Chili Two Ways

Vegetarian White Bean Chili with 2008 Eos Estate Chardonnay, Private Reserve: 5/5

2008 Eos Estate Chardonnay, Private Reserve: 93/100

When I made Chili last, Shelbey told me that the next Chili I should try to make should be a vegetarian white chili. So with chili on the menu for Amuse Bouche http://bit.ly/b2wdTJ, I decided to make a duo, one traditional, the other vegetarian.

I’m pretty sure the cashier at the grocery store thought I was preparing for the apocalypse when I walked to the check out line with close to 15 items of canned goods. The vegetarian white bean chili recipe I found, http://bit.ly/d5FCqD, called for four different types of beans and a can of diced green chilies, and the traditional chili uses four different types of beans as well, along with two kinds of caned tomatoes and tomato paste. So yes, lots of cans, and lots of beans.

The great thing about canned goods is they are always cheaper than fresh, and when it comes to Chili, it’s hard to taste the difference. Since I didn’t have to purchase any spices, which can get expensive, I spent about $30 dollars on all of the ingredients for two pots of chili that would probably serve about 25-30 people. This made each serving around $1. Take that economic crisis.

Since the vegetarian chili used sour cream as a thickening agent, when it came to wine I wanted to make sure I would have something that would be able to stand up against the sour cream’s zip. Luckily I had what I needed sitting right in front of me at home, a bottle of 2008 Eos Estate Chardonnay, private reserve. If you recall, I first paired this wine with Mark Bittman’s Pork Chops in a sherry garlic sauce, which was a huge success. With a heavy body, a floral and caramelly aroma, I knew this was a perfect choice for the chili.

When it came time to cook, I donned my mad scientist glasses and lab coat, and set out browning ground beef for one chili, sauteing peppers and onions for the other, then opening all of the cans, organizing them accordingly, and throwing all the ingredients together in a frenzy of culinary conquest. The great thing about chili is it comes together in a fairly short amount of time and can cook over low heat all day if need be. If you have the time, I recommend making chili the day before, and let it refrigerate over night. This lets everything marinate together, creating a delicious harmonization of flavors. For the vegetarian chili, this also lets the beans soak up some of the excess veggie stock, giving things a thicker, “chili-er” texture.

Fortunately for me, I was able to make the chili a day in advance so all I had to do to prepare on the day of, was put the pot over high heat, add the sour cream, and let it warm. While all the flavors of the dish are more unified, the apartment wasn’t coated in cooking smells like it was the day prior.

For garnish I shredded some colby-jack cheese, chopped some cilantro, and left out the sour cream, for Shelbey who’s a sour cream fiend. Pouring a glass of wine, I snapped some pictures and then it was time to eat. Holding the wine to my nose, I was met with those delicious aroma’s of apple blossoms, and warm caramel, all married together in light oak. Giving the wine a swirl I noticed the heavier body, and the rich darker golden color of the wine. As the wine trickled over my palate I was met with a heavier body, coated with creme brulee and fresh apples—delicious.

Taking spoonful of Chili, I tried to get a perfect bite of beans, peppers, cheese, cilantro, and sour cream. As the chili hit my tongue I was immediately met with the zip of the broth, followed by the earthiness of the black eyed peas, before giving way to the sweetness of the peppers, and the fresh crisp of the cilantro. Leaving the pot to marinate over night really helped the flavors combine in a happy marriage.

Following the bite with another drink of wine, my palate was warmed with the oak of the wine, while the sweetness of the peppers were enhanced by the warm caramel notes in the Chardonnay. The heavy body balanced the sour cream, allowing the textures of the beans to be felt and enjoyed.

As we were finishing our meals, Shelbey pointed out that it was still light outside. Soon it would be time for grilling and salads, moving away from the heavier dishes of winter, moving away from the Chardonnay’s and Cabernets, and into the Chenin Blancs and Pinot Grises of summer. As we plopped on the couch to relax, and wait for Project Runway, we weren’t left over stuffed, but we were full and satisfied. Another Perfect Pair.

