Sea Scallops Poached in Citrus and White Wine with a Spicy Grapefruit Reduction Paired with 2010 Hawk Haven New Jersey Pinot Grigio

After spending New Year's Eve with Friends Don and Beth in Cape May New Jersey, we set out on the first day of 2012 to visit several wineries in the Cape May area.  Among our stops, I was introduced to a true gem at Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery. Todd and Kenna, owners of Hawk Haven Vineyard do several things exceptionally well - they produce wonderful food friendly wine, they run a warm and welcoming tasting room where they do an exceptional job of describing the wine and their philosophy behind each wine, and they are really nice people.

Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery is young having produced their first vintage in 2007.  I find the quality of their wines quite amazing given the short time they have been producing.  The food friendly approach to their wines is of particularl interest to me.  For me, this means healthy acidity, a restrained approach which allows the fruit do the talking, and avoiding heavy handed approaches with oak and alcohol.  In other words, their wines are well balanced and begging for a great meal.

When I first tasted the 2010 Pinot Grigio from Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery, I was immediately impressed with the beautiful floral aroma and stone fruit flavors mingling with hints of lemon in perfect balance with healthy acidity.  The acidity was a component of the wine I tucked away in my memory banks with the thought that this wine could standup to a number of bold dishes.  When conceiving my preparation of citrus and white wine poached sea scallops, the 2010 Pinot Grigio immediately came to mind.

This preparation involves poaching the sea scallops in a medley of white wine, orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime juice.  When plated, the scallops are then drizzled with a spicy grapefruit reduction.  Clearly, this amounts to acid, a bit more acid, and a touch of spicy acid to top it all off.  Anything other than the bold acidity of the 2010 Hawk Haven Pinot Grigio would have fallen flat in the face of this aggressive approach.  The pairing was a match made in heaven as the stone fruit flavors of the Pinot Grigio melded with the citrus bathed scallops.

I have to admit some fear that I had gone overboard with the citrus approach to this dish.  I was afraid that the pepper flakes in combination with the citrus juice medley would overwhelm the delicate sweet brininess of the scallops.  My fears were unwarranted.  The dish was wonderfully balanced with layers of flavor rewarding our senses.

Finally, I need to thank Chef Sue for her spectacular role as sous chef.  I came home from work, jumped into the phone booth and transformed from mild mannered cube dwelling suit guy to chef with an acidic attitude.  Upon entering the kitchen, I found mis en place set for my culinary adventure.  Now that is the way to cook!

Recipes


Ingredients

• 1 pound sea scallops
• 2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
• Juice from two freshly squeezed limes
• Juice from one freshly squeezed lemon
• 2 cups white wine
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• ½ medium onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup grapefruit, segmented
• Sea salt to taste

Spicy Grapefruit Reduction

Ingredients

• ¾ cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
• ¾ cup white wine
• zest from ½ lime
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons grenadine
• 2 tablespoons shallots, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Yuzu juice
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Combine orange juice, white wine, rice vinegar, lemon juice, carrots, onions, celery, ginger, bay leaf, pepper flakes and peppercorns in large pot. Bring to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
2. While poaching liquid is cooking, prepare Spicy Grapefruit Reduction: Combine grapefruit juice, white wine, grenadine, lime zest, shallots and rice vinegar in small sauce pan. Bring to simmer and reduce volume by ½. Add butter while whisking sauce. Season with salt, to taste.
3. To poach scallops, add scallops to poaching liquid and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove with strainer and reserve warm.
4. To serve, place scallops over grapefruit segments and drizzle with the spicy grapefruit reduction and season with sea salt to taste.

I served the scallops with roasted cauliflower and onions.  Cut a head of cauliflower into bite size segments.  Coarsely chop an onion.  Spread onion and cauliflower over a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt in pepper.  Place in a preheated oven (350 F) for 25 minutes or until edges of cauliflower begin to brown.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Chilorio with Mexican Rice Paired with a Long Line-up of Wine

To celebrate cinco de Mayo, Chef Sue and I decided to put together a Mexican based wine pairing featuring Chilorio with Mexican Rice.  Unfortunately, none of my favorite wine shops carried Mexican wine.  And to be quite honest, I don’t believe I have ever tasted or even seen a Mexican wine.  I’m sure they exist, but for the purposes of this pairing we had to make do.

