CT Wine Trail: The Southeast Corner

A crisp and sunny fall Saturday just begged for a drive around Connecticut's wineries. So we grabbed our passports and headed to the southeast corner of the state to enjoy the scenery, sample a glass or two, and discover a place to grab a bite somewhere on the way home.

Our first stop was Holmberg Orchards and Winery. We made it the first stop so we could do some apple picking as well. The tasting room at Holmberg is quite small and it was crowded since everyone seemed to be copying our idea!!! They produce a few fruity wines, as well as some hard ciders, and for $5 (with a souvenir glass!) we got to taste three of each. Our favorite from the wines was the sweet-tart Apple Cranberry which had a beautfully dry cranberry finish. We also loved the zippy sparkling Cortland hard cider and took home a bottle of it to enjoy on our porch swing while we watch the leaves fall.

Next up was a stop at Dalice Elizabeth Winery, a small winery that imports grapes but do all the pressing, fermenting and aging here in CT. A tasting here costs $10 for 4 - the three wines they had available then a second tasting of your favorite. A glass is usually included, but unfortunately for us they had run out. Still, it was here that we enjoyed what may perhaps be the most unusual (in a good way!) wine we've ever had - a chardonnay with quite noticeable and long-lasting hints of almond flavor. Truly unique and delicious. They have cheese platters and other goodies for purchase, with cute little tables under a trellis and a pretty pond to view.

The third stop we made was to Stonington Vineyards. We had gotten a late start, so it was almost 4:30 when we arrived. They were having some live entertainment starting at 5 and had stopped their tastings, but offered us a glass of our choice of their wines and an invitation to stay for some music for $8 each. Amy went for the cabernet franc while Chris had the rose. Both were good enough but nothing we liked quite enough to buy more.

We had time for one more stop, only because one of the vineyards wisely stays open until 6, and that was our favorite of the day, Maugle Sierra Vineyards. The tasting room was warm and spacious, the server was gracious and welcoming, and the wines ($10 for a tasting of 6 wines - 3 whites, 3 reds - with souvenir glass) were fantastic. Several are made with the St. Croix grape, and the reds (particularly the Ledyard Sunset Red) went wonderfully with chocolate (yes, truffles are available for purchase).

Hungry now, we asked if there was an interesting restaurant nearby, and the fine folks at Maugle Sierra handed us a cork and pointed us in the direction of Valentino's, a casual Italian place that offered us a discount in exchange for the winery's cork - a nice little bonus, we thought! They seemed to specialize in pizza and grinders, but we went all out with a couple of pasta dishes. Satisfied and growing tired, we headed back home, having enjoyed a perfect fall outing.

 

FFwD: Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart

Last weekend, which was a long weekend, we spent Saturday taking a drive around the southeast corner of Connecticut, picking apples and visiting wineries. In other words, we had a perfect fall day. We'll tell you more about the wineries later, but as far as the apples go, we picked some big beautiful sweet-tart Winesaps and some deep dark maroon Macouns (considered by some to be the finest eating apple there is). Then we saw that this week's French Fridays with Dorie (in which we haven't been able to participate in some time) was "Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart," and we were totally psyched. How fortuitous!

The "French Fridays" Bible

A baking recipe, with a guardian angel for the baking-challenged.

Mise en place is fancy for "uncork the (French!) wine and let's get this recipe started"

Yes, it's fall, ya'll. And what says fall in New England better than apples? We have posted plenty of apple recipes over the years: recipes for doughnuts, pies (not one but two!), risotto, and other savory dishes (here and here), have featured apples and/or apple cider. But this fall, we were looking for something new, and Around My French Table (the book members of French Fridays with Dorie cooks from) had just what we needed.

Whisking together almond flour, sugar, egg, vanilla and heavy cream... 

...makes a heavenly almond cream topping for the tart.

Ooh la la - buttered and sugared sheets of phyllo dough!

After the cream is chilled...

it is carefully spread over the delicate phyllo.

While we can't give you the recipe (club rules!), we can tell you that it wasn't particularly difficult, even for the baking-challenged, and even with working with phyllo dough (which seems scary, doesn't it?). Dorie's direction are clear and straight-forward. We followed them strictly (except for using a different type of apple), and the finished product was incredible - both crispy and crackly, with a delightful balance of tart, juicy apple and sweet, nutty almond. The neighbors loved it, we loved it, and it made us that much more comfortable with baking and with using sheets of phyllo - that ever-versatile yet oh-so-elegant ingredient.  

