Updates to the Blog and a Reminder for the Call for Recipes

Over the last couple of weeks I have undertaken a few updates to the blog you may have noticed.  I am taking a brief moment to highlight these changes and hope you find useful.

First, under the title photograph you will find a row of buttons that link to some information that you may find useful as a reference.

• Recipes.  This link will take you to an index to all of the recipes I have posted on this blog.  The index is sorted by main ingredient and includes reference to the wine I paired with the recipe.  This page will be updated regularly as I explore new recipes.
• My Favorite Wines.  Recently a good friend asked about some of my favorite wines.  I hastily threw together an e-mail with a half dozen of my favorites.  In doing so, I realized I had to put some thought into the response.  This encouraged me to think a bit harder and put together this list.  Wines make my list of favorites for appealing flavor, food friendliness/pairing attractiveness, or value.  Clearly, the sweet spot is a wine that makes the list for all three reasons.  Although all the wines currently on the list result from successful food pairings, I am leaving the option open for wine I like to drink, but have not yet used in a pairing.  Again, this is a dynamic list and I encourage you to return frequently if you are in search of a new wine to try and comes with a thoughtful endorsement.
• Taste and Flavor for Wine and Food Pairing.  My purposes for this blog are several including a great excuse to enjoy great food and wine, explore food and wine pairings I have not yet experienced, uncover the “why” of food and wine pairing that creates a sensation greater than the sum of it’s parts, and of course to enjoy making it all look good through photography. The purpose of this page is to begin discussing our experience of taste and flavor to lay the foundation for understanding why food and wine pairings work – or don’t.  As I refine my knowledge in this area, I’m quite sure this page will be updated with new information.  If you want to explore the “why” of wine and food pairing, this is a good place to start.
• My Wine and Food Pairing Decision Model.  This page describes my process for selecting a wine to pair with a recipe, or conversely, how I select a recipe to pair with a bottle of wine.  This is clearly not a rigorous treatise on food and wine pairing, but it reflects my thought process that you may find useful.
• Food Photography.  Part of the fun with this adventure in food and wine pairing is the photography.  I have written a number of articles providing food photography tips, approaches to improving your food photography, and some gear to aid your food photography.  This page provides links to each of these articles.

Next, Blogger recently added a new gadget I have included on the blog.  This gadget adds snippets of the posts most popular among the readers.  You will find this list in the right hand column under “Popular Posts.”  The list is updated continuously and reflects the popularity of posts over the last month.  This is an cool way to see what other readers find interesting.

Finally, in the upper right corner of the blog, just under the title photograph, I have added a “Donate” button.  This button allows you to throw an occasional bone my way through PayPal if you find the content valuable, or just want to buy me a bottle of wine for the next post.  There is a great deal of effort that goes into producing this blog, and I sincerely appreciate your support.

As a post script note, I want to encourage you to send your recipes for me to try and share with the readers of this post.  Following my original call “Send me Your Favorite Recipe” I was pleased to find five recipes in my inbox at craig.a.corl@gmail.com.  I am very excited about creating pairings with these recipes and sharing them with you.  The call for recipes remains open (perpetually), and I look forward to hearing from you and highlighting your favorite food.  Simple or extravagant – there are no constraints.  On the other side of the pairing, I would be pleased to hear about your favorite wine.  It would be fun to feature your favorite wine and create a pairing to go with it.

I hope you find the updates to the blog valuable and enjoyable.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig

Pan-Seared Cod Creamy Fennel Ragoût with Black Bean, Jícama, and Grilled Corn Salad Paired with 2008 Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay

In the very early days of this blog I posted a wine pairing featuring Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay - Butternut Squash and Chorizo Empanadas with Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay.  The pairing was spectacular, but I did not give the Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay my full endorsement when I wrote that the wine was wonderful but overpriced.  I decided to give it another chance, forked over another $40, and started the meal with an open mind.

While suffering through the heat wave that has its grip on the East Coast of the U.S., actually most of the U.S., Chef Sue and I began thinking of dinner and our desire for something light and fresh.  We quickly settled on one of our favorites as the centerpiece – cod.  Through some convoluted logic trail that I am unable to explain, fennel came to be named as a key ingredient as well.  Chef Sue quickly set about to find ideas.  Moments later she came across a recipe for pan-seared cod and creamy fennel ragoût at Epicurious.com.  Normally, this is just the starting point, but Chef Sue was satisfied with the recipe, and there you have it.