Hungry Hungry Hungarian Apple Soup

Hungarian Apple Soup and Lynfred Winery’s Vin De City White: 4/5

Lynfred Winery’s Vin De City White: 58/100

With a not so stellar experience with Lynfred Winery’s Vin De City Red, I was hesitant to try the Vin De city White. Now all things considered, Illinois does not have the climate to produce a note worthy red, right now it’s 11 degrees, with sub zero winds. But a great white wine can be produced in a colder climate, so I held a glimmer of hope for my second pairing.

Having to work during the day yesterday, trudging through the icy weather to and from work, there was no way I was going to leave the house twice to make a special trip to the grocery store. So I was faced with the dilemma of dinner upon rolling out of bed. Since Shelbey and Zach, my veggie friends, were coming for dinner, I had the added task of finding something vegetarian friendly.

After flipping through Better Homes and How to Cook Everything with no avail, I hit the internet, google searched “ best vegetarian winter recipes”, and landed on Hungarian Apple Soup (http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/hungarian_apple_soup.html). Chalked full of nutritious apples and veggies, I even found a reviewer who swapped sweet potatoes for the yukon gold. Sounded interesting, but apples, onions, sweet potatoes and sage? Would they all go together.

Hesitating a moment, I decided to give it a shot. After a short shift at work, and a quick pit stop at the grocery store, I was back in the comfort of my home, watching slow moving tendrils of steam rise off neighboring high rises. I think I’m ready for spring.

Just as allspice and nutmeg make meatballs Swedish, the Hungarian element in this soup is paprika. Probably Hungary’s number one exported spice, Paprika is made from various dried peppers similar to chili powder or cayenne pepper. Dependent on the pepper used, paprika can be very spicy or slightly sweet—my paprika was a medium red color, and not too spicy. As with any spice, you can always add more, but it’s harder to take away, so taste as you go.

Described as having aromas of toasty apple and pear, I thought if anything would enhance the flavors of the wine, an apple soup would do the trick. Corking the bottle, I was met with an upfront aroma of apple, and surprisingly no burning sensation of ethanol. Maybe their was hope after all. Letting the wine chill, I headed back to the soup.

The recipe above only makes two servings, but is very easily doubled. After a good 10 minutes of peeling and chopping, the bulk of the work was done. Simmering in a bath of vegetable stock the smell of sage and paprika ransacked my nostrils and caused Shelbey to question what was cooking from the sofa. Putting my nose close to the soup, the sweetness of the apple and onion melded with the sage, producing an intoxicating aroma almost good enough to bottle.

When I made tomato soup a couple weeks back, I told you about my immersion blender, well this was another excuse to use it. Now a regular blender would work just fine, but there would be the chance that you would spill hot soup all over yourself and your kitchen, so having an apparatus to put into the pot just seems safer and cleaner. If you like your soup extra smooth I recommend passing it through a sieve to eliminate any inconsistencies.

To accompany the soup I warmed some pita bread with a bit of olive oil in a pan, giving the dish a further European flair. After adding the sour cream the soup took on a muted orange color, very pretty against white porcelain. Finishing the bowl off with a dollop of sour cream and a pinch of fresh parsley, the presentation looked almost professional, if I do say so myself.

Pouring a glass, I was surprised by the wine’s slightly brown canary color, hopefully created by the oak, and not by oxidation. Giving a swirl, the legs streaked down the sides of my glass instead of breaking apart into beads—a positive sign. Bringing the glass to my nose I was met with the aroma of ripe crab apple, with an slight hint of pear and lemon, much more indicative of the mid-west, than the red wine’s black cherry. Swishing around a mouthful, I was overcome with an overwhelming bitterness, but a left with a lingering apple finish.

