Mar 22
TBIFOM #07: White for Tapas
(The Bottle In Front Of Me is a series of somewhat regular, brief tasting notes from the Rogue Estate’s resident wine guy, Ian.)
White for Tapas
It’s no longer news that Michigan (like much of the eastern U.S.) has had an early spring, with record-setting temps that make it feel like Summer. So at the risk of jinxing us all into colder temps, I thought I’d cover one of my favorite pairings with an affordable bottle. I LOVE Spanish-style tapas, and most of them are savory gems that are free of red meat. Try this, respectfully chilled, with the tapas you love.
A White for the Red drinker.
ZOLO 2010 Torrontes (About $12)
Learn more about the winery: http://www.vinodelsol.com/thewineries/zolo.html
Learn more about the bottle in front of me: http://www.vinodelsol.com/pos/zolo/TechSheet_ZoloTorrontes.pdf
SEE: An attractive dusty light gold.
SWIRL: A clear even coat on the glass with slow legs.
SMELL: Initial aromas of white peach & flowers and some faint smoke. Some minerality follows, stone fruits and tart apple.
SIP: A definite warmth and tartness, with baked pear and and orange rind/pith following. Lime and sea salt hint at pairings.
SAVOR: As it opens, this becomes a complex, warm, and golden bath over the food it is served with. It seems to embrace salt.
Final impression: This will not contrast to or confound light Spanish classics–a great everyday wine for seafood or vegetable tapas.
Pair with: Complex savory but not spicy dishes, saffron, shrimp, dry Spanish chorizo, sardines and young sheep cheeses. Avoid sugars and carmel flavors.
Mar 21
Food Pr0n – Irish Night
Chef’s Nights are R.E.’s weekly dinner parties where our writers meet up to cook and eat new foods, discuss ideas and enjoy excessive use of foul language.
For those who aren’t avid Facebook users or whom missed this gallery last week, here in all it’s glory is our Chef’s Night dedicated to authentic Irish cuisine.
Recipes for some of the dishes can be found here and here with more on the way. Can’t get enough? Check out the sweet article in Real Detroit Weekly written by our buddy Joe Hakim documenting the evening.
Sunday morning’s market fresh breakfast. THIS is real eating.
With much appreciation to our friends, the producers and vendors at Detroit’s Eastern Market for this great plate:
Beer bread from Avalon Breads, Blackberry Ginger Jam from Slow Jams, Eggs from Holtz Farm, Raw Milk and Maple Bacon from Oliver Farms.
For those in other parts of the world – while you may not have direct access to the amazing foods being created in Michigan, it’s still worth your while to seek out your local farmers markets and artisanal producers and vendors to bring the very best to your table.
Here are some web resources that can help:
And cool apps for Android and iphone such as:
With spring coming early, it’s going to be a fantastic season! Get out there and buy real food from real people and we’ll show you great ways to prepare it here at The Rogue Estate. Got a favorite Farm / food website or app? Share it with us in the comments.
-///
Mar 15
Colcannon
For St. Patrick’s Day few dishes are more traditional than Colcannon, a mix of potatoes and either cabbage or kale. For this version I went with cabbage as I found out in research that Colcannon comes from the old Gaelic word “cal ceannann” meaning white-headed cabbage. Kale is used almost equally as cabbage is in current preparations and kale is probably the sexier of the options, but I wanted this recipe to be as traditional as possible.
A few liberties were taken with the preparation and ideas behind this recipe, mostly dealing with green onions. Most recipes call for leeks to be used as the flavoring agent, but since leeks were already on the menu in another guise I went with green onions. The second reason for using the green onions is another traditional Irish dish called “champ” which is basically mashed potatoes with green onions (no cabbage) that is very similar to colcannon. I actually like the flavor of champ better than colcannon, but since colcannon is a bit more recognized I went with colcannon with a definite nod to champ in adding much more green onion than would be traditionally used in colcannon alo
ne. The third reason for the green onions is that it reminded me of a soup of a sort that I had at a bar when I was in college. Near St. Patrick’s day one of the bartenders would also make up some traditional Irish fare to give out to regulars. On the unofficial bar menu along with other fare was colcannon and champ. The first time I had ever tried either. He also made a soup like side dish that he called “green tea” which was basically lots of green onions steeped a long time in milk and cream then served in small demitasse cups. It was pretty magical stuff and so in tribute to him I added a bit of a variation on his green tea to the colcannon.
Depending on how many recipes you look at and how far back you go you’ll find that bacon is not used in the oldest recipes for colcannon. In about half of the recipes I looked at it was an ingredient or a topping. The reason for this is that colcannon was generally a poor farmers recipe and bacon wouldn’t be available to poorer families or would be used sparingly. I didn’t intend to use bacon as I’m the lone vegetarian in this mad band, however, bacon was crisped up and made available for those who wanted it.
The great thing about colcannon is its simplicity and there are quite a few variations you can play with. If you want it softer and more luxurious version you could pulse the sauteed cabbage in a food processor and whip with the potatoes. The spicing is definitely variable. Mace is the traditional spice but it would be interesting with smoked or sweet paprika, nutmeg or possibly cinnamon. Kale would generally lend a greener flavour and a heartier texture and if you wanted to really go heavier you could use collard or mustard greens. The onions used are variable as well. The bulbous spring onions would be excellent if not quite as readily available. Red onions cooked with the cabbage would add an interesting colour pop. The only things that aren’t really optional are the potatoes and the butter. Colcannon is very much a vehicle for melted butter.
| Colcannon |
- 5 russet potatoes
- 1/2 head of cabbage
- 2 bunches of green onions
- 8 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
- bacon (optional)
- salt & pepper to taste
- Boil potatoes in jackets in salted water until tender. Remove from water, peel and chop into rough chunks.
- Chop green onions and separate the greens and the whites.
- Core and thinly slice the cabbage.
- Steep in a small saucepan 3/4 of the green onion greens with 1 1/2 cup milk over low heat.
- Saute the cabbage and green onion whites in 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat, season with salt, pepper and ground mace until tender.
- When cabbage is tender add chopped potatoes and pour in green onion/milk mixture.
- Mix potatoes/cabbage mixture with wooden spoon to desired consistency. Keep warm.
- Melt remaining 6 tablespoons of butter in small saucepan.
- Saute bacon until crisp (if using).
- To serve place mound of colcannon on plate and make a small well in the centre. Fill well will melted butter. Top with reserved green onion greens and chopped bacon (if using).
Leftovers reheat easily and can also be used for a killer potato, cabbage and cream soup. Topping options are endless as well – anything you enjoy on a baked or mashed potato is going to work on Colcannon brilliantly. Got a favorite variation? Let me know in the comments. 
-Jason
This dish was part of The Rogue Estate’s Authentic Irish cuisine dinner, featured in Real Detroit Weekly and The Hungry Dudes on 03/14/12.
When thinking of Irish food, like any other American, I automatically think of boiled meat, corned beef, and potatoes. The Irish are not known for their desserts, so when looking them up, I had to keep my mind open, and avoid the Bailey’s Cheesecake that you find on “Irish Pubs” all across America. Turns out the Irish have gotten very creative in using what they could get to make unique desserts.
For our Traditional Irish Meal, I decided to tackle this recipe for Burnt Oranges. Wait…how did tropical oranges become a staple for not-so-tropical Ireland? Turns out that while Ireland was at war with England, they made friends with Spain. The Spanish sailed some of its foodstuffs up to Ireland, and the rest was history. Of course, by the time the oranges were sailed north, and the common folk got their hands on them and ate all of the really ripe ones, they were left with some oranges that had seen better days. Cooking them like this was an interesting and tasty way to not waste those older oranges.
| Burnt Oranges for a Traditional Irish Meal |
- 8 Seville Oranges
- 2/3 cup Very Sweet White Wine
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 12 tbsp. Sugar, split in half
- 1 1/3 cups Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
- 3 tbsp. Warmed Irish Whiskey
- Lyles Golden Syrup for Drizzling
- Heat oven to 400 Fahrenheit.
- Carefully zest all of the oranges into a bowl. Top with sweet white wine, and let sit.
- Peel all oranges, being sure to remove as much of the white pith as possible. Break oranges into segments, and remove all seeds. Seville oranges have a LOT of seeds, so try to preserve as much of the juice you lose while seeding them. Lay the orange segments into the bottom of a wide round pan, no more than 2-3 segments deep, and sprinkle with 6 tbsp. of sugar. You will want to use a pan that is broiler and stove-top safe – a saute pan works great. Place in oven for 12 minutes.
- Pour orange juice and 6 tbsp. of sugar into a wide saucepan on stove. Simmer down until it becomes a syrup, then stir in the wine & zest mixture. Continue simmering until it thickens back up again.
- After 12 minutes, check the orange segments in the oven. If they are not golden brown on top, kick on the broiler, and keep a close eye for a couple of minutes. You want the oranges and sugar to take on a nice caramel colour, but not char. Once they reach that colour, pull from the oven and set on a burner.
- Pour the whiskey over the top of the orange segments, let sit about 30 seconds, then flame. Let the flames burn about 30 seconds, then douse with orange juice mixture. Simmer together for 2 minutes, then serve!
- This can be served hot, or chilled and topped with whipped cream
Seville oranges are extremely bitter, so if you are looking for a dessert that is a bit sweeter, you will want to add more sugar (probably double!) or use a table orange. We also tried one other batch with blood oranges that came out much closer to an American’s preferred level of sweetness, and the colour came out very pretty to boot. We also thought these would be excellent served on top of vanilla ice cream.
What I did leave out of this recipe was that the Seville oranges are a pain in the butt to peel, far more so than any other orange I have ever dealt with. Between the segments that wouldn’t come apart gracefully, to the fact that Seville oranges have more seed than flesh in each segment, I figure next time I’ll stick to making this with another type of orange. The results will be sweeter and less traditional, but I’ll swear less.
Have any tips on how to handle Seville oranges or a favorite citrus recipe? Let me know in the comments!
-Megan
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