Category Archives: All recipes paired with wine

Shish kebab with Eggplant Hash and Tzatziki Sauce

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Shish kebab with eggplant hash and Tzaziki sauceO.K., this may not be the most authentic Shish kebab recipe. I got inspired by a traditional Turkey dish, and tried to re-create the combination I experienced few years ago in Greece. I hope it’s not a sin to take the best from each cuisines, combine it together and make your own twist on it – as long as you love the result, what do you think?

During my research I found out that the secret of moist and tender shish kebab is to mix the ground meat with diced lamb-tail fat. I didn’t want to go that far – and used Crème Fraîche instead. It supported the rich flavors of lamb meat and was absolutely melting in our mouth!

Shish kebab with Eggplant Hash and Tzatziki Sauce

Ingredients:
1 pound of ground lamb
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoon Crème Fraîche
4 large shallots – peeled, halved lengthwise, root ends trimmed but kept intact
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/2 roasted pepper (optional)

For eggplant hash:
1 small eggplant
1/2 finely chopped red onion
1 garlic clove diced
1 can of whole tomatoes
4 small bay leaves
4-5 whole allspice
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 cup of white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

For Tzatziki sauce:
1 Greek yogurt
3 scallions finely chopped
2/3 English cucumber – peeled, seeded and diced or grated (squeezed in hand for an excess liquid)
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tablespoon of champagne vinegar
2 garlic cloves diced
dill or fresh oregano (optional) – mix together

Start with eggplant hash – it needs to cook through to get the right texture. Slice your eggplant into thick slices, skin attached. Spread slices over paper towel and season with salt. Let it sweat for few minutes, than pat dry with paper towel. Chop into similar size cubes.

In large heavy skillet heat the oil and stir in chopped onion on medium heat. Cook for a minute and add garlic and red pepper flakes, stir and let cook for few seconds (be careful, garlic can quickly turn brown and bitter). Bring up the heat and add all eggplant cubes. Season with salt and pepper and mix to coat all eggplant pieces with oil.

Add white wine and stir. Let wine almost evaporate on high heat and add whole tomatoes with a juice, crushing them carefully with your hand or spatula. Add bay leaves and allspice and stir into mixture. Turn down the heat, cover the pan and let it simmer for at least 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft, on low heat. Finish with generous amount of chopped parsley.

In a medium bowl, gently mix the Crème Fraîche, seasoning, garlic, sliced roasted pepper and parsley into the ground lamb. Roll the mixture into similar size balls. Place all your meatballs on metal skewers and the onions together on separate one.

(I have done the mistake to mix it together – the meat took only few minutes to grill, and I ended up with undone onions, so trust me on this one.) Light a grill and let meatballs sit in room temperature for a few minutes, so the flavors can combine.

Grill kebabs over moderately high heat, turning once, until browned on the outside. depends on the size of your balls – but it only took about 3 minutes on each side and they were done. You don’t want to dry them through. Transfer to plates, and serve with eggplant hash and dipping Tzatziki sauce on the side. Enjoy!

Wine pairing suggestions:
I was just tasting a new Spanish red from Priorat when making this dish. It worked great with the rich taste of the lamb and spicy eggplant hash. Priorat wines are usually priced over $20.00 a bottle, but this one could be just a pleasant exception to the rule.

Bodegas La Cartuja is a modern, sexy blend of Garnacha, Mazuelo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah that just received 90 points from R. Parker. It’s my pleasure to recommend it with this week’s dish.

Have plenty of holiday’s leftovers? Try my yummy Meat spread !

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You guessed it. Few days past Easter, and some of us try to come up with more and more creative ways to use all the leftover ham, turkey, brisket (you name it)  … It’s perfectly good meat, but it gets tiresome after a while. We had ham’s steaks with asparagus and local corn the other day, and another dinner with some brisket and sauerkraut.  All yummy. But I still had little bit of meat left, and being the “saving kind” I would hate to waste perfectly good food. Yet, I couldn’t get myself to make another dry, turkey breast sandwich (of course, we never have the dark meat leftovers). So, I became creative. And, we loved, loved our bagel sandwich! I am happy to share the recipe with you.

