Lynfred Meals and Wines

Goat Cheese & Beet Salad, served with a Lynfred Rousanne!

OK, when I first read this recipe, I was very confused…I didn’t think this was going to be good at all.   Especially because I’ve never had beets before so all I had to go on were the various quotes from The Office.   But I gotta tell you, this salad was absolutely delicious.  Taken separately, the ingredients seem weird, but together everything balances perfectly.  Try this out at home anytime or DEFINITELY as the first course for a dinner party!

ITEMS!

! “Haricots verts”:  buy some fresh green beans and call it a day.
! Fresh beets are better with this.
! We only used one tomato because of the hatred of tomatoes in our house.
! For the shallots, I could separate them out even more…maybe even chop them before sauting or putting onto the salad.  We found that the pieces were too big.
! Beets are like earthier potatoes.  Be not afraid.

(One more recipe this month coming next week)

Listening To:  Between The Incident and The Event by Adam Fitz

Goat Cheese & Beet Salad

Recipe from the Private Kitchen of Lynfred Chef Joe Hetman
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1-2 large tomatoes (such as globe, garden, or beefsteak) sliced widthwise
2 cups haricot verts
4 oz. soft goat cheese
1 1/2 lb. beets (both red and gold, if gold are available)
roasted shallot oil (4-6 large shallots, probably around 4 cups of olive oil)

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, add a few tablespoons of olive oil and heat. Add 4-6 large shallots, sautéing until outsides are golden brown. Add enough olive oil until shallots are submerged. Place in oven until shallots are soft and cooked through, about 10-12 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool. Steam the beets for about 45-60 minutes, using a pot of simmering hot water and a steaming basket or bamboo steamer. Test with a parting knife to assure doneness. Set aside to cool. Using the same water, add a pinch of salt and blanch the haricot verts for about 5 minutes. Remove from water, and set aside.        

Plating            

Place one thick-cut slice of the tomato on the base of the plate. Add a small heap of the blanched haricot verts. Sprinkle a few small handfuls of the steamed beets around the outside. Top the salad with the softened goat cheese. Finish the plate with a drizzle of the shallot oil, as well as a few pieces of the roasted shallots.

Sherry Mac ‘n’ Cheese, served with a Lynfred 2010 Pinot Grigio!

Well, we’ve been doing this blog for going on four years now (craziness), and I’ve been wanting to switch things up a bit to make it easier on me and to just have some different things on here.   I know, many will say “make a MONTHLY blog EASIER?  Come on, you slacker!” but believe it or not it’s a lot of work to get everything together…I don’t know how you daily bloggers do it.   Anyways some changes:

-no more ingredients pictures.   It doesn’t really add anything and it frees up a picture space..

-gonna try for 6 pictures each recipe, each one representing some part of the cooking process from start to finish.

-keeping the recipes in their original formats.

-we tried one time to post what we were listening to while cooking the meal, gonna start that up again.

OK, so on to the recipe!    This one was relatively simple compared to some others we’ve done.   Standard mac ‘n’ cheese casserole, but adding the sherry (we threw in quite a bit more than the recipe called for) does give it a different taste…you can really taste the sherry.

Just a couple of things to note:  don’t forget to dot the top of your bread crumbs with butter if it’s not already buttered!   I always forget to do that and the bread crumbs don’t crust onto the top like they should.   Also, don’t use low sodium and fat free foods to make your recipes which is what we tried here.  It never works out exactly right.   Other than that not much to say, really good comfort food here!   Also coming this month:  Risotta Alla Milanese.

Listening to:   The Hunter’s Lullaby by Raine Maida

Sherry Mac ‘n Cheese

Recipe from the Kitchen of Diane Koehler, Tasting Room Manager

Ingredients

· 3 T butter

· 2 T flour

· 1/4 cup minced onion

· 1 3/4 cup chicken stock

· 1/4 cup dry sherry

· 2-3 cups grated mild Wisconsin Cheddar

· 4 cups cooked macaroni

· salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste

· buttered bread crumbs to top (optional, but tastefully necessary)

Method

Preheat oven to 375. In a large cooking pot, melt the butter & stir in the flour until smooth & incorporated.   Add onion, chicken stock, & sherry.   Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils & thickens, about 10 minutes. 

