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An Autumn Feast…. And No, It’s Not Thanksgiving

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This Autumn, more than any other that I can recall, I have, for whatever reason, been really excited about cooking.  Maybe I’ve been inspired by the contents of my Farm Box each week.  Maybe it’s been (with the exception of a few days of record-smashing high temperatures) an uncharacteristically cool year in Los Angeles, causing me to crave the warmth and comfort of the kitchen.  Or maybe I’ve just found my cooking “groove.”  I don’t know.  What I do know is that I find myself these days planning dinner before I’ve had lunch and looking for any excuse to throw a weekend dinner party, and last weekend was no exception.

As I’ve mentioned before, J has a pretty remarkable group of college friends (Williams ’98), not the least of which is SF, a filmmaker who has been living in Kabul, Afghanistan for the past two years.  (Check out his production company, Development Pictures, here.)  Creative and adventurous are obvious descriptors for SF, but he’s also hysterically funny, warm, and, best of all, a food and wine lover.  As you can probably imagine, the selection of fine food and wine in Kabul is, to say the least, limited, so whenever he swings through town to do some pre- or post-production work on one of his projects, he always takes time to come over for a CorkPopper Dinner.  On this trip, he invited a couple of friends (A & S – another fantastically creative and fun couple), and we rounded out the party with JSo (LoSo was out of town for business).  A great group all around.

Because (according to J) all things come in threes, we decided on another three-course pairing menu….*

********************

Appetizer

Seared Scallop over Bourbon-Flambéed Wild Mushrooms with Crispy Pancetta

paired with

2007 Foley JA Ranch Pinot Noir

**********

Entrée

Herb- and Lemon-Stuffed Roasted Cornish Game Hens over Mashed Herb and Asiago Sweet Potatoes

paired with

2006 Babcock Nucleus Cabernet Sauvignon

AND

2007 Babcock Nucleus Cabernet Sauvignon

**********

Dessert

Baked Bourbon Apples with French Vanilla Ice Cream

paired with

Bourbon-Spiked Mulled Apple Cider

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Yep, you read that right.  It’s ok.  Don’t be embarrassed about needing to wipe the drool off your chin.  It’s two days later, and I’m still dreaming about this meal.

Starting with the appetizer course, I had two bottles of the 2007 Foley JA Ranch Pinot Noir on hand from a past wine club shipment.  Angled like a catcher’s mitt toward the Pacific Ocean, Santa Barbara County’s Santa Rita Hills provide the perfect conditions for the prickly Pinot Noir grape, offering long, warm days and cool nights often accompanied by a bit of ocean fog.  Foley, located along Highway 246, sits right in the middle of the Santa Rita Hills AVA.  Loaded with fruit, a bit of spice, and just a hint of that Santa Rita Hills “dirt,”** the JA Ranch Pinot Noir calls, of course, for something both earthy and of the sea.  No problem, said J, let’s do seared scallops over sautéed mushrooms.  And because no meal is complete without some sort of bacon product, he said, let’s top it with crispy pancetta.  Though it sounds like an odd pairing, J was, of course, spot on.  Both the wine and the dish had earthy and briny elements that complimented each other nicely, and the spicy fruit in the wine was the perfect foil for the saltiness of the pancetta.

Seared Scallop over Bourbon-Flambéed Wild Mushrooms with Crispy Pancetta

Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces thickly cut pancetta (thick-cut bacon will work as well if you can’t find pancetta)
  • 1 pound mushrooms (we used oyster and enoki but you can use pretty much any combination you’d like)
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • A splash of Bourbon (optional)
  • 6 large scallops



Preparation:

Cut the pancetta into small cubes, about 1/4 inch or so.  In a large nonstick pan, cook the pancetta pieces over medium-high heat until dark brown and crisp.  Set aside on a plate covered with a paper towel.  Save the pancetta grease to cook the mushrooms and scallops.

Depending upon what type of mushrooms you’ve chosen, prepare them by slicing them (shiitake and portabella) or separating them (oyster and enoki).  Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Reheat the pancetta grease over medium-high heat and add the mushrooms.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and sauté until soft but not completely limp, about 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat, add the splash of bourbon, and, being VERY careful, light it on fire using one of those long firestarters.  (You can skip the flambé if you want, but it does add a fantastic bite to the mushrooms that is definitely lacking otherwise.)  Holding the pan by its handle, move it back and forth in front of you, allowing the flames to lick the entire contents of the pan before burning out.  Spoon equal servings of the mushrooms onto warm plates and return the pan to the burner.  Add the scallops and sear about 90 seconds on one side and another minute on the other.  Place the scallops atop the mushrooms and return the pan to the burner again.  Add the pancetta back to the pan, along with a splash of whatever wine you’re drinking with the dish (Foley’s 2007 JA Ranch Pinot Noir, here).  Scrape up any brown bits stuck to the pan and then sprinkle the pancetta over the scallops and mushrooms.