We invited over several friends which resulted in a long line-up of wine ranging in price from under $10 to over $20.  With the Mexican theme in mind everyone brought wine to pair with the spicy chilorio.  The selection was dominated by Sauvignon Blanc along with a Pinot Grigio, Viognier, and a Moscato.

In addition to the wine line-up, we were treated to Formerly of Austin Dawn’s spicy shrimp.  The shrimp was a perfect addition to the chilorio – and they did not last long.  Dawn was nice enough supply the recipe you will find at the end of this post.

All of the Sauvignon Blancs provided the fundamentals to pair well with the chilorio – mild sweetness, well balanced acidity, and pleasing fruit flavor.  The Pinot Grigio was very pleasant and worked well for much the same reasons.  The only wines that we found questionable were the Viognier and the Moscato.  I find it hard to describe now, but the Viognier paired with the spicy ancho chiles of the chilorio resulted in some off flavors – nearly offensive.  The Moscato might have been a reasonable choice except for the company it was keeping.  Side by side with the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio, the Moscato felt too sweet.  I think it suffered by simple contrast to the higher acidity and moderate sweetness of the other wines. 

The next time you are looking to add a little spice to your life (the food type), this recipe and a nice Sauvignon Blanc will surely do the trick.

Recipes

Spicy Grilled Shrimp

Ingredients

• 1 lg clove garlic

• 1 TB coarse salt

• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

• 1 tsp paprika

• 2 TB olive oil 
• 2 tsp lemon juice 
• 2 lbs large shrimp, peeled & deveined

• lemon or lime wedges, for garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat grill for medium heat. 
2. In a small bowl, crush garlic with the salt. Mix in cayenne pepper and paprika, then stir in olive oil and lemon juice to form a paste. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with paste until evenly coated.
3. Lightly oil grate (or spray with nonstick cooking spray). Cook shrimp for 5-7 minutes or until opaque, turning often with spatula.
4. Garnish with lemon wedges.

Chilorio

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless pork
• 4-5 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3-4 dried ancho chiles (dried hablano peppers)
• 1/2 of an onion

• 1/2 teaspoon cumin

• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, simmer the pork in the vegetable broth, covered, for 2 hours.
2. During the last 20 minutes, ladle out enough liquid to cover the dried chiles in a bowl. Let the chiles soak in the liquid until they are soft then remove the stems and seeds.
3. At the 2 hour mark, drain off the liquid and reserve 1 cup.
4. Using a fork, shred the pork.
5. Using the pot or Dutch oven that held the pork, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add the pork and fry until browned. Remove the pork and set aside.
7. In the same pot and same oil, sauté the onions until translucent. Remove them from the pan and set aside to cool.
8. In a blender, add the chiles, onions, spices and reserved liquid (1 cup). Blend until smooth.
9. Combine pork, and chile sauce back in the same pot and simmer for 10 minutes then serve with rice or tortillas.

Mexican Rice

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked white rice
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 4 cups chicken stock

• 1 large diced onion

• 1 large diced tomato

• 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped (add at the end)
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt

• 1 tsp. garlic powder

• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 2 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Preparation

1. Using a small amount of the oil, sauté onions over medium heat in a large skillet until tender.
2. Add remainder of oil along with the rice and remainder of ingredients except cilantro, diced tomato and chicken stock. Stir for one minute.
3. Add diced tomato and chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
4. Lower heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
5. Add chopped cilantro, stir and serve.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Deconstructed Crab Cake Sandwich and Suggested Wine Pairing

The crabs are in!  Last weekend was spent on the water in Southern Maryland and I am happy to report we (by we, I mean Chef Sue) caught crabs!  Last year was a dismal year for crabs, but this year is already shaping up to be a banner year.  With fresh catch in hand, I decided it was time to do something interesting with my little crustacean friends.

My inspiration for this recipe comes from my true amazement of the chefs I watch on television who take a common dish, deconstruct it, and build something new, refreshing, and creative.  For this recipe I started with the idea of a crab cake sandwich.  A crab cake sandwich is comprised of a bun, a crab cake, a slice of tomato, some lettuce, and tartar sauce.  My approach was to use garlic bread instead of the bun.  The tomato and lettuce says salad to me, so the crab cakes lie on a bed of salad, and I took artistic license and converted the tartar sauce to dressing for the salad.  The crab cakes remain unmodified with the exception of size and form – I decided to go with slider size crab cakes as a better proportion for their bed of salad.

