South American Wine Dinner

South America has brought a lot to the world.  We have Machu Pichu, Amazon Rain Forest, the Andes, Inca ruins, and, of course, wine.  Wait, what?!  Yeah, I said wine!  Until recently, all I knew about South American wine was Malbec.  And, as a self proclaimed student of all things Vino, I'm always open to experiencing new wines.  The wineries of Dona Paula from Argentina and Carmen from Chile contributed some incredible wines for a four course wine tasting dinner at Abacus.


The stand out wine was the Dona Paula, Estate Torrontés 2010 from Argentina.  This white is incredibly light and aromatic.  Comments about this wine at our table included "It's like Champagne without bubbles" and "This wine is like tasting a light perfume".  I totally agree with both.  This was my first encounter with Torrontés.  I am by no means a white wine drinker, but after experiencing the airomatic, but not overly sweet flavor of a Torrontés, I can see myself enjoying this wine in the future!


Of course, when you're attending an event at Abacus, you expect exceptional food.  This time was no different.  The first course was a lovely "pizza".  There is a large Italian immigrant population in South America, so this course was certainly more appropriate than one first expects.


The second course was the best chicken I have ever eaten.  The meat was pasture raised and incredibly decadent.  Think "happy chickens".  I can't say enough about how well treated animals make the best tasting dishes. 


Third course was Kobe hanger steak with a pecan tortilla.  Both items melted in your mouth.  Who doesn't like steak you can cut with a butter knife?


Last, we had brown butter cherry tamales.  These things were RICH.  Texturally, they were a little much for me.  The sensation of swirling course brown butter around my mouth wasn't really my bag.  The genius of this choice in dish was the wine pairing.  Our entire table was a little unsure of the choice because of the strength in the Carmenere.  Alone, you would expect this wine to be served with a meat dish.  Next to the tamale, the wine was immediately subdued and rounded out the course nicely.

First Couse
"Porteno Pizza": Fugazza con Queso, Carmelized Cippolinis, Heirloom Tomatoes, Salchicha Parrillera
Second Course
Pollo la Plancha: Grilled Windy Meadows Pasture Chicken, Roasted Corn-English Pea Hash, Natural Jus
Third Course
El Parilla: Chargrilled Kobe Hanger Steak, Yellow Tomato-Pozole Stew, Crispy Pecan Tortilla
Fourth Course
Brown Butter-Cherry Tamale, Caprino Royale Cajeta

Destination: Bologna, Italy and Parma, Italy

After our layover in Madrid we hopped on a morning flight to Bologna, Italy, to begin our road trip.  After landing, we picked up our rental car and headed North to Parma.  Being that we are super huge cured meats fans, we definitely didn't want to miss out on a trip to Parma to get some real Parma ham, aka Prosciutto di Parma.  So, that's what we did.

Since it was Sunday, we expected the town of Parma to be quiet, which it certainly was.  We got lost wandering up and down the romantically quiet cobblestone streets.  I loved the post WWII restored buildings and their colorful paint schemes that speckle the roadways.  Our first Italian meal was simply stuffed ravioli, Prosciutto di Parma, and a bottle of wine.  The city of Parma was a great place to begin our Italian adventure!

Parma Baptismal - the pink marble is so light and romantic

Parma city street - I love the painted homes, cobblestone streets and iron work

Prosciutto di Parma, ravioli, wine -- If you don't want to pay for the bread, you can always send it back.

After we checked into our hotel, we headed into Bologna.  The city was basically closed down since it was a Sunday night.  We found one restaurant who advertised "authentic" Bolognese sauce, which was our main reason for hitting the city.  Bolognese is my favorite!  Well, the restaurant was certainly a tourist trap and the sauce was pretty terrible.  I will always recommend grabbing some bar food or street food if you are in Italy and hungry on a Sunday night!!  Oh well, we were able to see the University, statue of Posiden, and as many sites as we could on a Sunday night.  Unfortunately, I brought the wrong camera lens into the city, so my pics didn't turn out at all.  Travel Fail!!

Have you been to Parma or Bologna?  I would love to go back during the week or a Saturday to see these cities when they are alive.

Stay tuned.  The next post is our Valentines dinner in the Tuscan country side.

Destination: Tuscany

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With the temperatures reaching the 100's every day of the past month or so, I find myself reflecting on our early Spring road trip through Tuscany.  The weather was a bit overcast, but such a perfect setting for driving the countryside and spending our days tasting the diverse wines of the region.  Tuscan wine is so much more than Chianti, but we'll get into that later!  In the next string of posts, I'll share some of our experiences wine tasting, site seeing and sleeping in a real castle tower!!

