8 minute read
What Grows Together Goes Together
By Gary Hewitt, Mike Muirhead, and Abby Pelechaty
Photos by Ian McCausland
A perfect wine pairing can elevate a delicious meal to the sublime. If you don’t happen to be dining with three Jones & Company wine experts, however, how do you know what wine to choose? A wonderful little piece of advice that our wine experts love to share is this: what grows together goes together—meaning that wines pair magically well with regional ingredients that grow in the same soils.
Abby, Gary, and Mike reached out to winemaker friends in three regions to ask for a regional dish that is a natural pairing with their wines. Angeliki Iatridou offered Abby a beautiful orzo and shrimp recipe to pair with their unique Alpha Estate wines that grow in the Amyndeon region of Greece; Christoph Thörle of Weingut Thörle in Rheinhessen, Germany, sent Gary a rich venison stew with German bread dumplings; Julio Bouchon of Longavi and J Bouchon Family Wines in Chile suggested that Mike prepare a simple dish of chorizo and pebre to pair with his wines. We are excited to share this truly global collaboration with our winemaking friends around the world.
Greek Shrimp And Orzo
500 g shrimp, with shells on
4 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, split
1 pinch granulated sugar
1 cup dry orzo pasta
2 tbsp tomato paste
½ cup cherry tomatoes, de-stemmed and halved
1.5 oz ouzo
½ lemon, juiced
3/4 cup feta cheese, cubed
2 cups arugula salt and pepper lemon wedges pita bread
Remove the shells and tails from the shrimp. Place the shells in a pot with 4 cups of water and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Remove the shrimp shells and bay leaves from the water—discarding the shells but preserving the shrimp stock.
Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add sugar and stir into the onion and garlic mixture for 2 minutes.
Add the orzo and sauté it for another 2 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and sauté for a moment before adding the cherry tomatoes. Deglaze the pan with ouzo, and once evaporated, add the shrimp stock. Add salt and pepper, and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for 10–12 minutes until the orzo is ready.
While the orzo is cooking, heat a frying pan over high heat until it is very hot. Toss shrimp in 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper and place in the frying pan, searing them for 1 minute each side. Right before you remove the pan from the element, deglaze with lemon juice. Add the shrimp and lemon juice to the orzo, remove from heat, and stir in cubed feta and arugula. Finish with olive oil and serve with lemon wedges and pita bread.
SHOP LOCAL:
We bought our shrimp at Gimli Fish Market and finished the pasta with Frescolio‘s Milanese Gremolata extra virgin olive oil.
Venison Ragout With Cream Creminis And German Dumplings
Venison Ragout
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1.2 kg boneless leg of venison
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp whole allspice
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp fresh rosemary
3 cups chocolate or oatmeal stout salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut venison into 2-cm pieces. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven and sear the venison in batches over high heat for a few minutes to brown the outside.
Remove meat and reduce heat to medium. Add diced onion and allspice and stir-fry for about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, brown sugar, and rosemary. Deglaze with the beer and then add the meat. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer in the preheated oven for about 2½ hours until the venison is tender. Remove from the oven and season the ragout with salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley.
Note: Venison describes any meat from an antlered animal. We used elk, but if you have friends who hunt deer, meat from the leg is a good cut for this recipe.
German Dumplings
450 g day-old buns
½ cup walnuts, chopped
½ cup dried apricots
½ cup dried figs
2 tbsp butter
1 cups milk
3 eggs
While the ragout is simmering in the oven, chop the buns, walnuts, apricots, and figs. The smaller you chop these ingredients, the finer the dumplings will be. Larger cubes of bread will give you dumplings with almost a stuffing-like texture. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Warm the combined milk and butter, pour into the bowl and mix well. Let the mixture cool so it doesn’t cook the eggs in the next step.
Once cool, add eggs, season with salt and pepper, and mix gently. Let the dumpling dough sit for about 10 minutes. Spread a clean, damp dishtowel on the work surface (use an older dishtowel, as the dough might stick to it). Lay the dumpling mixture in a line down the middle of the towel or cheesecloth, leaving about a 5-cm border free. Form the dumpling mixture into a roll and wrap it in the towel. Use butcher string to tie the ends of cloth tightly on each end, forming a long, tightly wrapped tube.
In a large pot, bring plenty of water to a boil. Put the wrapped dumpling dough into the water and cook in lightly boiling water for about 30 minutes (you can bend the dough as needed to fit into the pot). Using tongs, lift the dumpling roll out and let it cool in the cloth before unrolling it.
Once cool, unwrap the dumpling from the cloth and cut into finger-thick slices. Heat butter in a large non-stick pan and fry dumpling slices until golden brown on both sides. Arrange venison ragout with dumplings either on top or beside it. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.
Cream Creminis
2 cups cremini mushrooms
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
½ cup onions, chopped
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
½ cup dry white wine
3/4 cup whipped cream
½ cup vegetable broth flat leaf parsley for garnish
Clean mushrooms and cut into thick slices; halve or quarter smaller mushrooms. Heat oil and butter in a large, non-stick frying pan. Sauté mushrooms and onions over high heat for about 3 minutes. Deglaze with wine and let it boil down a bit. Add cream and broth, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce has a creamy consistency. Season with salt and pepper, stir in cheese. Remove pan from heat and serve immediately.
SHOP LOCAL:
Our venison was elk from Local Meats & Frozen Treats. Our stout choice was Devil May Care’s None Shall Pass oatmeal stout.
PAIR WITH:
Chilean Chorizo And Pebre With Grilled Bread
Julio Bouchon suggested pairing his wines with this Chilean BBQ staple.
400g South American chorizo
1 baguette or sourdough
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large Roma tomatoes, quartered
1 bunch fresh cilantro, loosely chopped
6 green onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp chili garlic paste
½ tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt (to taste)
1 pinch black pepper
For the skewers and bread: Preheat your grill or a grill pan on high heat. Skewer the chorizo, leaving a little space between the links for air circulation. Grill links for 15–20 minutes until they reach an internal temperature of 160°F. After about 10 minutes, brush the sliced baguette with olive oil and place it on the grill, flipping once.
For the pebre: Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours to let the flavours combine. Serve over chorizo and grilled bread.
Note: South American chorizo is not the dry, cured kind you find in Spain, so it will have to be cooked thoroughly before eating.
PAIR WITH:
SHOP LOCAL:
We found an incredible chorizo selection at the Latino Food Market, which carries different chorizo styles from multiple Central and South American countries. In the pebre, we used Frescolio’s Spanish Picual extra virgin olive oil, which has a robust green and peppery flavour, and their Red Wine Vinegar. Chili garlic paste can be found in Latin or Asian markets. D.A. Niels provided the double chorizo skewer and beautiful orzo bowl on page 48.
