Choucroute

Here's my favorite chef, the heartbeat of our home, and my partner in all things, including our wine and food hobby.

Hello again, everybody, and welcome back to Cèpage et Cuisine, our wine and food blog.  Cool autumn weather has finally arrived here in central Mississippi, so Mary cooked up a great dish in honor of the season.  Choucroute is a French term for "dressed sauerkraut," similar to German sauerkraut.  It is a traditional autumn and winter dish in Alsace.  This area in the very northeast corner of France has both French and German cultural influences.  Even the names of the cities and villages sound German ... Strasbourg, Riquewihr, Kaysersberg.

Choucroute is a savory combination of sauerkraut, smoked sausage, ham hock or pork chop, red potatoes, flavored with bacon, onion, and bouquet garni.

Here's Mary, discussing the ingredients in the two photos above. The first photo is more or less straight out of the grocery bag: sauerkraut, bacon, onions, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, beer, smoked sausage, potatoes, butter and mustard. That container of funny-looking stuff on the right is my homemade chicken stock, made from the carcass of a whole roasted chicken. It's my new favorite kind of chicken stock. The second picture was taken after the ingredients were prepped. Many choucroute recipes call for ham hock, but I used one boneless pork chop instead. Just personal preference.

The bacon is sauteed in a little butter, then sliced onions are added and cooked a bit. This is transferred to a Dutch oven, and the drained sauerkraut is mixed in.

This bouquet garni is simply a bundle of spices and herbs for flavoring.  This one is thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, and garlic tied in cheesecloth. Juniper berries are used in choucroute, but I wasn't sure where to find juniper berries.

Bouquet garni went on top of sauerkraut, then the boneless pork, followed by the chicken stock and a bottle of beer (you could use Riesling instead of beer.) After this was heating in the oven, I decided I should have browned those pork pieces, so I took them out, browned them up on top of the stove, and put them back in to cook. It turned out great, but I would brown them at the beginning next time.

The covered pot went into the oven for 2 hours, undisturbed. When the 2 hours were just about up, I browned the smoked sausage in a skillet, just enough to give them some color. I also parboiled my small red potatoes, so they would be hot when I put them in the Dutch oven.

After two hours in the oven, the potatoes went in, along with a little water. After 30 more minutes in the oven, I added the sausage. Back into the oven for the last 15 minutes. Just waiting for the potatoes to be fork tender at this point, and the whole house smells wonderfully fragrant!

Voilá!  Here's choucroute, the finished product!  It is great with no additional seasoning, but we both liked mustard on the smoked sausage.  I know, I know, it's not the most healthful dinner, but we probably have it only a couple of times per year and it's perfect for the season. Besides, we are able to help control sodium by making our own chicken stock and draining the sauerkraut.

Now, the wine.  Following the general rule of "what grows together goes together," this dish cries out for an aromatic white wine like Riesling.  An Alsace Riesling would be perfect, but we chose a Riesling from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer area of Germany.  Specifically, this wine is from the middle Mosel, an area of nearly vertical slopes with mineral slate rising from the river.

German wine labels can be bewildering, what with all the coats of arms and complicated village and vineyard names.  In this case, the producer is Weingut Karthäuserhof, located in the village named Eitelsbacher.  The grapes come from a single vineyard owned by the producer, called Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg. 

You can see the alcohol is only 8.5%.  That's because the wine is not fermented all the way dry.  There is still some residual unfermented sugar.  You also see it is called Kabinett.  This means the grapes are harvested at the lowest level of ripeness among German Riesling categories.  Although Riesling is also made in a dry style, most German Riesling sold in the U.S. have varying levels of residual sugar.  That's fine because the natural acidity of the wine creates a wonderful tension or structure that balances the wine.  It does not taste excessively sweet or cloying.  The sweetness and balance is perfect with the spiciness and saltiness of the dish.  It is a perfect offset for the smoky flavors of the pork.  Here are my notes on the wine.

