Recipe: Winter Feasts

Wine is a subjective beverage, which helps explain why many find the prospect of developing a deeper relationship with it daunting and mysterious. It does not need to elicit such anxiety. Food is nourishment, yes, but it also can function as art.  Wine is the nourishment for the mind and soul and helps conjure the art of conversation. Let’s celebrate it daily, whether with our daily bread or when we break bread with others during holiday celebrations. More wine-food pairing advice for the holidays.

• Roast turkey with bacon herb butter
• Greek lamb with potatoes
• Lobster tamales
• Brisket pot roast with sides

Download a food-wine pairing crib sheet for easy shopping, whatever your feast.

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Roast Turkey with Bacon Herb Butter

Cooking time: 4+ hours

INGREDIENTS

8 slices bacon (1/5 lb.), crisped
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 Tbs.+ fresh sage, chopped
1 Tbs.+ fresh chervil, chopped
1 Tbs.+ fresh thyme, destemmed
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 cups leeks, chopped (approximately 2 medium leeks, white and pale green sections)
4-1/2 cups chicken broth

METHOD
Crumble/chop bacon. Mix with butter and chopped herbs. Chill.

Salt and pepper turkey inside and out. Loosen the skin and apply 1/3 of butter mixture under the skin and over the breast meat. Rub 2 Tbs. of butter mixture on outside of turkey. Set aside 1/3 cup of butter for basting.

Stuff leeks into the cavity to keep the bird moist. Pour 1/3 cup of broth over the turkey. Baste with the remainder of the broth throughout roasting period.

Place turkey in the bottom third of the oven and roast for 15-18 minutes per pound in a 350° oven (usually around 4 hours+).

Recommended Wines to Pair with Roast Turkey

2004 Brassfield Monte Sereno Zinfandel	High Valley	Zin is absolutely new world fruit	$15
2006 Chateau Thivin	Cote de Brouilly	Break old world rules with Beaujolais	$30
2006 Casa Torres Pinot Noir	Santa Barbara	Burgundy and wild game pair well	$33
2002 J.L. Vergnon Blanc de Blancs “Mesnil” Grand Cru “Confidence” Brut Nature	Champagne	Champagne anytime	$79

Greek Lamb with Potatoes

Serves 6 persons: takes 5+ hours

INGREDIENTS

5-6 pounds bone-in leg of lamb
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
Oregano: 3 Tbs. fresh or 1 Tbs. dried
Salt
Pepper
10-20 peeled garlic cloves, stuffed into slits cut into the meat
Quartered russet or red rose potatoes seasoned with salt and pepper to taste enough to fill the pan when tucked around the lamb

METHOD
Wash the lamb; rub with oil, salt, pepper, oregano, and a good squirt of lemon juice. Place into roasting pan.

Roast the lamb at 300° for about five hours. Baste throughout. Add water if the pan gets too dry. Work to achieve a good dry/wet balance throughout roasting. Flip the lamb over halfway through the roasting period. One hour before it’s due to finish roasting, add the potatoes to the pan and tuck around the lamb.

Serve with tzatziki sauce and grilled pita bread as well as a Greek salad with Kalamata olives, feta cheese, Romaine, cucumbers, olive oil, the best tomatoes, lemon juice, and Sherry or red wine vinegar.  If you wish, add some finely sliced red onion.

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Fine mature red wines and their nuances work great with the gamey complexity of lamb.

Paso A Paso Tempranillo	Jumilla, Spain	$11
2007 Beckmen Cuvee Le Bec Rhone blend	Santa Ynez Valley, California	$19
2006 Bernard Baudry Le Clos Guillot	Chinon, Loire Valley, France	$23
1999 John Kerr Bien Nacido Syrah	Santa Maria Valley, California	$29

Lobster Tamales

Serves 6 as main course

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs. prepared masa harina
1 dozen dried corn husks, reconstituted in lobster broth
3 2-lb. spiny lobsters
1 cup white wine 1 large red (or green) bell pepper, roasted, seeded and finely chopped
2 Tbs. olive oil 1 Tbs. butter 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 tsp. red chili powder 1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried cumin
1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems removed and finely chopped

METHOD
Place live lobsters in a large pot of boiling water with cup of white wine and pinches of cumin and red chili powder. Parboil for 5 minutes. Remove lobster and set aside broth. Remove meat from the tails, carapaces, and any legs of good size. Roughly cut or shred the meat into bite sized pieces and place into a bowl.  Squeeze the juice from one lime over the meat, cover with plastic wrap, and put in fridge. Use this lobster broth when you rehydrate the cornhusks for extra flavor and in the making of the masa.

