The Hawthornes Wish You A Happy Thanksgiving.

Rosie Is Giving Thanks To Sticky Buns.

I love a good sticky, nutty, cinnamony, buttery breakfast bun, especially during the Thanksgiving holidays.  Make this on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and truly treat yourself.  Having a heavenly cup of strong coffee and this sticky bun early Thursday morn will give you new life on Thanksgiving Day.  Trust Rosie!

Rosie's Sticky Buns

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 pkg. yeast

2 eggs, room temperature

4 cups flour

1 tsp kosher salt

Filling

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar 

1 TB cinnamon

1/3 cup raisins

1/3 cup dates

1/3 cup chopped pecans

Topping

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup honey

Pour melted butter into mixer bowl and stir in sugar, then milk and cream.  Sprinkle yeast over top and beat 3 minutes.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Gradually beat in flour and salt, scraping down bowl as necessary. 

Knead dough by machine or by hand on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic - about 10 minutes.
Place in a buttered bowl, cover, and set in a warm place until dough has doubled.

When dough has doubled, turn onto lightly floured surface and roll into a 9 x 18 inch rectangle.  Spread dough evenly with the softened stick of butter, sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon, then add the raisins, dates, and chopped pecans.  Roll dough into an 18-inch long roll.  Cut into 18 slices.

 Butter a 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 inch baking dish and pour the mixed topping ingredients evenly over bottom of dish.

Place dough slices in rows of 3 across over the topping mixture.

Cover and set dough in warm place until doubled.

Heat oven to 350°.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until buns are golden brown.  Immediately invert onto baking sheet, leaving the pan in place for 15 minutes so the syrup can drain onto buns. 

 

Heavenly! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Now get that turkey out of the brine and bake it, make the giblet and mushroom gravy, fix that sweet potato casserole, make the biscuits, and don’t forget the green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and potato salad.  Oh…  And that green pea casserole my sister makes that I love so much.  And don’t forget the glazed ham!

Rosie Makes Deviled Eggs Like You've Never Had Them Before.

Most every party you go to, there will, no doubt, be some sort of deviled eggs on the appetizer menu.  There's a reason for that.  Deviled eggs are some kinda good.  And everybody has a recipe...  Or two...  Or five...  Also, I've noticed that the eggs are usually the first items to be consumed.

These eggs get a little flavor and color boost from pickled beet juice.

Pickled Eggs

Recipe for 6 eggs. 

Hard cook eggs, let cool, then peel and slice in half.  Remove yolks, cover, and refrigerate.  Place whites in a jar of pickled beet juice and let soak for about 48 hours. 

Slice a thin sliver from the bottom of each white pink and reserve.  You want the eggs to sit evenly without wobbling.

Prepare yolk mixture for stuffing.

Yolk mixture:

3 yolks

2 TB mayonnaise

1/4 - 1/2 tsp sriracha sauce, to taste

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

Combine all together, taste test, and adjust seasonings if desired.

Spoon yolk mixture back into pinks.  Top with reserved pink slivers, minced red onion, and sweet pickle relish.

Serve and enjoy!

I only made 6 eggs the first time.

We ate these at one sitting.

I recommend doubling the recipe.

Going...

The Hawthornes Enjoy A Six-Course Wine-Paired Dinner At The Saltbox Café.

Welcome to The Saltbox Café's
 latest 6-course, wine-paired meal featuring Northern Italy.

The menu is the creation of Chefs Amanda and Randolph Sprinkle.
Our servers were Lindsey and Sherry.

And Steve, Jen, and Elizabeth represented Empire Wine Distributors.

The comments and inaccuracies are all mine.


 Why can't behind the scenes at The Saltbox Café

 ever be like Hell's Kitchen or Kitchen Nightmares?

Why can't Chef Amanda or Chef Randolph

bust out bad and turn into Gordon Ramsay

for just one night?
I want a Gordon Ramsay Moment!

 What I'd pay to see that!

Oh well...

One can only hope!

Let's get to the dinner.

We were first served an antipasto platter consisting of roasted chick peas seasoned with paprika, roasted red peppers, house-marinated artichoke with lemon and oliveoil, and Genoa salami and soppressata.

Course 1:  Gorgonzola Bread Pudding with House-Made Apple Butter paired with Contadi Castaldi Franciacorta Brut.

 Steve:  Our first wine tonight is Contadi Castaldi Franciacorta Brut.  If you love champagne, you need to know the name "Franciacorta."  It's a place and it's the champagne of Italy.  Prosecco is not made like champagne, but Franciacorta is, with the aging and production laws actually being more strict than in champagne.  To give you an idea of how well Italians think of Franciacorta, about 70% of Champagne is shipped not only out of Champagne, but also out of France.  About 80% of Franciacorta is consumed not only in Italy, but within about 100 miles of Franciacorta itself.  As Steve said, "You've never had a bad day drinking sparkling wine."