Karthäuserhof Mosel Saar Ruwer Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Kabinett 2004.  This was a fantastic example of a fine Riesling from the Mosel.  The aroma showed enticing lime, peach, floral notes, and that great slate minerality of a high quality Riesling.  The palate was medium-bodied with linear flavors of peach, grapefruit and lime citrus, exotic mineral notes, and a sweetness that was balanced by racy acidity.  It was beautifully balanced, complex, and medium in length.  8.5% alcohol.  We paid only $20 for this delicious wine.  Many high quality examples of German and Alsace Riesling are available at good wine merchants.

That's it for today's post.  We enjoyed preparing the dinner (especially the great aroma!), the wine experience, and bringing this description to you.  We hope you enjoyed it.  Keep coming back for more blog posts at Cèpage et Cuisine.

Cheers, everybody!

Mary♥Brian

Magret de Canard

Hello, everyone, and welcome again to our wine and food blog, Cèpage et Cuisine.  Today, we're describing a dinner we prepared recently for friends, magret de canard.  Magret is the breast of Moulard, the foie gras duck, not to be confused with the wild duck, the Mallard.  We have prepared this dish with the Pekin duck, which also worked fine and is easier to find in gourmet groceries and specialty meat shops.  We got the idea from a video we watched at Wine Spectator and it was great!  Thank you, Ariane Daguin!

Here are the stars of the show.  You can see they look like red meat, almost like steaks, unlike other poultry.  The Moulard is a large duck and these four breasts were plenty for five people.  Actually, we had one breast left over, which Mary and I shared for dinner the next night in a stir fry.

For this preparation we scored the fat side of the duck breast with a sharp knife.  The idea is to increase the surface area and to render the fat while cooking.  The rendered duck fat is what we used for cooking the potatoes.

The scoring is completed in a cross hatch pattern for maxiumum rendering.  Before cooking, season both sides of the duck breast generously with salt and pepper.

This is the same photo as above.  I put it here again to illustrate that the magret is added to a cold skillet or griddle.  Don't heat the pan before putting in the duck breast!  Start from a cold surface.  Cook the duck breast on low.  As the fat is rendered during cooking, it should be clear and colorless, not dark and burned.  We want the skin to cook to a nice golden crispness.  This requires only about 12-14 minutes.

While the duck was cooking, we served crudités and Mary's homemade Romesco sauce along with hummus for dipping.  Yes, that's purple cauliflower (who knew?).

Here are the duck breasts after the skin side is nice and crispy.  We transferred them to a skillet with a little of the rendered duck fat.  Once they're turned like this, increase the heat to the maximum.  We wanted to sear the flesh side of the breast to seal in flavor and juices.  This takes only another 7-9 minutes.

While the duck was cooking on the flesh side, we dumped thinly sliced potatoes into the duck fat on the griddle with a little salt.  They cooked in about 10 minutes to a delightful combination of crisp and soft textures.  In the last 30 seconds, add a generous amount of chopped parsley and crushed garlic.  Now we're talkin'!

While all this was going on, Mary prepared a reduction sauce of red wine and blueberries.  When cooking with wine, you don't need to use expensive wine, but don't cook with a wine you wouldn't drink.  In fact, use two cups of wine for cooking and one glass of wine for the chef!  Here's Mary describing how she prepared it. 

Start with about two cups of red wine.  We used an inexpensive wine from the southern Rhone valley of France, but you could use almost any decent red wine that doesn't cost too much.  Cook over medium heat until it reduces in half, then add 3-4 ounces of demi-glace along with fresh berries (I used blueberries).  Reduce by half again.  You can get the demi-glace at a gourmet grocery or specialty shop.  Season the sauce with salt and pepper and blend with a stick immersion blender. In the last minute or two, stir in a couple of handfuls of the fresh fruit and heat. Spoon the sauce over the duck breasts on the plate.

Here's the gorgeous duck breast, cooked to medium rare, moist and flavorful.

Voilá!  Magret de canard with a red wine and blueberry reduction, potatoes with parsley and garlic, and fresh spring green peas.

Here are the happy al fresco diners, except Mary, our photographer (Mary, honey, next time I'm the camera guy and you're in the photo).  We extend a special welcome to Dr. Takanori Taogoshi, visiting from Hiroshima University.  My colleagues are Dr. Katie McClendon and Dr. Leigh Ann Ross from the University of Mississippi.

