Kitchen Conundrum

Soave, One of Italy’s Favorite White Wines Makes a Splash in the U.S.

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soave_classico_doc_rocca_sveva_bottigliaLong regarded as one of Italy’s favorite white wines, Soave is regaining some popularity with wine drinkers across the U.S.  Wine that once had a bad rap for being mass produced and sadly mismade, is coming back in it’s rightful glory as a respected contender in the world of wine.  It could be due in part to the efforts of one of the wine’s biggest fans, Lidia Bastianich and her popular “Lidia’s Italy” television show, or it could be that this wine is really quite good and exceptionally affordable!

Soave is produced in the eastern part of the province of Verona in Italy’s Veneto region and is made from Garganega grapes (pronounced Gar-gah-nay-gah) either as a blend or as the principal grape varietal. The majority of the vineyards are located amongst the rolling hills including the historic “Classico” zone, which lies between the charming medieval town of Soave and Monteforte d’Alpone, the oldest orginal zone.  This area features stunning centuries old castles, chruchs, bell towers and age old villas as part of the rich history and traditions of this area and are indicative to the region’s primary products, Soave wines, Monte Veronese cheese, Vialone Nano rice, Veronese Radicchio and chestnuts from San Mauro. With all this and more, Soave is recognized as one of the great destinations for art, culture and history among the townships of Italy.

The wonderful thing about Soave wines is that they pair so well with many foods. I instantly think of them as the perfect summer, outdoor bbq wine or a match made in heaven to fish, pasta and light sauces. They also pair well with spicy Asian cuisines. Soave is typically a light, dry, white wine with citrus aromas, lemon-lime and tart green apple flavors. They are meant to be drunk within a year or two after the vintage date.

We recently tried two bottles Soave and here are our notes:

Our first wine is the Soave DOC “Danieli” 2009 wine produced by Fattori (Veneto, Italy).  It was awarded a Bronze Medal in the Decanter World Wine Awards 2010.

– Color: Bright straw yellow with a hint of green

– Nose: Floral notes of jasmine and wisteria, fruity with notes of peaches, pears, apricots and oranges. There is also a hint of nuttiness, like almonds, with a bit of cedar, rosemary and thyme.

– Taste: Medium body, crisp dry finish. Soft with a generous weight and well balanced.

Overall, this was a lovely bottle of wine and one that I would recommend to lovers of unoaked Chardonnay or to those that enjoy Sauvignon Blanc but want a wine with a bit more weight. I know this one is on our “drink again” list.

The second bottle is a Soave DOC Classico “Rocca Sveva” 2009 produced by Cantina di Soave (Veneto, Italy).

– Color: Light straw

– Nose: Light tropical fruits with mineral, apple and light honey with hints of lemon and almonds

– Taste: Full-bodied, fresh acidity with lively fruit, especially tart apple with nuts and a long finish.

Overall, this was a good bottle of wine. It’s a bit lighter weight than the other one we tried, but I really liked the acidity and burst of fruit. Because this wine quite affordable, it is perfect to buy a few bottles of for larger groups or to bring to a party. It is certainly crisp and refreshing!

To learn more about Soave wines, please check out the Soave Consortium’s new blog at  http://blog.ilsoave.com/en/ and you can like them on Facebook too!

May is Soave Month!

If you should happen to be in NYC during the month of May, it is officially Soave Month at Eataly, the oasis of artisan Italian food and wine products, in the heart of Manhattan.  Located at Fifth Avenue and Broadway, Eataly opened last year and has already become one of the top five destinations in the Big Apple for New Yorkers and tourists alike.
Soave will be exclusively featured for the whole month in all Eataly restaurants and at a dedicated Soave Bar in Eataly’s bustling La Piazza.  Eataly Vino will also offer free Soave tasting every Friday and Saturday, and La Scuola will offer ticketed Soave seminars to those who wish to learn more about this dynamic category from the producers, themselves.

Soave Corner and Restaurants
Throughout the month, Soave wines will be poured by-the-glass in all restaurants and at the Soave Bar.  Different wines and producers will rotate every week in order to give consumers the chance to taste different vintages and appellations of Soave.

“La Scuola”
Usually an area dedicated to “gastronomic classes” led by the TV chef Lidia Bastianich, this space will host Soave seminars and tastings with the winemakers. Traditional food from Veneto will be served to attendees as well. These are ticketed events. Register online for the classes on May 3rd and May 5th.

Eataly Vino
In the friendly space of Eataly’s wine store, consumers will have the chance to taste Soave wines, purchases bottles and chat with the winemakers in-person every Friday (6-8pm) and every Saturday (4-6pm).

“Soave Style” Exhibit
Throughout the month, an exhibit will showcase the photos of fashion photograpgher Giò Martorana, who has departed from his usual beat to explore Soave’s dynamic region. The fine black and white photographs have been compiled in the book “Soave Style”.

The wineries
Cantina di Soave, Cantina di Monteforte, Cantina del Castello, Cantine Riondo, Enoitalia, Fattori, Le Albare, Montetondo, Vicentini Agostino, Villa Canestrari.

You can find out more on the EatalyNY website or at  ILSoave.

Disclosure: We received the two bottles of Soave wine mentioned above to review from the Soave Consortium. We were not otherwise compensated to write this post.  

King’s Hawaiian Pineapple Upside Down French Toast Recipe

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Foodbuzz recently offered its featured publishers an opportunity to create a brilliant brunch recipe to showcase the irresistibly delicious taste of King’s Hawaiian bread and we were happy to be chosen to share ours with you. We love French toast and especially making the “night before” versions because they allow you to be lazy in the morning since all you have to do is just put it into the oven, leaving you lots of time to drink coffee, read the newspaper or just pad around in your pjs.

The problem with this recipe is that you may find yourself eating the entire loaf of bread before you actually make it into French toast. King’s Hawaiian bread is lightly sweet, yet very buttery and fluffy and it just melts in your mouth.  We had to buy two loaves as everyone kept saying, “Oh, just one more slice!” until there was none left.

 

Ingredients

4 slices King’s Hawaiian Original Sweet Round Bread,1 ½-2 inches thick

4 Eggs

1 cup Half & Half

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tbs Rum

½ cup dark brown sugar

Slices of canned pineapple rings

Pinch of Salt

Shredded Coconut for Garnish

Method

In a 9×13″ baking pan spread the brown sugar across the bottom. Place slices of pinapple on top of the brown sugar. Layer the sliced bread into the bottom of the pan in one layer squeezing them slightly to make them fit. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, half & half, vanilla, rum, and salt.  Pour over the bread. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight, or a minimum of eight hours until the liquid is absorbed into the bread.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove pan from refrigerator and uncover. Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 until golden brown. Let stand a few minutes, loosen the edges with a knife that has been run around the edge of the pan. Invert into a serving platter and sprinkle with shredded coconut.  Serve while hot.

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Pom Wonderful Dinner Party

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Pomegranates are synonymous with Fall menus and Rosh Hashanah meals. Harvested now, they can last quite a long time and be used for many different recipes throughout the entire holiday season. Their festive appearance also makes them perfect to use as decorations.

So when we saw that POM Wonderful had teamed up with FoodBuzz and was selecting hosts to create a POM Wonderful Dinner Party, we jumped at the chance and were thrilled to find out that we were among only 100 participants across the country to be chosen.

Imagine our surprise when we were received two crates, not one, but two, full crates of pomegranates to cook with and to use as decorations. That’s about 50 pomegranates in total!

They also sent us a fun apron to wear to shield us from the mess we were sure to make, as well as a cutting mat with handy pomegranate opening instructions printed on it. In addition, there were 10 gift bags for us to give out to our guests. Inside featured a POM Wonderful bracelet and a package of recipes, many of which we used for our menu. There were also coupons for free bottles of POM Wonderful juice!

So armed with our apron and recipes, and more pomegranates than we have ever seen, we got down to business and began the party preparations.

But first, we wanted to learn a little background on our featured guest…

The pomegranate originated in eastern Iran, and is one of the oldest fruits known to man. Because of its many seeds, the pomegranate has been used throughout history as the representation of fertility and plenty.  The spies even brought a pomegranate back to Moses in the dessert to show him that the land of Israel was fertile. Jewish tradition holds that a pomegranate has 613 seeds to represent the 613 commandments in the Torah. (We’ve never counted, but now, with all these pomegranates around, we will!) Even the design of the pomegranate was woven into the high priest’s robes, and brass representations were part of the Temple’s pillars. It is mentioned six times in the Song of Solomon. Pomegranates also figures into many Christian and Catholic paintings by Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, often seen in the hands of the Virgin Mary or baby Jesus.

We also see the pomegranate in ancient Greece and Rome. Homer mentions it in The Odyssey, as part of the gardens of Alcinous and the Greek myth of Persephone, the chthonic goddess of the Underworld, prominently features the pomegranate.  The fruits were even found in China during the Han and Sung dynasties. Perhaps, it is so widely revered not just because of the symbolism of abundance, but also because of  the fruits many health benefits as well. Known for its antioxidant and anti-disease benefits, the pomegranate has been used as a source of traditional remedies for thousands of years.

The Spanish Conquistadores are credited for bringing the pomegranate to America and Jesuit missionaries carried it north to their missions in California. But around 1896, a nurseryman named Mr. Bearss who came from Porterville, CA, brought pomegranate cuttings back from Florida to California. A new variety was grown and yielded a much sweeter and juicier fruit so he aptly named it, Wonderful. This variety is now the fruit that POM Wonderful harvests.

The word pomegranate actually comes from the Latin pomum or apple and granatus meaning  seeded. You can see that this “pomum granatus” has influenced the name in many languages.  In French, the word for the fruit is grenade, and in Hebrew the word is rimon, which also means grenade!  This is likely because it seemed so incredibly difficult to remove the arils and they would literally explode everywhere!

The event was incredibly fun and we entertained guests that we had not seen in quite a long time. Our first thought was to go over the top with ornate golds and reds, but we had just finished painting our dining room and the ceiling in beautiful blues, so we changed the décor to silver.

We found some dazzling initial ornaments that we used to create the place cards for each person. Luckily, everyone had different initials!  The silver chargers and white plates and grandmother’s silverware just popped on the backdrop of a black tablecloth. We created a very simple and elegant centerpiece featuring pomegranates in a tower vase surrounded by tea lights, pomegranates and strands of silver beads. We tried to make the rest of the decor as organic as possible to our own decor so we just stratigically placed the pomegranates around the house in different places.

After we determined the décor, we choose our menu. A few of the recipes came from the package that POM Wonderful had sent. And while we usually refrain from over using a single ingredient throughout our menus, we were never overwhelmed by the pomegranates and the flavors worked perfectly together throughout the entire dinner.

Once the decorations were set, it was time for dinner!

The Spritzers!

The Cosmos!

The Margaritas!

Aaron Sampling the Margaritas!

Spinach Salad with Pears & Walnuts, Pomegranate Raspberry Vinaigrette

Enjoying the salad and the company!

The  Main Course and POM Wonderful’s  Grilled Chicken Mohammara created by Chef Jose Andres

Some POM Wonderful Varieties!

Checking out the recipes!

And the grand finale, DESSERT! A POM Cube with Chocolate Streusel

Oops! Wait! I need a picture of that!

My still life.

Before the dishes.

We had an amazing time. All the food turned out really well, and we had nothing left over! We also found some wonderful (no pun intended!) uses for pomegranates in recipes. They really have a great flavor and we are also enjoying eating just the arils by the handfuls!

One final note though, we had an incredible amount of pomegranates left untouched and being people that feel it’s terrible to waste food, we donated a case and a half to our local food bank. We encourage others to do the same.