Black Brut and BBQ Brisket – Brilliant!

Posted on March 20, 2012

This Black Brut recipe was submitted by Texan Argyle fan, Tom Hendricks. Thanks, Tom!

Recipe:
1 – large packer trimmed beef brisket
1 – 16 oz. bottle of Claude’s Barbeque Brisket Sauce (substitute at your own risk)
2 or 3 large onions
6 cloves garlic (more if you want)
1 – Reynolds Turkey size cooking bag
1 - cup flour for gravy

Get a full sized brisket, not a trimmed one. They’ve all got a lot of fat on them; the “softer” ones generally have less fat. Trim the excess fat off the brisket before you marinade it. Leave some, but you don’t need to leave much.

Place brisket in bag. Add the bottle of Claude’s. Marinade for at least 12 hours in the refrigerator, 18-24 hours is best. Squeeze as much of the air out of the bag as you can, so the marinade contacts as much of the meat as possible. I usually turn the brisket over in the marinade about half way through.

Take it out of the frig a few hours before you start cooking it, so it can begin warming to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees.

Peel and crush garlic cloves. Place in bag with brisket and marinade. Position the quartered onion slices under the brisket in the bag. Position the brisket in bag, fat side up, so that when the brisket is in the oven it isn’t completely submerged in the marinade. Place brisket & bag in a roasting pan, tie the bag, pierce a couple of holes in the top of the bag. Place in oven and wait.

The rule of thumb for this is one hour per pound of brisket, so plan accordingly. If you’ve got a thermometer that you can leave in the oven, insert it in the thickest part of the brisket before you put it in the oven. Otherwise just use an instant read one. Check the meat temperature about ¾ of the way through the estimated cooking time to see how it’s going (and mainly to see how accurate your oven temp is). If it’s below about 160 degrees, turn your oven up 10 degrees. If it’s above 170 degrees, turn it down 5 degrees.

When the meat temp is 190 degrees, it’s done. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 15 or 20 minutes. Meanwhile drain the liquid out of the bag and make a gravy/sauce.

To make the gravy, skim as much of the fat off the drippings as you can – the gravy doesn’t need much, and neither do we. Either chop (or blend, if you’ve got an immersion blender) the onions and garlic in the liquid. Bring to a boil and reduce about 25%. Meanwhile dissolve 1 cup flour in 1 cup cold water. Slowly add the flour/water to the boiling liquid while stirring, until you get the desired thickness (might not need it all). Bring back to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring to keep it from sticking or burning. Season to taste – though it probably doesn’t need salt, as the Claude’s appears to have plenty.

Alternately, make a “bbq sauce” instead of the gravy. Use your imagination here, but one option is to add a can of tomato sauce, about ½ cup of sugar, and a few healthy squirts of Louisiana Hot Sauce. You might want to use corn starch instead of flour to thicken this, to keep from having the “gravy” flavor.

This is all about “low and slow”; your patience will be rewarded with a hunk of really good meat. Needless to say big pieces of it keep well in the freezer, so you can go back in a couple of weeks and enjoy it again.

The Black Brut was made for this!

Rollin’s Baby Back Ribs

Posted on May 9, 2011

Even though Rollin’s expressive skill as a winemaker has lifted him onto the World stage, he’s still a Texan at heart. Any Texan will tell you that to truly return home a conquering hero, you really have to master barbeque. One part ceremony, one part tradition, one part mystery and one part boastfulness is pretty much the recipe he employs (in addition to the same subtlety, consistency, and flavor he’s been spicing up Oregon with since the mid 80′s).

Enjoy Rollin’s Baby Back Ribs with a glass of Argyle Pinot Noir. Cheers!

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1 part each:
– smoked coarse salt or any coarse salt (Kosher, Sea)
– fresh ground black pepper or white pepper
– paprika (not for heat!) “fruitier the better”
– Optional: brown sugar

1/2 part each:
– heat: cayenne or ground pequin dried chile or ground chipotle
– dried oregano (make sure it smells like oregano)
– dried garlic (taste for freshness)

1/4 part each:
– cumin or ground coriander (prefer the coriander)

For charcoal grill: Lots of charcoal heated until no black color left. Spear two slabs of ribs with wood skewers and set ribs so that they stand on their SIDES on the grill (it’s a cool trick and a challenge for the architecturally inclined). Close air vents so that charcoal doesn’t flare up. Go see a movie – ribs will be ready when you get home .

For oven: Preheat oven to 250°F, wrap ribs in plastic wrap then set into foil. Bake for 2.5 to 3 hours. Go see a movie or go bowling – ribs will be ready when you get home.

