Flaherty Wines

Viking bread

Vikings are big in the Flaherty household. Viking history, Viking lore, Viking artifacts—why not Viking cuisine? For some time now, Sean has been asking for Viking bread. What, precisely, is Viking bread, you ask? We decided it should be dark and dense, yet soft and not heavy. It should be loaf-shaped, but not baked in a bread pan. To meet these criteria, I went with a dark rye. Now, the Americas had not yet been discovered in Viking times, so chocolate and coffee really have no place in Viking bread (and modern purists don’t suffer such ingredients in their black bread either), but I like the rich flavor and deep, dark color they contribute. You could leave them out if you wanted something more authentic–or do as I did and just fail to mention it to your discerning Viking consumer.

Viking bread

For the sponge:

1/2 cup tepid water
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
1/2 cup white flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let sit until softened. Add the flours and stir briskly with a wooden spoon for 100 strokes. Cover with a wet towel and let a sit at room temperature for two to three hours. If you want to do this step the night before, let it sit for an hour before refrigerating so that the fermentation gets started, then bring it out of the refrigerator an hour or so before using.

For the main dough:

The sponge (above)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 ounce unsweetened baking chocolate

1/2 cup warm water
pinch sugar
1 tablespoon yeast

2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2  1/2 cups rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
4 cups white flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

Olive oil (for the rising bowl)

Melt the butter, honey, and chocolate in the top of a double boiler, then set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1/2 cup water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand until the yeast softens and begins to bubble (about five minutes).

In a separate bowl, combine the rye flour, whole wheat flour, wheat bran, salt, coffee, and 1 cup of the white flour. Stir with a whisk to blend.

When the yeast is proofed, add the additional 2 cups water, the vinegar, the flour mixture, and the melted chocolate mixture to the bowl of the electric mixture. (The chocolate mixture must be cooled to around room temperature, or you could kill the yeast. I usually add it on top of the flour to help prevent that.) Mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed for one minute, until the dough is smooth and satiny. Switch to the dough hook and add two cups of the remaining white flour. Once the flour is incorporated into the dough, knead on the lowest or next-to-lowest speed for 15 minutes. Add as much of the remaining one cup of flour as necessary to make a fairly stiff dough (it will clump around the dough hook, but still stick to the bowl at the base). Continue kneading for five more minutes. The finished dough will pull back when you pinch it, indicating good elasticity.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl. (I like to use a tall bowl, so that the dough rises up rather than out.) Turn the dough once to coat with oil, cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm, dry place until doubled in bulk (about an hour).

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead briefly, then divide in two equal pieces. To shape the loaves, roll tightly into a log, pull the ends around to the seam side, and pinch the end and long seams tightly. Place the loaves seam-side down on a greased baking sheet. (I strongly prefer using a double-layer insulated baking sheet, to prevent burning.) Cover the loave lightly with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise until more than double in bulk (about an hour and a half to two hours). This is a heavy dough, so it is essential to give the the yeast time to do its work to get plenty of air into the bread.

Half an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 350 F. If you like, slash the loaves decoratively with a serrated knife; I left mine smooth for a more rustic effect. Bake the loaves for about 50 minutes, until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Carefully transfer the loaves to a baking rack (they aren’t as stiff as baguettes). Cool completely before slicing.

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Wine fair review

We had a great time pouring at the Feria Vinos de Chile last week. It was fun to chat with many old friends and also meet people trying our wines for the first time. Both our 2009 blends were very well received. And we’re seeing the first feedback in the press. In his review of the wine fair, Daniel Greve highlighted four MOVI wines, including the Flaherty 2009 Limarí blend. Here’s what he writes (translated from Spanish):

“With a distinctive, elegant style, Flaherty is a 2009 red blend of syrah, cabernet sauvignon, and carmenère. This juicy wine has good depth and a note of hibiscus flower tea, together with a lot of red fruit—it’s exquisite, well-defined, and playful. If you run across any of these gems [note: in addition to Flaherty, the review covers iLatina 2009 Carmenère, Lagar de Bezana 2010 Porfiada, and Polkura 2009 Malbec], don’t think twice about giving them a try. Each one, with its own individual style, is worth the chance.”

