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

Wine Pairing & Recipes: Black Brut – Chicken Tortilla Soup

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!

Chicken Tortilla Soup:
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium white onions, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
• 4 ripe large tomatoes, chopped
• 2 quarts chicken stock (approximate, more is ok), (options below)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Canola oil, for deep frying tortillas
• Corn tortillas, cut into strips (what ever width you prefer)
• 1 cooked chicken picked clean from the bones and shredded (options below)
• 2 avocados, pitted, peeled and sliced. Sprinkle with lime so they don’t brown.
• Cheese of your choosing (optional)
• Fresh cilantro chopped for garnish (optional)
• Lime cut into wedges just before serving
• Place a stockpot over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil.
  Add the onions, jalapenos, and garlic and cook 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and
  cook for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked down and pulpy.
  Pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add
  the chicken just before serving to warm it up.

• While the soup is simmering, heat 1-inch of canola oil in a skillet over medium-
  high heat. When the oil is near the smoking point, add the tortilla strips in
  batches, and fry until they are crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined platter and
  sprinkle with salt while they are still hot.

• Ladle the hot soup into bowls and top with avocado, a squeeze of lime, and
  tortilla strips (and cheese if you choose). Garnish with cilantro if you wish.

• Chicken Stock option 1:
•   1 whole chicken (free range chicken is best but optional) don’t forget to remove the giblets
•   2 carrots cut in large chunks
•   3 celery stalks, cut in large chunks
•   2 large whit onions quartered
•   1 head of garlic, halved
•   1 turnip halved
•   1 small bunch of fresh thyme sprigs
•   2 bay leaves
•   1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• Place the chicken and vegetables in a large stockpot over medium heat. Pour in
  only enough cold water to cover (about 3 quarts); too much will make the broth
  taste weak. Toss in the thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, and allow it to slowly
  come to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and gently simmer for 1 to 1 ½
  hours, partially covered, until the chicken is done. As it cooks, skim any
  impurities that rise to the surface; add a little more water if necessary to keep the
  chicken covered while simmering. Remove the chicken to a cutting board.
  When it’s cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones and hand-shred the
  meat into a storage container. Carefully strain the stock through a fine sieve into
  another pot to remove the vegetable solids. I recommend that you make the
  stock the night before you are going to use it. Place the pot of stock in the sink
  or a larger vessel and surround it with ice to cool it down. Place it in the
  refrigerator over night. The next day the fat will be sitting on top and can easily
  be removed. Refrigerate the chicken as well. The stock will last up to a week in
  the refrigerator.
• Chicken Stock option 2:
• Buy a whole rotisserie roasted chicken from the grocery store. Hand pick the
  chicken when it is cool enough just as described above. Store it in the
  refrigerator until ready to use.

• Buy boxed chicken stock from the store. This method is nearly as good as the
  home made stock and works great in a pinch but if you are trying to impress
  someone use option 1.

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