Add Cheddar, stirring over low heat until melted & smooth. Add cooked macaroni, stirring to coat. Turn into a buttered casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes, topping with the buttered bread crumbs at the last 5 minutes of cooking.

*Can be prepared up to 2 days in advance, keeping the bread crumbs separate until ready to bake. Cover tightly with plastic wrap & store in refrigerator. Before baking, preheat oven to 375 & allow prep to come to room temperature first.  Serve with a glass (or three) of our delicious Petite Verdot!    [ed.note - yeah I know, we didn’t drink it with the Petite Verdot, that’s because we didn’t have any]

Baked Boursin with Red Pepper, served with a 2009 Lynfred Primitivo!

What can I say about this dish?   I had never even heard of Boursin cheese until my wife and I start doing these meals, and now it’s my favorite cheese of all time, ever.   This was an EXTREMELY easy dish to make and wasn’t very expensive at all, perfect if you want to bring something different that looks awesome to a party.

One of the main good things about this is that you can make 3 completely types of spreads depending on taste…some like just Boursin, some like just the red pepper mix or if you’re like me, you mix both and just eat the heck out of the bread.   Very good!  And we’re finally caught up!

From the Private Kitchen of Lynfred Winery Chef Chris Smith
Makes many servings (definitely something to put out during a party)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups roasted red peppers (16oz jar)
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1/4 t salt
1/4 t fresh ground black pepper
1 pkg (5oz) Boursin cheese or any variation of garlic & herb-flavored creamy cheese
Sprinkle of Italian seasoning and hot pepper flakes
Pesto, pitted Kalamata olives, & 1 sprig of fresh rosemary for garnish
1 loaf French bread, sliced 1/4-inch thick on the bias and lightly toasted on both sides

DIRECTIONS

1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2 - Place the peppers, olive oil, salt and black pepper in a food processor. Pulse until the peppers are finely chopped, but not pureed; about 10-15 pulses.
3 - Pour the pepper sauce into a 1-quart shallow ceramic or pottery baking dish.
4 - Unwrap the cheese and place it atop the sauce in the middle of the baking dish.
5 - Scatter the Italian seasoning and hot pepper flakes over the cheese and sauce.
6 - Bake the cheese until the sauce is warm and the cheese has softened, about 12-15 minutes.
7 - Garnish the cheese with a little pesto, some olives, and a rosemary sprig.
8 - Place the baking dish on a serving tray and surround it with the toasted French bread slices.

Beef and Blue, served with a Lynfred Cabernet-Merlot!

The amount of things I remember about recipes is directly related to how soon I post them after cooking them…this was a couple of weeks ago so I remember next to nothing except…

ITEMS!

! This was really tasty

! Don’t use this sauce if you hate blue cheese.

! I really need to start taking notes. 

! Yes, that’s how I spell it.

Recipe from the Private Kitchen of Lynfred Chef Chris Smith
Makes 4 steaks, but lots of blue cheese sauce

INGREDIENTS

Beef Marinade Ingredients

2 cups Lynfred Cabernet-Merlot
1 Bay Leaf
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Coriander
8 Whole Black Peppercorns

Blue Cheese Sauce Ingredients

1 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Cup Creamed Cottage Cheese
2 Ounces Crumbled Blue Cheese & Pepper to taste

Main Ingredients

4 Sirloin Steaks
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Blue Cheese Sauce
Garnish (fresh watercress)
French Fries as a Side Accompaniment (or something else)

DIRECTIONS

1 - For Marinade, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

2 - Add sirloin steaks and let marinate for 1.5 hours, turning several times. The marinade will add flavor to the meat and also tenderize the meat.

3 - Place the crumbled Blue Cheese in a bowl and add the creamed cottage cheese and pepper.  Beat thoroughly with a wire whisk.

4 - Add the mayonnaise to the cheese mixture, stirring very lightly.

5 - Remove Sirloin Steaks from marinade.

6 - Pat the steaks dry with a dry cloth and sprinkle with pepper.

7 - Place steaks on a hot barbecue grill (or pan); cook to desired doneness.

8 - Season with salt and cover with Blue Cheese Sauce when ready to serve.

9 - Serve steaks with watercress and French fries (or other side).

