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"Fish
heads,fish heads, rolly polly fish
heads..."
Grilled
Salmon Filets
Pan
Roasted Sea Bass Provencal
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Oink
. . . Pork,
the other white meat. Extremely versatile, good
flavor and the cuts I use are very low in
fat.
Braised
Pork Loin with Porcini Mushrooms
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Birds of
a feather?
Mom's
Fried Chicken
Chicken
Braised in Morel Sauce
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Meat,
Red Meat!
Grilled
Flank Steak
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Grilled
salmon filets -
I'd be
hard pressed to find another dish that goes better
with Pinot than a well crusted piece of grilled
salmon.
1
- 8oz filet per person ~ 1- 1 ½" thick at
the middle
1 - clove fresh chopped garlic per filet
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Fresh herbs (Tarragon and basil are my
favorites. Use cilantro for a Latin
flare)
Pull the
pin bones from the salmon. Remove the skin
(optional). Rub with olive oil, garlic and herbs.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Put the
filets, skin side up, on a hot grill. For gas and
indoor grills (make sure you have good
ventilation!), use medium heat. Grill for 4-5
minutes and turn. You should have good grill marks.
Finish the filets for another four minutes or so,
being careful not to overcook the fish. Yank 'em
and serve 'em.
Good side
dishes for this would be the "Spiced
Rice"
and the "Collard
Greens with Red
Onions."
Bigger Pinots are the wines of choice but a big
Chardonnay should do okay as
well.
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Pan
Roasted Sea Bass Provencal
-
Who
says white fish doesn't go with red wine? Recipe
serves four.
4
- 8oz Fresh sea bass filets, 1 ½" thick
(Chilean sea bass has worked best. Halibut
filets will also work)
1 - large yellow onion, peeled, halved and
sliced in 1/8" slices
2 - bell peppers (red, yellow, orange,
whatever), cored and sliced crosswise (I hate
the green ones)
6 - cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
crosswise
¼ cup - pitted and chopped olives de
Provence (or Kalamata, Moroccan,
nicoices…)
6 - Roma tomatoes, blanched, peeled (unless
you're too damned lazy, like I am) and diced
Herbs de Provence
½ cup - Red wine
Salt and pepper
Good olive oil
In an oven
proof pan, large enough to hold all the filets and
vegetables, saute the onions in ¼ cup olive
oil until starting to brown. Add the peppers and
garlic, and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the
olives, tomatoes, 1 tsp herbs de Provence, deglaze
with the red wine and let everything simmer for
10-15 minutes. The peppers and onions should be
soft with only a little liquid left in the pan. You
may need to add a little more wine during the
cooking process. Adjust the seasoning.
Remove
bones from the filets (you'll probably end up with
two four ounce filets per person). Season with salt
and pepper. Brown one side of the filets in a hot
skillet that has plenty of olive oil in it. You
don't want the filets to stick. Place the fish,
browned side up, on top of the cooked vegetables in
the other pan and place the whole thing in a 400
degree, preheated oven for ~ 8 minutes, or until
the fish is done but not overcooked. Serve the
filets on a spoon full of the vegetable mixture.
For an added flare, drizzle with your best extra
virgin oil and sprinkle with good, coarse sea salt
just before serving. If it's done right, the
flavors should be intense and the fish should melt
in your mouth.
For a side,
try the "Oven
Roasted Yukon Gold
Potatoes".
A veggie isn't necessary.
As for
wine, this dish screams out for a good Cotes du
Rhône, a Gigondas or some other red of this type.
As for whites, Sauvignon Blanc works the best as it
can stand up to the richness of the dish.
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Braised
Pork Loin with Porcini Mushrooms - A good
dish for a group, it can go in before they get
there and be ready just before it's time to serve
the main course. Recipe serves four to six,
depending on the number of courses and
appetites.
1
- ~ 2lb center cut pork loin
2 - medium yellow onions, peeled cut in half and
sliced ¼" thick
1 - red bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
¼" thick
1lb Crimini mushrooms, washed and sliced ¼"
thick
6 - Garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 oz dried Porcini mushrooms, soaked in hot
water until soft and chopped medium fine
1 ½ lb Roma tomatoes, chopped (blanch and
peel them, if you like)
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
2 tsp fresh chopped thyme
2 bay leaves
2/3 cup red wine
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Trim the
visible silver skin from the pork loin. Season with
salt and pepper. Brown in a heavy bottomed skillet
or Dutch oven with plenty of olive oil. Set
aside.
Clean the
pan and saute the onions in more olive oil. When
they start to brown, add the bell pepper, mushrooms
(including the Porcini) and garlic. Saute for
another five minutes. Deglaze the pan with the wine
and stir in the tomatoes and herbs. Adjust the
seasoning and nestle the pork loin in the pot.
Cover and turn down to a simmer. Let this simmer
for about 1 ½ hours, or until the pork is very
tender. Turn it once or twice during the cooking
process. Make sure there isn't too much or not
enough liquid. Remove liquid or add a little more
wine depending on what you need.
When the
pork is done, remove it to a cutting board and let
it rest. Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce until
it thickens. You can use a little arrowroot and
water if you need to.