Leftover meat spread2

Meat spread

Ingredients:

½ lb combined turkey and brisket meat
4 table spoons of mayonnaise
1 table spoon Dijon mustard
1 table spoon high quality olive oil
1 table spoon hot relish (optional)
1 stick leek, sliced and slowly sautéed
½ small onion, chopped, sauteed
3 cloves of garlic, mashed
Salt and pepper
Handful chopped parsley and oregano fresh herbs

First, I took out the food processor and cut all the meat to small cubes, while checking for bones or fat I didn’t want in my spread. Added mayo, mustard and relish, seasoned with salt and pepper. Instead of adding more mayo, and pulse the processor. ILeftover meat spread1t still looked dry (depends how much of the meat you use), so I drizzled the mixture with high quality extra virgin olive oil.

In a frying pan, on medium heat, I sauteed chopped onion and leek in a little bit of olive oil. When the leek is sauteed slowly, it became such a tasty ingredient – so I added a little bit of water and let it cook for few minutes, until soft. Seasoned with salt and set aside to cool.

I have chopped bunch of fresh herbs I have out in the back yard (in my wooden wine cases). I picked parsley and spicy oregano to add some bite to it. Added to to processor, I pulsed it until smooth and added the cooked leeks and onion. Seasoned with salt and pepper again, after tasting the mixture. It was almost perfect, but it was still missing something. Oh, garlic! Of course! 3 cloves of garlic smashed and pressed into the mix. I took another taste – and yes, that was it!

We had a delicious lunch and still have more for tomorrow. This was a good transformation of meat that would be kind of “boring” on its own.

Leftover meat spread

Seared Salmon on the bed of Sautéed Spinach and Caper Béchamel Sauce

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Seared Salmon w Bechamel Sauce

I thought of this delicious way of serving salmon one day, when expected friends over for dinner. I wanted to make something fancier than my usual, simply broiled salmon, seasoned with salt and pepper. I would usually make it in my favorite kitchen appliance in the world (toaster oven), and saute some fresh spinach on olive oil with little bit of sliced garlic. This time, with just a little added – I must say that the Béchamel sauce brought the dish to an entire new level. The sauce is the most difficult part of this recipe. But don’t get discouraged – it sounds more difficult than it really is. To prepare this dish took me less than half an hour.

Seared Salmon on the bed of Sautéed Spinach and Caper Béchamel Sauce

Ingredients:

4 portions of salmon (or how many you need)

1 bag of baby spinach, washed

2 cloves of garlic

1 and ½ cup of milk

1 carrot, peeled and finely sliced

1 small shallot, finely chopped

1 table spoon unsalted butter

2 table spoons flour

2 dried cloves

1 bay leaf

2 table spoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon capers (drained)

Salt and pepper

In a small pan heat up the butter and saute chopped onion and carrot, slightly seasoned with salt and pepper about 3-4 minutes, until soft. Add cloves, bay leaf and 1 spoon of green parsley and let saute for a minute with onions and carrots. Sprinkle with flour, slightly mix together and saute for another minute. Add milk and whisk together on low heat, until thickened.

Strain the ready sauce, taste for seasoning, and spice it up with the rest of fresh chopped parsley and drained capers.  Set aside.

In a heavy pan (or in the skillet) heat olive oil, and put seasoned salmon (really, just salt and pepper), skin side down on hot skillet. Cook without touching at least 3 minutes, until crisp. Carefully turn around and finish cooking – about 2 minutes more, depends on the thickness of your fish.

In the meantime, start another pan, olive oil, add washed spinach and start turning it around until it reduces into about half of the original amount. Add salt and pepper, thinly sliced  garlic and cook few minutes, just it softens.

Pour Béchamel sauce to the bottom of the plate, add a little bit of sauteed spinach over it and place the portion of salmon on top. I have put a slice of lemon on to each salmon and seared a large shrimp for each plate, just for decoration purposes. OK, that shrimp was delicious too.

Salmon with Bechamel sauce and sauteed spinach

I have paired this dish with Adelsheim Pinot Noir. I loved it. If you feel more comfortable with white, you can either choose oaky Chardonnay, that compliments the sauce with its creamy, bigger body texture – or crisp, un-oaked Chardonnay, or other white variety wine, that will cut through the creaminess of the dish. Grüner Veltliner anyone?

Salmon in the blanket

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I have seen the end of this recipe, featured one day in “French cooking”, on the Food Channel. Unfortunately, I didn’t see most of the episode, so I had to guess the ingredients myself. It looked pretty simple, and soooo delicious that I couldn’t resist, went to the Farmers market and bough a piece of salmon to try it – the same day!

It was a simple idea and I could fill in dots myself. I am pretty sure there is even proper name for this French dish, which I didn’t catch – for the same reason (turning on the TV just about when she was wrapping it up, and putting this beauty to the oven). So forgive me, I have made up my own name and version of this superb recipe.

Oh, by the way – it was truly delicious! The pastry dough prevented the salmon from drying, so it stayed super moist, and the whole dish was such a great looking presentation – I am planning to make it for my next guests. Please let me know if you try it. I am considering wrapping individual portions for each of my guests the next time.

Ingredients:

1-2 lb of salmon (depends on how many people you need to feed)

1 box of frozen puff pastry

1 lb of asparagus

1 small container of Mascarpone cheese

1 small container of canned artichoke hearts

1 clove of garlic

1 egg

handful of fresh parsley (or dill, if you prefer. I don’t :) )

salt and pepper

Thaw the dough and roll out two similar size rectangles on floured table. Carefully spread one of the pastry rectangle on the baking sheet.

Cook asparagus in salted water to “al-dente”, drain and immediately place in bowl filled with ice water to preserve its green color. Cut off the tips of the asparagus.

Place Mascarpone cheese, asparagus tips, artichoke hearts (drained) and garlic in food processor. Add parsley to the cheese and mix together until smooth.

Clean salmon filet of skin, possible visible bones and dry it in paper towel. Season fish with salt and pepper. Place salmon in the middle of the pastry. Cover the top of the fish with cheese mixture and spread evenly with spoon.

Take the asparagus from the ice water and pat dry. Place the vegetables evenly on the fish (I used mix of green and white asparagus just to play with colors). Coat the uncovered  dough edges with beaten egg, so the top dough will stick better to the bottom. Cover the fish with the other rectangle and push the edges back to seal. Make few cuts into the top of the dough with sharp knife to allow the steam out, while baking. Coat the dough with egg wash before baking so it will come out nice and shiny.

Preheat oven to 425F and bake the salmon for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve hot or warm, with your choice of vegetables. I used the rest of the asparagus.  I believe this dish will be delicious even at the room temperature. The salmon came out fantastic, moist and delicious. Loved it!

Suggested wine pairing:

I have paired this dish with A by Acacia Pinot Noir and it work perfectly well with the richness of the salmon. Pinot Noir from French Burgundy, or other cooler region’s (like Oregon, Washington State, New Zealand) will work perfectly well too.

Salmon Tartar

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I just recently made this recipe for our friends, as an appetizer. I wasn’t sure if they would mind the idea of eating a raw fish. Well, it seemed that I didn’t make enough that night. Just few days ago my husband mentioned that he was craving salmon tartar. And since I just went to Whole Foods, and bought the most beautiful piece of wild organic salmon, I thought it was a great idea to let the quality fish shine on its own. So here is my recipe the way we love it at our home:

Salmon tartar

1 lbs fresh wild salmon, skinless
1 shallot, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Juice from 1 lime
2 tbs dry white wine (optional)
1 tbs fresh green dill (if you can’t stand dill like me, substitute for parsley, chive, whatever you like)
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs chopped capers
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Baguette or your favorite bread

This recipe works with raw salmon so I recommend getting the freshest, highest quality fish you can. Carefully clean the meat of any bones, fat spots or skin.

Cut the salmon into tiny little cubes by hand (you can use a processor but any great chef wouldn’t approve of that when preparing tartar).
In a small bowl put the finely chopped meat, add shallot, all the spices, lime juice and mix well with the fork. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Brush each slice of bread or French baguette with an olive oil, spread it on the baking sheet and let’s bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, until lightly brown and crispy. You can also toast the bread, but trust me, it’s not the same.


It is nice to serve tartar in the bowl or arranged on the plate, and slices of the bread on the side – to let everybody make their own plate.

Serve with dry white wine or champagne. Bon appetite!

Sautéed Skirt Steak in Spicy Tomato Sauce

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Easy, quick, and very tastyyyy. This recipe (and picture) is from my friend Ken.
Leave some of the jalapeno seeds in – otherwise I don’t think it is spicy enough.
Superb recipe fo a great, tender, and an inexpensive cut of meat.

Ingredients
1 small onion
a 14- to 15-ounce can whole tomatoes in purée
1 fresh serrano or jalapeño chile
3/4 pound skirt steak
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Halve onion and thinly slice. Drain tomatoes, reserving purée, and finely chop. Wearing protective gloves, seed chile if desired for a milder sauce and finely chop. Cut steak crosswise into 4 pieces. Pat steak dry and season with salt.