This meal would pair wonderfully with many red wines.  We paired it with a Côtes du Rhone (mostly Grenache from the southern Rhone), a Fronsac (mostly merlot from Bordeaux), and a Russian River Valley Petite Sirah from California.  The friends, the food, and the wine all added up to a delightful evening.

That's our post for today.  Keep checking back for more posts at Cèpage et Cuisine.  In the meantime,

Cheers,
Brian and Mary

Le Grands Pinot Noir, La Deauxième Partie

Hello, everybody.  Welcome back to Cèpage et Cuisine, our wine and food blog.
We had a Pinot Noir event at our home recently, a follow-on to an event we had a couple of years ago called "Le Grands Pinot Noir."  That means this event was "part two" or "La Deauxième Partie."  Like all our events, it was great fun, learning about the wines and pairing them with food.  We selected five Grand Cru Burgundies, one Premier Cru, and one California Pinot Noir from a producer who is known for nicely balanced, elegant wines.  The tasting was blinded with stems color-coded.

We discussed the Burgundy classification of wines (see previous blog post), considered the difference between Burgundy and Clos Pepe Vineyards in Santa Barbara County, California, studied a map of Burgundy, discussed subtle differences in terroir, then got down to the serious business of wine tasting.  Later, we took a break to prepare a fabulous dinner of cedar plank salmon, seasoned generously with freshly ground rosemary and other herbs and spices, cauliflower gratin from Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking," and fresh garlic spinach.  Mary prepared a generous portion of romesco sauce to go with the salmon.  It is more Spanish than French, but complemented the meal nicely and did not overwhelm the wine.

Check out these photos from the event and the next morning.

Here are my notes on the wines:

Domaine Jean Raphet et Fils Charmes-Chambertin 1996.  The Raphet Charmes-Chambertin was better than good, had complexity, balance, and length, but was in the second tier of wines.  It had good varietal character, especially a nice earthy, autumnal quality that showed its maturity after 14 years.  It still had some fruit character of red berry and cherry and a smoky quality from the barrel.  I'd be delighted to drink it again, but it's rather expensive in my own QPR assessment.  13.0% alcohol.  Average retail is $90.

Maison Nicolas Potel Clos de la Roche 2001.  This was in the top tier of the evening and Sheryl's favorite with food.  Medium garnet, delicate in color, with mostly secondary aroma characteristics that spoke of the vineyard.  Herbs, tobacco, earth, and smoked meat aromas kept us coming back for another sniff.  The palate showed well integrated, medium acidity, body, and silky smooth texture.  The flavors were linear, showing the same herbal, earthy, meaty qualities, along with some pepper spice.  It had moderate length and good complexity.  13.5% alcohol.  Average retail is $120.

Domaine Rossignol-Trapet Latricieres-Chambertin 2004.  A consensus favorite of the evening, the wine was classic pinot noir, from the first sniff to the last sip.  The aromas showed wonderful floral rose petal, herbal notes, autumn leaves, and spice.  The palate showed medium acidity, silky texture, and medium body, all in balance.  Red berries, strawberry and raspberry, along with cherry, flowers, and a nice minerality were knitted seamlessly.  It was long finishing, complex, balanced.  My first or second choice, with and without food, very close to the Bouchard wine.  13.5% alcohol.  Average retail is $100.

Domaine Francois Bertheau Bonnes Mares 2004.  Mary and I both think this wine was flawed, probably corked.  Had I another bottle, I would have opened it.  The aromas and flavors were muted and a bit soured, not classically the "wet dog" or "musty basement" of a corked wine, but not the wonderful Bonnes Mares experience we've had in the past.  It had a little cherry fruit on the palate, anise, and mineral notes and was reasonably balanced.  It did better with food than without, but it was a big disappointment, especially considering the expense.  13.5% alcohol.  Average retail is $189.

