Semi-Lynfred Let Down

Swedish Meatballs and Lynfred’s Vin De City Red: 4/5

Lynfred’s Vin De City Red: 54/100

Having the day off, Michael and I lazily lounged about the apartment—outside the day was cast in a gray monotony, scattered with flecks of gentle snow. Finally gaining enough momentum, we decided to go and get something to make for dinner. Featuring Lynfred Winery this week, I was a bit unsure of what to pair with a “table wine”.

As I flipped through The Better Homes Cookbook, I thumbed to the meats section, littered with titles like Hamburger Pie, and Chili-Pasta Skillet, not exactly what I was looking for. Then I scanned across Swedish Meatballs, and was automatically transported to Ikea. If you’ve never indulged in a plate of swedish meatballs from ikea, I’d at least do it once. I never feel as Swedish, or quite in the mood to furniture shop, as I do with a stomach full of Ikea’s meatballs.

With the thought, I was sold. Now the recipe out of Better Homes was a little to processed for my tastes—using bouillon cubes, and store bought bread crumbs, so I hit the internet and found Alton Brown’s Swedish Meatball recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/swedish-meatballs-recipe/index.html) As with most Alton Brown recipes you can expect higher quality ingredients and exact measurements. Does that mean the recipe will not turn out delicious if you make your meatballs larger than 1oz? Of course not, but I have to hand it to Alton, his food can be practically cloned if you follow his recipes to a T.

Traditional Swedish Meatballs are made with ground pork and beef, but looking to save a buck, I decided to substitute ground venison for the pork. (but that’s kind of killing a “buck”, isn’t it?) My mom and dad live on a ranch in the middle of nowhere, just south of the Wisconsin border, and with solitude comes deer, especially in the mid-west. Not big hunters themselves, my parents allow their friends to come and hunt on the land, and once or twice a season, are rewarded for their kindness with an abundance of venison. When I make it home, my mom doesn’t let me leave without a good couple pounds of free meat—fine by me.

If you’ve never cooked with venison, you’ll be surprised to find how lean it is. Alone, venison has a gamey flavor, but when mixed with ground beef or used in chili or sloppy Joes, you won’t even notice. Not caring for the flavor when I was younger, my mom became a professional at disguising venison, and as she would say, “It’s good free meat, we can’t just let it go to waste.”

So what makes Swedish meatballs, Swedish? Nutmeg and Allspice. When mixed in with the meat balls, the flavors seep out into the grease while they are frying in the pan. And when the gravy is made with the leftover drippings, it takes on a warm spicy undertone, indicative of Swedish Meatballs.

Since I was pairing a table wine I thought the subtle warmth of nutmeg and allspice would bring out the vanilla and cherry in the wine. Allowing my bottle to breathe, I corked it before I started cooking. Taking an initial whiff of the bottle I was met with a strong ethanol aroma, like sniffing a bottle of vodka, which made me a bit concerned about the quality of the wine.

Adding the cream into the pan, my gravy took on a warm carmel hue and sent smells of onions, nutmeg, and beef floating about the apartment. As the gravy reduced, I prepared Michael and I’s plates with rice and green beans. Have you ever wondered how restaurants get their rice to hold such a wonderful shape? It’s easy, take a biscuit cutter, or small shallow bowl, and pack in some rice, good and tight. The starches in the rice will hold like glue so when you lift your bowl, a nice “rice castle” will be left behind, and your presentation will look clean and professional. Topping my rice castles with meat balls the plates were complete and ready for photography.

Pouring a glass of wine, the aroma of black cherry and oak met my nostrils with a slight burn. With a semi translucent reddish purple hue, I noticed the legs of the wine begin to separate instead of streak down the side of my glass. Examining my glass, I could not find anything that would be making the wine do this, but as soon as the wine hit my palate I knew what the culprit was. Having a very high ethanol concentration, the Vin De City Red attacked my palate with a harsh, burning sensation of a very young Cabernet Sauvignon. With high levels of acidity, and a noticeable astringency, my first swallow caused my face to twist a bit—not exactly what I was expecting.

Followed by bite of meatballs, the warm underlying spice was able to tame the burn in my mouth from the wine, making the flavors of cherry and vanilla more present as the meal continued. Sending little rushes of nutmeg and onion around my palate, coated in a rich creamy gravy, the meatballs were, do I dare say, better than Ikea’s—not to fatty, or salty. Combined with the wild rice and green beans, the result was a meal I didn’t have to feel guilty about eating.

Following my first bite with another sip of wine, my palate was more accepting, but still a bit reluctant. In my mind a pairing should enhance both the food and the wine, and with this I think the food played a lion taming role. Unfortunately I have had many better $10.00 wines. Just in case the wine needed an exceptionally long time to breathe I saved a small glass for lunch today. Although better than last night, the harsh presence was still over powering.

What will the Vin De City White hold? Hopefully a Perfect Pair.

A Pumpkin Pairing

Pumpkin Soup with Cran-Apple Relish + 2008 Red Bicyclette Chardonnay: 5/5

On Thursday I was a mime at Robot Lounge’s, my friend’s band, show at the Cubby Bear. After a long night and an entire day to recover on Friday, a rinse and repeat was not sounding all too fun for Halloween. While Michael and I did have this great Idea of going as Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum, me being Heidi of course, I just couldn’t muster the gusto to go. So we made the executive decision to spend this Halloween at home, leaving the perfect opportunity for a poignant pairing.

With and afternoon spent making apple chips, because we are still using up the apples from our apple orchard visit, I was channeling the festive spirit. I wanted to make a fall dish inspired by Halloween. My first thought, split pea soup. Ya’ know, The exorcist, split pea soup? We could watch the movie while enjoying a nice steaming bowl of Reagan (Linda Blair) vomit. Delicious.

Exorcist aside, Michael doesn’t like split pea soup, so I had to come up with another option. So I hit the computer, pulled up my new best friend, The Food Network, and perused the pumpkin recipes. With five stars and 214 reviews and comments, Rachel Ray’s Pumpkin Soup with Chili Cran-Apple Relish http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/pumpkin-soup-with-chili-cran-apple-relish-recipe/index.html tingled my taste-buds, and I would get to use some more apples!

The only pumpkin soup I ever had was over seas. I had the opportunity to go to New Zealand with the boys choir I sang with in high school. Whomever coordinated our trip decided that buffets were a perfect fit for two tour busses full of adolescent boys. By the end, I think we had eaten at every buffet on the two islands. Some buffets were fancier than others, some had seafood, others had decedent dessert bars, others just plain awful, and some were a hybrid of a sit down restaurant and buffet. In the case of the latter, a soup course would be served as an appetizer, while each table was allowed to browse the buffet. In most instances, the soup would be a bland, creamy orange liquid with a grainy texture. No spice, depth, or richness, just a monotone pumpkin puree. Although I was only 16, I knew flavorful, and that pumpkin soup was not it. Maybe it was a New Zealand thing, they also eat Vegemite and make their scrambled eggs runny.

So I was a little hesitant in making pumpkin soup, especially after reading some reviews that complained the soup was a bit bland. But reluctantly I decided I would give it a shot, and if worse came to worse I would play with the seasoning to take it up a notch.

The preparation is not hard, and coming from 30-minute meals, didn’t take to long either. The last step is to add 2 cups of heavy cream and season with nutmeg. I tasted a spoonful before adding the cream. Rich flavors of thyme, celery, onion and pumpkin saturated my palate, no blandness here. So I added the cream, expecting the flavor to stay the same, I stirred and simmered, and went in for another taste. The creamy texture coated the back of my spoon perfectly and the smell of halloween wrapped me like gauze from a mummy. I took the spoon to my mouth, feeling the warmth of the liquid wrap itself around my tongue. All of those rich flavors I had tasted before seemed to disappear. The texture was right, but the flavor was gone.

So I thought, and then started to play. The great thing about soup, you can always fix it. By introducing new flavors in small increments, no soup is a lost cause. Just hold your spoon in hand, and cleanse your palate before each bite. To mine, I added 2oz of pumpkin, some salt and pepper, cinnamon, more hot sauce, some Mrs. Dash, Montreal chicken seasoning, and what brought everything together, a light dusting of chipotle chili powder. With my last taste, the richness returned and beneath the surface there was a growing chipotle heat.

According to this cool website I found www.winedin.com, where you can put in food and it will suggest a wine, Pumpkin soup goes best with Chardonnay, Viognier, or Gewürztraminer. As we passed the chilled wine section, Michael spotted a 2008 Red Bicyclette Chardonnay from Southwestern France. With bright oak, tropical fruit, and vanilla flavors, I thought that the profile would accompany the richness of the soup. And to include into our Halloween evening, the image of the bicycle on the bottle had a basket, reminiscent of Elmira Gulch, The Wicked Witch of The West.

The combination of the crunchy apple relish, the smoothness of the soup, and the added texture from the cooked celery and onion made my palate keen and sensitive. The wine provided a bath for my tongue, refreshing and able to handle the buttery texture of the soup. Little sweet bits of cranberry held hands with the tropical fruit flavors of the Chardonnay, while the vanilla undertones swirled with the cinnamon and honey of the soup. This was not the pumpkin soup of New Zealand, this was fit for the Queen of England.

Satiated and satisfied we curled up on the couch to watch a scary movie, while apple crisp cooked in the oven. Cozy smells cinnamon and brown sugar washed over us like a blanket of silk. Sometimes moments spent in on nights known for unrest are some of the best remembered. Another perfect pair.

Paula Deen's Solution for a Dinner Dilemma

Beef Stroganoff + 2007 Big House Red: 5/5

After a long day at work, the last thing anyone wants to do is think of what to make for dinner, go to the grocery store, and then come back to slave over a stove. Well of course there are slow cooker recipes, fast food, or going out to eat, but what if you want something homemade, and you want it now?

My recommendation, pal up with a food network friend. On the website, www.foodnetwork.com, you can spend a couple minutes with your favorite T.V. personality— Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, or my personal favorite, Paula Deen. In a few short minutes you will be well on your way to a dinner divine.

So after a full day of conference room hall monitoring (sounds glamourous, right?) I turned to my friend Paula for some dinner decisiveness. Her suggestion, Beef Stroganoff. Now when it comes to online recipes, read reviews. If there is something wrong with the recipe, usually some suggestions will pop up, the rating will be poor, or reviewers will use lots of exclamation points. This, !!!!!!! usually = bad.

For my dinner decision, Paula Deen’s Beef Stroganoff had five stars and 127 comments and reviews, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/beef-stroganoff-recipe/index.html, so I felt pretty confident that Michael and I were in for a treat.

My mom tried making beef stroganoff when I was younger, probably 10 years old. I can remember coming to our golden wheat wooden table to a plate of concrete over noodles. My dog, rubbing his snotty nose across the screen, pacing in an anxious walk, staring at my plate. Fit for a dog, I thought.

“What is this mom?” I asked, grabbing my fork and scrapping through the gray stuff to get to the noodles.

“It’s beef stroganoff, you’ve never had it. You’ll like it.” There was an unsure tone in her voice. She looked around the table at my brother, my dad, and me, seeing our contorted faces and unsure approval.

I can’t really remember if it was good or not, but I remember I didn’t like it. I couldn’t get over the dirty meat sauce, the smell of onions, and the slimy texture of the mushrooms. To this day, the dish hadn’t really ranked high on my list.

Then came Paula. After I sauteed the beef in butter and olive oil and used the drippings for the onions and mushrooms, I was immediately reminded of burgers with caramelized onions and mushrooms. When I added the soups, the smell of simmering beef with creamy mushrooms coated me from head to toe, suddenly stroganoff wasn’t sounding so bad.

To find a wine I did some further research online, www.vinessetoday.com had a couple of suggestions. While beef calls for red wine, cream base sauces crave white. On the other hand, the dish’s complexity calls for a complex wine. Solution? A blend, such as a Syrah-Grenache. Blending wines provides complexity and depth to accompany multiple flavors, in this case, a rich and creamy sauce and fatty beef.

Michael and I stumbled upon an interesting wine called Big House Red, a 2007 blend of Viz Syrah, Tannet, Tempranillo, Petite Sirah, Touriga, Malbec, Aglianico, Nero d’Avola, Mourvédre, Grenache, Petite Verdot, and Montepulciano. If that wasn’t complex enough for the dish, I don’t know what would be.

As I sunk my fork into the first bite, my mouth watered. The grayish-brown sauce, looked much more appetizing than my 10 year old memory. Coating my palate, the rich buttery noodles, tip toed around the bits of beef, onion, and mushrooms, as the sauce provided a glue to hold everything together. The sour cream gave the dish an unexpected zip, while the creamy mushroom soup provided depth, and succulent flavor. A truly complex dish. Would the wine be up for the challenge?

With a strong smell of jam and toasted oak, the nose was upfront and strong. Revealing subtle tannins, a swirl of the wine lightly coated the sides of the glass. After checking the deep magenta color, I let the wine coat my palate. With a lighter body, and higher alcohol concentration, the wine is definitely dangerous. Over all, the wine had a medium body, and didn’t linger long at the finish.

Together, both the stroganoff and the wine provided the perfect balance of tannin, fruit, beef, and cream. With each fork full and swig of the wine, my palate was overcome with a flavor ambush. The saltiness of the dish played well with the acidity of the wine, and the jammy smells of the wine brought out the subtly in the beef.

Luckily for me, I was exhausted, so after just a glass of wine, I was ready for bed, but that didn’t stop Michael and I from having a little more stroganoff. Luckily this wasn’t a repeat of childhood. Now, for me, stroganoff means delicious. Thank you Paula Deen for another perfect pair.