Chris is a slicing wizard

Laying them perfectly over the almond cream.

It almost looks easy!

Some local apple maple jam makes a nice post-baking glaze.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: buy the book and start making the recipes. From what we can tell, there isn't a bad one in the bunch.

The Best Article about the Best Cheese. Ever.

This is the best article about the best cheese. Ever.

Dear God, let Craig Ramini figure it out.

Pecan-Studded Waffles with Bourbon Vanilla Sorghum Syrup

It's true that we enjoy a bit of over-indulgence now and again. In fact, we're kind of known for it. But when the long weekend coincided with the arrival of cooler weather, and Amy had that autumnal craving for pecan pie, even the two of us knew that pecan pie for two wasn't going to be good for anybody. So we bring you our compromise. We took our recipe for Golden Goose Egg Waffles, added a cup of chopped pecans, served them with Bourbon Vanilla Sorghum Syrup, and indulged in some we-deserved-a-day-off brunchy-brunch. Go ahead and try to eat just one.

Chicken Tagine with Dried Fruits and Apples

Being a food blogger means being part of a community, and a few weeks ago, we lost a member of that community. Daniel Saraga, author of The Haggis and the Herring, died suddenly, leaving behind his family including his wife, Meredith and their three children. You can read his wife's beautiful eulogy of him here on his blog.

While we did not know Daniel, we knew of him through the Secret Recipe Club. Today, members of the club are revealing posts in which they recreated some of Daniel's recipes as a tribute to him, and we wanted to be a part of that. When we browsed through his extensive recipe list, it was difficult to choose one in particular because they all sounded so good, but we had a rough weekend ourselves, including a death in the family, and so we went with a recipe that we could make with items we already had in the house, and that was his Chicken Tajine with Apples.

Since we were determined not to not have to go out to the market, we borrowed a couple small apples from neighbors D and J, went without the almonds, and used chopped dried apricot paste rather than dried apricots, but we imagine the end result was very similar. As the tagine cooked, the house filled with the scent of sensual spices such as cinnamon and cumin. The chicken was moist and tender, and the sauce, punctuated with apples, dates and raisins, was teasingly exotic. As we sat down to eat, we toasted Daniel and wished our condolences to his family, as we do here with this post.

Chicken Tagine with Dried Fruits and Apples

slightly adapted from The Haggis and the Herring

Ingredients:

2 apples, cored, peeled, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch kosher salt
1 pound chicken legs and/or thighs
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 large shallot, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 cups chicken broth
pinch of saffron, infused in a tablespoon of hot water
2 tablespoons dried apricot paste, chopped

3/4 cup raisins
4 dates, pitted and chopped
1 cup couscous, prepared according to package directions

Core, peel and slice apples into thin wedges, toss in lemon juice and set aside. Combine cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, salt and pepper and sprinkle onto chicken. Heat oil on medium in the bottom of a tagine or large pot, and brown chicken on both sides. Remove chicken and set aside. Sprinkle onions, shallots and garlic with ground ginger and saute in the same pot for 2-3 minutes. Place chicken back in the pan and add broth, saffron, and chopped apricot paste. Bring to a boil and place cover on tagine or pot; let simmer on medium for 25-30 minutes. Add apples (with lemon juice), raisins, and dates, reduce to medium-low and let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Serve over prepared couscous.

Curried Mussels with Lemongrass *Award-Winning*

The lemongrass we planted in our garden grew very well. It is almost as tall as Amy! As it starts to get cooler out, we are trying hard to use up all the herbs and vegetables that are still growing abundantly in our front yard. So, we wondered...what would lemongrass be fabulous in? Then we spotted a 2-pound bag of Prince Edward Island mussels at our market for $4.99, and we had our answer.

When you are cooking with lemongrass, you are really only using the bottom part of the stalk. First you chop off the long grassy part and then peel away the outer layers of the bottom stalk, kind of like you do with fresh corn. Underneath should be a pale yellow fleshy stalk that is soft and fragrant. Cut off and discard the bulbous end, then slice thinly about 2/3 of the way up. The green and woody upper part can be used for infusing flavor into a broth, but is not very edible, so should be removed before serving.