Clos Pepe Vineyards Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills 2004.  This was the only California wine of the evening.  Wes Hagen's wine held its own, was well regarded, but I was able to pick it out of the crowd before it was unblinded.  It had the density, extraction, and weight that set it apart from high-end Burgundies.  That is not necessarily a negative quality, but it doesn't have quite the precision and delicacy of many of the wines of the Côte d'Or.  It had lots of primary fruit character, a beam of cherry and berry, as well as some darker plum and currant, almost jam.  There was a subtle earthy quality, which might express itself more with age.  I'm glad I have a few more of these to see how it evolves.  Pepper spice and smoke round out the aroma profile.  The acidity was low to medium to me, although most of the other attendees thought it was higher in acidity.  The tannins are still settling.  It had a fine sandy texture.  It was nicely balanced, moderately complex, had good length.  Mary loved it, I liked it.  13.9% alcohol.  This wine retails for $52.

Maison Louis Latour Corton Grancey 2005.  The wine performed just fine, a wonderful wine of complexity and density, yet still balanced and elegant.  Interestingly, there was a bimodal distribution in preference ranking.  I liked it very much but Mary ranked it sixth.  It had lots of great fruit flavors and floral notes.  The palate was linear with the nose and also included an exotic mineral quality.  It was medium in body and acidity with a beautiful, smooth texture.  Nicely balanced, moderately complex, medium length.  14.0% alcohol.  Average retail is $90.

Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune Greves Vignede L'Enfant Jesus 2006.  The star of the show for Mary and me.  This was a consensus favorite of the evening along with a couple of the other wines.  The aromas were classically Pinot Noir with a wonderful fruit profile along with earth, smoke, and spice.  The palate was wonderfully smooth with medium acidity and body.  Strawberry, dark cherry, smoked meat, a bit of pepper spice, all beautifully integrated.  Complex, balanced, long-finishing, an excellent wine that is drinking well now and promises to continue to improve for several years.  Performed as well or better than the Grand Cru wines.  13.5% alcohol.  This wine retails for $97.  Worth every penny on a special occasion.

If you're interested in joining our wine network, send an email.  The more the merrier!

That's our post for today.  We hope you keep coming back to check out our wine and food adventures at Cèpage et Cuisine.  In the meantime,

Cheers!
Brian and Mary

Gigondas

Hello, again, everybody.  Today, we're highlighting Gigondas (pronounced GEE-gon-DAS).  It is a small grapegrowing appellation in the Southern Rhone Valley, not far from the more famous Châteauneuf du Pape.  Here's a map to give you a better idea of its location.  Click on the image for an enlarged view.

You can see Gigondas is north of the Mediterranean city of Marseille, not far from Italy to the east.  Mary and I have long enjoyed Gigondas wines and visited there last May.  It is in the hills and compared to nearby villages it is cooler, rockier, and produces wines of greater perfume, elegance, and cellaring potential.  Like many villages in the south of France, it is ancient.  Take a look at Mary's next photo and note the remains of a Roman fortification.

The Cèpage of Gigondas, like much of the rest of the Southern Rhone, includes many grapes, but principally Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah, and Cinsault.  Almost all the wines are blends, but percentages vary.  Grenache usually comprises the largest percentage.  The typical profile of Gigondas includes the berry, spice, and herbal garrigue qualities of the Southern Rhone, but the altitude and slightly cooler temperatures retain a bit more acidity that comes across as a nice minerality.  Because Gigondas is a bit off the beaten path of the world wine stage, its wines are usually less expensive than better known appellations such as Châteauneuf du Pape.

We recently acquired a Domaine Brusset, then visited the tasting room of the domaine while we were vacationing there.

Here are my notes on the wine.
Domaine Brusset Les Hauts de Montmirail Gigondas 2004.  This wine was lean, elegant, and balanced.  The aroma profile showed berry fruit and herbal notes of thyme and sage.  The palate was smooth in texture with bright acidity and refined tannins.  The flavor profile was of red cherry, raspberry, perhaps licorice.  Nicely balanced, not too complex, medium length, good but not excellent.  55% grenache, 25% mourvedre, 20% syrah, 14.0% alcohol.  We paid $33 for this wine.  You can see in the photo above we enjoyed it with a pasta dish.  The sauce was meatless and  homemade with herbs and vegetables, such as fresh spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and eggplant.  Along with a salad and bread (whole grain, of course), it was delicious and satisfying.

That's our post for today.  Hope you enjoyed it, found it interesting, and keep coming back for more of Cèpage et Cuisine!

Cheers,
Brian and Mary