In our house, Matt is the master of all things wine. I mostly just drink it and nod my head in approval of his selections. His background on the subject means he picks his bottle based on region, varietal, producer, and vintage. While I have learned a few things from him over the years, I’m still a sucker for creative packaging and a pretty label.
One of our favorite things to do is pick a wine from the rack and pair it with a recipe pulled from one of the cookbooks in our collection. We’ve decided to share some of our favorite pairings with all you lovely people in hopes of inspiring some pairings of your own!
Featured Pairing
Marcus Samuelsson & Altitudes Cotes du Roussillon 2015
We recently moved out of our underground lair and into a space with more access to the outdoors. Even better, it comes complete with the use of a smoker. Matt barely waited a full 24 hours before swapping his cologne for a smoky scent. I didn’t mind. Overnight he seemingly became more manly, more rugged, and armed with enough smoked meat to rival any BBQ joint. Am I the only one who just read that in Guy Fiere’s voice? Anyways, I think Matt just enjoys standing outside with a beer in his hand and simultaneously using the smoker is a win for everyone.
His first project was a pork shoulder that kept him on his toes all through the night. Every few hours the alarm sounded and he shot out of bed to tend to his meat. Most mornings I have to drag Matt from his blanket cocoon so I had little faith he would see this project through to perfect temperature. But hot damn, I was wrong (yes, Matt – I said it – point for you). When it was finally ready to be pulled out of the smoker, the tender meat practically fell off the bones. We shoved a few perfect morsels in our mouths before getting to work on the rest of our planned meal.
The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem by Marcus Samuelsson
Matt’s eyes lit up when he came across this gem hiding in a lonely corner of a random book store in Philadelphia. “BABE” he shouted a few decibels too loudly for a place with so many books, “look what I found! Can we get this one?” Matt’s a shopper. More accurately, he wants all the books. Anything relating to food, wine, and cocktails. Anything he can learn from. I usually try to persuade him our shelves can’t contain any more (hey, don’t give me that look!) but there was something in his voice that insisted we not leave the store empty handed. So we didn’t. Read on below to hear in Matt’s own words why he wanted to bring this book home and why we are now featuring a few of the recipes in our meal.
“My first remembrance of Chef Samuelsson was while watching my usual food and travel shows. It was of him, his wife Maya, and their travels. The part that I focused on was them in their loft showing off different pieces that they had brought home from their travels. It was so fascinating to me to see a piece of art or a particular knife from a country they had visited. Coming from a very simple life of travel before Megan, the usual knickknacks I brought home were a shot glass or a t-shirt that read FBI (Female Body Inspector) from a shop on the Ocean City boardwalk.
Chef Samuelsson’s cooking style makes me think of family and bringing people together. When we moved into our new place and wanted to make a warming meal full of southern flavor, I chose to reference his book, The Red Rooster Cookbook, as its pages are brimming with Southern and cross-cultural food. To accompany our smoked BBQ pork shoulder, we selected his Killer Collards and Brown Butter Biscuits. The collard greens were bursting with flavor. Being both sweet and sour, they paired wonderfully as a side to the smoked pork shoulder. The biscuits, while thin, were fluffy on the inside and a great vessel for our homemade jam.” – Matt
Killer Collards
Ingredients:
1 cup (8 ounces) Spiced Butter
1 onion, chopped
2 Thai bird chiles, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
2 pounds collard greens, stemmed and chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Coarse kosher salt
Directions:
1.Melt the spiced butter in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and chiles and sauté until the onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Add the collards and stir in the vinegar, brown sugar, and salt to taste and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and simmer until the greens are very tender, about 1½ hours.
2. Serve hot or warm.
Brown Butter Biscuits
Ingredients:
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Cut 8 tablespoons of the butter into small pieces and put them in the freezer.
3. Cut up the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and put them in a small skillet over medium heat. When the butter melts, start swirling it in the pan. The butter will sputter while the water cooks out, and the solids will separate. Keep cooking and swirling until the solids have sunk to the bottom and browned and the butter smells nutty. Keep a constant eye on this so the butter doesn’t burn. This will take about 6 minutes. Pour the butter out into a small bowl and make sure you’ve got all the browned bits.
4. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Take the butter out of the freezer and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers until it resembles very coarse oatmeal with some larger bits of butter. Stir 2 teaspoons of the brown butter into 3/4 cup of the buttermilk, add it to the dry ingredients, and stir the dough with your hand, kneading it a little. Add more buttermilk if you need it to make a cohesive dough that leaves the bowl clean.
5. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and pat it into an even disk with smooth edges. Roll out to 1/4 inch. Cut biscuits with a 2-inch cutter and set them, barely touching, on a rimmed baking sheet. Gather up the scraps, form another even disk, roll out, cut out more biscuits, and add them to the baking sheet.
6. Brush the biscuits with some more of the brown butter and bake until risen and nicely browned on the top and bottom, 20 to 25 minutes.
Y’all (can’t I be southern today), Chef Samuelsson’s food is not to be missed. Thankfully we were in the comfort of our own kitchen so I couldn’t feel the shame of literally licking my plate clean. I highly urge you to consider ordering a copy of this book for your own kitchen. I have a feeling I will be working my way through most of his recipes over the next several months. Get your copy here
Altitudes Cotes Du Roussillon 2015
To pair with our food, Matt chose Altitudes Cotes Du Roussillon 2015. He chose this French wine blend of Carignan, Grenache, and Syrah to complement the intense flavor achieved through smoking the pork. It was also a good match for the low, slow southern cuisine of Chef Samuelsson. “It paired just as I intended it to. Neither the wine nor the feast was overbearing, but rather they paired in harmony.” – Matt
The following background information and tasting notes are pulled from www.sevenfifty.com
Background info: “Altitudes and La Linea are made from grapes selected from the best vineyards in the Roussillon region of France, situated close to the Mediterranean Sea, just 25 miles from the eastern Spanish border. This area is very warm but thanks to the altitude (600 feet), the wines have a nice mineral finish that balances out the ripeness.”
Tasting Notes: “fresh and smooth on the palate, with undertones of licorice, blackberries and blackcurrants. A well-balanced wine with a long finish.”
Sending a very special thank you to our friend Dan with Lanterna Distributors for introducing us to this label.
If you are interested in trying your own pairings with food and beverage, one resource that we can’t recommend highly enough is What to Drink with What You Eat: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea – Even Water – Based on Expert Advice from America’s Best Sommeliers. This book has been such an inspiration in planning our meals. It has served to provide recommended pairings we may not have otherwise thought of on our own. I’m not sure it suggested beer with doughnuts, but you’ll have to get a copy and check it out for yourself!
Cheers friends,
Megan & Matt
Comments
very nice!
The pork shoulder looked awfully good!
Author
It definitely turned out well! There was so much meat we are still pulling it from the freezer!