Remy matches her shirt to the table cloth.
Thank you to everyone that joined us for our harvest club pick up series.
This season we decided to do a focus on varietals, and, so depending on which party you attended, you had at least one of the following dishes. We got a lot of recipe requests and so here is my best rendition of what we did…
Sangiovese Pairing
First Course: Papparadelle or polenta with lamb ragu, fresh ricotta, mint, basil
Second Course: Raddichio Salad with pignoli, shaved parm, cara cara oranges, aged balsamic vinaigrette
(You told us you would have loved dessert)
Barbera Pairing
First Course: Papparadelle or polenta with egg plant/ pork belly hearty red sauce, shaved parm and basil
Second Course: Raddichio and Little gem lettuce with shaved fennel, pignoli, apple, ricotta salata, balsamic vinaigrette
Third Course: Beneficio Cheescake
Flan, cinammon, rose petals
Lagrein Pairing
First Course: Boyer mixed greens with roasted pepitas, feta, sweet italian peppers, red onion, smoked salt, white pepper, balsmic vinaigrette
Second Course: Papparadelle or Polenta with eggplant and porkbelly sauce (add more tomato and butter to make it more saucy), shaved parm and gremolata
Third course: Flan with ground cinammon and rose petals
* A note on balsamic vinaigrette. I used a 30 year aged balsamic for all the salads, the age adds sweetness and reduces astringency. Ain’t that the truth.
*Secret to Prepping Raddichio. You told me the raddichio wasn’t bitter – yes it was! Raddichio is delicously bitter but we soaked it at least three times in cold water over the period of many hours to draw out the bitterness that makes you close one eye….it was fantastic.
*Polenta Recipe. This one comes from Alex Graham who is making the food for our Tempranillo party and is a chef at the Joel Palmer house (and Hannah’s husband). I’ve never really had a go-to polenta recipe but his is delicious, and if you liked what you ate…
Bring water (or equal parts water and milk) to a boil with salt. Whisk in Polenta, reduce heat and whisk frequently. Add more (hot) liquid to get to desired texture. Bonus points: add butter.
A few other FAQ: The papparadelle is Rustichella Di Abruzo Brand – don’t overly salt your sauce, heavily salt your pasta water. The polenta is Golden Pheasant brand. Both are available at Peirano and Daughters. Yes, I put wine in my sauces – the Remallaia. The vegetarian and vegan versions relied heavily on Kalamata olives for the saltiness and heartiness, a few dried porcinis soaked in wine. We used a combination of fresh tomatoes and pomi chopped tomatoes. Gremolata is really just three ingredients – parsley, garlic and lemon rind.
*Lamb from Bide A Wee Farm, basil, mint, apple and oinions from Lone Madrone Vineyard, Even Pull Farm Raddichio, delicata, sweet Italian peppers, parsley, Boyer Farms salad greens, Mom’s garden eggplant, basil, Tippy Star Cheesecakes , cheesecakes. Nick’s Italian Cafe, focaccia with fennel pollen. Panaderia Gonzalez, Flan. Thanks to Mom for helping me prep the sauces and gremolata.
*Lastly, I want to say we have a great team at Remy Wines who really paid attention to the details to make this, arguably, our best club series yet! It was a pleasure to cook for you and to show off the wines in this way. I can’t wait to see what the spring brings.
Ciao!
Remy