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Feria Vinos de Chile 2011

Flaherty Wines is scheduled to participate in the Feria Vinos de Chile 2011, to be held in the Hotel Plaza San Francisco in the center of Santiago this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (28–30 September) from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm. Ed and I will be pouring the just-released 2009 Limarí and 2009 Aconcagua blends. If you are in town, be sure to stop by the MOVI area of the tasting and say hello!

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Winter roundup

Spring has arrived in the Southern Hemisphere. The days are getting longer and the sun brighter, California poppies are blooming along the roadside, and the birds are chattering in the garden again. In the winery, rising temperatures mean the start of malolactic fermentation. During winter, the barrel cellar is too cold for the malolactic bacteria to do its work, so every vintage’s ML fermentation is delayed until spring. Ed reports that our 2011 lots had some pressure in the barrels when he was topping this weekend. That gas build-up is a sure sign that malolactic is well underway. Once it gets going, it should ferment through quickly.

It didn’t rain on 18 September (Chilean folklore has it that there is always rain on Dieciocho, Chile’s independence day ), but we did get a few good storms in August. Even so, Aconcagua has only received around half the rainfall of a typical year. That’s even lower than in 2010, which was a very dry year. The central valley to the south has received more (around two-thirds of normal), and the far south is about on par with normal levels. Unfortunately, it’s looking like another drought year north of Santiago.

Ed pruned the vineyard on 27–28 August. The plants generally look healthy and are responding well to the new head training implemented last year. They are just showing the first signs of bud break, with fuzzy little pussy-willow nodules just starting to form.

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Chocolate peanut butter pie

When Ed took the boys skiing recently, I made peanut butter cookies to go with their picnic lunch. Sadly, the cookies came back in crumbs—they did not stand up to being carried around in a backpack all day. I was not about to let all that effort go to waste, however, so decided to use them to make a cookie crust for some sort of pie. Since chocolate is the natural partner to peanut butter, I went with a chocolate cream filling, then added a peanut butter filling to make sure the flavors were well balanced. That turned out to be way too much filling for a standard pie pan. I used a 9-inch springform pan instead, which created a “pie” that was nearly two inches tall. The final result was beautiful, delicious, and very, very rich…

Chocolate peanut butter pie

For the crust:

2 cups peanut butter cookie crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
6–7 tablespoons melted unstalted butter

For the cookie crumbs, you can either process them in a food processor or put them in a Ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. To make the crust, combine the crumbs and the sugar. Add about 6 tablespoons of the butter and combine with a fork. If the mixture is very dry, add the rest of the butter.

Butter a 9 inch springform pan, then press the cookie mixture firmly onto the bottom and about halfway up the sides. Chill in the freezer while you make the filling.

For the peanut butter filling:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the vanilla in a saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly, until everything is combined and the sugar is dissolved. Add the vanilla and set aside.

For the chocolate cream filling:

6 egg yolks
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup corn starch
2  1/2 cups milk, divided
1 cup cream
60 grams (4 tbsp) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
200 grams dark chocolate (70%)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl, then add the flour, corn starch, and 1/2 cup milk. Whisk until fairly smooth, then set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the rest of the milk with the cream, butter, sugar, and salt. Heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the sugar is dissolved. Add a small spoonful of hot milk to the eggs and mix; repeat a few times to fully temper the eggs, then pour the the egg mixture into the hot milk. Whisk until fairly smooth, then switch back to the heatproof spatula. Bring the mixture to a simmer and continue simmering for one minute, stirring constantly but gently. After the minute is up, turn off the heat and add the chocolate. When the chocolate has melted, add the vanilla and whisk to blend. Strain the filling.

To assemble the pie, quickly reheat the peanut butter filling so that it is a little runny. Remove the crust from the freezer. Pour half the warm chocolate mixture into the pan, carefully spoon on the peanut butter filling and smooth evenly over the pie, then top with the rest of the chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap (I lightly buttered the plastic first, which kept it from sticking but also left a little butter on the top of the pie) and chill for at least four hours. Remove the outer rim of the springform pan before serving.

