Spicy Chocolate Covered Pork Belly Paired with 2009 Delaplane Cellars Virginia Tannat

This weekend I hosted a birthday party for Chef Sue.  For months I tried to decide how to handle this event - surprise party, rent space at a restaurant, or any of a half dozen other options.  I eventually settled on the idea of inviting a group of good friends to our home and use our wine tasting group formula.  It worked perfectly and we all had a wonderful time.

The format for the evening involved each couple bringing a bottle of white and red wines along with an hors d'oeuvre paired with one of the wines.  With nearly 30 people in attendance, we were treated to some great wine and creative food.

For my part, I made a spicy chocolate covered pork belly and paired it with a 2009 Delaplane Cellars Virginia Tannat.  I started with the idea of chocolate covered bacon, then thought "where can I go with this?"  It didn't take long to substitute pork belly for bacon, and add some cayenne pepper to bring a balance of creamy pork fat, the mild sweetness of dark chocolate, and the piquance of the cayenne pepper.

I started by heating oil in a dutch oven until just before smoking.  I seasoned the pork belly and seared on all sides.  I then added enough chianti and a diced onion to just cover the pork belly and put in the oven to braise for 2 hours at 300 degrees F.  When complete, I cut it into 3/4 inch cubes, cut off the skin, and skewered the cubes with tooth picks.  After allowing to cool for 1 hour, I prepared the chocolate by putting a steel bowl over a pot of boiling water, added 86% cacao dark chocolate, 1 tablespoon of butter and gradually added cayenne pepper while whisking until I arrived at the level of spicy heat I had in mind.  I'm guessing it was about 1 tablespoon.  The cubed and skewered pork belly was then dipped in the chocolate, placed on a piece of parchment then off to the fridge to set the chocolate.  This is best served at room temperature, so remove from the fridge about an hour before serving.

I chose the 2009 Delaplane Cellars Virginia Tannat because it is a big full bodied rich wine with strong tannins and wonderful dark berry flavors accompanied by a wisp of oak.  My mental picture of the wine matched perfectly with my pork belly creation - big, flavorful, chewy and dark.  We were rewarded with a wonderful pairing.  The berry flavors and tannins played magically with the deep rich chocolate and sweet pork belly while the cayenne added a fun overlay of flavor.

Sorry for the photography - with an event for nearly 30 people, I was not in a position to set up my typical lighting rig and camera gear.  Instead, we have to make due with a shot from my iPhone.

Happy Birthday Chef Sue.  You survived another year!  And thanks to everyone who shared in the celebration.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Braised Pork Belly Coconut Curry Noodle Soup Paired with 2010 Bin 106 Twisted River Germany Gewürztraminer

Had I not conceived of this recipe and was simply reading it, I would not be able to resist.  Pork belly – gotta love a pork fat foundation!  Curry – yes!  Then the we arrive at the holy combination of curry and coconut milk.  Add to this a beautiful suite of textures, and I am sold.

I realize that Christmas is just a few days away, and this menu and pairing has no resemblance to anything you may be considering for your Christmas feast.  On the other hand, many of my friends and relatives have holiday traditions that include atypical routines for Christmas Eve and New Year’s celebrations.  This may give you some inspiration for your non-traditional, er, holiday traditions.

With the principal flavors coming from the curry, cumin, and richness of the coconut milk and pork belly, the clear choice of a pairing was an off-dry white to balance the strong spices and sufficient acidity to balance the richness of the coconut milk and pork belly.  In this case I chose the 2010 Bin 106 Twisted River Germany Gewürztraminer.  This wine adeptly met our acidity requirements and offered intense pear and apricot flavors that complemented the dish nicely.  The bright fruit and light sweetness balanced the intense flavors of the curry nicely and made for a wonderful pairing.

I don’t have much of a history with Gewürztraminer, but found that the 2010 Bin 106 Twisted River Germany Gewürztraminer lived up to my expectations of big aromas, off-dry, and intense fruit flavors.  When thinking of Asian cuisine, Riesling comes to mind immediately and almost always provides a good pairing experience.  I will now add Gewürztraminer to my decision process – particularly when looking for more prominent fruit flavors.

I may post again before Christmas, but if by chance I do not, I would like to wish you a very merry Christmas.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 3/4 pounds pork belly
• 3/4 pounds pork chop (or other cut of pork - your choice)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 diced onions
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup (or so) chicken stock
• Japanese noodles (we used Chuka Soba, but any noodle such as rice noodles or udon noodles will work equally well
• 1 red bell pepper
• 4 ounces fresh bean sprouts
• Cilantro
• Sriracha Chile Sauce
• 4 tablespoons hot madras curry powder
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 cups julienned napa cabbage
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 dup crushed peanuts
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• Dash of fish sauce
• Green onions (2 bunches)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in a braising pot or Dutch oven - sear pork belly and pork chop. Remove and reserve.
2. Brown one diced onion, and 2 cups napa cabbage with cumin, ginger, and curry, and 1 tablespoon minced garlic in braising pot over medium-high heat.
3. Return pork belly and pork chop to braising pot, add mushrooms and chicken stock to just below the top of the meat.
4. Cover and place in preheated oven at 220 degrees F for three hours.
5. Remove pork from the braising pot and set aside.
6. To the braising liquid, add 1/2 red pepper (chopped), 2 cups napa cabbage, and let cook over medium low heat for 20 minutes.
7. Strain liquid and put back in braising pot with coconut milk. Adjust seasoning as desired.
8. In a small sauce pan, add soy sauce, fish sauce, mirin, and brown sugar. Reduce by 1/2 over medium-high heat.
9. Brush pork belly and pork chop with the soy reduction and place under broiler for two minutes.
10. Remove pork from broiler and cut the pork belly into 3/4 inch cubes. Shred the pork chop.
11. Cook noodles according to directions for the noodles you choose.
12. In a large bowl, add the noodles and the strained braising liquid. Add the pork, then top with bean sprouts, green onions, julienned napa cabbage and red pepper.
13. Cover bowl and let steam for five minutes.
14. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts, serve with sriracha chile sauce on the side.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Softshell Crab BLT, Crispy Pork Belly, Brioche, Calabrian Chili Aioli Paired with 2007 Etude Carneros Estate Grown Pinot Noir

