Fresh Tart

Here's the perfect way to kick off summer: Get yourself invited to Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius Williams' home for dinner.  There is no lovelier place to be on a first-summer's-blush evening, on the patio in their lush back yard, chatting with them as well as Sue & Louis Ainsworth, sipping incredible wine, eating beautiful food, celebrating the end of another Minnesota winter.  It's over, it's really, really over!  Those leaves are real, those flowers smell like heaven, I am wearing sandals, and it will not snow for at least five months.  Cheers to that.

Drinking wine with Stu is an honor and pleasure.  He delights in sharing the unexpected, the fascinating, the obscure, collecting our reactions and observations like a child collects toys.  He remembers what his guests like and dislike, then reaches into his cellar for something new and interesting the next time we get together.

Yeah, he thinks like that.  I wish I had one-eighth of that talent, but it is not so.  That's OK.  I accept my limitations and happily sit back and enjoy the ride.

A ride that includes food worthy of the wine.  Debbie & Stu always pull together colorful, fresh-from-the-market meals, this time grilled Scottish Highland beef, Boer goat, and St. Croix lamb from Blue Gentian Farms in New Richmond, WI (available locally at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market).

Alongside new potatoes with fresh morels and grilled asparagus, it was a spectular meal.  Especially bookended by foie gras sprinkled with black Himalayan salt and Rustica Bakery rhubarb tarts.  Yeah.

What we tasted:

Pierre Peters Cuvee Reserve Blanc de Blanc NV Champagne

Pierre Peters 2001 Brut Cuvee Speciale Les Chetillons Champagne

2006 Nicholas Joly Les Clos Sacres Savennieres

2005 Domaine Vincent Girardin Mersault Les Narvaux

1975 Chateau Montrose

1975 Chateau Pichon Lalande

1977 D'Oliverias Reserva Terrantez Maderia

Rare Wine Company's Historic Series Charleston Sercial Maderia

Hello summer.

So, tomorrow night we're hosting Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius Williams and Ana Scofield & Rudy Maxa for dinner.  Remember our recent dinner at Heartland, where I mentioned I'd like to tackle cassoulet?  Well, I put the plans into motion that night for tomorrow night's feast, and started getting down to business yesterday.

Cassoulet is a hearty French white bean casserole/stew, loaded with rich meats like duck or goose confit, lamb or pork shoulder, salt pork or bacon, and sausage.  The beans, meat, and stewing juices are layered together and topped with fresh bread crumbs, then baked until the top is insane-crusty-perfection.  I've taken a couple of days to prepare the dish, which in effect is bean & pork stew (day one), layered with lamb stew (day two), layered with sausages and duck confit and topped with bread crumbs (day three).  You could make the bean and lamb stews on the same day - neither are difficult - but they are time-consuming.  Since entertaining is supposed to be, you know, fun, to me it's worth the extra planning to start a few days ahead so that I can be relatively relaxed and enjoy my guests.

I started in an unorthodox manner - by browning the bacon (I chose bacon over salt pork).  Most recipes have you layer un-browned salt pork into the casserole, but I knew the flavor of lightly browned bacon would be lovely with the beans, so that's what I did.  Mon dieu, I know, I know.  Into the bacon, I stirred onions and a bouquet garni of parsley, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme.  And then I stirred in the beans, of course - I used navy; flageolet are traditional, but I couldn't easily put my hands on them, and many recipes just call for navy anyhow.  Last I stirred in water, just enough to cover, slowly adding more to keep the beans covered while they simmered, until they were just-tender, about an hour and a half.  I added salt and pepper to taste a couple of times throughout the cooking process, although carefully, knowing that the forthcoming lamb and sausages would add saltiness as well.

Today I made the lamb stew, with a lamb shoulder roast.  Since I couldn't secure a bone-in roast, I added a beef marrow bone to the stock pot along with the browned-in-duck-fat lamb, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, tomato paste, and beef stock.  A slow braise in the oven for about two hours produced a beautifully rich, meaty stew.