This dish uses some random ingredients besides the lemongrass, that is true. But these are things we buy when we see them, often at Asian markets, and tend to keep around our pantry when we are looking to make something unusual or slightly exotic. For New Englanders anyway.

So this dish includes red curry paste and fish sauce which we can find in our normal grocery store, as well as dried galangal, which we bought in Boston's Chinatown, but can be replaced with some grated fresh ginger. Even lemongrass is hard to get around here (although if you need some, we have plenty!!!). If you can't find it, substituting some grated lemon zest would do the trick.

While the broth, with all these exciting ingredients, was smooth, sweet, spicy and citrusy, it turned out slightly thin and didn't seep into the mussel shells as well as we wanted it to. We just ate all the mussels then sopped that tasty broth up with some fresh crusty bread. To solve that problem in the future, we might leave the hot water out of the recipe. 

Curried Mussels with Lemongrass

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons red curry paste

1 cup hot water

1 stalk lemongrass, chopped

2 pieces dried galangal

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon liquid sugar (simple syrup)

1 can light coconut milk

2 pounds fresh PEI mussels

In a large pot, heat the olive oil. Add the curry paste and stir to fry for about a minute. Stir in the water, then add the lemongrass, galangal, fish sauce, sugar and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add the mussels, stir to coat, and put a lid on the pot. Cook, covered, over low heat until the mussels open, about five minutes. Serve with crusty bread.

Wordless Wednesday: CT Farm to Chef Week, Max a Mia, Avon, CT

Sorghum and Spice Gingersnaps (Secret Recipe Club)

Here we are. It's mid-September, and yet we still haven't told you about the last week of summer that we spent in Maine. That would be because we're teachers. That we'll get around to it sometime is about all we can promise right now. But for today, it's time for September's Secret Recipe Club. We sat out of the summer reveals because we were away a lot, but we're back and certainly glad to be, especially after the tasty results we got today's recipe!

Our SRC assignment this month was Yumsilicious Bakes. At first we were nervous. ALL of Yums's recipes are for baked goods, and, as you may know, we've had a few baking disasters in the past. But then we received some inspiration: this gorgeous leaf we found on our lawn this weekend. Yes, it's almost fall and what's better for fall than crisp spice-flavored cookies to match the crisp spice-scented air? Let's make gingersnaps!

Avanika of Yumsilicious Bakes adapted her gingersnap recipe from one by David Leibovitz who based his on Alice Waters's version from The Art of Simple Food. This particular cookie recipe was even more exciting for us because it calls for molasses, and we've been wanting to bake with this Bourbon Vanilla Sorghum that Bourbon Barrel Foods sent us to try. Molasses, a by-product of sugar, can be used interchangeably with sorghum. And this sorghum, milled in Kentucky from a single crop then blended with Kentucky Bourbon and Bourbon-Madagascar Vanilla (yes, those are ALL the ingredients!) is earthy, sweet and spicy and, we thought, would give that certain complexity to our cookies that we are always searching for.

Did it ever! The crisp, sugary cookies have remarkable depth of flavor with hints of cinnamon and vanilla and a nice kick from the black pepper. In the spirit of fall, we used orange sanding sugar to make them pretty. We ate them with tea, then by themselves, and later that same day, stuffed with chocolate chip gelato as ice cream sandwiches. We couldn't get enough! For fans of Pepperidge Farm Ginger Man cookies or any other crisp, spicy gingersnap, we highly recommend this fabulous recipe. Thank you to Yumsilicious for sharing it, and to Bourbon Barrel Foods for the amazing sorghum. What will we make with it next?

Sift together dry ingredients

Cream together butter and sugar

Add sorghum and one egg

Mix in dry ingredients

Wrap dough and chill

Slice dough and top with sanding sugar

Bake, then cool on wire racks

Sorghum and Spice Gingersnaps

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup Bourbon Vanilla Sorghum

1 egg at room temperature

sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and pepper. Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the egg and sorghum and mix until well incorporated. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator for 30-60 minutes, then roll to shape into a cylinder. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a silicone mat. Slice the dough into roughly 1/4-inch thick rounds. Dip the tops into the sanding sugar, and place on the baking sheet, leaving room to spread. Bake for 13-14 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, and store in an air-tight container.