Chef Randolph:  We wanted to pair this with a gorgonzola bread pudding -  gorgonzola cheese, figs, pumpkin seeds, and campazola, a creamy mixture of camembert and gorgonzola,  We plated this on house-made roasted apple butter and topped it with fried basil leaves.

Rosie:  To me, this was brilliant.  It was like starting out with dessert and that's always a good thing in case something happens before you actually get to dessert.
It reminded me of a friend who would always read the last chapter of a book first.  When I asked him why, he said it was in case he died before finishing it.  I couldn't help but ask him if he'd seen the movie Citizen Kane.  But I digest...  Like I said, this was dessert to me, so I was happy.

Now the wine was bewitchingly appealing to me.  It was ready to drink, which was good, because so was I.

Course 2:  Smoked Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Risotto with Braised Calamari paired with La Chiara Gavi Di Gavi.

Steve:  A lot of people love Pinot Grigio, but if you're in Italy and ask for a white wine, you won't get a Pinot Grigio even though it's planted everywhere.  You're going to get a Gavi di Gavi, especially in Northern Italy on the French side.  This is the elite of white wines in that area, except for certain Chardonnays from single vineyards. 

This is a tremendously special wine, actually famous at one time.  Long ago, if you were writing a steakhouse wine list in Manhattan, there was one Gavi di Gavi you'd have on your list, called La Scolca Black Label.  The gentleman who owned La Scolca estate in Gavi had three children - 2 sons and a daughter.  Before he retired, he gave each of his children their inheritance up front.  The oldest one got a winery separate from La Scolca and he took over the reins of that company.  The second son took over the reins of La Scolca winery and the daughter got the vineyard that La Scolca Black Label was made from and she started her own winery called La Chiara.  That's what we're drinking tonight.

This is a tremendously elegant wine with a nice mineral component to it.  If you want to take a step away from a traditional Pinot Grigio in Italy and if you want a Burgandy style white wine, this is the wine for you - Gavi di Gavi.

Chef Randolph:  We couldn't go through a whole Italian wine diner without doing a risotto.  Risotto can be made in many ways with different products, but traditional risotto is always made with seafood, usually with a cuttlefish and a fish stock.  We decided to go with calamari.  The squid was braised in the calamari stock and has a really nice "seafood earthiness." It should pair very well with the Gavi di Gavi and its bright acidity.

Rosie:  I love a deliciously creamy risotto with tentacles;  Mr. Hawthorne, not so much.  To Mr. Hawthorne, squid is squid is squid is bait.   I heartily agreed with Steve's assessment of the minerality of this wine.  La Chiara ran all over my tongue like a cat on a hot tin roof.  I received quite the tongue-pawing, with scratch marks to show for it.

Course 3:  Lobster Ravioli with Bourbon Vanilla Cream Sauce paired with Bastianich Vini Orsone Friulano.

Steve:  This wine is from the northeastern part of Italy about 30 miles from the Slovenian border and is owned by the Bastianich family, with matriarch Lidia being the Julia Child of Italian cuisine.  Her son Joe runs her restaurant empire and also started a wine importing company to supply her restaurants.  Joe runs the company because, in Lidia's words, "He couldn't cook worth a damn."

This wine is what true Venetians would pour for dinner, for heavier courses.  It's very mineralistic and the pretty salinity of this will really bring out the lobster in the ravioli.

Chef Randolph:  When tasting this wine, we found it to be quite elegant and well-finished.  We're pairing it with Maine lobster and ravioli finished with a cream sauce with a hint of vanilla bean to bring out the characteristics of the wine.  Even though the sauce may taste a little bit sweet, there's nothing sweet added to it.  It's just the natural sweetness of the lobster.

Rosie:  Winner Winner Lobster Dinner!
I tasted floral notes in the wine...  Dare I say, "Rosebud?"
I felt an excruciating lushness of indescribable, transcendent notes and a tsunami of delightful aromas upon the entry of the Bastianich Friulano into my palatial, palatal orifice.
A voluptuous mouth-feel crept over my papillae.
I savored it.
There was at least a 45-second finish.
I do not smoke, but I needed a cigarette.
 

Course 4:  Braised Pork Cheek over Mascarpone Polenta paired with Le Muraie Valpolicello Ripasso Doc Classico Superiore 2011.