Taking a spoonful of soup, the warm liquid coated my palate with a unobtrusive sweetness, and a underlying earthly herb flavor from the sage. Comparable to a pumpkin soup, or squash soup, the apple flavor was not the star of the dish, but contributed to the overall balance. Not to salty, or spicy, the soup was thick enough to feel substantial as a vegetarian entree. If I make the soup again I will probably add another apple to see if the over all effect is any different.

Trying another sip of wine, the over all effect was much less bitter, due to the sweetness of the soup. The apple flavors of the wine evoked the apples in the soup, and left a pleasant aftertaste. Although I would have to say the wine was a bit unbalanced, when paired with the soup the overall effect was enjoyable.

Shelbey, Zach, and Michael all loved the soup, but Shelbey traded the rest of her wine for a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, with all of the award winning wines that Lynfred Winery has in their portfolio, the Vin De City White and Vin De City Red were not very notable. Retailing at $10.00 a bottle, you are better off finding a bottle of Barefoot on sale. I’m anxious to try some other selections from the winery, and maybe when I make it out there when the weather is warmer, I will sing a different tune, but for right now, I will continue to search for the next Perfect Pair.

Lasagna Love

2008 Salmon Run Pinot Grigio and White Lasagna: 5/5

2007 Dr. Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli and Stuffed Mushrooms: 5/5

2008 Dr. Konstantin Frank Cabernet Franc and Vegetarian Lasagna: 5/5

2008 Salmon Run Pinot Grigio: 90/100

2007 Dr. Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli: 87/100

2008Dr. Konstantin Frank Cabernet Franc: 90/100

“To new friends, to old friend, to boyfriends, and girlfriends.” Clinking our glasses over steaming slices of lasagna, we all laughed in nervous anticipation of the evening to come. Lifting the first bite to my mouth, I stole a peek of everyones face. A first bite is like meeting someone for the first time, it’s either love or hate, and fortunately everyone’s faces said love.

Since I’m featuring such important wine this week, I wanted to make some food with some importance. So talking over dinner plans on Monday with my new co-workers and friends, Victoria and Lauren, I inquired about favorite foods. Once lasagna left Victoria’s mouth, the debate was over. Lauren and Victoria were to bring stuffed mushrooms for appetizers, I was going to make lasagna, and Michael, dessert.

Having 8 wines to choose from, the problem was not having too few wines, but rather, too many (but that’s not really a problem). Reading through the wine descriptions, I wanted to make sure to choose wines that would compliment the food perfectly.

Since Shelbey and Zack, my veggie friends, were coming for Project Runway Thursdays, I decided to make two lasagnas. A vegetarian lasagna I found on Recipe Zaar (http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegetarian-Lasagna-14684) in a red sauce, and a white lasagna in a prosciutto cream sauce with wild mushrooms (http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/porcini-and-prosciutto-lasagne) found on the Food & Wine website. Pairing well with red sauced pasta dishes, Dr. Frank’s 2008 Cabernet Franc, retailing for $19.99, was the perfect match for the veggie lasagna, and the 2008 Salmon Run Pinot Grigio, retailing for $9.99, lends itself to light cream based pasta dishes, like white lasagna. Can you get more perfect than that?

So the evening was set, all I had to do was cook, and let me tell you, there were a lot of steps. Making two completely different lasagna’s, requiring two different sets of prepped ingredients, and two different kinds of noodles, was a bit time consuming. But luckily for me, I had the whole day to prepare, and with Michael at work, it was just me and the stove.

Michael and I’s smoke detector has a mind of it’s own. Around 7 o’clock I decided to put the lasagnas into the oven. Since the vegetarian required 45 minutes at 350, and the white required 20 minutes at 425, my plan was to cook the veg for 20 minutes at 350 and then have both finish together at 425. But apparently when living in a one bedroom apartment there is enough carbon monoxide released from a 400+ degree oven to piss of the smoke detector. So you are probably thinking, why don’t you just take the battery out? Well it’s wired into the ceiling, so the most you can do is press the cancel button, putting it into stand by for two minutes before it starts yelling again. So the lasagnas finished cooking together at 375, with no screaming smoke detectors.

Running a little behind Victoria and Lauren arrived as the lasagnas were finishing, so we just ate everything together. So after the toast it was time to get down to some serious business—eating. Calling my name, I started with the Pinot Grigio and white lasagna. With a lively aroma of lemon lime with a hint of fresh cut grass, I swirled the wine and sniffed, and sniffed again. Coating my palate with a nice medium body, the Pinot Grigio had structure, and acidity comparable to a fresh granny smith apple. Biting into the white lasagna, my mouth was coated in rich cream and salty prosciutto, with an underlying earthiness from the mushrooms. Following the bite with another swig of wine, the marriage was warm and comforting, like a fleece blanket. Enhancing the delicate flavors of cream and mushroom, the lasagna rang with a renewed freshness, before being wiped clean from the acidity of the wine.

Next up, the mushrooms. Victoria was kind enough to modify her recipe to include a vegetarian option. Both mushrooms were covered in a remoulade sauce, one with crab and crab stuffing, the other with a potato stuffing. Having such a pronounced flavor like crab, I decided to pair the shrooms with the 2007 Dr. Frank Rkatsiteli, retailing for $17.99. Forewarned by a reader, Rkatsiteli is not your every day wine. Taking a whiff, I was met with a spicy yet fruity aroma. Coating my palate, the sides of my tongue went wild from acidity, while my palate rang with a fruit forward flavor. Biting into a mushroom, the crab and remoulade cut through the lingering acidity, while the oils mellowed out the tinny-ness of the wine. Taking another drink, the wine cleansed the palate, keeping the mushrooms fresh.

Completing the trifecta, I finished the meal with the vegetarian lasagna and Cabernet Franc. I have to be honest, I was a bit concerned when I first smelled this wine. As recommended, I let the wine breathe for a couple of hours before consumption, but didn’t wait to smell. Met with the fragrance of my grandmother’s prune cocktail, at first the wine wreaked of a mix between an old folks home and a spice cabinet, but after a couple of hours the profile completely changed. Developing more depth, the prune turned to plum, and the spices were warm and inviting. Showcasing subtle tannins and a structured medium body, the Franc coated my palate with a lingering finish. Followed with smooth ricotta, al dente zucchini, and a warm herbiness, the lasagna did not leave me missing meat. Sandwiching the bite, the wine brought out the complexity of the lasagna’s herbs, while creating a harmonious rich flavor.

As nine o’clock rolled around, the new season of Project Runway sounded form the T.V., Michael hit the kitchen to finish his Snow Ball Cupcakes, and the rest of us plopped in the living room. Transformed in a span of a couple of hours, we were no longer strangers, we were friends, brought together by food. Another Perfect Pair.

Top Chef of Tomorrow

Confit of Eggplant, Lentils, Garlic Purée, and Radish Salad + 2008 Firefly Ridge Pinot Gris: 4/5

I have pondered, over many a Top Chef viewing, what the food tastes like. You see, while I am not afraid to try anything, ingredients, processes, and preparations seen on Top Chef are as foreign to me as Chinese to a native english speaker. My lips have never touched a truffle, nor have I ever smelled a thread of saffron.

But unfamiliarity aside, I still have the words of Julia Child in the back of my head,

“No Fear.”

Since 2 of the 4 guest I invited for dinner were vegetarian, and the latest Top Chef episode featured an homage to Veggies, I thought I would capitalize on the opportunity to test my culinary ability by making Chef Eli Kirshtein’s Confit of Eggplant, Lentils, Garlic Purée, and Radish Salad. http://www.bravotv.com/foodies/recipes/confit-of-eggplant-lentils-garlic-pureacutee-and-radish-salad

For the future, when attempting a Top Chef recipe it is best to go to Whole Foods. This is where the Chef’s usually shop for challenges, and their selection of produce is superior to that of Dominick’s or Jewel. Unfortunately for me, I did not think of that until I was at Dominick’s already.

While the recipe called for Japanese eggplant, heirloom radishes, spring garlic, and Banyuls vinegar, I could only fine baby eggplant, full grown radishes, cloves of garlic, and balsamic vinegar. Similar, yes, but exact? No. So I picked up some watercress, and herbs to see if I could come up with similar flavor profiles. Since the recipe was also categorized as an appetizer, I decided to add a carrot salad to insure that there would be enough food.

I am not going to lie, the preparation and cooking was stressful. Never have I used so many dishes, spoons, pots, pans, blenders, and heating surfaces for one recipe. Luckily having a serving background has given me the ability to multi-task and handle stressful situations. No Fear, right?

As my guests, Rocio, Shelbey, and Zachary, came into the apartment, I was putting my eggplant medallions into the pan, browning butter, reducing cream, simmering lentils, and blending the garlic and watercress into a purée. Seeing my stress, I was greeted with compliments of good smells, french bread, a bottle of white wine, and a block of brie. Taking a deep breath, I went back to work.

For wine I was feeling pretty confident in my pairing abilities. Since the dish was strictly vegetables and grains, I was certain that the wine of choice would be white. Afraid that a buttery Chardonnay would be overpowering, and a Riesling too sweet, I narrowed my options to Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. While both wines are un-oaked Pinot Grigio provides more fruity notes, while Sauvignon Blanc offers earthier tones.

As an alternative, I opted for a 2008 Firefly Ridge Pinot Gris. Similar to Pinot Grigio but usually categorized as a new world wine, this particular wine offered tropical and melon flavors, with a smooth and silky body.

Plating is just as important to a Top Chef as taste, so when it was time, I tried aligning each component horizontally. Not liking that, I separated everything into circles on a triangular plate, which looked more appetizing to me. When it came to my plate, I had used all of the triangles, so I plated mine with the circle grouping style on a rectangle(pictured).

With the lentils and eggplant acting as “meat” the carrot and radish salads provided pops of color on the plate. I went for the carrot salad first, familiar with its zesty dressing, sweet raisins, and crunchy carrots. Apprehensive that the carrots would be unrelated to the rest of the dish, I moved to the fennel and radish salad. Providing a spicy crunch, a sweet anise overtone, and a bitter herby vinaigrette, the Top chef salad teetered on the tongue, hitting a multitude of senses before a lingering finish. Finally I moved to the eggplant. Having sat, covered in salt, for a half an hour, the eggplant was tender, and flavorful. The garlic puree, added an additional earthy undertone, brought out by the saltiness of the eggplant. When paired with the lentils the texture was creamy, but though enough to chew. The lentils themselves, on the other hand, were another story.

After I added the reduced cream, the lentils took on a sweet, almost spoiled, milk flavor. I did the best I could to return to the original carrot, celery and onion profile, and even doctored it with spices, salt and pepper, but in the end my palate had been tainted and I could only taste the cream. The others said they liked them, but the only remnants found on anyone’s plate was lentils.

The melon and citrus notes of the Pinot Gris gave off an almost Jolly Rancher or rock candy aroma. Worried that the wine would not hold up to the range of flavors in the dish, I took a sip. The light straw-like colored wine had a silky body and left a lingering fruity flavor in the mouth, but at the same time, was cleansing to the palate. Playing off of the sweetness of the carrots, the spiciness of the radish, and the earthiness of the eggplant, each sip brought out a different colour of the dish, while not loosing itself to the bold flavors. Since the overall effect of the meal was light, the wine was a perfect match.

Obviously I am no Top Chef, but for a first attempt at stepping into the gastronomic world of fine food, I would categorize my meal as a success. My vegetarian friends were pleased, Michael, although left craving meat, like it. Rocio was ready for bed. As I looked over the mountainous stack of dirty dishes, I couldn’t help feeling accomplished. Who knows what the future holds, but I know that food will be a part of it. Another perfect pair.