I also dug into the (purchased) duck (legs) confit today - I pulled the meat from the bones into bite-size pieces, and pulled the skin from the meat.  I also diced and sauteed the beautiful French garlic sausages I bought - I almost hate to put them in the cassoulet, they're so delicious on their own (nibble, nibble).  But in they'll go, I swear.  Tomorrow I'll make cracklings by roasting the duck skin until crisp.

OK, that's all I've got for now, other than the menu (below; recipe will follow after I make note of the adjustments I've made).  Notice that we're pretty much just having crudite for an appetizer, and a simple cherry tart for dessert - no cheese, cassoulet is just too rich (shucks, I love an excuse - aka a party - for a cheese course; ah well, next time).  Stay tuned for wine - we haven't nailed it down yet:

Aioli platter with raw mushrooms and radishes, boiled potatoes, thinly sliced salami, cornichon pickles, and olives

Watercress/frisee salad with apples, toasted hazelnuts, dried cherries, goat cheese, shallots, and hazelnut oil/apple cider vinegar vinaigrette

Cassoulet

Cherry Tart

Let me clarify - I was not in France (sacre bleu).  Instead, France kindly came here, to freezing cold and colorless Minnesota-in-January, at the invitation of the Commanderie de  Bordeaux Minnesota Chapter.  Let me clarify - I'm not a member of the Commanderie de Bordeaux (sacre bleu).  But my friends Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius Williams are, and I've been privileged to accompany them as a guest to a few of the Commanderie's insanely fabulous wine tasting dinners, including last night.

The guests of honors were Patrick Maroteaux, owner of Chateau Branaire-Ducru; and Count Stephan von Neipperg, manager of Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere, La Mondotte, Clos de l'Oratoire, Chateau Peyreau, Clos Marsalette, and Chateau d'Aguilhe. They each charmingly described their wine-making history, philosophy, and introduced the (dozen) wines we tasted as the evening sipped on.

As usual, The Minneapolis Club's executive chef John Thompson and staff created a lovely menu to pair with the wines:

Chanterelle Mushroom-Speck Terrine

Sweetbread Strudle with Hollandaise Noir

Duck Liver Parfait with Black Currant Preserve

Château Branaire-Ducru 2007

Duluc de Branaire-Ducru 2005

St. Julien

Château Cannon La Gaffeliere 2007

Clos de l’Oratoire 2007

St. Emilion

Lanson Brut Gold Label 1996

Champagne

Truffle Poached Diver Scallops with Skate Wing, Parsley-Parsnip Coulis and Tomato Jam

Château Branaire-Ducru 2003

Château Branaire-Ducru 2000

Château Branaire-Ducru 1995

St. Julien

Juniper Roasted Breast of Squab with Rosemary Spaetzle, Foie Gras Emulsion, Smoked Portabello Carpaccio

Château d’Aiguilhe 2003

Cotes de Castillon

La Mondotte 1997 en Magnum

St. Emilion

Château Canon La Gaffeliere 1989

St. Emilion

Rogue River Blue, St. Nectaire, Beaufort d’Alpage (selection of cheeses)

Poached Apricot Tartlette with Caramelized Pineapple Coulis

Château Guiraud 1990

Sauternes

All of the wines were oustanding - for me, an incredible grouping.  The food-wine pairings were interesting as well, in particular the rich and gamey, crisp-roasted squab with the La Mondotte 1997, a truly spectacular wine.  From Robert Parker: "94 points, an amazing effort and unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage, La Mondotte's 1997 boasts a saturated purple color as well as an explosive nose of blackberries, violets, minerals, and sweet toasty oak.  Huge and massive, yet gorgeously proportioned, it possesses an unctious texture with no hard edges."  To me it smelled heavenly and tasted smooth, earthy, rich...and French.  How amazing to be able to taste such a special wine, certainly not something I'd be able to do without Debbie & Stu's generous invitation, so yet again, I thank them.

The only drawback to attending Commanderie dinners is that I am next to worthless the next day - so lame.  Although perhaps it's a good thing that my body just can't take such a massive infusion of rich food and wine.  Instinctive moderation.  I like it.

