I participate in a cool program from Great Country Farms. Every Monday, during the summer, they drop off a case of fresh vegetables/fruit that are grown on the farm. They offer a wide-range of produce and you never know what you are going to get from week-to-week.

A couple of weeks ago the shipment included several bunches of kale. Kale is not a staple of my vegetable diet, so I had no idea how to prepare it. Fortunately, the email accompanying the shipment included the following recipe:


Two bundles of Fresh Kale
1 large Cucumber
1/4 cup Spring onions, chopped
1/4 cup White wine
4 Tbsp. Butter
Salt and pepper - to taste
De-stem kale and chop into bite-size pieces. Dice cucumber about 1/4-inch. Heat sauté pan to medium heat. Melt butter and add spring onions. Turn heat up, and add chopped kale. Add wine, splash by splash, and toss until kale is wilted but not mushy. Add cold cucumber at end with salt and pepper, and plate. (The objective is not to cook the cucumber.)


Kale by itself was a little bland, but the white wine really bought out the flavor. Of course, given that the same people who own GCF also own Bluemont Vineyard they would probably prefer it if you used their Viognier or their Vidal Blanc.

Some people will probably think this is a sacrilege, but this is a good recipe for Bordeaux pork chops.

Ingredients:
4 Loin Pork Chops
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/4 cup Bordeaux
1 sliced apple

Preparation:
Season the pork chops with salt and pepper or a pork rub, then grill or broil them about 7 minutes each side. Combine the wine and the brown sugar in a casserole dish. When the pork is finished cooking, sprinkle them with the nutmeg and cloves, place them in the casserole dish and top them with the apples. Place the cover on the dish.

Cooking:
Place the covered dish in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the cover and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

Wine: Bender Bissersheimer Held 2002 Riesling Eiswein



Review: Ted at Crooked Timber posted a recipe for Chocolate-Raspberry Gratin on Friday. I had this dessert wine that I have been wanting to try for a while and I had a friend coming over for dessert, so even though it wasn't February 25th, I figured I would give it a try.

This is an edelsuss (noble sweet) wine, it is rich and sweet with a golden color and almost no tannin taste. It was an excellent complement to the chocolate in the gratin, without being so sweet as to take away from the Rasberries. Overall, an excellent wine and an excellent pairing.

Price: $40

Grade: 95

A recipe for Christmas brownies: Grab a box of any off the shelf brownie mix. Instead of water use Tarara's Wild River Red. It is an excellent dessert wine that complements the chocolate really well.

I went back to Tarara on Sunday and did a proper wine tasting. Their wines have definitely improved over the last few years. In particular I was impressed Cabernet Sauvignon and the Charval. In the light of day, their Cabernet Franc did not hold up as well as I would have liked. There are better in the area, but I think it will get better with age.