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Eggplant and barley salad

One of the fun things about traveling is being inspired by new food combinations. In Ireland, I really liked the use of whole grains like barley in vegetable salads and side dishes. I’ve always liked the idea of barley, but the one time I tried to fix it years ago, it was a disaster—the barley just would not soften no matter how long I boiled it. I came home from Ireland determined to try again. And I succeeded! I first soaked the barely overnight as for dried beans, after which they boiled up very quickly.

This dish works well as either a side dish or served on a bed of greens for a light lunch, perhaps with a bit of feta or smoked goat cheese sprinkled over the top to make it more substantial.

Eggplant and barley salad

1 cup cooked barely (see note)
3 medium eggplants
2 small zucchini or yellow squash
6 sun-dried tomatoes (oil-packed), sliced
8 black olives (such as Kalamata), pitted and chopped
1/2 cup (packed) basil, chopped
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Chop the eggplant into bite-sized chunks. Sprinkle generously with salt and let sit for at least an hour. Preheat the oven to 350F. Rinse off the salt, pat dry,  coat lightly with olive oil, and place in the oven to roast. Total roasting time is about an  hour. After fifteen minutes, add the zucchini (also chopped into bite-sized pieces). Stir to mix, adding more oil if necessary, and return to the oven. Continue roasting until soft, stirring every 15 minutes.

When the eggplant and zucchini are done, combine with the barley, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and basil. Season to taste with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. (Note that it probably won’t need much salt, as the eggplant is likely to retain some salt despite the rinsing.) Serve warm or cold, alone or on a bed of greens.

To cook barley

Rinse one cup of barley, cover generously with cold water, and let soak overnight. Drain the soaked barely. Bring one to one and a  half cups of water or chicken stock to a boil. Add the barely and boil for about five minutes, until the barley is soft but still chewy. Drain off any excess liquid.

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Braised leg of lamb

My recent trip to Europe included a visit to friends in the Tarn region of France, near the wine region of Gaillac. What a beautiful area! I was there at the height of summer, so the markets were bursting with fresh summer produce and fragrant herbs. Of course, every market also features a cheese seller, an olive seller, a charcuterie stand, and a variety of fresh crusty bread, so I could have spent hours (and many euros) just browsing the wares. It was frustrating, though, to be so far from my kitchen. My friends came up with the perfect solution: they generously loaned me their kitchen, opened a bottle of a local rosé for an aperitif, and invited friends to join us for dinner. The menu featured braised leg of lamb, accompanied by roast potatoes (with red onions, garlic, and rosemary), eggplant, yellow summer squash, some amazing cheeses, and several bottles of excellent reds. For dessert, Juan Carlos made an incredibly rich chocolate tart. Fear not–the tart recipe will follow shortly. [Unfortunately, my camera was in California at the time, so once again, no photos.]

Braised leg of lamb

1 boneless leg of lamb, trimmed of fat and tied into a roast
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
3 cups chopped tomatoes
1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine
3 sprigs rosemary (6–8 inches each)
2 sprigs thyme (about 4 inches each)
2 bay leaves
4–6 large sprigs parsley
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 300 F (120C). Season the lamb all over with salt and pepper. Heat a little olive oil in a pot large enough to hold the lamb (not too big, not too small). Sear the lamb on all sides, taking the time to brown it well. Remove the lamb to a plate and add the onions to the pot, stirring as they cook to scrape up the browned bits from the lamb. When the onions are softened, add the carrots and garlic. After a few minutes, add the tomatoes and wine. Bring to a simmer. Nestle the lamb into pot, adding any accumulated juices. The stock should just about cover the lamb (and it must be at least halfway up to braise properly). If necessary, you can add another chopped tomato and a bit more wine to increase the volume of the stock. Tuck the herbs down into the stock on either side of the lamb.

Cover the pot and place it in the preheated oven. Braise for two and a half hours, until the lamb is quite tender. About halfway through the cooking, turn the lamb over so it evenly absorbs the flavor and color of the stock. When done, remove from the oven and cool completely—at least a few hours or even overnight.

To serve, skim the fat from the surface, then remove the lamb to a plate. Strain the stock, pressing the vegetables to get as much of the stock as you can; discard the veggies. Bring the stock to a boil in a wide sauce pan, and continue simmering until reduced by half. Blend the cornstarch with a little cold water, then whisk into the stock. Slice the lamb and reheat it in the sauce. Serve with rice or potatoes.

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