Heat a dry 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot and add oil. Sauté steak about 2 minutes on each side for medium-rare and transfer to a baking dish. Keep steak warm in oven.

To skillet add onions with tomatoes, reserved purée, chile, and salt to taste and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened slightly and onion is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in any juices that have accumulated on baking dish from steak.
Serve steak with sauce.

This recipe is for 2 people, double the amount of ingredients for a family.

Quinoa Edamame Pilaf

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This dish started as a phantasy ride on “fried rice” – but I was in hurry and Quinoa cooks much faster than rice. And I like the crunch this grain has. I was kind of mixing stuff together without plan, but the result was surprisingly delicious! Nobody complaint about “healthy food”!!! The recipe might look like a lot of ingredients, but it’s basically your “Chinese cooking stuff” already in the pantry.

Quinoa Edamame Pilaf

1 cup quinoa – cooked in 2 cups of chicken broth
½ red onion, finely copped
1 carrot – peeled and chopped
½ cup chopped celery root (you can use celery stick as well, but the root is softer)
2 cloves garlic, smashed
¼ cup low sodium soya sauce
¼ cup oyster sauce (I like Ka.Me)
¼ cup blended sesame oil
3 tbsp peanut oil
¼ Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper (careful, sauces are salty)
Juice from ½ lime
2 tbsp Sriracha (hot chilli sauce) (optional, but delicious!!!)
2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp flex seeds
1 can of Straw mushrooms
1 cup cooked Edamame soybean

Cook quinoa, following the instructions, until soft. Fluff and lets stand.
In the large pan cook (or wok) heat peanut oil and sauté onions, celery and carrot for a minute. Season with salt and pepper. Add garlic and mix together. Sauté for another 30 seconds. Add all the sauces and sesame oil.  Add Sriracha if you don’t mind the heat.  Stir in quinoa and Edamame soybean.  Season with lime juice and sprinkle seeds over the mix for a healthy crunch.

At the end, mix in the drained straw mushrooms (chop in smaller pieces if desired).

Steamed clams and mussels casserole

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The other day, I went to Costco for shellfish – I needed it for a recipe. But they only sell large bags of mussels and clams, as you know. They looked so good though, that I couldn’t resist. So I had more than plenty for what I needed it originally for, and a new dilemma what to do with the rest.

Simple solution – I just steamed them! It took just a few minutes and we had a wonderful, light a super tasty dinner for hot summer night! (Light it was meant to be, but we stuffed ourselves anyway!) If you are on low carb diet, you have got to skip a day. Crusty bread to dip into this delicious broth, is a must! Simple and fast dinner recipe  -  I don’t think you can go wrong with a fresh shellfish!

Steamed clams and mussels casserole

Ingredients:
about 2 dozen of both clams and mussels (or how much do you need for your family)
2 slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 cup of chopped leek
2 cloves of garlic
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1-2 cups of low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup of white wine
freshly chopped parsley
olive oil

Scrub clams or mussels well under running water; pull any beards off mussels. Discard open shellfish that don’t close when tapped. In the meantime heat a little bit of olive oil in a large pan (so all the shellfish would fit in and could be covered). Saute chopped bacon, onion, garlic and leeks for a few minutes – until soft. Add chicken broth and bring to boil.

Add shellfish to boiling broth and sprinkle with wine. Cover and cook until shells pop open, about five minutes. Spoon into plates, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately. You can serve wedges of lemon on the side, if you desire (but we didn’t need them).


Don’t forget to have plenty of crusty fresh bread on hand, 
to soak all the juice! :)
Wine pairing suggestion:

I have picked an excellent white wine from French Loire, Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie to pair with this dish. It was crisp, lemony and refreshing, just like this casserole full of goodies. We ate way more than we needed – and drank the whole bottle. Yeah, it was pretty good idea, this dinner!


Summer is the time for yummy Gazpacho

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 My first Gazpacho was in Spain. We got served this goodness in 1 star Michelin rated restaurant Las Rejas Restaurante in Cuenca, La Mancha. As everything else in this super special place, it got served in a tiny glasses (like a shot) and to be honest, I didn’t even know what it was. But I drank it and it was superb!

Trying not to draw any attention to the fact that I had no clue, I learned later from one of my smarter colleagues that this was, in fact, a gazpacho. I remember that name ever since. And now, ever since the warm season starts, I keep asking about it in my favorite Spanish restaurant Costa del Sol in Hartford, CT.

I would never dream of cold soup. I know there are many recipes for different cold summer soups – it just never appealed to me. Until I tried gazpacho.

Last time I bought 3 portions in the restaurant to take out with me. I was also chatting with the chef Javier, tricking him into giving me the recipe. He gave me some hints. I kept guessing what was in it, he kind of confirmed it. Good enough. I have just tried to make my first gazpacho at home and I am very pleased with the result.

Tasting it side by side with the restaurant’s version, mine is slightly different (I guess that depends on what kind of veggies one uses and in what ratio). But it is gazpacho, and I will gladly share it with you! Is it authentic?

I have no idea! You may have seen  better recipes out there, but this one is mine and I am sticking to it (because it tasted really good). Did it taste to my liking? Oh, yeah! As Javier said: “Spaniards keep gazpacho in the fridge and snack on it all day long – it’s like Spanish Bloody Mary, only without the alcohol.”

Gazpacho

1 cucumber
1 large garden tomato
3 Kumato tomatoes (just because I love the rich flavor)
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 of large red onion
1 cup of tomato juice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup of good quality sherry vinegar
juice from 1 lime
2-3 tablespoons of good quality olive oil
salt and pepper

Have colander ready with a dish underneath to catch all the precious juices.
Peel cucumber and cut lengthwise, removing the soft, seed part. Seed part with all the juices goes into colander. Chop the cucumber and add to the blender.

Cut the top of the tomatoes, remove the seed’s part to the colander. Add tomatoes to the blender. Clean and seed peppers, chop and add to the blender.

Add garlic, onion, squeeze lime into the mix, add tomato juice, sherry vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add whole cilantro to the mix and turn on the blender. Don’t forget to add all the juices you got from the removed parts of tomatoes under your colander.

I first used “blend – puree” button on my blender, and when all the veggies were blended, I switched to “liquefy-whip” function. Let the blender running for a few minutes to get a fine, delicate puree.

They are adding a little bread to the blender in the restaurant, to get more body to their gazpacho. I tried mine without bread and it was just fine. It’s up to you. Taste it and season a little more, if desired. I kept adding vinegar because it was lacking the acidity to my taste.

Gazpacho can be kept in refrigerator for a week. It is served chilled, with just a splash of quality extra virgin olive oil and a piece of cilantro. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Warm mushroom salad

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If you love mushrooms, this is a simple, but ultimate gourmet way to elevate their typical delicious taste and aroma. This super easy recipe will make you look like you spent hours in the kitchen or you just graduated from the French Culinary Institute. You can serve it as a non-traditional appetizer or, accompanied with a hearty, crusty bread, as a light summer dinner.                                                                                                       

Warm mushroom gourmet salad

Ingredients:

1 box organic Chef’s Sampler (I got mine in Whole Foods)
Or 1 pound of different mushroom mixture
6 white mushrooms  (heads and firm parts of legs only)
6 shiitake mushrooms (heads only)
½ lb snow peas
½ cup crumbled goat cheese
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh marjoram
olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
1 cup of microgreens for garnish
few drops of aged balsamic vinegar

Clean all mushrooms and cut into similar size pieces. Little mushrooms can be left whole. To blanch fresh peas, bring water to a boil in a pan. Prepare yourself a large bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water. Add peas to boiling water. Let cook for just about 30 seconds, until they start to turn a brighter green, and drain immediately. Place in ice bowl to stop cooking. Remove and let it sit aside.
In large frying pan (I used wok) heat a small amount of olive oil and add all mushrooms. Sprinkle with sea salt. Stir and turn with wooden spoon for about a minute or two, until all mushrooms softens but don’t let them to become mushy. Take from the heat and mix with chopped fresh marjoram and freshly ground pepper.

Spread handful of snow peas on each plate and add a pile of mushrooms. Sprinkle whole dish with crumbled goat cheese, good quality fruity olive oil and a few drops of aged balsamic vinegar. Garnish with micro greens and serve.

Wine pairing suggestion:
It is a well known secret that mushrooms improve flavor of almost all red wines. But to me, the most fantastic wine pairing with warm mushroom salad is Pinot Noir. I opened Acacia Pinot Noir Carneros and it was a marriage made in heaven. Try it!