As a composition, the pan-seared cod and creamy fennel ragoût was subtle, buttery, creamy, flakey goodness.  The fennel was sweet and delicate and added just the slightest hint of licorice.  If you are not a licorice fan, no worries – you have to concentrate hard to pick up the flavor.  Fresh Florence fennel is quite sweet and subtle, and has little relationship to the much stronger flavor of fennel seeds.

Along with the pan-seared cod and creamy fennel ragoût, Chef Sue prepared a black bean, jícama, and grilled corn salad (this recipe also came from Epicurious.com).  This was a wonderful addition to the meal.  Unlike the internally complimentary flavors of the pan-seared cod, the salad was an exercise in well balanced contrast.  The black bean, jícama, and grilled corn salad was fresh, bright, and a wonderful textural contrast to the cod.

Now we come full circle to the 2008 Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay.  First, here are the tasting notes from the winemaker:

“Our 2008 Napa Valley Chardonnay seduces right off the bat with brilliantly fresh, complex aromas of lemon-lime, scented pear, ripe yellow apple, honeydew melon and mineral. On the sleek, vibrant palate, rich, concentrated, ripe apple and pear flavors dominate, with refreshing citrus and mineral tones emerging in the wine’s wonderfully long, crisp, finish. Deliciously fresh and delectable now, this youthful Chardonnay will blossom and gain further richness and complexity with another 6-8 months in the bottle and will drink beautifully for 3 to 5 years.”

The only thing I would add is that I tasted subtle notes of vanilla, and was pleased with the acidity making this a wonderful wine for food pairing.  I was hoping to recant my prior assessment of this wine and suggest it was a good value.  While a wonderful wine, I still believe it is a bit pricey at $40.  Having said this, the pairing was exceptional.  The intense and bright fruit flavors are perfect compliments to the fresh flavors of the black bean, jícama, and grilled corn salad.  And like the salad, the Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay was a very pleasing contrast to the creamy, subtle flavors of the pan-seared cod.  This is a pairing well worth your time, effort, and $40 for the Chardonnay.

We were fortunate to share this wonderful meal with our neighbors Aaron and Lena.  We topped the night with a made from scratch banana cream pie while keeping one eye on Cadel Evans capturing the Yellow Jersey in the final time-trial of the Tour de France – leading to the first ever Tour de France win for an Australian – good on ya mate.  The banana cream pie was spectacular, but deserves our full attention in another post.  We will return to this piece of heaven soon.

Recipes

Pan-Seared Cod with Creamy Fennel Ragoût

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 fennel bulbs (sometimes called anise; 2 pounds), stalks discarded and bulbs cut lengthwise into 1-inch wedges
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (14 fluid ounces)
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chopped drained sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 (7-ounce) pieces cod, scrod, or halibut fillet (about 1 inch thick)
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Garnish: fennel fronds

Preparation

1. Cook bacon in a 10- to 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until slightly crisp, 6 to 8 minutes.
2. Transfer bacon with a slotted spoon to a bowl.
3. Add 1 tablespoon oil to fat in skillet, then cook fennel with salt and pepper over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Add broth, cream, tomatoes, and garlic to fennel and cook, partially covered, over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until fennel is tender and cream is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.
5. While fennel cooks, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking.
6. Season fillets with salt and pepper, then sauté 4 minutes. Turn over and sauté until just cooked through, about 3 minutes more.
7. Stir mustard and bacon into fennel ragout and season with salt and pepper. Serve cod over fennel ragout.

Black Bean, Jícama, and Grilled Corn Salad

Ingredients

• 2 large ears of corn, husked
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
• 1 cup 1/3-inch dice peeled jicama
• 1/2 cup 1/3-inch dice peeled carrots
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup (packed) chopped fresh basil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 1/2 teaspoons grated lime peel
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Preparation

1. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat).
2. Brush corn with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Grill corn until tender and brown in spots, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes.
3. Cool slightly. Cut off corn kernels; place in large bowl.
4. Add black beans, jicama, carrots, green onions, cilantro, and basil.
5. Whisk lime juice, orange juice, lime peel, cumin, and remaining 4 tablespoons oil in small bowl.
6. Mix dressing into bean salad. Season generously with salt and pepper.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig