Thanks Mate!

Deborah

A change in weather brings a change in ingredients. Summer vegetables may be disappearing from the farmer's markets but it is still possible to make a delicious salad from what is available. My trip to Union Square Green Market this weekend became a hunt for salad ingredients. I wanted something that would really express the season. Leafy greens love cool weather and my search was rewarded by a selection of gorgeous arugula varieties. The oak shaped leaves of a particular bunch won my heart and got dumped into my shopping bag. They were followed quickly by a really picturesque bundle of red and white radishes the size of my pinkie.

To round out the FALLness of this salad I decided to add some roasted sweet potatoes. Not long ago I cooked a buffet lunch for a wedding shower. The bride-to-be was marrying her Australian sweetheart and she wanted the menu to reflect his heritage. She asked me if I could prepare a spinach salad with roasted pumpkin, a recipe that for her typified Australian cooking. It sounded delicious to me and in fact the finished dish was very popular with the party guests. More recently, my friend Ruth who grew up in Australia, brought a big green salad studded with sweet potato cubes to a pot luck book group meeting we were attending. So there seems to be something to this Australian inclination.

Lemon vinaigrette with lots of garlic and ground black pepper seemed like a good way to dress this robust salad. I loved the contrast of textures and colors to the final dish. I added some peppitas (pumpkin seeds) as a crunchy garnish. The inclusion of the sweet potatoes turned this simple salad into a filling and satisfying meal. Any Australian wines come to mind Amanda?

Arugula Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes 

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 bunch arugula, washed (you could substitute spinach leaves)
1/2 cup sliced radishes
1/4 cup toasted peppitas

Lemon Vinaigrette
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic finely minced
1/2 teas. dry mustard
1  1/2 teas. salt
1 Tbs. freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup good quality extra- virgin olive oil


Preheat oven to 425 F
Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil and soy sauce and lay on a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast in oven for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Set potatoes aside to cool to room temperature. Assemble the rest of the salad ingredients in a large bowl and add the cooled sweet potatoes.

Vinaigrette-
Combine the lemon juice, garlic, mustard, s & p and whisk together to combine. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly to emulsify.

Pour vinaigrette over salad and toss well to coat all the arugula leaves.

Serves 2

Amanda
Wow - this salad looks beautiful! I would definitely look to drink something with citrus notes and good acidity. These characteristics will work wonderfully with the lemon vinaigrette. A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc would do the trick. But, in keeping with the Australian theme, I might look to a Verdelho to complement this gorgeous salad. The earliest plantings of Verdelho can be traced back to Portugal in the 15th century. The varietal then first appears in Australia around 1820.


The grapes were typically used to make medium-sweet wines. However, modern winemaking techniques eventually helped unleash some other surprising characteristics of Verdelho. This varietal can also produce crisp, aromatic, fresh wines with  herbaceous, citrus notes.


Mollydooker is a terrific producer in Australia. Their wines are always highly rated by the most influential wine critics. (The price tags of these wines typically reflect this point, as they are not cheap). Their wines are given quirky names, like The Boxer Shiraz, Two Left Feet, The Maitre d Cabernet, The Scooter Merlot, Blue-Eyed Boy Shiraz...you get the picture. The Verdelho is called "The Violinist". It retails for about $25. This white has rich, round fruit with mouth-watering citrus and pineapple flavors. It's creamy and ripe, with floral aromas too.


Deb - I think this salad will pair perfectly with this wine. Again, if you can't find Mollydooker's Verdelho, ask your local wine retailer to recommend one from a different producer!

Call Me Crazy

Deborah
The craving came on strong. I wanted olives and I wanted them bad. Nothing compares to that briny, bitter, sour burst of rich oil-soaked heaven. At least that was the way I was feeling last night. I had just come home from seeing the movie Precious (yes, good, good, go) and needed to fix a quick dinner from the contents of the fridge (a familiar theme, but isn't this always the way?). I knew I would find some olives in there, I buy them in large quantities for the parties I cater. Fairways has my favorite olive bar these days with their huge selection. I found the end of a container way in the back shelf. Relief!

I mixed black and green olives to build up a really strong olive flavor

When I think olives I immedialty think pasta. I decided to make a really garlicky-olivey oil base to dress the spaghetti. The other find from the fridge was a handful of tiny sweet bell peppers that I have been seeing in the markets lately. I think one of them was a red jalapeno pepper which suited me perfectly.

These sweet red and yellow peppers are really cute. I stuff them with cheese and bake as an appetizer. The one jalapeno in the back got mixed in by my happy mistake.

I chopped the peppers up small, along with an onion and plenty of garlic and started to slow cook it all in the olive oil. Ok vegans, turn your heads for a minute, I then added a tin of anchovies (yeah!) and the olives, roughly chopped, and let it all cook down while I cooked the pasta.

I found the jar of capers I pulled out of the fridge after I had finished cooking. I would have put them in to intensify the sour briny flavor.

The finish was a big splash of white wine and a ladleful of pasta water to loosen everything up. I even ran outside to my backyard in the rain, in the dark, to pick a few straggling basil leaves. Mix the drained pasta with the olive sauce to coat completely. Top with grated cheese. So so so good!

Spaghetti with Olives and Garlic

1/4 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 bell pepper or 6-8 small bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 cup olives, chopped
2 Tbs. capers chopped
1 small tin of anchovies (optional), chopped
1/2 cup white wine
2 Tbs. fresh basil, chopped or torn
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 lb. spaghetti, cooked al dente

Heat olive oil, add garlic, onions and peppers and cook on a medium low heat so they simmer, for about 10 minutes until vegetables begin to soften and turn golden. Add the olives, capers and anchovies if you are using them, and continue to cook, allowing all the ingredients to soften and mush up a bit, another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in boiling water for 6-8 minutes. Before draining the pasta scoop out a ladleful of the cooking water and add to the olive mixture. Add the white wine and simmer another minute or two. Add the chopped basil and stir in the drained pasta. Toss in the pan to coat the spaghetti with the sauce. Top with grated cheese and serve.

serves two

Amanda
This actually happens to be one of my favorite pastas to make, and one which I make frequently. I always welcome the addition of the anchovies! I'm in love with the whole anchovy, caper, olive combination. I always like to add something spicy to the mix, as you did in this situation. I love fresh spicy peppers, but if I don't have any on hand, I just add some crushed red pepper. The only other thing I do differently is I add cheese that is shredded or shaved because I like the gooeyness it provides! I've never added mixed olives - can't wait to incorporate that tip! And the chopped onion! My mouth is watering just thinking about it.


I am also thinking of the perfect wine. Look for a Vernaccia di San Gimignano, which is named for and produced almost exclusively from the Tuscan city of San Gimignano in the province of Siena in Italy. Right now, we are selling a lot of Cesani Vernaccia di San Gimignano, which for $9.99 is a great bottle of wine. Typically, Vernaccia produces wines which are elegant, and full of white fruit flavors. Delicate aromas of citrus and almond abound, with the wine offering crisp, fresh flavors. The wine can be powerful and full-bodied with a wonderful richness as well. I think the round fruit flavors are a great match for this pasta dish. The exotic fruitiness will be a great counter-balance to the saltiness of the dish. As my stomach growls, I sit here pondering when I will have the next opportunity to try out this sure-fire combination!

A bloggers life

Deborah
One of the many pleasures of writing this blog is the surprising emergence of so many new friends and the reconnecting with so many old friends. It is virtual community building and it's pretty great! Today Amanda is occupied with family matters and could not contribute a wine suggestion. I thought I would take the day off too, from recipes, and give a shout-out to some of my fellow bloggers out there, friends both old and new who are posting their hearts out and are well worth a visit.

Life without Amanda

First up is my friend Katie and her blog post today is on Stuffed Acorn Squash. She uses quinoa as the stuffing and it reminded me a bit of my recipe for Quinoa Stuffed Patty Pan Squash, but Katie's recipe is a little more Southern Italian with it's olives and artichoke hearts. Katie and I went to culinary school together and her blog A Party in my Pantry is a fun and informative passionate foodie's take on the world from her hipster pad in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Katie loves all things Michael Pollan and among her many culinary skills she is a mean raw foods chef.

When we are not foraging our way through Jackson Heights, Queens looking for unusual ingredients Katie and I try to get out of town. This was our visit to Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Bedford, NY

A new friend who is only known to me as tofugirl, emerged after reading our Roxbury Farm post and recognizing it as her own CSA. Tofugirl's blog Open Mouth Insert Cookie is witty and pretty, with lots of great food photos. She focuses on baked goods and has a lot of inspiring recipes.

As you can see I could use some help with baking. I force every family member to accept a homemade birthday cake from me every year. They are gracious.

I made Mark Bittman's Pear Upside Down cake from the recipe in the NY Times today. It came out so pretty. It is quite sweet and tastes like a coffee cake. I would add lemon zest to the pears next time for a little counterbalance to the sweet. And maybe some cardamom or nutmeg in the batter.

Another blog that I am really enjoying is Tales of Expansion. The author Sarah's blog came to my attention by a mutual friend who thought our blogs should "meet". Sarah's blog is really personal and funny, loaded with pictures depicting her quest to chronicle every bit of food that comes across her plate and allowing none of it to go to waste. It is quirky, charming and very entertaining.

The mutual friend leading me on a hike in New Paltz, NY

For a more sober and yet very inspiring take on the food world I always refer to Pam and her Hook Mountain Growers site. The photos are gorgeous and Pam, a physician and homesteader, offers a super smart and articulate analysis of the state of agriculture today. She keeps us all real.

Pam made me a delicious lunch fresh from her garden when I visited her this summer. Chard Tacos with tomatillo salsa!

Off the topic of food is my friend Pat who writes the snarky and often hilarious blog i-cant-believe-im-not-bitter. Pat's sophisticated world view collides with the inanities of life and results is her humorous take on how to make sense of it all.

Several friends have blogs in the works and I can't wait for their debuts, so stay tuned.

AND- I can't get away with out mentioning my husband's blog Left at the Gate. Alan started his blog five years ago as an outlet for his unrequited love of thoroughbred horse racing. His blog has become one of the most respected and widely read blogs in that industry. He is my pride and inspiration. I have even forgiven him for writing about me on his blog as a character known as "the head chef." He thinks he is pretty funny.

To all of our friends, new and old, to all of our readers, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your continued interest, encouragement and support. We are enjoying writing this blog so much and we appreciate that you took the time to visit us!

Thank you,

Deborah and Amanda

Come again for a new recipe on Friday

Dinner Simplicity

Deborah

Halloween is over and still the weather remains magnificent!

The sky was so clear this weekend it was impossible not to stay outdoors. We actually grilled lunch in our backyard on Saturday. After a long hike on Sunday dinner plans needed to be simple. Stir fry seemed to be the way to go. This is the perfect way to clear out all the odds and ends in the fridge and make everything palatable again.

I like to cut carrots into what I call a ROUGH julienne. Not so fussy as a classic julienne, but still with slim angular shapes. I decided to combine the carrots with a few leaves of swiss chard I had on hand.

Hot oil in the wok gets seasoned with chopped garlic and ginger (about a Tbs of each), then the carrots and roughly chopped chard gets a quick cook. I finished the dish with a drizzle of soy sauce, rice vinegar and a tablespoon of oyster sauce.

The chard really cooked down and the carrots kept their shape and firmness. This dish really tasted good and was very simple to prepare.

A large batch of fried rice is always popular with my WHOLE family. Amazing. I chopped up about a cup each of cabbage and onions. I had a half of a cooked sweet potato left over that got cubed up to be included in the mix.

Celery chopped on an angle helps it to stir fry quickly and still keep the crunchy texture.

I like to add something green to the fried rice. I used edamame rummaged from the freezer. Peas and green beans work well too.

Again, I season the oil with garlic and ginger, then add all the vegetables to soften up and get a little golden.

When the vegetables are about done I added cooked rice. After tossing the rice around for awhile I created a well in the center of the wok and poured in 3 beaten eggs which I quickly scrambled and then stirred to combine with the rice. To finish I added 2 Tbs. tomato paste, a splash of soy sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil.

We ate really well and I managed to get a myriad of vegetables into everyone's belly with a minimum of fuss to boot. Is there a wine that would complement this meal Amanda? Alan had a glass of merlot, but we both agreed it was not a particularly inspired pairing.

Amanda

I would have to agree on the Merlot. It would not necessarily be my first choice. If red is the preferred wine for these dishes, I would recommend something a little lighter with plenty of fruit, like a Barbera from Italy. It is the most cultivated vine in the region of Piedmont. I would definitely go with a younger Barbera, which  typically has fresh and bright fruit. Due to the low level of tannins, the wine is soft, and elegant. Barbera is a very versatile, food friendly varietal and often results in easy-drinking reds. You can definitely find Barberas in a variety of price ranges, from $10-$30. There are plenty of well-made wines out there for under $15 though. Some of my favorite producers for this wonderfully food-friendly wine are Vietti and Giacomo Conterno.

So, Barbera would be my first choice for red. That being said, my personal preference would actually be Rose. Something again with an abundance of fruit. In my opinion, the ripe fruit flavor of the wines would create a nice harmony and balance with the saltiness of the soy sauce. One of my favorite Roses is the Crios Rose of Malbec from Susana Balbo. It is full, rich and loaded with fruit and spice. I think this would be the ideal match for these recipes.  Susana Balbo is one of my favorite producers from Argentina. She creates more expensive wines under her own name. The Crios wines make up her line of more affordable wines, though the less expensive pricetag is no reflection of quality. Her Crios wines typically sell in the $15 price range. Though the Rose of Malbec can be found for around $10. If you can find her wines locally, I highly recommend them. They are truly special!

fried and true

Deborah
I might as well just put it out there bluntly. Amanda, what wine pairs well with FRIED? Um, you know, fried anything. A few years ago I purchased a deep frier and my life has never been the same. Once you get that baby going there is a compulsion to run around the kitchen looking for things to throw in it. Now, we don't do fried every night at my house, not even once a week. More like barely once a month. And no, I am not ashamed nor do I feel guilty. Properly deep fried at the correct temperature (350F), food will absorb far less fat than by a pan saute technique. Yes it is true.

 Roxbury Farm's beautiful red potatoes

Fried potatoes are as close to an American classic as we can get. Don't get Michael Pollan started on the evils of the ubiquitous Idaho potato which produces the BEST fried potato going. Yes, the Idaho is crowding out other worthy potato crops. So what about some other root vegetables? A recent fry fest with parsnips yielded some very tasty chips, a little sweet and slightly bitter. Really good and super cute, they resembled flower petals.

Parsnip chips doing their thing in the deep frier.

I don't always pull out my deep frier when I want a crispy potato. A quarter inch of oil in a pan heated to just about smoking will provide a great vehicle for cooking up cubed potatoes.
The real fun of fried foods is what condiment you serve with them. One of my favorite treats is a fantastic tomatillo salsa I buy in Saratoga Springs that is blessedly HOT and so pretty with its pale green color dotted with bright yellow kernels of corn. I LOVE the stuff!

Fried Cubed Potatoes

2 Idaho potatoes unpeeled and cut into 1/2" cubes (sorry Michael P.)
Canola oil- enough to cover bottom of pan to about 1/4"
salt

In a pan large enough to hold all the potatoes in a single layer, heat oil under medium-high heat for at least 4 minutes to make sure oil is hot hot hot. Test for heat by dropping one piece of potato into pan and expect to hear an immediate sizzle. Place potatoes in hot oil in a single layer and adjust temperature to keep the sizzle sound going. Leave potatoes untouched for 6 minutes or so until you start to see some browning on the bottom. Turn one potato piece over to check the color. If it isn't perfectly golden leave the potatoes to fry until you have the desired color, then turn with a spatula. Cook on other side for another 6 plus minutes. Once the potatoes are golden toss them around in the pan and continue to cook until all sides are golden & crispy, another 2 or 3 minutes.
Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and salt immediately. Best served hot from the frier. They don't reheat in the most exciting way.

serves two

Amanda
Of course this looks delicious! Why wouldn't it be? It seems to me this would be a side to something. Is this how you would serve it - with something else? If so, I would probably choose a wine to match the main course. If you were just going to eat the potatoes by themselves, I immediately think of prosecco. Just something light with enough fruit to hold its own against the heat. I also see these potatoes plated with an omelet or fritatta - again, a prosecco would be absolutely perfect and fun! Deb, try it the next time you make these potatoes, and let me know what you think!

stepping away

Deborah

When my teenage daughter ventures into the kitchen to cook I often have to remind her that once you start cooking something you have to finish it. You can't walk away and then yell out a quarter of an hour later from another room "Mom, could you flip that grilled cheese sandwich in the pan for me?" Well, you can, but I won't be amused.

