Going Greek

A Greek Feast with 2006 Raven’s Wood Cabernet Sauvignon: 5/5

With The Cheesecake Factory final exam coming up at the end of this week, I thought it wise of me to try and get together with one of my training buddies to do some studying. So, as last week came to a close, I asked Rachel, a transplant from northern California, if she would be interested in coming over for dinner and study time. With out hesitation she agreed, and the date was set for Sunday night.

With some opened ended questioning I found out that Rachel’s favorite food was Spanakopita, a Greek pastry stuffed with spinach and feta cheese. So as the hours passed yesterday morning, I began to think of a Greek inspired menu that would include these spinach puffs.

I don’t know what happened, one dish snowballed into another, and another, until I had dreamt up quite an elaborate feast. Since Rachel is also a vegetarian, I wanted to make sure that I included enough sustenance so that the meal did not turn out to be a collection of sides. But after the last vegetarian meal (see Top Chef of Tomorrow), Michael mentioned that, although delicious, veggie meals did not fill the meat void. So, of course, I wanted to include some meat as well.

I started with the Spanakopita, jumped on the computer and found a Rachel Ray recipe, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/spanikopita-recipe/index.html Although the filling sounded delicious, the way she described folding each puff was not traditional. So I found another recipe that included the traditional triangular fold, http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spanakopita-107344, completing the recipe.

For Rachel, I thought that pan fried eggplant sounded Mediterranean, and recently while watching The Food Network, I have been seeing tons of Panko (Japanese bread crumbs). So I thought this would be an excellent excuse to combine the two.

Unable to find a recipe, I made my own. I started by slicing the eggplant into 1/4’’ - 1/2’’ thick slices. Then I placed the sliced eggplant on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with coarse ground salt and left to rest for a 1/2 hour. While the slices were resting, I prepared three bowls, one with 1/4 cup of flour, the second with 2 whisked eggs, and a third with 1/2 cup of Panko. After the eggplant had finished resting, I removed the excess salt and water and dipped the slices once into each bowl, coating both sides. When all of the pieces were coated I prepared a large skillet with 1/4 cup of oil over medium heat. After oil was hot, I placed the eggplant into skillet and browned both sides, until crispy.

To top the eggplant I wanted a greek inspired sauce, and what is more greek than Tzatziki. With 4 stars and 30 reviews, I turned to Ina Garten’s recipe, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/tzatziki-recipe/index.html. The most common criticism in the reviews pertained to the sauce being to salty. I also didn’t think I would need 2 1/2 cups of Tzatziki, so I halved the recipe, and salt and peppered to taste.

For meat, I wanted something simple, but Greek inspired, so I thought of kabobs. To be adventurous, I just winged a recipe. I started by soaking 7 skewers in water for about 30 minutes. While the skewers were soaking I defrosted 2 chicken breasts just long enough to become pliable, but not completely thawed. I recommend doing this because semi-frozen chicken is easier to chop. I then sliced the chicken breast into 28 equal pieces and put 4 slices on a skewer. After arranging the skewers on a cookie sheet, I drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper, 2 teaspoons of fresh chopped dill, and popped them into a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until cooked through.

To finish I wanted to make a pasta side, with some Mediterranean vegetables. So I started by roasting some tomatoes. Michael Chiarello, another Food Network Chef, has a great recipe for roasted tomatoes, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/roasted-tomatoes-recipe/index.html, but I only used 4 roma tomatoes, and quartered each, instead of halved, and added some balsamic vinegar and herbs in addition to the other ingredients.

After the tomatoes I sauteed some chopped baby portabella mushrooms, with the leftover Spanakopita filling, and then added some jarred artichoke hearts, with a splash of olive oil. After boiling a full package of spaghetti I tossed in the tomatoes, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts, and sprinkled about 3oz of feta cheese on top. Finally the Greek feast was complete.

Not specifying a varitel, I asked Rachel to bring a bottle of wine. She brought over a 2006 Raven’s Wood Cabernet Sauvignon. While I was a little apprehensive that a Cabernet might over power the lighter flavors of the dish, I was pleasantly surprised to see an alcohol content of 13.5%, giving this wine a lighter body compared to other Cabernets. With a description of earthy, rich, and dark, the flavors would be left to the drinker. My nose detected notes of plum and black cherry, with a warming toasted oak.

Finally, as we all sat to enjoy our meal, I ranged over the feast that was just a dream hours ago. The creamy cucumber flavor from the Tzatziki cooled the palate as the eggplant provided added flavor and a rough, cruchy texture. The Spanikopita turned out delicate, rich and smooth with little pops of feta and dill. The chicken kabobs, herby and a bit tough, rounded out the meal with a backbone of protein, while the pasta provided pockets of intense roasted tomato, earthy portabella, and rich artichoke flavors.

While part of me thinks a bright white wine, like a Sauvignon Blanc or Gewürztraminer, would have enhanced the meal by cleansing the palate, another part of me thinks that red was the right choice. With rich flavors the Cabernet provided a cohesiveness of the meal, enhancing the herbyness of the chicken, and taming the garlic in the Tzatziki. In another way the wine was able to provide a heaviness that gave a feeling of a complete meal, instead of just a collection of dishes. One could argue either way.

As we digested and talked of television and past restaurant experiences, the ominous cloud of studying moved over the table. Michael excused himself to the bedroom, so he wouldn’t bother us, and Rachel and I, ranged over table numbers, full menu names, and server time charts. When the evening came to a close the verdict was clear, this was another 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.