Steve:  Now, we're on to the red wines and some very specific vineyards.  The family that produces the next 3 wines is Recchia.  You need to understand the grape that makes most of the wines from the Amarone region - della Valpolicella.  That is the cortese grape.  The cortese grape has one or two clusters of grapes at the top, which are known as the orecchi, or the ears.  This particular family has been making this wine for so long, that their name actually comes from that part of the cortese grape.  

This winery didn't exist as a winery to sell to people except for the last 200 years.  For 500 years before that they existed as farmers, but they didn't sell grapes to other wineries.  They actually would grow grapes, bring them in, and dry the grapes on rattan mats in buildings until they shriveled up.  Then they crushed them and made a wine out of it.  Originally, they made a dessert wine called Recioto which we're having at the end.  That was the first wine of the area.  They also have a very light red wine called Valpolicella.  Recioto made a mistake one time about 200 years and forgot about the wine once it started fermenting and and ended up making something called "The Bitter One," or Amarone.  

So Recioto, the sweet one, was first.  Then there was the "bitter one," and then they made something called ripasso where they take regular, light red wine and they pass it through the left over stuff after they made the Amarone.  This re-pass gives a boost to the fermentation.  Everybody else in all this area passes their wine over the leftover stuff of the Amarone.  Not so Recchia.  They are one of the largest Recioto producers so they actually pass theirs over Recioto dregs which leaves enough sugar behind to give it much brighter, fuller fruits.  This family was in the business for so long of making finished wines that they'd sell to all their neighbors to finish off their production.  They were in the bulk-wine business to their neighbors to help them finish their high-end production, until finally, someone of the next generation said, "Please, you've go to put this in a bottle and branch out to the US because they would go nuts for this!"   So this is a ripasso and different from 90% other ripassos

in that it is a single vineyard from Recchia.  Recchia has about 1200 acres of the vine, with the next closest vineyard having about 100 acres.  In Italy, everybody knows who Recchia is and you will pay 3-4 more times for their wines in Italy than you will in the US.  These wines have only been in the US for about 30 years and nobody knows about them.   All the other wineries have been making this for years, but they were in the business to sell.  Recchia was in the business of selling to other wineries so they could make their wine.  

Chef Randolph:  This wine was so even-tempered, I wanted to pair it with something Fall-like and easy to eat.  I ended up braising pork cheeks with a little bit of this wine and stock and placing it on top of mascarpone polenta, finished with carrots and onions.

Rosie:  I love an "even-tempered" wine.  I find it offensive it when my wines are easily annoyed and excitable.  And I absolutely refuse to drink an irritable, peevish, fractious wine.  If a wine is going to be temperamental and unreasonable with me, I won't have anything to do with it.  Fie on them!

Course 5:  Grilled Veal with Prosciutto and Masala with Rosemary Whipped Potatoes paired with Ca' Bertoldi - Amarone della Valpolicella Doc Classico 2009.

Steve:  The Ripasso was the opening act.  Now we have the Amarone, the big brother of the Ripasso.  This is an extremely special wine.  When harvested, they bring in the grapes and single layer them on racks.  They go into large buildings where they dry for up to five weeks.  When you crush these grapes, you get a very concentrated juice and sugar content.  When you ferment the dried grapes, you get this Amarone. 

A tremendous amount of Amarone is made, since so much land is under vine.  All of their cuvée, or blends of Amarone, is what they sell to everybody else.  This particular wine is a single vineyard Amarone.  Ca' Bertoldi, the name on the bottle, is the name of the individual vineyard this wine came from.  This is extremely rare to get a single vineyard Amarone because when all the grapes are taken in and put on racks in the those buildings, this one particular vineyard has to be separate from all the others - all this while you have a hundred or so people going in and out, checking on the grapes, pulling the ones that are just the right "raisinette" characteristics.

Chef Randolph:  Randolph first asked us a question, "Has anybody here ever had something called 'saltimbocca?' "  Of course, yesses and nods went around the room.  Then Randolph does what he does a lot and switches directions.  "Well, this is not that dish.  But it's kinda like it."  Saltimbocca is an Italian dish, meaning "jumps in the mouth," and is in a roll form a lot of times.  Veal medallions were thinly sliced, topped with prosciutto, then pounded, seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, and grilled.  This was served on top of a roasted garlic rosemary purée with a marsala sauce of mushrooms, marsala wine, and a veal stock reduction.

Rosie:  This dish jumped all in my mouth and the wine was jumping all around too.
Like  Khrushchev, this is a firm, fervent, vehement, emotional, aggressive, and passionate wine.
Have enough of this and you'd experience the sharp pounding of shoe in your head the next morning.