I did not make my traditional wine pairing with this recipe, but rather just grabbed a bottle off the shelf.  I would recommend either a Chardonnay, refreshing Pino Grigio, or Viognier with this recipe.  The dressing already has plenty of acid, so the acidity of the wine is not a concern – the dish is pretty well balanced.  Due to time constraints I did not have the opportunity to photograph this dish.  I’m sure I will be preparing it again and promise to do some shooting and share with you.  In the mean time, some pre-crab cake subjects will have to do.

Recipe

Salad Ingredients

• 1 bunch fresh spinach (remove stems)
• 1 avocado diced
• 1 medium red onion diced
• 2 ears fresh sweet corn (buttered, seasoned, and grilled under the broiler or on the grill - until you get some color on the kernals). Once slightly charred, cut kernals from the cob.
• 1 pink grapefruit (skinned, yes even the inside membrane - cut into wedges then halve)
• Finely minced Parsley for garnish

Dressing Ingredients

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Easy as making salad.
2. Because I used fresh spinach, a thorough wash was necessary followed by patting dry. Too much water and your salad won't be any fun. You could also substitute the fresh spinach with a half bag of baby spinach leaves.
3. Toss the salad ingredients.
4. Whisk the dressing ingredients and drizzle over the salad when plating.

Crab Cake

Ingredients

• 1 lb jumbo lump crab meat
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 bunch of finely diced green onions
• 1/2 of a small onion - diced
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 to two cups bread crumbs
• 4 tablespoons of butter

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.
2. Add Old Bay seasoning, cayenne and add fresh ground pepper to taste and stir until mixture is well blended.
3. Add the green onions, diced onion, parsley and mayonnaise.
4. Role up your sleeves and use your hands to gently fold in the crab meat and breadcrumbs. This is a critical part of the operation with respect to the quantity of breadcrumbs. First, if you have some stale bread hanging around the kitchen, use it. The point is to avoid using pre-seasoned bread crumbs that might add unexpected flavors. The quantity is also important. You need to add enough bread crumbs to absorb much of the liquid leaving you with something that is easily formed into patties before heading to the skillet. On the other hand, you want to use as few bread crumbs as possible - the crab is the star, and breadcrumbs can dilute all that crabby goodness.
5. Divide the crab meat into golfball size balls - I used an ice cream scoop. The idea is to make something like crab sliders rather than full patties.
6. If you have enough time, it is best to cover with plastic and refrigerate for about an hour before cooking.
7. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and adjust heat to medium low. Sauté crab balls about 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. The heat is important. The idea is to keep it low enough to cook all the way through without overcooking the outside.  I listed 4 tablespoons of butter in the ingredients because due to the size of my skillet, I had to make two runs to sauté all the crab – in other words, 2 tablespoons for the first batch and then another 2 for the second batch.
8. While sautéing the crab balls, have your assistant prepare some garlic bread. I did this by cutting a baguette in half, lathering with butter and minced galic, then putting it under the broiler until toasted (thanks Chef Sue!).
9. Plate and dress the salad. Artistically place three crab balls on the salad and enjoy.

Pork Stuffed Pork Wrapped in Pork

No, this is not a joke.  On the contrary, it is a fabulous creation of Chef Sue – and it is my job to prepare it for this evening.  One of the food photography tips I posted on Craig Corl Photography addressed the issue of preparation.  In short, if you plan on eating the food you are photography, you need to prepare.  By preparation I mean having lights set, table set, and ready to shoot and eat (after quickly getting the photo gear out of the way).

This morning, I was doing just this preparation when I decided to shoot the ingredients for this evenings menu.  So here you go.  Golf Buddy Steve is in charge of wine selection for this evening and will be bringing a yet to be selected Pinot Noir to pair with our pork feast.  When I do the full write up of this pairing, I will provide the full preparation instructions.  But to motivate the salivation glands, I will briefly describe pork stuffed pork wrapped in pork.  The dish starts with a pork loin, stuffed with home made pork sausage which is then wrapped in bacon.

Stand by for the blow by blow!