Welcome back to another pairing from Decanting Napa Valley The Cookbook. This pairing of softshell crab BLT, crispy pork belly, brioche calabrian chili Aioli with a 2007 Etude Carneros Estate Grown Pinot Noir is particularly special because I prepared it in honor of Chef Sue’s birthday.  It is also a bit special because we have been anxiously waiting several months for the arrival of softshell crabs.  Meanwhile, the bottle of Etude Pinot Noir has posed in the wine rack taunting me with that familiar Pinot snicker.

With softshell crabs finally arriving, and a event appropriate for this wonderful pairing I was very excited to prepare this creatively conceived dish.  This is one of those magical recipes where I find myself loving every single ingredient.  But before we press on with the full description, I have to mention a few substitutions.  I was unable to find pork belly, so I substituted oven roasted thick cut bacon.  Mache (a type of lettuce) was also prescribed but not available near home, so I substituted red leaf lettuce adding some nice texture and color.  Finally, I was unable to find the calabrian chilies and used dried pepper flakes as a substitute. All the substitutions worked fine, but I really would have liked to have the pork belly – yum!

For the full recipe you will need to purchase the cook book at Decanting Wine Country.  Sorry, but I will tell you a bit about the dish.  Fundamentally it is a reconstructed BLT sandwich with the wonderful addition of a lightly fried softshell crab.  At the base, we start with a brioche lathered with a generous portion of the pepper aioli.  We then stack on the pan seared and oven rendered pork belly (or bacon in my case).  Next comes the thinly sliced grape tomatoes and lettuce and rather than top our BLT with another piece of bread, we finish it off with a lightly breaded and fried softshell crab.

The flavors in this dish are subtle and complimentary.  Even the pepper aioli adds only a small splash of heat and does not overwhelm the will balanced warm flavors from the pork and the crab.  The three featured flavors derive from the pepper aioli, pork, and crab.  Before seeing this recipe, I had never thought of the crab and pork combination.  However, once presented with the possibility, it made good sense.  Neither have bold or dominant flavor profiles, and we all know that pork belly matches well with just about anything – even crabs!  In this case, it worked beautifully and the dish was extremely well balanced. 

Our tasting crew consisting of birthday girl Chef Sue, Gunslinger Teji, Golf Buddy Steve, and Formerly of Austin Dawn, all commented that in each bight, you not only were treated to a wonderfully balanced set of flavors, but that you could taste each individual component without any one flavor bullying another.  From a textural standpoint, this dish has everything you can imagine from the crisp crunch of the brioche and softshell crab, to the fresh lettuce and tomatoes, and finally to the multi textural bacon (the pork belly would have even been better from a textural perspective).

So far, so good.  However, the crowd was skeptical of pairing a red wine with the delicate flavors of the softshell crab.  Fortunately, the Etude Pinot Noir was a light to medium bodied Pinot Noir that made everyone around the table smile in approval.

Here are the tasting notes from Etude Winery:

“Our goal is to produce a distinctly styled Pinot Noir of the highest quality, a wine that can satisfy any 'Burgundian' urge and yet be proud of its California roots. The 2007 Estate bottling offers inviting cool climate aromatics of raspberry, pomegranate and sandalwood with a touch of turned earth. Classically structured, the palate bursts with flavors of sweet frambois strawberries, red cherries and mocha. The lush fruit combined with the baking spice notes from aging in French oak creates a defined Pinot Noir with elegance and length.”

Also from the Etude Winery website are some notes from 2009 when Robert Parker gave this wine 90 points and said “Etude’s outstanding trio of Pinot Noirs begins with the dark ruby/plum-hued 2007 Pinot Noir Estate, which offers plenty of sweet cherry, pomegranate, wood spice, and forest floor characteristics in its round, gracious, expansive personality. Enjoy it over the next 5-6 years.”

In my opinion, the bright red fruit of this wine was clearly the star with a good supporting structure and earth notes to form a nice balance and full mouth feel.  The fruit forward nature of this medium bodied Pinot Noir perfectly complimented the sweet, rich flavors of the pork and crab.  Had the wine featured darker fruits, I don’t believe it would have worked nearly as well.

At $40 per bottle, this is a wine worth trying.  It would be a pleasure to drink on it’s own, but this wine is a brilliant choice for a broad range of paring options.

As you can tell, I am not rushing my way through Decanting Napa Valley The Cookbook.  I believe this is about the 6th pairing from the cookbook.  I’m sure we’ll return to the cookbook soon.  But for now, I will sit back and enjoy another glass of wine.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig