Vol. 3: No. 157 – December 14, 2011

Wine Recommendations for Holiday dinners

Every year, we all try to choose appropriate wines for turkey dinners. Turkey always seems difficult to match well. There is not much consensus on what types of wine to choose and whether they should be white or red. So this year we asked our new Sommelier at George, Markus Carl to go to the LCBO, review the latest Vintages release and advise us. He suggested a white Alsatian Pinot Gris and a red Burgundy, (a more expensive wine and always difficult to choose). He threw in for good measure a Spanish wine which would go well with Holiday beef and a dessert port which excited him.

Be forewarned on the Pinot Gris however! It is ever so sweet. There is always a great argument around here on wines that have traces of sweetness. Some people despise them and others say that so long as they are superbly balanced, a little sweetness is fine. The latter group often become exasperated and add that wines are made with grapes which after all have sugar occurring naturally in them.

Here is his list:

2011 Holiday Wines

2008 Anne Boecklin Pinot Gris Réserve, Alsace, FRA      # 106831      $ 18.95
From a text book vintage, really versatile arguably dry white, medium bodied that works effortlessly with holiday hors-d’oeuvres to roasted turkey. Not to be confused with the slightly less thrilling Italian version of the same grape.

2006 Louis Jadot Beaune Theurons, 1er Cru, Burgundy, FRA     #042838      $45.95
From one of the best premier Cru’s in Beaune, made by one of the most esteemed producers comes this medium bodied Pinot Noir.  It has a little bottle age, which has produced a earthy, layered wine for use with roasted turkey or ham.

2004 Ramon Bilbao Gran Reserva, Rioja, ESP      #244715       $29.95
This is the classic Tempranillo grape fromSpain’s oldest and most famous wine region. Gran Reserva wines are always the most elegant of the Rioja reds’ producing a wonderful result through the combination of barrel and bottle age. If you are serving roast beef and turkey, this is the wine for you.

1997 Warre’s Colheita Tawny, Douro, Portugal      #189597       $39.95
This is single vintage tawny port, kept in barrel for 14 years and bottled in 2011. Expect nutty, semi sweet flavours of figs, raisins and caramel. This is great for a variety of cheeses and desserts after the turkey has disappeared.

Eating our way through a weekend trip to Sao Paulo

Traveling to Sao Paulo for a Monday business meeting is a bit of a pain. Flights to and fro are night flights. The direct Air Canada flight costs twice as much business class as Delta via JFK and so it was Delta we chose gritting our teeth at the Air Canada monopoly. The evening meal out of New York started awfully well with a delicious soup, salad and seafood Asian noodles dish. Warming to this level of food, we looked at the photos of two young attractive women who were Master Sommelier and International Chef respectively. We looked forward to the main course, short ribs. But it all came to a terrible end with the short ribs, about 10 ounces of deboned beef dumped onto a plate with overcooked and badly spiced veg. Three days later the food on the return flight was inedible. Okay, so you take Delta for the price!

We had never had really great food in Brazil but Sao Paulo was different. We strongly recommend Varanda, a wonderful upscale beef restaurant whose owner is famous for owning a ranch which supplies some of the best beef to restaurants in Brazil. We met him and he recommended several cuts to try. Surprisingly all the beef that night came from Uruguay because the beef he produces was not in season. To our surprise, he always wet ages his beef for about 20 days rather than dry aging it. His beef was exceptional. We also dropped by another good restaurant KΛΛ. It has a huge hanging interior vertical garden running along one wall with pools of water in the centre. The food looked good.

We stayed at an unremarkable business hotel but did drive by Hotel Unique which is noted for a huge beautiful garden occupying the top floor. When we returned a friend told us that he had just stayed there “all very chi-chi and snug with smallish rooms”. He liked it.

Returning through JFK to connect to Toronto was aided by our arrival there at 6.30 am. The officials were not busy and even pleasant.

How the Aussies deal with food allergies

A distant relative of ours is Commodore of a Sydney yacht club. Recently he described an upcoming dinner in his club’s newsletter: “Club’s Christmas Dinner:

• Roast Beef, Roast Ham and Roast Turkey.
• All the trimmings, Vegetables, Salads, Bread rolls, it will all be there!
• And of course a great desert.

As always, if you have special dietary requirements please come down to the Club with your own supplies and join in the fun.”

When we inquired whether any members of his club were offended about the bring-your-own policy, the Commodore  replied “I know! It’s such a pain, everyone wants a special order. AArgh” And then, “they can’t eat something, and ask for 1.00 dollar off cuz they don’t eat the bread!”

Sympathy for people with food intolerances seems to run shallow in Oz.

A recipe for the winter season

We are now firmly in the French duck confit and foie gras season where in Southwest France, the ducks are harvested, cooked and sometimes put up in jars. Despite asking suppliers, Chef Loseto has never been able to find imported French products.

There are suppliers in Quebec but the Chef thinks it is better to buy fresh Quebec ducks and make the confit yourself. Such ducks might be difficult to find but you can order them from OIlliffe if they do not have them on hand.

Magret Duck Legs x 4
Lime x 1
Lemon x 1
Orange x1
Rosemary x 100ml chopped
Kosher salt
Cracked black pepper 2 tsp
Rendered duck fat x 2 litres from duck supplier (enough to cover the legs)

Rinse duck legs and pat dry, place in bowl. Micro plane orange, lemon and lime zest into bowl with ducks and add the rosemary and black pepper. Toss until evenly coated with citrus mixture. Take one leg at a time and generously coat with salt on both sides. Place skin up on a wire rack. Cover with parchment and then saran wrap and let cure for a minimum of 12 hours and a maximum of 24 hrs. Rinse legs under under cold water to remove excess citrus. Do not soak in water. Place legs in a ceramic baking dish and cover with warm (not hot) duck fat.

Cover and place in a 250F degree oven for 2 to 6hrs or until the duck meat comes off the bone easily.  

Duck can be eaten right away (Chef’s preference) or it will hold in fat for months if the fat is pure and solid. If you want, crisp the skin prior to serving by searing the skin side down in low/medium heat frying pan for 10 minutes. Pop it back into the oven to warm and then return it to the frying pan for five minutes including some duck or chicken fat or a touch of water to ensure that it does not dry out.

Produce-wise, 2011 was a great year

Although prices were up about 10% this year, most Ontario fruits and vegetables were produced as bumper crops in both quantity and quality. This continued right into the fall vegetables and one farmer told the Chef this week that if it rained again he would be producing even more rapini. Exceptions were Ontario cherries and apricots which were bad as well as brussel sprouts and fava beans. Chef Loseto’s very favourite vegetable is locally grown Italian chicory which was non existent.

The Chef worries that one trend he spotted this year could have future negative implications for local growers. He found lots of peas and fava beans from Mexico on sale over the year and fears for the future of these veg in Ontario.

This week the Chef found that while he could still buy fresh Ontario fall vegetables such as broccoli, romanesco, rapini and leeks but they are effectively finished. Ontario celery, brussel sprouts, are finished and the Californian cauliflower and brussel sprouts on sale are terribly expensive and will remain so until the holiday season reduces their demand.

Ontario pears are prolific and apples are wildly cheap this year. Look for Ontario hothouse cherry and beefsteak tomatoes and peppers which are nice.

The Chef bought California artichokes and noted that good looking California citrus is in. From Europe, the Chef bought kiwis, pomegranates and persimmons. From South America, superb papayas and decent avocados which for the past two months have been overly expensive.

Usually the Chef buys Alberta bison but its cost has skyrocketed as Asian markets have begun consuming it in quantity. He has replaced it with Ontario bison which he thinks is very successful. The Kobe striploin from Alberta is still going strong at George though. For the Chef the nicest game on the menu is the Ontario venison and after trying it last night we found it delicious. We think the pheasant is also pretty good. The Chef makes a roulade stuffing the breast with a mousse mixed with the legs confited.

The Chef continues the popular wild bass dish caught off the US mid Atlantic coast. He has brought back the fabulous Belize Laughing Bird shrimp which was discontinued until a son of the original harvesters started the business again. Lobster from Nova Scotia is on the menu. The Chef advises you to buy it soon because it is selling at very favourable prices.

Seasonal desserts include apple sponge which is a sort of apple upside down cake. The Chef likes best the Coffee Bavois. He thinks people are put off by the name. It is a panacotta with espresso flavour.  This year for the Holidays, the Chef is making an Italian Christmas pannetone bread for one of the chocolate tasting elements.

 

All of us at George wish all of you the best of the Season and Prosperity for 2012.