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Crab Stuffed Lobster Paired with 2009 Santa Cristina Pinot Grigio

The title of stuffed lobster is a severe understatement.  This pairing featured Chef Sue at her New England root’s finest.  Keeping company with the perfectly prepared crab stuffed lobster were clam fitters, fried clams, long neck clams, and some garlic sautéed green beans to add a bit of color.  Joining us for this shell fish fiesta was good friend Gun Slinger Teji.

I will not be providing recipes for this menu – other than making some crab stuffing (freshly picked crab meat, bread crumbs, butter and minced onion), this menu is just a matter of steaming fresh seafood and a small bit of time in the oven for the stuffed lobster.

The Food

Seafood, shell fish or not, is always welcome on my plate.  I love the delicate flavors and textures.  But how do you describe the flavor of lobster?  The word that comes to mind is DELICIOUS.  The same goes for the clams and crabs that were keeping the lobster company.  Unfortunately, when we are asking the questions of “why” with respect to a wine pairing, “delicious” is not of much help.  So here is my stab at a description of the dominant flavors; when I think of lobster, I think of early summer corn combined with an easy earthiness and a touch of the sea.  This description is not great, but it helps explain why we love to combine butter with lobster and the other shell fish supporting the lobster.

I have to admit that this menu was terribly indulgent.  Crab stuffed lobster, clam fritters, fried clams, and long neck clams (steamers) along with some clarified butter for dipping, and some garlic sautéed green beans just for the fun of it.  Time to hit the road for a few miles!  Not withstanding my need to hit the gym, the flavor palate across these dishes was a true pleasure; consistent and related which made the wine pairing a piece of cake.

The Wine

The 2009 Santa Cristina Pinot Grigio is a beautifully fresh wine with abundant acidity, flavors of fresh citrus conjuring orange and grapefruit (accentuated by the pleasant citrus aromas) and a nicely balanced sweetness.  Overall, the Santa Cristina is lively, bright, refreshing, easy to drink, and a wonderful pairing for dishes not featuring acidic components (like a tomato based sauce) and more delicate dishes that require the wine to blend with, rather than overpower the subtle flavors.  At $13, this wine is a very good value with a wonderfully food friendly composition.

The Pairing

Our judges, Chef Sue and Gun Slinger Teji, were very pleased with the pairing.  Our mouths were watering in anticipation of this New England shell fish extravaganza which left our expectations high.  The food was brilliant, and the wine a perfect match.  The success of the pairing can be attributed to the pleasant citrus flavors and the acidity of the Santa Cristina - a natural for seafood.  Think of squeezing a fresh lemon on your seafood to balance the acidity – in this case it came in a nice bottle, and was more pleasant than the lemon.

Final Words

Unlike some of the pairings I have written about, this pairing featured a number of items.  Fortunately, all the flavors fell within a fairly narrow band and did not complicate the way food and wine worked together to achieve a heavenly blend.

I believe I have one other pairing on deck that features photography using only available light.  In the near future you should see some improvement in the quality of photography with the use of my new homemade lighting rig.  If you are interested in my lighting solution, check my photography blog “Craig Corl Photography” later this week.  I will be explaining fully my lighting solution and what my experimentation has revealed.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Food Photography Tips and a Preview

I have heard from a number of you with kind words about this blog.  I really appreciate it.  The other thing I hear, are great stories of why people visit the blog and how they experience it.  Some of you can’t read, and just look at the pretty pictures.  Others get to the section describing the wine, open a bottle, and then forget you left your computer on.  Many of you have been inspired to go the gym more frequently so you can enjoy more of this great food and wine.  Many of us should spend more time in the gym.  And then there are some of you who are interested in improving your food photography.

I have recently started a series of articles on my photography blog (Craig Corl Photography) to share what I have learned about food photography.  I have written three articles so far, and am sure to have at least two or three more before I wrap up the series.  Here are links to the first three articles:

• My Challenges with Food Photography
• Food Photography Tips (1 to 5)
• Food Photography Tips (6-10)

Finally, I have a small backlog of wine pairings that include a 2009 Santa Cristina Pino Grigio paired with Chef Sue’s New England seafood extravaganza, and a 2006 Baron Herzog Chenin Blanc paired with smoked chicken and polenta with sautéed spinach, home made ricotta parmesan crisp and pancetta.

Come back soon for all the details on this great food and wine.  I also hope to get back to Decanting Napa Valley the Cookbook sometime this week.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig