Category Archives: sauvignon blanc

Quick and Easy: Asparagus and Lemon-Butter Pasta

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Spring, my favorite season, has been very unwilling to show itself this year in New York. So I am grateful for the little signs of warmer months that I see in the markets and on menus, especially the delicate little shoots of asparagus. A peek at the recently discovered Canal House lunchtime photo blog inspired this quick and easy dinner, which I paired with a 2010 Babich Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

Fresh, springtime pasta.

Asparagus and Lemon-Butter Pasta with Soft-Boiled Eggs
serves 2

  • Fresh pasta (preferably sheets of lasagne, torn into even strips)
  • 1 bunch of fresh, local asparagus, shaved with a vegetable peeler
  • 1 lemon
  • Tbsp butter
  • 3 eggs
  • Parmigiano, freshly grated

Blanch the asparagus, then set aside. Bring two pots of water to boil. In one, add the three eggs and let cook for 6 minutes. Remove immediately and let cool in an ice bath. In the other, add, salt then cook the pasta briefly, until soft (2-3 minutes). Drain and retain some water for the sauce.

In a separate pan, soften the butter and add the juice of the lemon. Toss the pasta in the sauce, using some of the pasta water if needed.

Plate the pasta, then place the asparagus on top. Peel and slice the eggs immediately before serving. Top with freshly grated parmigiano, as well as salt and pepper if desired.

Down South: Chicken-Fried Steak, Collard Greens, & Cornbread

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Where did September go? This whole month flew by in a whirl of busyness, work activities, and birthdays. I feel like I hardly cooked anything exciting at all! To make up for this, I threw a little dinner party last night, Southern-style, for my friend Dado who will soon be returning to China. After an ingredient fiasco (I wanted to make fried catfish… turns out, the guest-of-honor is allergic), I decided to make an easy but delicious meal of chicken-fried steak, collards, and cornbread.

I went down to Marlow & Daughters to pick up some top round after work, but since they were out, I went with the cheapest alternative: ground beef. Chicken-fried steak is essentially cucina povera anyway. I whisked an egg and add the meat and some salt and pepper to the same bowl, patting it into flat disks of meat. I then coated each with egg and dredged in flour, then placed each piece into a hot pan full of butter. Each side cooked for about a minute and a half, then I removed them to make the roux, adding a bit of flour, more butter, and water to create a sauce.

I served each person with their fried meat and buttery sauce alongside slow-cooked collard greens, which had stewed for a half hour in salted water and apple cider vinegar, and buttermilk cornbread. Dado had brought a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc from Oyster Bay, which paired surprisingly well with the food due to its more robust fruit. The sharp, bracing acidity also cut through the rather fatty meal, refreshing our palettes as we ate through it all.

To finish off the meal, I had prepared a roasted banana gelato with a nutella swirl — as decadent and down-home good as everything else we’d eaten. Bon Voyage, Dado!

Dinner ideas adapted from Virginia Willis’ Bon Appétit, Y’all, David Leibovitz’s The Perfect Scoop, and my mother.

Dalmatian-style Dinner

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On Sunday, I was treated to a lovely dinner, made Croatian-style. Cooking fish has long been one of my worst phobias, one I inherited from my mother. I am always afraid of the fillet falling apart or over-/under-cooking the tender flesh. However, fish is a staple of Mediterranean cuisine, especially for countries along the coast.

Toni went to the source for the perfect recipe – his mom and grandmother. We then paid Whole Foods a visit to pick up ingredients: whole branzino, red potatoes, vegeta (a vegetable-based seasoning from Croatia), parsley, and garlic. I also picked up frozen blackberries for dessert.
 
We began by making potatoes dalmatian style – krumpir na dalmatinski način – which were essentially pan-roasted red potatoes. These we thinly sliced sliced and layered in a small saucepan, which was lightly coated in olive oil. In between layers, we added parsley, garlic, and vegeta. We covered the potatoes with a bit of olive oil, a bit of white wine, and water, then set to simmer over medium heat until the water evaporated.

Meanwhile, I prepared a blackberry cobbler while Toni set to work on the fish. He salted the exterior and, after slicing it open down the sternum, sprinkled the inside with sea salt and pepper as well. The fish was placed in a pan covered in aluminum foil and lightly coated with olive oil. Both were set in a 350 degree oven to cook – the fish for 10 minutes each side, the cobbler for an hour. 
I paired the meal with Florian Mollet’s Sancerre, a beautiful, delicate, crisp Sauvignon Blanc – in fact, one could call it perfection in a glass. The minerality perfectly accented the sea-salty goodness of the branzino, and I was sad when I finished the last drop. We cleaned our plates, making sure to eat even the cheek meat… I had never thought to do so before, but apparently it’s the most tender part of the fish. After an heirloom tomato and avocado salad, we finished the meal with a still-bubbling cobbler and bourbon vanilla whipped cream. Summer has arrived!

An unpronounceable wine is pronounceably good

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Txakoli [cha-ko-lee]

A Spanish wine from the Basque region, this dry, effervescent white wine is my new discovery and favorite wine of this summer season. I first experienced it when I went to Mercat, a Barcelona-style Spanish restaurant on Bond Street in downtown NYC. Knowing very little about Spanish wines, I asked the bartender for a suggestion – something crisp and dry.

From there the spectacle began, as did my love affair with Txakoli. Because of the effervescence, Txakoli is traditionally poured with a T-shaped spout from a distance high above the head – essentially, an armspan apart, since the glass is held low – in order to aerate the wine and bring the bubbles to life. We watched our bartender pour, amazed that not a drop fell to the floor.

The wine itself is light-colored, with a slightly green tinge and tiny little bubbles that stream to the top. And it is delicious, with the green giving it a slightly herbaceous and citric quality that I find particularly refreshing in white, summer wines. The indigenous grape hondarribi zuria is the main varietal in the wine, and it is this grape which imbues Txakoli with its refreshing acidity and kick. The effervescence comes from the fact that the wine is sealed off before fermentation is complete, so that as the sugar turns to alcohol, the CO2 that is released is trapped inside.

Sauvignon blanc drinkers that are interested in something zing-y and new, you’ve found your wine.