Course 6:  Dolce Tre - Vanilla Almond Panna Cotta, Blackberry Orange Mascarpone Whipped Cream and Pistachio Gelato paired with La Guardia Recioto della Valpolicella D.O.C.G. Classico 2011.

Dessert deserves two pictures.

Steve:  As I considered the first two reds brothers, this next and last wine, the Recioto, I think of as the grandfather.  I know.  It's sweet.  But I promise you with this dessert you will change your mind.  If you taste it before dessert, make sure you stop and think about the sugar you're going to taste.  Most dessert wines are 7-9% alcohol because the vintners arrest the fermentation early on.  What makes this wine so different and amazing is that the fermentation is no stopped.  This wine is 14% alcohol.  This is finished fermentation.  These grapes were allowed to "raisin" twice as long as the other grapes so you have 1/4 of the water that you normally have in wine production.  The yeast lived its entire life and died and this is what was left.

What makes the Ripasso so special is the pass over this production and not the Amarone.  All of the sugars left in there bring out all the bright fruit characters in this wine.  A lot of times, Ripassos are leathery and earthy because there's no sugar left in the re-pass method, whereas in this one, there is.

Reciotto is the first wine - the original wine from the Amarone region.

Amarone was an accident that happened 200 years ago.  This is the wine that everybody made.  The sugar isn't syrupy.  It's not cloying.   There's enough acid left behind in this to cut the sugar a bit and you'll love it paired with the dessert.  

The Venetians were as powerful as they were in the trade business because a large part of there success was due to this wine.  They traded this wine for spices from the MiddleEast.  That's how important this wine is to them.

Chef Randolph:  As usual, Randolph had nothing to do with dessert.  Usually with a red, it would be paired with a chocolate, but this has a nice acidity but not a lot of tannins to stand up to chocolate, so we decided to pair this wine with other things.  We have vanilla bean, almond panna cotta, a gelatin dessert with cream, mascarpone and blackberry whipped cream,  and pistachio gelato with a streak of white chocolate ganache.

Rosie:   This wine balanced extremely well with the dessert - like a well-seasoned tightrope walker.  It was never intrusive or aggressive like a telemarketer.  Actually, it was quite the approachable wine.  We made polite introductions, then I downed it.

Enjoy behind the scenes!

Love that Saltbox Crew!

Josh Naser is helping out again tonight.

The Hawthornes Dine On Oysters.

 The Hawthornes LOVE their oysters.

Just the other night,Mr. Hawthorne made simple broiled oysters -lemon juice, grated Parmesan, and panko. The main flavor is the oyster.  The brininess and oceany goodness of the oyster

is complemented by the lightness of the additions.

Mr. Hawthorne likes to showcase the flavor of the oyster, with nothing to detract or overwhelm the delicate oyster.

 

 I'm the same way, but sometimes I like a nice sauce with which to nap my oysters and make you think, "Mmmmm... What was that sauce in there with the oysters?  I want some more."

 But, NO!!!  You can't have anymore!

And that's the beauty of a little dab of a Rosie's Bernaise Sauce and some extra little things she threw in.

 This is what my Bernaise sauce looks like on the oysters.  

You don't need a whole lot.

My "recipe" for Bernaise will top 2 dozen oysters.

   

 Grate a little Gruyère cheese over top, sprinkle on some chopped chives and tarragon and minced onions, and finally some panko.

Under a 450° broiler until panko is light brown.

 Wasn't it fortuitous that my gomphrena was blooming next to my tarragon and chives?

 What is a Bérnaise Sauce?  Basically a Bérnaise sauce is the love child of one of the five "Mother" sauces in the repertoire of French cuisine - the Hollandaise sauce.  OK, the other four sauces are Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, and Sauce Tomate.

Now this begs the question, "What is a Mother Sauce?"  And why are there five?  Chef Marie Antoine-Carême, back in the early 1800s in his book L'Art de la Cuisine, organized all the French sauces into four foundational groups - béchamel, velouté, espagnole, and allemande.  Later on, Chef August Escoffier refined Carême's sauce work in his 1903 Le Guide Culinaire, made allemande a child sauce of velouté and added sauce tomate and hollandaise to the list.

From these five sauces, hundreds of sauces are built on the backbones of these basics.

Now, if we're going to talk about Mother Sauces, we must talk about a roux and brown and white sauces.

What is a roux?  Oh goodness.  How many times have I talked about roux?  Here goes again.  Escoffier called the roux, which comes in three colors - white, pale, and brown- the "cohering element in sauces."  Coulda sworn I was the one who said that, but apparently Escoffier beat me to it if you believe everything you read on the Internet.