Slice the
pork ¼" thick and give several slices to each
person. Top with the sauce. The "Cannelini
Beans with Swiss
Chard"
is a good side dish.
This dish
calls for red, red, red. Cabernet and Bordeaux
would have a tough time matching the richness and
complexity of the dish but just about anything else
will work.
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Chicken
Braised in Morel Sauce
All hail
the dried morel. We consider it to be the king of
the dried mushroom world. This year, the ones we're
getting in our neck of the woods have an intriguing
smokiness to them. Much more than we've noticed in
the past. It makes a marvelous nuance to this
simple braised dish. Serves four.
4
- chicken breasts, cut in half, skin removed if
you wish
1 - large yellow onion, skinned, halved and
sliced into ¼ inch slices
1 - red bell pepper, cored and cut into
strips
4 - cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
½ lb - small Crimini mushrooms, washed and
trimmed
½ oz. - dried Morel mushrooms
1 tbsp - tomato paste
½ cup - chicken stock
1 ½ cups - red wine (Pinot works very
well)
2 tsp - dried herbs of your choice
1 tsp - fresh ground pepper
1-2 tsp - arrowroot mixed with the same amount
of water
Soak the
morels in hot water until soft, about 20 minutes.
Retain the water but wash the mushrooms well to get
rid of the grit.
Saute the
onions over low heat in a pan big enough to hold
all the ingredients. When the onions are soft and
starting to carmelize (~15 minutes), add the bell
pepper, garlic and the mushrooms. Saute over medium
heat for 7-8 minutes.
Deglaze the
pan with ½ cup red wine. When the wine has
evaporated, stir in the chicken stock, tomato paste
and the rest of the wine. Add the herbs and the
pepper. Bring this to a simmer, uncovered.
While the
sauce is simmering, brown the chicken in olive oil
in another skillet. When the chicken has good
color, nestle it into the sauce. Cover the pan,
turn it to low and braise the chicken for about 20
minutes, or until the chicken is done. Turn the
chicken halfway through the cooking process.
When it's
done, remove the chicken from the pan, turn up the
heat and reduce the sauce until it starts to
thicken. Turn down the heat, add the arrowroot
mixture and stir until the sauce is glossy and
thickened.
Return the
chicken and any juices to the pan for a minute or
so, turning to cover the chicken with the sauce.
Serve two pieces of chicken to each person with a
spoonful of the sauce over each serving.
Serving
this dish in a ring of couscous is a great way to
present this dish. The couscous also soaks up the
sauce. As for wine, drink what you cooked with.
Pinot is the wine of choice but Syrah does equally
well.
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Mom's
Fried Chicken - Everyone must have a favorite
fried chicken recipe. Here's mine. I'll throw in
the country
gravy
recipe for free. Serves four.
One
chicken, cut into four pieces (two breasts, two leg
and thigh pieces. You can also do any combination
of pieces you want)
1
½ cups - flour
1 tbsp each - granulated garlic, black pepper
and either seasoning salt or regular salt
Paprika
Olive oil
Milk
Wash and
dry the chicken pieces. Put the flour, garlic,
pepper and salt into a paper bag or a one gallon
plastic ziplock bag. Dredge the chicken in the
flour mixture and brown over high heat in olive oil
in a heavy bottomed pan big enough to hold all the
pieces. When the pieces are well browned, turn the
heat down to low and cover the pan with either a
lid or aluminum foil. Let this cook for about 20
minutes, turning the chicken a couple of times.
Just before the chicken is done (when the juices
run clear), sprinkle well with paprika. Remove the
chicken to a plate and make the gravy.
Country
gravy - Make a roux with the flour mixture and
the pan drippings. Add some more olive oil if you
need to. Scrape up the brown bits while you're
cooking the roux. Whisk in two cups of milk until
the lumps are pretty much gone. Let the gravy
bubble briefly, you made need to add more milk if
it gets too thick. Adjust the seasoning and serve.
Be aware that this stuff thickens as it cools.
Although
you can do the chicken ahead of time for a picnic,
I like it best served hot for dinner with "Yukon
Gold Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic", plenty
of gravy and whatever veggie you feel you need.
As for
wine, this is good old 'merican food and deserves a
good old 'merican wine. Zinfandel works for me.
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Grilled
Flank Steak - Sigh, flank steak used to be a
cheap piece of meat. Then "fajitas" came along and
it all went to hell. Good flank steak can now cost
as much as $6 a pound. When it's on sale though,
it's worth buying for the grill.
As with
most red meat, a simple marinade, if anything at
all, is all that is really needed. The following
has worked quite well for me.
½
cup - olive oil
1 cup - red wine
¼ cup - balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp - fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp - granulated garlic
1 tbsp - dried herbs
2 tsp - dried mustard
Mix all of
the above ingredients in a bowl or in a 1 gallon
plastic zip lock bag. Add the meat and marinate for
several hours. Grill over hot coals, 8 minutes per
side, seasoning with salt on both sides. Let stand
for a few minutes and then carve across the grain
in thin slices. Serve with Oven
Roasted Yukon Gold
Potatoes
and the veggie of your choice. This is zinfandel
food folks.
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