April 2023 Food Pairing

April 2023 Wine Club Release and Food Pairing

Another club release, another opportunity for Tricia and Kimari to wow us with their delicious and creative food pairings. As always, we had so much fun sharing these new wines and foods with our club members! We released two rich and bold wines this week, both of which called for strong flavors in the foods they were paired with. Read on for notes on each of the pairings as well as the much-requested recipes!

2021 Syrah with Wild Mushroom Soup

The 2021 Syrah is a full-bodied wine with aromas of black plum, violet, and dark-roast coffee. This is a wine often paired with red meat. We wanted to offer our guests a vegetarian choice, so we went with a Wild Mushroom Soup for this pairing. Mushrooms make for good meat substitutes simply because they also provide a strong umami flavor which nicely balances any fruit flavors and sweetness in the wine. This soup in particular was made with a rich, high-quality butter, whose creaminess downplayed the moderate tannins in this wine. 

Wild Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 Tbs butter
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 3 Tbs flour
• 1 lb mixed mushrooms of your choice
• 3 cups chicken stock (vegetable stock can be substituted for a vegetarian option)
• 3 cups water
• Salt
• Pepper
• ½  tsp parsley 
• ½ tsp thyme
• ¼ cup heavy cream

Preparation

1. Melt butter in large stockpot and add onions. Cook until soft but not brown.
2. Add flour and cook 3 minutes stirring frequently .
3. Whisk as you add the chicken stock and water.
4. Add mushrooms and herbs and season to your liking. Cook another 10 minutes.
5. Take off heat and cool down for a minute, then blend soup to make smooth. To make extra smooth run through a mesh strainer as well.
6. Return to heat and add the cream.
7. Serve with some herbs sprinkled on top.

 

2021 Petite Sirah with Steak and Blue Cheese Crostini

Our brand new Petite Sirah is a rich wine with flavors of deep blackberries, blueberries and even a hint of espresso. Petite Sirah berries are very small, meaning that there is a high ratio of skin to juice. The skin gives the wine its inky black color as well as some strong tannins. As it ages those tannins will relax and provide some extra depth and character to this already delightful wine. Not interested in waiting to drink your Petite Sirah? Neither were we! That is why we paired it with a Steak and Blue Cheese Crostini with a Blueberry and Caramelized Onion Jam. The fats from the steak and blue cheese help to cut through the astringency coming from those tannins. The blueberries in the jam help to highlight the blueberry notes in the wine while the caramelized onions provide a savory characteristic to keep the jam from being too sweet to pair with steak. All in all this is a delicious crostini and an excellent pairing for our big, bold 2021 Petite Sirah.

Blue Cheese and Steak Crostini with Blueberry Caramelized Onion Jam Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 baguette or long French loaf
• Olive Oil
• Kosher salt 
• Pepper
• 1 lb flank steak
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• Fresh thyme
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• ¼ cup red wine (we recommend you use the wine you are pairing with! We used a little 2021 Petite Sirah)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 4 oz blue cheese
• Microgreens for garnish

Preparation - Jam

1. Carmelize your diced red onions in a pan with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme
2. Add vinegar, brown sugar, honey, red wine, and the blueberries to your pan. Cook until blueberries are near bursting, about 5-10 minutes. Add lemon juice and stir, smashing the blueberries. Remove sprigs of thyme. 
3. Remove from heat and cool in a clean jar in the refrigerator. 

Preparation - Steak

1. Drizzle your steak with olive oil and salt and pepper.
2. Cook your steak to medium rare. We used a sous vide method on our steak, but you can also broil your steak in the oven if you do not have a sous vide
3. Slice very thinly

Preparation - Crostini

1. Slice your bread on a slight diagonal into ½ inch slices. 
2. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle generously with salt.
3. Toast your crostini. You can toast them in your oven at 375 degrees fahrenheit for 7-10 minutes. We chose to toast ours on a skillet until they were golden brown. You want your crostini to have a slight crunch on the outside but maintain some chewiness in the center. 
4. Assembly
5. Fold and place your thin slices of steak on top of the crostini
6. Sprinkle some crumbles of blue cheese over the steak
7. Dollop a small amount of jam over the top
8. Sprinkle with microgreens

 

Enjoy!