Please recommend us if you’d like.

Goat Cheese Honey Nut Balls, served with a 2009 Muscat!

The funniest recipe name yet also was one of the easiest, and was a quick way to make a great appetizer for any occasion.  The peanuts, honey, and goat cheese seemed like they were specifically made for each other.

Also, as mentioned in a previous post, the Muscat wine was perfect with the goat cheese.  (The wine should be really chilled).

Overall, this was a great dish, easy to make, but unique enough that I think it would turn a lot of heads if you brought it to a party.

If you’d like to recommend us, please click here.

Thanks, and hope everybody has a fun and safe Merry Christmas!

ITEMS!

! Use as much honey as you like, especially if you like honey, but don’t completely coat it.

! Chop the peanuts fine enough to where you can easily roll the cheese balls through them.  See picture…we could’ve probably chopped them even finer.

! Don’t leave the goat cheese sitting out too long…we found that the chillier cheese balls were better.

Recipe from the Private Kitchen of Lynfred Chris Smith
Makes about 20 cheese balls  (depending on your roll size)

INGREDIENTS

6 oz. medium-firm goat cheese (we used 8 oz)
2/4 cup roney-roasted peanuts, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Honey for drizzling

DIRECTIONS

1 - Using a small scoop [ed. note: we just used our hands to break apart the cheese and it worked well], scoop out rounds of goat cheese and roll into balls with your hands.

2 - Roll the formed balls in the chopped honey-roasted peanuts until completely covered.

3 - Drizzle balls lightly with honey and cover with a few grinds of fresh black pepper.

4 - Serve with toothpicks.

Cheese Straws!

We have a top 20 breakthrough, everybody!  It sure took awhile, but these things are great (sorry, Ajillo Mushrooms!).  Either as appetizers or sides with soup / pasta, these can be eaten whenever.   This was actually the second time we tried this recipe, the first time being a disaster.  Maybe when we release a B-sides of our Lynfred Recipes that story will be one of the features, but for now check out the items for our notes.

And if you’d like, please recommend us.  Thanks!

ITEMS!

1 - Instead of Parmesan cheese, we used mozzarella, and lots more than the recipe called for…it could’ve used even more.  The mozzarella over all seemed to give it a more pizza-like taste which we loved.  The recipe calls for 1.5 cups of Parmesan, I would say use 3 to 4 cups of mozzarella instead.  Seriously, go nuts.

2 - After pre-heating in the oven, do NOT leave the straws in for more than the 15 minutes in the recipe.  We left them in for 20 and they were burnt and nasty.  As SOON as the pastry starts to close and the cheese gets slightly brown, take them out.

3 - Instead of 12 strips, I would suggest cutting only 8 strips per puff pastry sheet.  This allows for easier twisting (by grasping both ends and twisting simultaneously).

4 - You want the puff pastry sheets to be thawed but not warm.  This allows for easier twisting.  So take them right from the fridge.

5 - It’s imperative that you only use 1 TEAspoon salt MAX.  We (ok, in the interest of full disclosure, I’m the one that screwed up, not my wife), used 1 Tablespoon of salt and the straws were waaaay too salty.

6 - Serve these warm.  They’re way better that way.  Also if you have left-overs, microwave before serving

Recipe from the Private Kitchen of Lynfred Chris Smith

INGREDIENTS
 
2 Sheets Frozen Puff Pastry (Defrosted)
1 Large Egg
1.5 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
.5 Teaspoon Dried Thyme Leaves
1 Teaspoon Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Paprika (For Color)
 
DIRECTIONS
 
1 - Preheat oven to 375 Degrees.
 
2 - Roll out each sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is 10 x 12 inches.

3 - Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush the top of the pastry.

4 - Mix all the other ingredients together in a bowl and sprinkle each sheet of puff pastry evenly with the cheese mixture.

5 - With the rolling pin, lightly press the flavorings into the pastry dough.

6 - Cut each sheet crosswise with a knife or pastry wheel into 11 or 12 strips.

7 - Twist each strip and lay on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
 
8 - Bake for 12 to 15 minutes; until lightly browned and puffed.

Macaroni & Cheese with Bacon, served with a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon!

As the name suggests, if you like macaroni and (lots of) cheese and bacon, you’re going to love this dish.

Along with starting a weekly Tuesday post and hopefully ramping up from there in October, I’ve really gotta start taking notes while we’re cooking the meals instead of trying to remember them afterwards.   Also, if you check out our actual page you’ll see our top 20 Favorite recipes.  Well, since I’m blanking in the overall impression section, if you’d like to recommend us, please do so here.

Coming today as well, wine history and info.

On to the items!

ITEMS!

1 - Make absolutely sure your bacon is nice and crispy before moving on.  And the thicker the bacon, the better.

2 - I personally thought there were too many bread crumbs in this recipe.   Next time I’m probably going to use about a half a cup less, maybe even more than that.  Ah forget it, cover it with bacon!

3 - As you can see from the pictures, this just baaaaarely fit our 16x9x2…so if you have one slightly bigger, I’d use that instead.

4 - There are many names for Fontina cheese, so look them up before shopping in case you can’t find something exactly named Fontina.  The taste of the Fontina right out of the packaging is very swiss cheesy, but adding the other ingredients and cooking brings the taste down quite a bit…so if you don’t like the taste of it right away, don’t worry.

Recipe from the Private Kitchen of Lynfred Chef Chris Smith
Makes many, many servings

INGREDIENTS

1 - 4 cups large elbow macaroni (about 11 ounces) - we used one medium box (see ingredients picture)
12 thick-cut bacon slices, diced
3 cups fresh coarse breadcrumbs made from French bread
1 cup (packed) finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
6 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 1/2 cups (packed) grated Fontina cheese

DIRECTIONS

1 - Preheat oven to 350°F.

2 - Butter a 13x9x2-inch baking dish.

3 - Cook macaroni in heavy large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Rinse and drain again.

4 - Cook bacon in heavy large pot over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes.

5 - Transfer bacon and 1/4 cup pan drippings to large bowl.

6 - Add breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup parsley to bacon; toss to coat.

7 - Add minced garlic to remaining pan drippings in pot and sauté over medium heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

8 - Add flour and whisk 3 minutes.

9 - Gradually whisk in whole milk, then egg yolks, salt and pepper.  Cook until mixture thickens, whisking constantly, about 12 minutes.

10 - Add 2 cups Fontina cheese and remaining 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese; whisk until cheeses melt. Remove from heat.
11 - Mix in macaroni and remaining 1/4 cup parsley. Stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups Fontina.

12 - Transfer macaroni mixture to prepared dish. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead).

13 - Cover macaroni and breadcrumb mixtures separately and refrigerate.

14 - Before continuing, bake refrigerated macaroni mixture, covered, at 350°F until just heated through; about 30 minutes.)

15 - Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over macaroni mixture. Bake just until topping is golden, about 15 minutes.

16 - Let stand 15 minutes before serving. 

Mascarpone Petite Fours, served with Lynfred 2009 Pinot Grigio!

Soooo, yeah, the Pinot Grigio is not pictured because we drank it while we were making this…

I couldn’t believe it, but this was one of the most difficult, if not the number one most difficult, recipe that we’ve ever attempted.   Notes on why are in the ITEMS! section below.   However, if you like vanilla, and you like cheesecake, and you like the rest of the ingredients you see on the list, I would highly suggest trying to tackle this recipe, and not worry about how it LOOKS, but just focus on the taste.   I’m not a fan of cheesecake (which is really what this was, white chocolate-covered cheesecake squares), and I loved this. 

So, be patient, work methodically, and this recipe will be highly rewarding.

Also, please recommend us if you’d like.

ITEMS!

-Most important:  MELTING WHITE CHOCOLATE IS THE MOST DIFFICULT THING IN THE WHOLE WORLD OF CHOCOLATE MELTING.   I HIGHLY suggest using the double-broiler method of melting (should be on the package) and keep a constant eye and mix going on the chocolate as it melts.  Don’t use the microwave!   Also, look up online to see different ways to keep the chocolate from binding…we used about a teaspoon of vegetable oil.  Time to melt about 12 ounces of white chocolate was well over an hour.   Leave yourself lots of time.

-Vanilla bean sugar should be made from scratch.   This is pretty easy.  Buy a vanilla bean (a couple of bucks at a place like Whole Foods), then chop it up into pieces and mix it with the sugar.  Let it sit for a few days so the sugar can really bind with the vanilla flavoring.   Vanilla bean sugar from scratch is 100 percent better than any vanilla-flavored sugar you’ll find at the store.

-For the biscotti, make sure you don’t get anything except the PLAIN almond biscotti, no chocolate on top, and no toffee inside if you can help it.

-Total prep cooking time is a LOT longer than what it suggests.  First you need to let the original mixture chill for 30 minutes and the cake to chill overnight.  Then, it says it will only take about 1 hour and 10 minutes to cool, but it took us almost 2 and a half hours to get the desired consistency.  I know ovens vary, just throwing it out there.

-Regarding the white chocolate melting, it was noted that the squares should be dipped into the chocolate…we were unable to do this, so we drizzled over the top, it was still really good.

-Be careful cutting the cheesecake.  It sticks to the knife really easily.

Recipe from the Private Kitchen of Lynfred Chef Joe Hetman

INGREDIENTS
 
1 1/2 cups ground crumbs from almond biscotti (about 6 ounces)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1 1/4 cups vanilla bean sugar
2 large eggs
2 pounds white chocolate, melted

DIRECTIONS

1 - Mix biscotti crumbs and butter in bowl.

2 - Press mixture evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan.

3 - Chill for 30 minutes (or overnight if you want).

4 - Preheat oven to 350°F.

5 - Wrap the outside of a 9-inch-diameter spring form pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with 2 layers of heavy-duty foil.

6 - Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, mascarpone and 1 1/4 cups vanilla bean sugar in a large bowl until smooth.

7 - Add eggs 1 at a time; beat just until blended.

8 - Spread cheese mixture evenly over crust in pan.

9 - Place spring form pan in a large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of spring form pan.

10 - Bake until cheesecake is golden and center of cake moves only slightly when pan is shaken, about 1 hour 10 minutes.

11 - Transfer to a rack; let cool 1 hour.

12 - Chill overnight.

13 - Cut into 1-inch-by-1-inch squares.

14 - Using 2 bamboo skewers on either side of each square piece, dip into the melted white chocolate, allowing for excess to drip off, and place on parchment paper to set.

15 - As white chocolate cools, grate fresh lemon zest over the tops if you like.

“Not Your Mom’s Mac ‘n’ Cheese”, served with a 2007 Viognier!

What this really was was sorta like a cheese and pasta casserole topped with an tasty layer of Ritz crackers and butter.  Probably in my top 3 favorites.

The crazy expensive Manchego cheese makes another appearance as the base cheese here, but again I’m sure any cheese would have worked. Also, in case anyone hasn’t had leeks, after cooking they have an oniony taste.  Very good.

The poor quality of the pictures in this post is because we forgot the camera.

The wine is pronounced “vee-oh-nyay”.

Makes 6-8 servings
Recipe from Lynfred Chef Chris Smith
Adapted from a recipe from Food and Wine magazine

INGREDIENTS

4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup butter
1 bunch of leek greens, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 cup sour cream
10 oz Manchego cheese
1 pound fusili pasta (or pasta of your choice)
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1 - Preheat oven to 350.

2 - Melt 2 tbsp butter in large skillet.

3 - Add the leeks and cook over high heat until wilted…should only take a few minutes.

4 - Season with salt and pepper and cook on low (very low) for about 20 minutes.  If leeks start to turn dark, remove from heat.

5 - In a large saucepan, melt 2 tbsp of butter.  Add flour and cook over moderate high heat, whisking for 2 minutes.

6 - Add the half and half and bring to a boil, whisking until thickened (about 5 minutes).

7 - Remove from heat and add 2 cups of the cheese and the sour cream and season with salt and pepper.  Whisk the cheese sauce until melted.

8 - In a large saucepan cook the pasta until al dente.   Drain and combine pasta, leeks, and cheese sauce and stir well.

9 - Transfer pasta to at least an 8 x 11 broiler safe baking dish and sprinkle 1/2 cup of cheese on top, then crush ritz crackers and combine with melted remaining butter.

10 - Top cheese layer with cracker layer.

11 - Bake 40 minutes, then broil for 3 minutes.

12 - Let stand 15 minutes before serving.