Yesterday I caught an early version of Eric Asimov's The Pour column on the New York Times Dining & Wine page.  The headline - A New Course for Dessert Wine - jumped right out at me.  I prefer dessert-style wines paired with savory foods (foie gras, blue cheese), so I clicked through and was delighted to read about Madeira wines in particular.  Asimov acknowledges that "...serving a sweet wine with a savory dish may strike many people as odd - unless they live in one of the great sweet-wine centers of the world."  But he goes on to give several enticing examples of sweet wine/savory food pairings, all of which sounded delicious: Sauternes with lobster, auslese reisling with lamb vindaloo, and his own personal experiment, Madeira with skirt steak and pickled Vidalia onions.  He tasted the steak with two Madeiras, both from the Rare Wine Company's Historic Series.

I quickly sent the link to both Stu The Wine Genius Williams, and my husband John, who happen to work together.  A few minutes later my phone rang - Stu had read my email, and the article, and was just about to run an errand, so offered to pick up the Madeira mentioned in the article for us to try.  Yes!  (The Rare Wine Company's Historic Series Madeiras are distributed in Minnesota by the New France Wine Company, info@newfrancewine.net, 651-698-2533.)

Stu picked up and John brought home four Madeiras from the series, each named for a U.S. city where Madeira was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries: Boston Bual Special Reserve, New York Malmsey Special Reserve, Charleston Sercial Special Reserve, and a limited release New Orleans Special Reserve.  Since Asimov particularly loved the Charleston Sercial Special Reserve with the steak and onions he'd prepared, that's what we opened first, since I just happened to have...steak and onions already in the fridge, ready to go for dinner.

I decided to caramelize the onions to bring out their sweetness, adding sauteed mushrooms and a splash of the Sercial to finish.  Since our grill and deck are covered in snow, I just pan-seared the steaks on one side and finished them in a hot (500 degree) oven.  I prepared the onions first, set them aside, then prepped the steaks.  When the steaks were done, I transferred them to a cutting board to set up, then sauteed the mushrooms in the (fabulously crusty) steak pan.  After adding the splash of Madeira, I stirred the caramelized onions into the pan, sliced the steaks, and served the steak with the onions and mushrooms alongside.  The Sercial was as delicious with the crusty, salty beef and sweet onions as promised.  The mushrooms added an extra earthy note that complimented the sweetness nicely.  All good.

My next try is likely to be an Indian-style curry, with the Boston Bual (sweeter than the Sercial, which is the dryest of the group), which would be a stunning combination, I think.  I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, I plan to finish off the Sercial with some sort of fabulously toasted ham and cheese sandwich.  Or with another mushroom saute - I'm telling you, the splash of Madeira to finish the mushrooms was so delicious, I could have had just that for dinner.

Big thanks to Stu and New France Wine Company for all the fun!

I lucked into a delicious dinner at Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius' on Sunday night.  After a dry, dusty afternoon spent watching Little League baseball, it was oh-so-nice to sit in their lovely, shady backyard and sip a cool glass of white wine, ahhh.  Bill & Karla Forsythe were there as well, with their dachshund Sophie, joining Williams' two dachshunds Margeaux and brand new Sophie (yes, two dachshund Sophie's, ha).  All three girls are darling, but Puppy Sophie stole the show with her round, pink belly and happy napping.

While Sophie played musical laps, Stu grilled bison tenderloin and ribeye steaks.  I've eaten a fair amount of bison in my day, and certainly enjoyed it, but this version (from Whole Foods) was positively divine - tender-yet-beefy-beefy-beefy (despite being, technically, not beef), I imagine it tastes the way steak is supposed to taste.  I absolutely loved it and can't wait to throw some on the grill, rarrr. Stu and Debbie plated the sizzling steaks alongside roasted potatoes and asparagus (I forgot my camera, and Stu hadn't pulled his out yet, so I missed the gorgeous pic of all three piled on the same huge platter, set down in the center of the table, shame).  Stu poured a delicious Cote du Rhone alongside, Andezon 2004 - get this, it's $10/bottle!

