Cooking With Wine

In the last few years, Brussels sprouts have emerged as one of the favorite vegetables in our house. Sometimes we roast them with bacon, garlic, and salt, other times we blanch them before slicing them in half and slowly caramelizing in brown butter and finishing it with shallot and lemon. For the last few weeks, Lindsay has been raving about the shaved Brussels sprouts salad at Sylvain and asking me to make something like that.

When Mad Max dropped off a substantial white wine with notes of lemon, green apple, citrus, and grapefruit my mind immediately went to trying a version of shaved Brussels sprout salad. The 2009 Ribolla Adriatico from Bastianich Wines has a firm minerality and a lot of acid, with just a touch of sweetness at the end. That made me want to incorporate some spice and sesame oil to take the dish in an Asian direction. You can find the wine on the list at Green Goddess, Bacchanal, and Whole Foods, where it retails for under $20.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Slaw with Poached Chicken

The chicken is optional. But if you want to add it, it works best in salads when poached. Bring 6 cups of water up to a simmer, add some cloves, salt, bay leaf, and a half cup of white wine. Add the chicken and simmer for 25 minutes or so.

A mandoline is one way to slice the sprouts into thin rounds. But be careful and it helps to listen to this song while doing it. A food processor with a slicing blade is a much better option. Once your sprouts are shaved, place them in a deep bowl. Thinly slice the radicchio and add this to the Brussels sprouts. Toast about a palmful of slivered almonds until light brown. Add this to the above, along with salt and pepper.

Finely dice the green chili and some garlic (if you have ginger, by all means use it). Place this in a second bowl. To this add some soy sauce, the juice of one lemon, a tablespoon of rice wine vinegar, and a teaspoon of honey (you need the sweetness to counteract the bitterness of the raw radicchio and Brussels sprouts). Whisk. While whisking stream in a about tablespoon of sesame oil, then finish the dressing with olive oil. Taste. Adjust seasoning.

Pour dressing over the Brussels sprouts and radicchio top with poached chicken and mix to combine. Let sit for a few minutes before diving in. Chopsticks or forks are acceptable.

Cooking With Wine

A bottle of rose has done more good to cure the effects of summertime heat than any other invention, short of air conditioning. Not only is rose a great internal a/c, but it gets along exceedingly well with traditional New Orleans foods. In fact, I'll wager that pound for pound, rose, but specifically rose champagne, is the number one match for a wide variety of New Orleans foods, generally.

Mad Max's latest offering is a pink wine from the affordable line of Bastianich Wines. The 2010 Rosato is made up of 100% Refosco, which is a red wine grape which traditionally makes for a very spicy wine. Here, the flavor is softer and more apt to stand up to the hot sun of an early summer evening. This Italian version of rose, had me wishing for a plate of antipasti and a view of the water. What came out of that was what I'd consider an Italian's take on Chicken Paillard. You can find the wine at Galatoire's, Swirl, Bacchanal, and Cork & Bottle where it retails for around $14 a bottle.

Chicken Paillard-Italian Style

Begin with a chicken breast per person. Pound it out until it is half an inch thick. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, slice a red onion or shallot into half moons and toss with the juice of one lemon, the zest of said lemon, and a 1/4 cup of olive oil. Pour this over the chicken breasts, toss to coat, and let it sit while you make the relish. 

Traditionally, chicken paillard is topped with romaine, a few shreds of Parmesan, thin sliced shallots, and maybe a tomato or two. What I wanted to do with this dish, is bring in the classic Italian antipasti flavors in a "topping" form.

Begin with a good selection of olives- I like the dry, wrinkly black ones, big meaty green ones, and some Kalamata. Pit each olive. To this add some thin sliced red onion, thin slices of pickled, Italian hot peppers, some oregano, and a big, plump tomato coarsely chopped. A splash of red wine vinegar will help bring it all together. 

Grill your chicken over a medium heat. Six minutes per side should be sufficient. Top with the relish mixture, a few slivers of salty, Italian cheese (I had Pecorino in the house), and a few leaves of basil. Simply perfect, the food and wine give air conditioning a run for its money.