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#WinePW 3: Summers’ Bounty or Attack of the Killer Turnips?

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Wine Pairing Weekend #3: Summers’ Bounty
Wine Pairing weekend is a monthly collaborative event for wine/food bloggers. This month’s theme is “Summers’ Bounty”.  If you’d like to see what others in our group are doing, scroll to the bottom of the post for links.

Summers’ Bounty or Attack of the Killer Turnips?
Is your garden going crazy? Is your CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box a riot of veggies? Overwhelmed?  Psssh. Embrace it! Our summer bounty meal raids our CSA box to the max, joined with a nice locally raised lamb steak. Rather than being overwhelmed, we are enjoying new flavors in a healthy summer meal fresh off the grill.  Oh, and you’ll never need to turn on a burner or the oven!

Grilled meat usually calls for a substantial red wine (Syrah is my fave).  Summer nights, however, tell us to lighten up a bit.  Today we’re trying a Cabernet Franc from the community of Bourgeuil in France.

intro text here

Grilled veggies, an unusual slaw and grilled lamb steak paired with Bourgueil

Domaine des Ouches Bourgueil “Igoranda” 2011 ($20 in a local wine shop)
Eye: Opaque center with blue/purple edge.  Wine is clear in the glass.
Nose: Dark cherries, a touch of green pepper in the background
Mouth: Dark fruit, good acidity and pretty tannic finish.  Medium body, not super rich, nice and lean.

Cabernet Franc from the Loire - medium body is nice in the summer

Cabernet Franc from the Loire – medium body is nice in the summer

If you’re not familiar with Cabernet Franc, it’s one of the 5 grapes allowed to be used in French Bordeaux wines, and is often found in new world “Meritage” wines.  Cab Franc is aromatic and medium bodied, and if it’s not too ripe, can have a bit of vegetal (think green pepper) characteristics.  You needn’t be afraid of that touch of green pepper, it provides a natural bridge to the veggies on the plate.

Cabernet Franc is often the main grape in red wine from the Loire communities of Bourgueil and Chinon.  In the new world, it has found a home in New York State wines and in a few spots in California and Washington.  It’s a bit lighter in body than Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah, so it’s a good choice in the summer.  Also, you can serve it with just a bit of a chill, which can be nice on a warm summer night.

The color may hypnotize you!

The color may hypnotize you!

Summer Bounty from the CSA Box
We belong to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) hosted by Karla and Elizabeth, our Bossy Acres farmers.  Julie and I are signed up for a 1/2 share.  We get a big box of fresh local organically grown produce every other week starting in June and ending in September.  This week’s box included 2 kinds of kohlrabi, 2 varieties of turnips, a head of cabbage, broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, a head of fennel, green onions, as well as some fresh herbs.

Our CSA box presents a fun challenge.  It’s a bit like those cooking shows with a box full of secret ingredients which you open with 30 minutes to have something on the table.  You can’t start with a cookbook idea of what you want to make, you react to what’s in the box.  This is where the internet is so useful!  Try googling: fennel kale slaw.

The lamb comes from our favorite local family farm, Sunshine Harvest Farms.  We love chatting with farmers Mike (the dad) and Brandon (the son) at Mill City Farmers Market and Kingfield Farmers Market in Minneapolis.  I hope you find local farmers you can get to know and you have a local farmers market for fresh, local products!

 

Grilled Veggies, Turnip Green Slaw, Lamb Steak and Bourgueil

Turnip Green & Fennel Slaw with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing
The slaw comes from the Kitchenista Diaries.  Angela has a great recipe for the perfect slaw from this week’s CSA box. I substituted turnip greens for the kale, used 1/2 the oil, added some craisins for color and a little additional red fruit flavor.

Roasted Veggies
I hate turning on the oven on hot summer nights, so our vegetables often go on the grill along with the meat.

Ingredients

  • 4 turnips (use the greens for the salad above), scrubbed and cubed
  • 1 large zucchini, cubed
  • 1 kohlrabi peeled and cubed
  • 4 large green onions, cut into 1″ segments
  • 1 Tbs Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 Tbs chopped fresh thyme
  • salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

  • After cutting the vegetables, toss them in extra virgin olive oil and add salt and freshly ground pepper
  • The veggies take longer to cook, so I put them in a grill basket on the grill about 10 minutes ahead of the meat and toss them regularly
  • Continue to toss them while grilling the meat, and remove them from the grill just before you take the meat off the grill

Lamb Leg Steak (bone in)

Ingredients

  • 2 lamb steaks, each a bit less than 1 lb.
  • 1/4 cup red wine (use the wine you’ll serve at dinner)
  • 2 Tbs red wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary
  • 2 Tbs chopped fresh thyme

Instructions

  • Mix the marinade ingredients and pour into a 1 gallon ziploc bag
  • Place the 2 lamb steaks in the ziploc bag, place in a pie tin
  • Put the steaks in the refrigerator and turn every 1/2 hour.
  • Marinate for 1-2 hours
  • When ready to grill, preheat the grill on high
  • Cook the steaks 3 minutes per side for medium

Wine Pairing
On a warm summer evening, you won’t want a heavy Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.  Go with Cabernet Franc, which is a bit lighter.  Look for a Chinon or Bourgeuil in the French wine section of your local shop.

Nearly 100% local, fresh & organically raised

Nearly 100% local, fresh & organically raised

The turnip green salad is one of my favorite elements of this meal

The turnip green salad is one of my favorite elements of this meal

cab franc as a nice lamb pairing

Cabernet Franc pairs well with lamb on a summer evening

Wine Pairing Weekend # 3 Bloggers: Be sure to check out what my fellow bloggers have come up with for the August Wine Pairing Weekend!

Pull That Cork shared “Wine for Summer’s Bounty. Will Garnacha Do the Trick?

Meal Diva paired “Summer Vegetable Red Sauce with Amarone

Culinary Adventures with Camilla posted “Pan-Seared Padròns with DeRose Vineyards’ Négrette

Vino Travels — An Italian Wine Blog shared “Tomato, toe-mah-toe: Summer’s bounty with Sicilian wine Donnafugata

Grape Experiences paired “Cecchi Chianti Classico 2010 and Vegetable Lasagna

Curious Cuisiniere shared “Chipotle Garden Salsa with Wild Hare Petite Sirah

ENOFYLZ Wine Blog posted “Grilled Paiche with a White Greek Blend

Take a Bite Out of Boca shared “Quinoa-Crusted Eggplant and Heirloom Tomato Stacks paired with Monrosso Chianti

foodwineclick shared “Summers’ Bounty or Attack of the Killer Turnips?

Confessions of a Culinary Diva blogged about “Lobster Paella and Albarino

Tasting Pour shared “Summertime and the Cooking is Easy

Cooking Chat paired “Linguine with Pesto, Fresh Tomatoes and a Sauvignon Blanc


Join the #winePW conversation: Follow the #winePW conversation on Twitter throughout the weekend and beyond. If you’re reading this early enough, you can join us for a live Twitter chat on our theme “Wine for Summer’s Bounty” on Saturday, August 9, from 11 a.m. to noon Eastern Time. Questions for the chat are posted here on the #winePW site. You can also visit our group Pinterest board to pin some great pairing ideas for later! Stay tuned for the September Wine Pairing Weekend, which will focus on “Regional Food and Wine Pairings” on Saturday, September 13.


Tagged: bossy acres, cab franc, csa, grill, lamb

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