Rub the bell pepper with vegetable oil and roast over an open flame or BBQ to char completely. While still hot, place the peppers in a plastic bag and set aside for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, wipe away the charred skin with paper towel, de-stem and remove seeds, chop into fine pieces, and set aside.

Heat the olive oil and butter in large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chopped jalapeno, garlic, and cumin and warm ‘till fragrant. Add chopped lobster meat, bell pepper, a pinch of cilantro, and a splash of the Sauvignon Blanc you by now need to be consuming while cooking. Continue to sauté gently until the lobster meat turns completely white. Remove from pan, place in bowl, cover, and chill in the fridge for one hour

Assemble the tamales with the prepared masa and a few tablespoons of the filling mixture per tamale to get 12 4- to 5-ounce tamales. Steam for 45 minutes to an hour over a constant gentle rolling steam in a tight-covered, large pot with a raised basket or tray between the water and tamales, with a splash of white wine in the boiling liquid to add some aromatics. Be careful to keep the water level away from tamales or you’ll end up with lobster corn porridge. Serve with your favorite green salsa and queso fresco or cotji cheese, a salty Mexican crumbly cheese.

For information on making the masa and assembling the tamales, check out this site or this one for further instructions.

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Recommended Wines to Pair with Lobster Tamales

The spice of the ingredients and sweet taste and delicate texture of lobster meat pair well with a fresh chilled white wine that won'’t overpower but will cool the overloaded taste buds from the spice sensation. Southern hemisphere meets Latin California.

2008 Mount Nelson Sauvignon Blanc	Marlborough, New Zealand	$16
2008 Calzada Ridge, Viognier	Santa Ynez Valley, California	$20
2007 Foxen Chardonnay Block UU Bien Nacido Vineyard	Santa Maria Valley, California	$35

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Brisket Pot Roast

Cooking time: 1.5-3 hours, depending

INGREDIENTS

1 whole brisket (3 to 5 lbs.)
1 tsp. garlic salt 1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. onion powder
1 large onion 2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Approx. 1 cup boiling beef broth or stock
1 to 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 package fresh, whole mushrooms
1 or 2 bay leaves Approx. 1 cup brewed coffee (hot or cold)
Approx. 1 cup hearty red wine
1 lb. peeled whole carrots

METHOD Season with salt, pepper, and powders and brown the brisket in a hot pan on all sides to render fat from the meat. Remove brisket from pan and set aside. Sauté onions, celery, and garlic in the rendered fat from the brisket; set aside. Add brisket to gently boiling broth or stock.  Add Worcestershire sauce with mushrooms and bay leaves.  Add coffee and wine. Bring to a boil.  Add more liquids as needed to completely cover the meat.  Cover tightly and put in a 350° oven for approximately 1.5 to 2 hours.  Add to the broth the sautéed vegetables and carrots for the last 30 minutes of cooking time.

Fork for tenderness and make sure the pan contains enough liquid. This dish cooks best in a heavy covered roasting pan.  One may also cook the meat on a lower temperature (i.e., 300°) for 3 hours to allow for time to perform any last-minute errands before guests begin arriving.

Recommended Wines to Pair with Brisket Pot Roast

2008 Astica Malbec	Cuyo, Argentina	Big meat meets big wine in Malbec	$7
2007 Woodstock Ridge Sangiovese	Santa Ynez Valley	New world Cal-Ital loves pot roast	$16
2005 Muga Rioja Tempranillo	Rioja, Spain	Old world depth of character: Rioja, meet roast	$30
2004 Twomey Merlot	Napa Valley, California	Merlot with purity of fruit and spice	$67

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The History of Food

The use of oil to prepare foods such as latkes for Hanukah feasts represents the story in the Torah of one-day’s volume of oil miraculously lasting eight nights.

Potato pancakes (a.k.a. latkes)

INGREDIENTS

6 medium-sized potatoes
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 small onion
1 tsp. garlic salt
2 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. baking powder (optional)
3 Tbs. flour or matzoh meal
Garlic clove or garlic powder, to taste

METHOD
Peel and grate potatoes, onion and garlic (if used).  Put into a clean cotton tea towel-lined bowl for 10 minutes or so to drain and allow the chef to squeeze out liquid, or simply place these vegetables in the bowl and remove the liquid from the top.  Stir in eggs.  Add other ingredients.  Drop spoonfuls onto a hot skillet covered with either peanut oil or chicken schmaltz.  Brown on both sides.  Drain on absorbent paper.  Serve hot with applesauce.

Applesauce

Peel and cut up some tart apples, add a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, about 1 Tbs. sugar to taste with a little water and cook in the microwave for a few minutes until soft.  Squash, mash, or process = applesauce.

– by Jonah Waldman, Rachel Duchak, and José Dahan

– random design by Wordle