 A roux is simply a mixture of fat and flour, in equal amounts.  Butter is melted.  Flour is added and the mixture is cooked and stirred until the desired color is achieved..A brown roux is cooked longer and exudes a nutty scent and it's used with a brown stock.

A pale roux is for veloutés or cream sauces.

A white roux is for bêchamel and white sauces.  Escoffier advised to cook only as long as "needful...to do away with the disagreeable taste of raw flour."  Again, I thought I said that, but Google says, "NO!"

To briefly go over the basic sauces, 2 brown sauces and 3 white sauces.

 Sauce Espagnole - This is a brown roux with brown stock and tomato paste added at the end.  Its derivatives include demi-glace, a reduction, and bordelaise, with red wine added.

Sauce Tomate -  This is basically a roux-thickened tomato sauce.



Béchamel Sauce - It's a white roux made with milk, a creamy sauce, seasoned with salt and pepper and sometimes nutmeg, used as a thickener in soups, used as a basis for soufflés, used as the creamy binder thingie that isn't cheese in classic lasagnas.

Velouté Sauce -  It's a pale roux made with white stock cooked into a glossy emulsion. It's a velvety sauce, whereas a béchamel is creamy.  And it's a basis for other sauces, ravigote, with shallots, and suprême, which adds cream.

Hollandaise Sauce -  This is a combination of egg yolks and lemon juice whisked vigorously in a double boiler over simmering water.  Cold butter pats are whisked in until you have a shiny, frothy emulsion, then the mixture is seasoned with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and cayenne, if you like a bit of heat.  Hollandaise is the sauce on Eggs Benedict, the ultimate egg-on-egg preparation.  By adding tarragon and shallots to your basic Hollandaise, you have a Bérnaise Sauce.

A Bérnaise Sauce.  We're back to where I started.  Oysters with a Bérnaise Sauce.

 Rosie's Bernaise Sauce

1 egg yolk

1 tsp rice vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice

2 TB minced Vidalia onion

1/2 stick cold unsalted Plugra butter cut into small 1/4" dices

kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

1 TB each chopped fresh tarragon and chives 

grated Gruyère cheese

panko breadcrumbs

Beginners should probably use a double boiler and whisk the ingredients over simmering water until you have more control and know what you're doing.  I just hover my pan over very low heat, whisking constantly, and watching the yolks for the change in color and wisps of steam.  Ease off the heat then.

In a small sauce pan, vigorously whisk egg yolk, rice vinegar, and lemon juice, hovering the pan over extremely low heat.  When the yolk turns a lighter color and you see a wisp of steam, take away from heat and add in a tablespoon of the Vidalia onion.  Normally, a Bérnaise calls for shallots, but I have Vidalias, so Vidalia it is.  Return to hover position and whisk in a dice of butter until it's absorbed into the yolk.  Add one dice of butter at a time, whisking so that you have a lovely emulsion.  Season with salt and pepper.

Nap each oyster (2 dozen) with some of the Bérnaise, then top with tarragon, chives, a light sprinkling of Gruyère, and the panko.  About 7 minutes under a 450° broiler until lightly browned

Enjoy!

You're in for a treat!

Bon appétit!
Even my oyster is smiling.

It's "Fall In Love With Wine." The Saltbox Café's Latest Six-Course Wine-Paired Dinner.

 

Our theme tonight is Fall In Love With Wine."

I already have,

but I will again,

because I'm fickle that way.

A Fickle Fermented Floozy.

Welcome to The Saltbox Café's, November 3, 2016 and November 10, 2016, "Fall In Love With Wine" dinner.

The menu is the creation of Chefs Amanda and Randolph Sprinkle.
Our servers are April and Mike.

The wines are presented by Kerry and Cindy of Tryon Distributors.

Being the self-appointed backstage photographer of these events (I can be very persuasive.  And intrusive.), I've insinuated myself into the kitchen  - the magic stage - where everything is produced.

Sometimes I just have to push Chefs Amanda and Randolph or April and Mike out of the way, so I can get the pictures.

As for the wines tonight, Tryon Distributing has a little bit of everything for us - Italian, French,  Californian, and Argentinian. As always, we are advised to try a bit of the wine by itself, and then with the food so we can appreciate the marriage of viticulture and agriculture.

Our first course:

 

 I love to watch the plating process. 

Step by step.

And I get hungrier and hungrier with each pass.

Ready to roll.

Our first course is clams and chorizo sausage in white wine and butter sauce over crostini to sop up the saucy goodness, paired with La Scolca Gavi of Piedmont, Italy.  