4.5 Forks

4 Corked Forks

Moving on to the entrée, I noticed when going through my wine fridge that I had two vintages of Babcock’s “Nucleus” Cabernet Sauvignon, a rich and earthy Cab from one of my other favorite Santa Barbara wineries (anyone noticing a theme here?).  I am a HUGE fan of vertical tastings – where you taste multiple vintages of the same wine side by side – and thought it could be a fun centerpiece for the meal.  Better yet, I’ve been wanting to experiment with Cornish game hens lately, and I knew I’d be able to develop a nice game hen recipe around this deliciously food friendly wine.  Though this wine is labeled as a Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s actually a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (and a bit of Petit Verdot in the 2006 vintage),*** all from the Estelle Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley.  Both the 2006 and 2007 vintages of the Nucleus are big and complex, with lots of dark fruit and a bit of leather.  The 2007 has a hint of chocolate in the middle palate, while the 2006 shows a floral characteristic.  Interestingly enough, everyone at the table had a different opinion as to what made the two wines so different – just what I love about drinking wine….

As for the food, I decided that I didn’t want to overwhelm the natural flavors of the game hens with a big, fruity preparation, so I went instead the way of herbs, stuffing the hens with a mixture of thyme, rosemary, sage, lemon and garlic, and serving them atop a creamy mash of sweet potatoes, herbs, and nutty cheese.  Again, not a pairing that might come instantly to mind, but it worked out nicely, with the crisp, salty skin providing a nice foil for the fruitiness of both wines, and the herb mixture bringing out some of the wines’ inherent earthiness.

Herb- and Lemon-Stuffed Roasted Cornish Game Hens over Mashed Herb and Asiago Sweet Potatoes

Serves 6

Ingredients for Cornish Game Hens:

  • 3 large Cornish game hens (about 1.5 to 2 pounds each)
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 6 large cloves garlic, peeled
  • 2 lemons, sliced into six to eight pieces
  • 6 large sprigs fresh thyme
  • 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 3 sprigs fresh sage



Preparation for the Cornish Game Hens:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Rinse the hens and pat dry with paper towels.  Remove the neck/spine with kitchen shears.  Season the chest cavities with some salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, mix together the softened butter, the lemon zest, and the chopped herbs.  Starting from the rear end of the hens, carefully use your fingers to separate the skin from the meat.  Push the herbed butter under the skin, massaging the outside to spread it around evenly.  Stuff each of the hens with two garlic cloves, two lemon wedges, 2 sprigs of thyme, and a sprig each of rosemary and sage.  Season the outside of the hens with a bit of salt and pepper and place breast side down in a large roasting pan, wedging additional lemon pieces in between the birds.

Roast the birds for 30-35 minutes and allow to rest at least 10 minutes before slicing each hen in half and serving atop the Mashed Herb and Asiago Sweet Potatoes.  Drizzle with drippings from the roasting pan.



Ingredients for Mashed Herb and Asiago Sweet Potatoes:

  • 3 large yams/sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
  • 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup cream or whole milk (you can use lowfat, but the potatoes won’t be as creamy)
  • 1 cup grated Asiago cheese
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground pepper



Preparation for Mashed Herb and Asiago Sweet Potatoes:

Place the potato pieces in a large pot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are soft.  Drain the water and return the potatoes to the pot.  Using a potato masher or hand mixer, mash the potatoes until smooth.  Add the butter, cream/milk, and herbs and stir to combine.  Add the cheese and stir until the cheese has melted.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place equal scoops on 6 warm plates and top each serving with one half of a Herb- and Lemon-Stuffed Cornish Game Hen.

4.5 Forks

4 Corked Forks


Though J and I don’t usually make dessert, I was in the mood to do so this weekend, so I decided on one of the world’s easiest fall desserts – baked apples – which I opted to liven up with the addition of some of J’s Woodford Reserve Bourbon.  Topped with some vanilla ice cream and paired with hot apple cider mulled with cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and nutmeg and spiked with a splash of that same Woodford Reserve, this is a grown-up twist on a childhood favorite, for sure.  And best of all, the cider makes the whole house smell like Autumn, and the apples can bake as you enjoy your entrée!

 

Baked Bourbon Apples

Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • 6 Gala apples
  • 6 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 6 teaspoons nutmeg
  • 6 ounces Bourbon



Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Using a paring knife, cut a hole in the top of the apple.  Scrape out the core and seeds with a spoon, being careful not to cut or scrape all the way through the apple.  You want to end up with what is basically an apple cup.  Sprinkle the insides of the apples with the cinnamon and nutmeg and fill each with an ounce of Bourbon.  Place in a medium baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes, until the apples are soft but not mushy.

Place each apple on a small plate or in a bowl and top with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

4 Forks

4.5 Corked Forks

I hope you’ve enjoyed this epic post as much as we enjoyed this epic meal.  Now it’s time to plan the next one…

Cheers, and safe travels to SF!

* While I generally try to keep the wines I write about on CorkPopper under $25/bottle, sometimes there are simply those occasions for which it is appropriate to share some of the nicer wines in your cellar.  I decided that this was just such an occasion, so please bear in mind that – at least with respect to the wine – this meal does not fall within the normal CorkPopper budget restrictions.

** I don’t mean to imply that the wine tastes like dirt.  Rather, Pinot Noir is one of those grapes that is especially adept at picking up the mineral content of the soil in which it is grown, which means that it is a wine that has a very strong sense of terroir or place.

*** U.S. wine labeling laws permit a winery to label a wine as a single varietal (e.g., Cabernet Sauvignon) as long as the blend is comprised of at least 75% of that varietal.


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