If the pinot noir you’re serving is high alcohol, forgo the “heat” portion of rub. This will not be a problem with Argyle Pinot Noir.

For Argyle Brut, you could use this rub with poultry and a fatty salmon. The salt and coriander will make this sparkling wine combo rock.

Wine Pairing & Recipes: Argyle Brut – Homemade Chicken & Sausage Pizza

Posted on September 24, 2009

Ingredients:
1 14″ cooked pizza crust (Whole Foods, etc.)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp pesto
1 baseball sized sweet red onion (or two red cippolini)
2 cloves garlic
2 fresh organic tomatoes
1/2 lb chicken and/or pork sausage
1 cup pecorino cheese (or parmesan or asiago)
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella
1 handful of fresh basil
1/2 cup marinara/spaghetti/pizza sauce
1 bottle Argyle Brut

Preheat oven to 425F.

Start by sauteing the red onion with a small amount of olive oil. Occasionally add 1/4 cup Argyle Brut to the sauteing onions for super flavor boost. The Brut will steam off, leaving the onions with a unique sweetness. Add a little olive oil if necessary to keep onions moist. Just as the onions begin to caramelize, slice garlic cloves paper thin add half the sliced garlic. When the onion/garlic mix has caramelized (careful not to burn the garlic), set aside.

Sautee chicken and/or pork sausage in any leftover oniony oil. Season with fresh ground pepper and salt if desired. Set aside.

Place the ready pizza crust on a large cookie sheet. Thinly spread olive oil all over top of pizza crust. Follow with thin coating of pesto. Optional: spread marinara sauce over pizza crust. Spread caramelized onions evenly over entire pizza crust. Spread sauteed sausage and the remaining sliced garlic over the pizza. Cover evenly with grated pecorino (don’t be
shy, add as much as you want), then follow with sliced or grated mozzarella.

Slice tomatoes to desired thickness and place evenly across crust. Repeat with fresh basil.

Bake pizza in oven for roughly 20 minutes – until the cheeses begin to melt and possibly brown (if you like that). The longer the pizza remains in the oven, the crispier the crust will be.

Remove pizza from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing & serving.

Pour a flute of Argyle Brut and enjoy!

Food & Wine Pairing, Labor Day

Posted on September 8, 2009

We had a great turnout for our Labor Day celebration. Thanks to everyone who stopped by for wine tasting and enjoying the deeeelicious foods provided by Underground Cafe. Here you can see a sample of the gourmet goodies – seared scallops with goat cheese & hazelnut salad, beef tenderloin sous vide, pork tenderloin with soft polenta, and delicious halibut tacos, paired with Argyle’s Brut, Reserve Pinot Noir, Nuthouse Chardonnay and Black Brut.

(Note from your humble photographer – the pork tenderloin with polenta was amazing, paired brilliantly with Nuthouse Chardonnay.)
 

Wine Pairing & Recipes: Black Brut – Goat Cheese Tart

Posted on September 2, 2009

Here’s a recent recipe submitted by a fellow Argyler and fan of our 100% Pinot Noir Black Brut. If you’ve got wine-related recipes of your own and you’d like to share, let us know!

Goat Cheese Tart (from Barefoot Contessa):
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board
• Kosher salt
• 13 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided
• 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
• 3/4 cup chopped shallots (3 to 4 shallots)
• 10 1/2 ounces garlic-and-herb soft goat cheese (recommended: Montrachet}
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Preheat the oven to 350° F
• For the crust, put the flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Cut 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) of the butter into large dice, add to the bowl, and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, add the ice water all at once and process until the dough becomes crumbly. Don’t over-process. Dump the dough out on a floured board, gather it loosely into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Roll the dough on a well-floured board and fit it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable sides, rolling the pin over the top to cut off the excess dough. Butter 1 side of a square of aluminum foil and fit it, butter side down, into the tart pan. Fill the foil with rice or beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and foil from the tart shell, prick the bottom all over with a fork, and bake for another 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in a small pan and saute the shallots over low heat for 5 minutes, or until tender. Place the goat cheese in the bowl of the food processor and process until crumbly. Add the cream, eggs, basil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the pepper and process until blended.
• Scatter the cooked shallots over the bottom of the tart shell. Pour the goat cheese mixture over the shallots to fill the shell (if the shell has shrunk, there may be leftover filling). Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tart is firm when shaken and the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and serve hot or at room temperature.
• ©2004, Barefoot in Paris

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