After a one day layover in Madrid, we flew into and out of Bologna, rented a car and spent eight days driving through Italy.  Our route was Bologna, Parma, Bologna, Arezzo, Montepluciano, Pienza, Montalcino, Siena, Florence, and back to Bologna.  Such an amazing trip with a few fun surprises along the way!

Niman Ranch Dinner - Abacus Dallas

We're suckers for food and wine pairing dinners.  Sometimes we miss (*ahem* The Grape's attempt at "gnocchi" that tasted like mushy potato soup at their "Tuscan" wine dinner, gross!) and sometimes the tasting dinner is a major hit. Well, the Niman Ranch Dinner at Abacus was one such hit!

We went into the dinner expecting to get a superbly prepared meal accompanied by some nice wines -- if you're not familiar with Abacus, the restaurant is one of the most important establishments in Dallas.  How often do you get to be hosted by an Iron Chef?!  What we took away from the event was knowledge about sustainable farming and how a simple choice to support sustainability benefits more than just your taste buds.

In a time where corporate farming systematically treats their livestock inhumanely, Niman Ranch looks to produce a superior product that was cultivated using humane, traditional farming practices.  The Niman grassroots movement faces its challenges when it comes to scalability and consistency.  To ensure that the livestock are treated in strictly humane practices, Niman uses tough evaluations of adherence to Niman protocol with lucrative rewards as motivation.  The result is consistently superior quality meats.

Via NimanRanch.com

Host Chef Kent Rathbun kicking off the dinner

Host Paul Willis - He is such an amazing advocate for sustainable farming

Menu for the evening

First Course
Shiner Bock Beer Braised Niman Ranch Pork Cheek
Creamy Smoked Onion Brussels Sprouts
Stephen Vincent, Pinot Noir, California 2008

Second Course
Jalapeno Beer Battered Lobster
Niman Ranch "Ham Hock Mac"
Castello Banfi, Rosso di Montalcino 2008

Third Coursed
Hickory Grilled Niman Ranch Lamb T-Bone
Toasted Garlic-Balsamic Glaze, Carnival Cauliflower Puree
Ferrari-Carano, Siena, Sonoma County 2009

Fourth Course
Niman Ranch Prime Ribeye Filet, Crispy Morel Mushroom Sauce
White Cheddar Smoked Bacon Twice Baked Potato
Caravan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2008

Fifth Course
Tart Washington Cherry Cheesecake
Mint Chocolate Fudge
Ferrari-Carano, Eldorado Gold, Sonoma County 2007

Yours truly and Iron Chef Kent Rathbun

We had an amazing time at the dinner.  Do you ever do wine dinners?  I'd love to hear your suggestions on wine dinner locations!

Bellavista Franciocorta Tasting

Have I mentioned that we like wine?  Each month our Wine Spectator magazine shows up and, consequently, I am reminded how little I know about wine!  How do you remedy such inadequacies?  Well, I prefer a "hands on" approach to learning wine.  I'm sure it sounds gushy and self indulgent, but finding good wines takes time, knowledge, and expectations -- along with a mess of other techniques, but like I said before, I'm still learning.

Part of my approach is actually tasting the wines.  That's where Jimmy's Food Store in Dallas comes into play.  The great thing about Jimmy's is that it is a small market where anyone who knows anything about food in Dallas shops.  Jimmy's makes some of the best pastas and meats that are served at the better restaurants around Dallas as well as sells fabulous imported Italian products.  We're huge Jimmy's fans, thus we have been on their email list for quite some time.  Part of the weekly email announcements include opportunities to partake in wine tastings.  The mention of "bubbles" caught my eye, so I signed us up for the Bellavista tasting.

Bellavista makes a sparkling Italian wine call Franciocorta in the Champagne method.  Basically, the wine is fermented, then bottled, and fermented again to create the "bubbles".  Sara Pedrali is the Brand Ambassador who put on the tasting.  Sara is very knowledgeable and passionate about the wine she was sharing with us.  Sara's uncle, Vittorio Moretti started the winery about 30 years ago in the Franciacorta area in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy.  Sara gave us some good reasons why Franciacorta truly rivals the French Champagne region in terms of weather and climate which results in higher quality grapes. (Have I mentioned how much I love Italians?!)  These grapes are harvested by hand, the bottles are rotated by hand in the cellar, and then the bottles are gorged by hand.  A lot of time and technique goes into Bellavista wine making.  The results speak for themselves.

The highlight of the tasting was the opportunity to sample the Vittorio Moretti.  This wine is the stuff of legends.  Bellavista only bottles this wine when the conditions are specifically fit to begin the process of blending this high quality wine, which, in turn, makes it a rarity in production.  The weather, the grapes, the stars and the moon must be perfectly aligned for this effort to begin.  The Vittorio Moretti has only been produced 7 times since Bellavista began producing wine.  Moretti is the pride of the winery so much that even top wine critics do not gain access to the wine.  It was special, special stuff.  The pride Sara exuded when indulging in the wine made it very clear how unique tasting the Vittorio Moretti actually was.  Boy was it devine!

Jimmy's served each person with this delicious spread!

Jimmy's tasting room.  Sara noted that the Franciocorta region looks similar to the mural on the wall.  Looks beautiful!

Daniel Rosenberg from Empson USA Wine Importers kicking off the tasting.

Sample bottle on our table.  We definitely took some bottles home!

Yours truly and Sara Pedrali after the tasting.  She is such a doll!

Check out the Bellavista bottle on the shelf behind Anthony Bourdain!  Just happened upon this last night before cooking dinner.
Via TravelChannel.com

After this tasting, northern Italy is now on our radar.  I'm thinking next Spring trip!  Do you like Italian bubbles?

Destination: Rome, Italy - Part 2

This may come as a surprise to you, but our trips don't completely revolve around food! Har-har!  Aside from volumes of photos, souvenirs are a great way to capture your experience and relive your journey every day.  When in Rome, we bought a mess of trinkets, pictures and clothes that remind us of our getaway day to day.  Here are a few of our treasured finds!

Clockwise from top left:

• Post cards I plan on framing
• "B" with mat, my first initial and Eric's last...awe!
• Book of Bernini sculptures, I love buying books!
• Il Boom house wine
• Italy is known for their wool, so I grabbed this cute vest. Eric bought me the pashmina on our way back to the hotel on a cold night.
• Botanical prints I plan on framing (do you see a trend!....)
• Morano glass earrings

Do you have a favorite souvenir?  What do like to bring home?

Dallas Italian: Nonna

When we're not on the road, we are more than happy to take part in the Dallas food scene.  I know that "Dallas" may not immediately roll of the tongue when you think of a busy foodie scene, but let me tell ya, we know food in Dallas!  My first example is Nonna.

Nonna is a non assuming little restaurant spot located in a strip mall across the street from my Whole Foods.  I've driven past it countless times and finally made my first reservation a couple weeks ago. Nonna has received accolades from the likes of Bon Appetit magazine, NY Times, and Dallas' own D Magazine.  I was truly looking forward to their spring menu featuring Roman dishes and couldn't have been more thrilled with what we were served.

We began with a large format Barolo (don't judge, we can handle a liter of wine very easily!).  Our favorite antipasta is a good salumi plate, so that was an easy choice.  Each table is welcomed with warm from the oven bread.  For the main course, or courses in our case, we ordered the Five Course Pasta Tasting.  The tasting was a great way to enjoy a tour of Nonna's opinion of Italian dishes. I like how Nonna made these traditional Italian pasta dishes seem more contemporary and trendy with Uni and Saffron and added a little Texas heat with fresh peppers.  Even so, the effect from the diverse pasta plates gave you a worldly, Roman feeling.

Serralunga D'Alba Barolo

Artisanal Pecorinos and Salumi: Moliterno al Tartufo, Pecorino Nocino, Pecorino di Pienza a Crosta Nera, speck, coppa and fennel salame

Bread served fresh from the brick oven

Cacio e Pepe - My favorite Roman pasta dish

Spaghettini Neri with baby Manila clams, Uni, white wine, shallot and Calabrian hot pepper

Tonnareli alla Carbonara: pancetta, farm egg, pecorino and black pepper

Papparedelle al ragu Bolognese

Saffron Pennette cooked like risotto with white shrimp, oven dried tomatoes and squash blossoms

What is the food scene like in your town?  What are some of your favorite local restaurants?  I'd love you hear your experiences and (most of all) your recommendations!

Destination: Sonoma Valley

On Sunday, we continued our wine country adventure by heading into Sonoma Valley.  We began the morning stopping at a coffee stand we saw on the side of the road.  Bo’s Brew was a cute little trailer where we grabbed a couple of hot bevies and breakfast burritos.

Inside look at our breakfast trailer!

How could we resist this adorable coffee trailer?!?

After we finished eating, we headed to Korbel California Champagne. I mean, what’s wrong with sampling some “bubbles” first thing in the morning??!  Neither of us had been to a champagne winery, so we were really looking forward to learning the champagne process on the tour.  The grounds are spectacularly shaded by 200 year old redwoods and beautiful greenery.  Korbel offers a free tour a few times a day which includes free champagne tasting at the end of the tour.  We learned about the wide variety of champagne Korbel produces, a lot about the fermentation process (if you are squeamish, you may rather not know about what had been growing in your bottles), and how the bottles were formerly hand corked.  The Organic Brut was my favorite champagne we tasted.