Kerry:  Our first wine celebrating the fall harvest is produced by La Scolca Winery, established around 1919 in the Piedmont region in northern Italy.  This is a legendary winery in the town of Gavi, known as the pioneer of this wine, which is the expression of the Cortese grape.  A lot of vintners had given up on this grape and it wasn't until after  World War II that the Soldati family saved this particular grapevine from oblivion by focusing on the production of quality white Cortese in a region traditionally known for its reds.

From Scolca's website:  "Today, the estate is run by Giorgio Soldati, the founder’s great-grandson, and his daughter, Chiara, who represents the fifth generation."

I don't know about you, but I love seeing nepotism at work!

One reason why this legendary winery has done so well is the vineyard site itself.  Located 30 miles from the Mediterranean, the vineyards experience marine air balancing the cool mountain air and all-day sunlight.  The vineyards are planted on steep slopes made of calcereous clay, volcanic soils with iron, and veins of limestone - very similar to that found in Champagne and Chablis in France.  This wine has a flinty character with great lemon zest and acidity, and is a delightful food white wine.

Chef Randolph: When we tasted this wine, it screamed to be served with shellfish.  That minerality and lemon quality should pair really well with clams and a little spicy chorizo to add body to the dish.  Clams, garlic white wine sauce, and piece of bread underneath.  Enjoy!

Rosie's Wine Notes:  Well, what with all the calcium and iron and limestone, this wine had "strong shoulders."  I read that in a description.  Not only was I impressed with its "strong shoulders," but this wine was massively endowed.  I would call it bosomy.  Yes, that's the word. This wine strode in, cleavage-forward - a hint of voluptuous, rapturous things to come.  Exquisite. I remember when my nephew was little and was watching Wonder Woman, he would remark, "Wonder Woman has strong bosoms."  This Scolca from Gavi definitely had strong bosoms. 

 

Usually, I find clams to be on the tough side;
however these were tender little bivalves which I relished with gusto.

As always, give me something to sop up the juices and sauces and goody bits. 

That piece of bread did the trick.

I liked the little micro-greenery left by its lonesome.

Goodbye, last dish of first course.  Sniffsniff.

On to Course 2:

Our second course is a smoked salmon cheesecake with tart tomato and caramelized onion jam paired with Hecht & Bannier Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc, France.

Kerry:  This is a dynamic white wine produced by Hecht and Bannier in the southern Languedoc region in between Nice and Spain, along the Mediterranean coast. It's a beautiful white blend of Piquepoul Blanc, Rousanne, and Grenache Blanc.

I found this in my resear Googling about Hecht and Bannier, which I deemed worthy of going to the trouble of copying and pasting:

Among all our wine, none is a single grape wine, except the Maury, only made of the Grenache Noir; as each one of our Crus is a blend of several plots within the appellation and the result of the work of several vine growers and domaines. Working on these terroirs, it is our conviction that this blending approach is the only way to achieve a more aromatic complexity and to give birth to wines with a wider evolution of flavors.

 Kerry explained that Hecht & Bannier's whole idea being to provide great fruit expression in wines that are representative of the area - very simple, clean, medium body wines.  Kerry further described that these varietals are all grown right along a lagoon system similar to the small sounds along the Mediterranean coast of France with the vineyards overlooking the sound area.  Lots of maritime influences affect this area, allowing for late-ripening in September and October.

Chef Randolph:  Randolph was explaining his thought process into getting to quiche for this course and I couldn't hear what he was saying.  I do recall hearing his speaking about they were thinking of Nova Scotia, then something about cold and blustery, all of which would lead to ... ??? did he say something about a chowder???  I don't know.  But suddenly it turned into smoked salmon cheesecake so I was down with that.

Rosie's Interjection Here And Let It Be A Lesson For You All:
I like to eat most anything.  There are few things I do not like to eat.  BUT, whenever there is food product that doesn't immediately please my palate, then that offers a challenge to me.  And Rosie loves a challenge.  I will do my darndest to like that food.  I will start thinking about how to put it together with whatever and however its presentations and I'll try this and that and then, one day, that very special day, my efforts will have paid off and I finally  GET IT, and all that trying and attitude and yes, the challenge, have worked together and I LIKE IT!  I REALLY REALLY LIKE IT!

This happened to me with salmon.  Sometimes you have to take small, baby steps.  I started off with the smoked salmon in the packets -  Salmolux.  Here's what you do:  Take a triscuit and spread on some softened cream cheese.  Nestle a thin slice of cucumber in the cream cheese, then fold a little strip of Salmolux and tuck it on top of the cuke slice.  Sprinkle on some chopped red onion, maybe some minced green, yellow, orange, and red peppers, if you like and a few balls of capers, if you're feeling capricious.  Top with a sprigs of fresh dill.  And you have quite the amuse bouche!

 Now, back to our scheduled dinner.

Chef Randolph is serving smoked salmon cheesecake finished with a roasted tomato chutney - small grape tomatoes roasted at a high temperature then cooked down with vinegar, sugar, and caramelized onions.  "Notice the dots of orange on the plate.  That's salmon roe."

My italics.  That right there is the part I didn't hear.

Rosie's Wine Notes: 
You remember the scene in Big when Tom Hanks first tasted caviar and had to wipe his mouth out with a napkin?  Well, this Hecht and Bannier white was even better than a napkin!  Took right care of that salmon roe.  Big swig, swish, and swill, down the hatch, and what a marriage of wine and eggs!

The crust was unique and I had to ask Chef Randolph what it was.
And he told me!
Man, you can put those things in anything and they're good!

Creamy, lovely-textured cheesecake with delicate salmon flavor
and a little greenery to lighten it up and balance with the acidity of the vinaigrette.

Note to self:  Self, in the future, be sure to check for any small "orange dots" on your plate.
This is just a personal preference and nothing in any way meant for other diners to avoid.

Moving on to Course 3:

Course 3:  Scallop and crab cake over roasted cauliflower and Chèvre purée with roasted beets and fennel paired with Treana Chardonnay, California.

Kerry:  We've been stepping up the weight of each wine so far.  This is a white wine, from California, specifically the central coast, a large designation running from just south of San Francisco to Santa Barbara which encompasses many other approved appellations.  This wine is by Hope Treana Winery, extending from Monterey in the north to Santa Barbara in the south.  This is 100% Chardonnay, the most widely planted grape varietal in the world and one of the oldest as well, originating in Burgandy, France.  The reasons it's one of the most widely planted grapes is that the Chardonnay is extremely versatile, easy to grow, it's adaptive to different climates, and it can be produced in many different ways depending on where it's growing climate-wise and who's working with it in the winery.  You'll notice apple, peach, subtle creme brulée, vanilla, and a balance of citrus.  This is a great example of California Chardonnay.


Chef Randolph:  This next course has a lot of different elements and they all needed to be about this wine.  It's a complex wine - there's oak and acidity.  This broke down into a lot of different flavors.  The main component is the scallop and crab meat, then there's a purée of cauliflower with Chèvre cheese, there's a little salad on top, and roasted beets and fennel for the earthiness.  Oh, as an afterthought, Chef Randolph mentioned there was a "little bit of vinaigrette on there and truffle oil."  At least that's what I wrote in my impeccable notes.

 Rosie's Wine Notes:    This leggiadrous wine walked in with confidence, pregnant with possibilities.  It was too late and we both knew it.  We tumbled down the laundry chute of lust, lasciviousness, and labidinousness.  We awoke in the wee hours of the morning, feeling cheapened and wrinkled, like a slept-in suit in a cardbordeauxbox.  We couldn't look each other in the eyes.  Our outstretched fingertips, like wine legs down the glass, glacially millimetered away from each other.  The moment was over.  We left, never crossing paths again.

I think this was Mr. Hawthorne's favorite.  He loves crab meat and appreciates the delicacy of the crab and how it is not really handled and that "less is more."  The fact that this had beets, which he loves, and FENNEL - his "new" vegetable he's trying out was intriguing to Mr. Hawthorne. 

Like I am with the salmon, Mr. Hawthorne is trying to work his way through certain flavors -  anise and fennel being one, or at least cousins.  Hey, we try.
 

Love the behind-the-scene action.

On to course #4:

Course 4:  Seared duck breast with pickled blackberries, vanilla pear purée and sweet potato hay paired with Morgan Monterey Côtes du Crow's, California.

Kerry:  Morgan Winery is in the highlands in the central coast of California.  The Côtes du Crow, a play on Côtes du Rhône, is a 50/50 blend of Syrah and Grenache.  The area is diverse in microclimates with the valleys drawing off the Pacific.  The fog burns off in the morning, the sunshine warms the vineyards during the day, and cooling winds from the Monterey Bay come in the afternoon.

According to Morgan's website:  "Coffee cake, dates, and raspberry aromas jump out of the glass."

Kerry didn't happen to mention this particular part but he did tell us to "notice the outstanding raspberry, black cherry, pomegranate, and cranberry." 

This wine was aged in French oak barrels for 6 months or so which gives the wine "subtle spice and vanilla characters without overpowering the elegant fruit profile."

Chef Randolph:  We have roasted duck breast over Bosc pear purée flavored with rosemary and vanilla bean.  Pickled blackberries are on the outside and sweet potato hay on top.

Rosie's Wine Notes:  Let me be the first to say that no coffee cake, dates, or raspberries jumped out of my glass.  The smell of sour grapes lingered long after the seductive sweetness of dark fruits dissipated into a roll in the hay lo those many years ago en été en Provence and turned into a morass of merde.  My first love. Thankfully forgotten.

That April keeps getting in my way!

Pear purée. blackberries, duck breast, and sweet 'taters.
What's not to love?


On to course #5:

Course 5:  House-smoked beef short ribs over autumn vegetable hash and apple chiotle demi paired with Tikal Patriota, Mendoza Argentena.

Kerry:  Our second red of the evening is from Mendoza, South America and is a blend produced by Tikal Winery.  It is 60% Malbec and 40% Bonarda.  Aged in oak, it is robust, concentrated, and deeper and darker than the previous red.  There's a bit of cocoa, dark fruit, and it's not over tannic.

 Ernest Catena is the owner of Tikal Winery and he has a passion not only for wine, but for a lot else.  He's not only a vintner, but a "skilled horseman, fashion designer, software developer, book editor" along with being a "tireless and avid reader, painter, art collector, polo player, and archer,"

Catena felt the need to "produce wines that would reflect his basic beliefs: high quality, a different style from the majority of wines being made at the time, smaller volumes and a strong brand concept." 

 It is a style meant to provide enormous pleasure rather than provoke contemplation; an expression of emotion rather than intellect. He has named his wines with passion in mind: Patriota (Patriot), Amorio (Love Affair), Jubilo (Rejoice)."

I don't know about you, but I love seeing hedonism at work!

 Chef Randolph:  We have the quintessential autumn dish - braised beef short ribs, first slow-smoked for 2 1/2 hours, then braised.  The braising liquid was reduced with apples and chipotle peppers and served on a bed of harvest vegetables - parsnips, carrots, and potatoes.


Rosie's Wine Notes:  This soulful wine is often misunderstood but my empathic intuition immediately picked up on this.  We were sympatico.  I miss him already.  I yearned for the accoutrements of autumn - a roaring fire and psithurism.

This is homey.

This is fall.

Only one thing missing is a roaring fireplace.

A happy chef produces happy meals!

And Chef Randolph has quite the colorful derrière!

Now, we're on to our 6th and final course - dessert.

"OH, April...  You wanna get your butt over here?  NOW?"

"You talking to ME???"

Course 6:  Dark chocolate hazelnut mousse cake with ganache, vanilla ice cream, and a cranberry reduction paired with Hecht and Bannier Coteaux du Languedoc Rouge.

Kerry:  This is our second wine from Hecht and Bannier and it's their Red Languedoc.  The first wine from them was a white with our second course.  This red is a blend of Syrah from the Terraces du Larzac and Chinian and Grenache from Roussillon and it is completely aged in cement tanks.  Cement tanks are similar to stainless steel tanks in that the main idea is not to impart any additional character to the wine.

Chef Randolph:  Chef Amanda wanted to pair this red with a dark chocolate.  We have a dark chocolate cake with hazelnut ganache with chocolate mousse on top, finished with a cranberry syrup reduction and ice cream.  And there are some hazelnuts thrown in too.

Rosie's Wine Notes:  I immediately noticed the callipygian assets of this ostrobogulous wine

Since I, too, am callipygian enhanced, I could appreciate the effort made here.

This was just plain decadent.
I loved every bite.

I wanted to lick the plate.
If that's wrong, I don't want to be right.


Once again I have to jockey April for position.

Isaac is part of the wonderful Saltbox Crew.

Enjoy the rest of the pictures.

Chef Randolph surveys his domain.

 

Here are our wines from tonight.

And here's my FAVORITE picture from tonight!

 PIECE O' CAKE!

I could caption this, but I won't. 

You be free to go ahead and do it.

For a recap of our wonderful on-going dining experiences at The Saltbox Café, 

please click on the links:

October 2014, we visited Spain.
November 2014, we visited Argentina.
December 2014, we visited Paris.
February 2015, we visited Chocolate. (Why yes, Chocolate is a country.)
March 2015, we visited Italy.
October 2015, we visited Germany.
December 2015, we visited Japan.

Also in December 2015, we enjoyed a Réveillon Feast.

And again in December 2015, we visited France.

February 2016, we took a road trip to California.

Also in February 2016, we visited Italy. 

March 9, 2016, we had a lovely visit to Chile.

March 29, 2016, we visited the Pacific Northwest.

April 20, 2016, we explored the vineyards of Oregon. 

September 2016, we enjoyed South Africa. 

October 2016, we experienced Madrid. 

October 2016, we traveled the Loire Region in France.