For dessert we dug into two pastries (pictured above) from divine Rustica Bakery - a chiffon cake and a berry tart, served with a scoop of melty vanilla ice cream, so good.  Thanks to Debbe & Stu for another fab meal and evening!

Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times

On another note...you must check out this Mark Bittman article titled 101 Simple Salads for the Season which popped onto the NYTimes website this afternoon.  What a jewel!  Completely genius, do not miss it - in fact, print it out (I linked to the printable version) and get ready to hit your farmer's market this and every weekend for the rest of the summer.  Made my whole day - nice.

Date Night, Bar La Belle Vie, all good.  We skipped wine and sipped truly yummy summer cocktails - tasties such as Old Cubans (Mount Gay Rum, Fresh Mint, Bitters, Fresh Lime and Cava) and Prince Alberts (Earl Grey Infused Bombay Sapphire Gin, Fresh Lemon Sweet & Sour And Soda).  We sat down at the bar and both said, "Gosh, I wish we'd invited Stu (the Wine Genius) and Debbie" and lo and behold, in walked Stu and Debbie and Debbie's awesome sister Michelle, no kidding.

We munched on the best - The Best - bar burgers in Minneapoils, the mini-lamb burgers, topped with a spicy pepper and yogurt sauce, juicy, lamb-y, spicy-creamy perfection, they kill me, seriously.

We also noshed on crispy-salty pommes frites, and downed a mache-baby artichoke salad tossed over a pool of cumin-yogurt and slices of artichoke that was particularly divine with swipes of pommes frites.

Fry this, fry that, shake this, shake that, all fab, yum.

A drive home around lovely Lake of the Isles and despite the cold (it's 58 degrees out there as I type, nice July, puhlease), a gorgeous night.

John and I had plans to hit Grand Cafe for dinner last night, but a serendipitous end-of-day exchange in the copy room of Henson & Efron changed all that.  Instead we were invited to dine a la chez Williams, with Debbie and Stu the Wine Genius, and we gratefully accepted.  I threw together a quick tray of cheeses from our fridge (luckily some tasty things - roquefort, a firm, sweet goat's milk, and hand-dipped ricotta from Whole Foods), roasted red peppers, and crisp flatbread from the pantry, and we were out the door.

Once settled in Debbie and Stu's lovely, cozy kitchen, we dug into snacks (said cheeses plus olives and a delicious truffle mousse pâté Stu set out) and got around to sipping some serious wines.  We opened with the 2007 vintage of a memorable Gewurztraminer that Debbie, Stu, and I enjoyed at Bouchon in Napa Valley a few years ago - Lazy Creek Vineyards Anderson Valley.  We moved on to the most delicious Viognier I've ever had, a lush 2007 Melville Verna's Estate Santa Barbara that was selling for around $22/bottle until Robert Parker gave it 94 points and it basically disappeared, poof.  Of course Stu had purchased it before all the fuss, so I count myself lucky, once again, that I got to try a wine with Stu that I'd never try otherwise.

Ditto for the two reds we tasted, both Saxum 2004 Syrah blends, one a James Berry Paso Robles, the other a Broken Stones Paso Robles.  It was so fun to taste these wines side-by-side and note their (to me, pretty subtle) differences - as Stu pointed out, if we'd had them on separate occasions we'd think they were quite similar.  Both were incredibly delicious, a huge treat.  (Note in the pic that Saxum, like Stu-Fave Sine Qua Non, changes their label with every vintage - Stu pulled some bottles to illustrate.  The two we tried are on the left.  And speaking of Sine Qua Non - the papers lying in front of the glasses are Sine Qua Non catalogue pages for an upcoming wine auction.)

In case you were wondering, yes, we did eat something other than cheese, olives, and pâté.  We had a delicious dinner of crusty, rosy pork tenderloin, roasted potatoes, and steamed broccoli.  We finished with slices of pear and blue cheese, along with a glass of champagne that hooooey! put me right on over the top. Yeah, baby, it may have been cold outside, but I was plenty warm and toasty.

Thank you to Debbie and Stu for another lovely evening!