Not everything has to be watched so closely however. After the initial setup it is nice to walk away for a while and let applied heat do its thing while delicious aromas waft up occasionally to remind you of what's going on. Jeffery Steingarten, the food writer for Vogue Magazine experimented with cooking dried beans a while back and came up with a method I have fully adopted. I may have strayed from his instructions a bit at this point, but the basic idea applies. Dried beans are placed in a pot, covered with 3 inches of water, brought to a boil, covered, brought down to a simmer and left to cook for about an hour. It works perfectly with white and black beans in particular.

My friend Laura shared with me the secret to her own version of black bean soup where you create a soffritto (slow cooked aromatic vegetables) and add it to the pot of cooked beans and then blend into a puree (for the real fancy pants version of how to make soffritto as Thomas Keller would do it, via a very nice site called The Paupered Chef, click on the above link).

I have combined these two methods for what I will call Laura's Black Bean Soup, a simple, almost walk away recipe that is perfect for a fall day.

As you can see on this cutting board I snuck in some extra vegetables, 

like a chopped up chunk of butternut squash leftover from yesterdays recipe.

My version of soffritto for this recipe is slow cooked onions, garlic, celery, peppers and tomatoes in a scant amount of oil to bring out the flavors. Soffritto is a staple of many cuisines and I use and abuse the concept liberally in my own cooking.

Do black beans have a logical wine companion Amanda?

Laura's Black Bean Soup
1 lbs. dry black beans, rinsed and sorted
1 bay leaf
6 cups of water (or enough to cover beans by three inches)
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, cored and chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons salt
1 lime juiced

Place beans and bay leaf in a large pot and cover with water. Bring pot to a boil, cover tightly and allow to simmer at the lowest temp possible for 1 hour. Check the beans after an hour to see if they are tender and soft. Continue to cook covered if they are not.

Soffritto:
In a saute pan heat the oil and then add the onion, garlic, celery, tomato, jalapenos and bell pepper and slowly cook for at least half an hour till vegetables are soft and translucent and beginning to become like a paste.

When the beans are tender drain them and reserve the cooking liquid. Add half the beans into a food processor, a cup of the cooking liquid and all the soffritto, the chopped cilantro and the salt and blend until smooth. Transfer contents from food processor to a clean pot and add the rest of the beans and enough of the cooking liquid to make a thick soup consistency. Heat till warm and stir in lime juice.

Amanda
Well, this is apropos, because for dinner I just finished what else? Black beans! So, I am in a black bean frame of mind and the timing couldn't be better.  As I ate, although my dinner was quite different than Deb's recipe, I did consider the possibilities of wine partners. Actually, I was sipping a glass of Ciacci di Piccolomini d'Aragona Toscana Rosso (mostly Sangiovese), not because I thought it would go well with my dinner (which, by the way, consisted of my own special black beans, brown rice, a little shredded Mexican cheese blend and chopped pickled jalapenos all rolled up in a tortilla), but because that is what I took home from work today, and have been wanting to try. It's a soft, fruity wine with some subtle hints of spice. Actually, for a red wine pairing with Laura's Black Bean Soup, it wouldn't be bad. However, I would recommend white.


But let me remind you of what I said in an earlier post. Wine and soup do not naturally pair well. It's a tough call. Many would suggest that wine and soup should not be paired. But you are dealing with someone that thinks there is a wine for every food, and thus would not miss the opportunity to discover what the perfect wine for Doritos would be.


This Black Bean soup recipe, with its soffritto, jalapeno and cilantro, has of course ethnic undertones. So, let's call on the whites we look to for "hard-to-match" cuisine. Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Gewurztraminer should be on everyone's "go to" list when they are stumped. (This is a tip, not a steadfast rule). I would definitely pair this soup with something full of fruit; something which has sweetness of fruit, but is not necessarily a "sweet" wine. There is a difference. Wines that are very fruity can sometimes give the impression of sweetness without actually being sweet. I think another good idea would be Vouvray, a wine from the Loire Valley in France made from 100% Chenin Blanc, and one of my favorite whites. 


I've been on a roll now making a different soup everyone Sunday. I'm happy to say I already know what I'm making this week! Thanks, Deb. And Laura too!

Hurrah for the CSA

Deborah

My sister Denise and her husband are traveling in VietNam for three weeks. Denise is a great cook and a very adventurous eater. I cannot wait to hear about her travels when she gets home. Hopefully she will bring back some culinary tidbits and techniques from afar.  Graciously, while she is away I was given one week of produce from her CSA farm share. What a treat for me! I do not belong to a CSA which stands for Community Supported Agriculture, where you buy shares in a local farm and receive a percentage of their produce every week during their growing season. This arrangement provides cash to the small farmers up-front, a pre-sold market as it were, and gives the shareholders wonderfully fresh produce and direct access to their grower.

The Roxbury Farm delivers on Thursdays to the Upper West Side and I was told to bring my own bags. The fruits and vegetables were laid out in a small courtyard and each variety was labelled with how much you could take as part of your share. How fun!

As I expected for this time of year, there was kale and butternut squash, broccoli, onions, potatoes, loose lettuce and arugula and some beautiful pears. I thought I would try to come up with a recipe that used these ingredients and have a real farm fresh meal. My idea ran towards a gratin; layering the kale and the butternut squash and baking it in white wine and butter.

Filling my bag with goodies.

The Roxbury's kale was crazy fresh. It was so stiff and full and bushy I could have swept the floor with it! I knew I would have to cook it down somewhat before adding it to the gratin or it would be too tough. I did my usual saute with garlic and oil to add flavor and wilt it down a bit.

I wanted thin slices of the squash, so after peeling it I cut it into manageable chunks and pushed it through my mandoline . I have to admit this was a bit hair-raising as the squash is so firm you really have to push hard to get it through the blade. Here I was risking my fingers when I was really not sure how the dish would turn out.
My main concern was that the squash would be too sweet and over power the kale, so when I began to layer everything I decided to go light on the squash.
The results were good. As it turned out, it was the kale that really dominated with a very meaty, chewy texture. The butternut squash was quite mild but held its own. The kids ate a few bites and didn't hate it. I had leftovers today for lunch and actually liked it all the more the next day. As so often happens overnight, the flavors mellowed out and blended a bit. This dish became a really satisfying meal that was filling and very tasty. I would definitely make this for my vegetarian clients. What would you suggest for a wine pairing Amanda?

Kale and Butternut Squash Gratin
1 Tbs. Olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped onion
I bunch of kale trimmed of stems and roughly chopped
1/2 cup water
2 Tbs. butter
1 small butternut squash peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup white wine
s & p

preheat oven to 350F

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic, cooking till golden, about five minutes. Add the kale and cook down for at least ten minutes till the kale begins to wilt and turn bright green. Add 1/2 cup of water to the kale and cover the pan and cook another 10 minutes till kale is tender.

First layer

Next time I will add add more squash to the top layer.

Butter a baking dish with 1 Tbs. of butter and layer in half of the butternut squash slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dot with a teaspoon of butter. Make a layer of cooked kale on top of the squash. Then add the top layer of squash, s & p and dot with the remaining butter. Pour in the white wine and bake uncover for 1 hour until the squash is tender when you pierce it with a knife.

I took a bite before I took a photo! Really tastes good.

serves 4

Amanda
Sounds like the perfect Fall dish! Kale, when very fresh, can have such big, savory flavors. I really wanted to come up with a wine that would result in an interesting flavor combination. The sweet and spicy flavors that kale can deliver immediately made me think of Gewurztraminer. One of my favorite varietals, it is often associated with flavors and aromas of lychee fruit. It is extremely aromatic and really thrives best in cooler climates. The wines are usually dry, or off-dry (meaning there is a slight touch of sweetness to the wine). Gewurztraminer is commonly paired with Asian cuisine. I absolutely adore the perfumed, flowery bouquet this delicious varietal gives off. It's wonderful! The wine can be lush and rich, which is exactly how I like it.


Gewurztraminer is certainly not a subtle wine, which is why I think it is a good match for the kale and butternut squash combination. It can be decadent and exotic as well - be sure to consider it for hard-to-match recipes. My favorite Gewurztraminer hales from Alsace, France. Favorite producers are Trimbach and Zind Humbrecht. Typically $15 and up,  (into the $50-$60 range for late harvest, sweeter versions) this is a wine that is absolutely worth the splurge! If you haven't yet tried this decadent white, I hope you will soon! I'd love to hear if you love it as much as I!