200 year old redwoods

Such variety!

The Organic Brut was my favorite



We hit the road after Korbel and headed into the Russian River Valley.  This area is so luscious and green.  The windy roads reminded me of the Tuscan road trip we recently took.  Our first stop was Thomas George Estates.  They have the cutest guest cottages on the estate and plenty of shaded picnic areas to plop down, cork some wine and relax.  The girls in the cave were very knowledgeable about their wines and eager to help us stock up.  Their pinot noir is so INSANE that we brought home two bottles (not to discount the other three bottles we took to the car as well!).  I’m looking forward to heading back to Thomas George Estates as an overnight guest.

One lane bridge, we had to take turns crossing

Thomas George Estates

Wine cave

Picnic area

Hop Kiln winery was the last tasting we hit on Sunday. The grounds are beautiful and the old fashioned barn tasting room is so unique compared to the castle-esque and overly majestic tasting rooms at some of the wineries we visited in Napa.  The guys behind the counter were really nice.  The tasting room had a bunch of décor for sale and an entire mustard bar.  The Hop Kiln chef cooked up some brisket sliders to pair with their pinot noir sample we tasted.

Hop Kiln

Chef preparing sliders to pair with the tasting.  Notice all the mustard!

Pond behind the bar

Tasting area

Our last stop was Willi’s Seafood & Raw Bar in Healdsburg.  I can’t say enough about the food we had there, so I’m going to post those thoughts and pics in my next post.  Stay tuned!!

Napa vs. Sonoma, which do you prefer?  Do you know why Korbel can call their sparkling wine Champagne??  I’d love to know your thoughts!!

Destination: Napa Valley

We booked last minute flights this past Thursday night to spend the weekend in California wine country.  After a quick 7:00am flight from DFW, we were headed North on the 101 from SFO to wine country.  Our first stop was Napa Valley. 

My favorite thing about exploring wine country is the adventures that tend to spring up when you are en route to a wine tasting.  While heading into Napa, we happened upon the cutest roadside diner, The Fremont Diner.  Their menu is a collection of comfort foods.  Snacks include Cracklin (deep fried pig skins) and Fremont Sliders.  Smoked “Whole Hog” and Brisket Plate are fresh from their own smoker.  We ordered the Chili Con Carne for me and a “Whole Hog” for Eric.  We even had a strawberry milkshake for a starter.  From the turquoise painted picnic tables to the glass jars for drinking, The Fremont Diner successfully harnesses that old California nostalgia.  Next time, I’m trying the chicken and waffles.  I think Mildred Pierce would approve!

Chili con Carne

Whole Hog

10 oz Strawberry Milkshake

Drinking jars and Crystal hot sauce!!

Rooster (chicken?) roaming the grounds

Outdoor seating option.  Notice the vinyard in the background.  There is also indoor diner seating, but I didn't think to snap a pic -- Fail!

We began our wine route with a tasting at Bouchaine.  Next we stopped at Goosecross cellars (my favorite!) for a tasting and to replenish our stock of their wine.  My new favorite is the Tempranillo that they just released.  They did a great job with the Spanish grape!!  We then headed to M. Cosatino, and lastly stopped at V. Sattui – we always seem to forget how busy V. Sattui is and make the mistake of stopping.  We quickly left V. Sattui and headed to Santa Rosa for dinner.

For dinner, we chose a casual place called Rosso.  Rosso is a local restaurant participating in the “Slow Food” movement.  Rosso specializes in brick oven pizza, so, of course, we had to try the place out.  We started the meal off with an order of burrata + prosciutto di Parma and an order of burrata stuffed with goat curd + EVOO + mint gremolata – the second was the waiter’s suggestion.  For pies, each of us ordered our own.  My favorite ingredient from any of the dishes was the prosciutto.  It had a great flavor for having been imported.  Sometimes the prosciutto I eat is really dry and doesn’t cut well with a fork.  This prosciutto cut like butter.  Mmmm.....

 

burrata + prosciutto di Parma



burrata stuffed with goat curd + EVOO + mint gremolata



flat bread



Margherita + prosciutto di Parma

Goomba -- Yes, that is spaghetti and meatballs on the pie!  It tastes like spaghetti wrapped in garlic bread.

Funghi + Sonoma organic egg -- The egg made the pie!

"In Italy they say 'Red wine is good for the baby's blood'" -- I think I heard that on one of our recent Italy trips

Napa was a great day!  What are your favorite wine trails?  Rioja?  Napa?  Tuscany?  Look for my next post on Sonoma.  We discovered some amazing hidden gems in the Russian River Valley that I am very excited to share with you!!