water mix and scrape p the brown bits. Add the butter and flour. Whisk until the butter is melted and the sauce is smooth. Add mustard, whisk until smooth again. Add extra thyme, salt, and pepper.

Spoon sauce over carved chicken and love it. As Ken said to me after his first bite, "This rocks."

Guacamole and Rose

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday, and as a just reward for digging out my car, I made one of Ken's favorite things: Guacamole. This is not the first, last, or most authentic recipe for Guacamole but in my humble opinion it is one of the best.


Modified from a family classic:

2 ripe avocados (or more if you are feeding a crowd)

Half a tomato, diced

1/4 red onion, diced

About 2 tbs cilantro finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1 tbs olive oil

Few shakes of cumin

Splash of lime or lemon juice

Few shakes of hot sauce (optional)

Peel and de-pit the avocados using a large chef's knife. Cut the avocados in half and throw them in a medium sized bowl with the tomato, red onion, and cilantro.

Heat the tablespoon of olive oil* in a small pan until hot but not smoking. Add the garlic and let it simmer for about a minute or two until it turns a pale golden color. Add it to the bowl with the avocados.

Add the cumin, lime/lemon juice, and hot sauce if using. Smash it all up with a potato masher (don't believe the fools who claim a fork works...pssh). Add a bit of salt and love it.

As a super extra bonus we just happened to have my favorite bottle of rose in the house and it was just dying to be drank. Allow me to introduce you to Virginia's very own Chateau O'Brien's rose of Cabernet Franc.

It is delicious, it goes with anything (except maybe steak), it has a delightful minerality, essence of strawberries....in short it is the best. It was so tasty with the slightly spicy Guacamole that it made me desperate for warmer weather...*sigh*

If you are ever touring Virginia's wine country Chateau O'Brien should be near the top of your list. http://www.chateauobrien.com/

They have a million dollar view, especially when fall's colors are peaking.

*Note about olive oil. As Marcella so abruptly puts it: "There is no olive oil but extra virgin olive oil." I tend to agree with her and usually for this guacamole I use plain ol' extra virgin. But, I happen to have a bottle of Fustini's roasted onion and cilantro olive oil, so I used that instead. I can't say enough good things about Fustini's oils and vinegars. The lemon balsamic is truly to die for and I would put it on my oatmeal if I could. http://www.fustinis.com/

Special thanks to mom for my first bottle from them--yes this Kitchen Love thing is definitely genetic.

Just Do It

Sure, it may be Nike's slogan but for right now it is my motivator to start this blog and (*gasp*) keep up with it! Therefore, I have decided to blog about my food and wine adventures because it's something I do almost every day and if I don't do it then Ken (husband) does and he's pretty darn good at it too. Plus, we live in a great city so we've been able to experience some awesome restaurants/wine bars/diners/dives/holes in the wall.

I make no claims that all the recipes on this blog are my own. I have modified plenty, invented a few, and follow the rules occasionally--especially when it comes to the greats: Marcella, Julia, Alice, Jacques, etc.

That being said I am going back to ordering heirloom beans from Napa because I have it on good authority that they are delicious. Check them out: http://www.ranchogordo.com/

And of course I will post whatever recipe comes out of them.