Recipe Pairings
Good wine deserves good food.Here are some of Michael's favorite recipes that will really complement the flavor of the wine they are matched with.
Serve With: Azur Sauvignon Blanc
This recipe is a contemporary variation of a dish I grew up on: sardella. Its aroma takes me back to my grandmother’s kitchen. When the sardines were running, a family member would drive to Monterey and get a mountain of fish to divide among the extended family. The fish would be rinsed, filleted and ground to a paste with chili powder, garlic, salt and vinegar, then packed into a crock, covered with olive oil, and stored in the cool basement. We used sardella in many ways, including folding it into bread dough and baking it. Here, I’ve incorporated many of the same seasonings, using trout because it’s widely available. You can substitute fresh sardines or mackerel if you can find them.
Serve With: Marotti Campi Rubico
This dish is packed full of flavor; everyone will love it.
If you are not a big fan of ceviche, take all the same ingredients and create a lovely warm salad as an appetizer or main course. Just skip the marinating of the scallops and sauté them in some butter or extra-virgin olive oil. Then combine all the remaining ingredients in the assembly section and add to the salad greens. Take the marinade and reduce the fruit juices by half for vinaigrette to dress the salad.
Serve With: Monchiero Carbone, Regret
A carrozza is a “carriage,” in this case the bread that sandwiches the mozzarella and delivers it to the table. Mozzarella in carrozza is southern Italy’s grilled cheese sandwich, with a little anchovy to cut the cheese’s milky sweetness and an egg batter to make a golden coat. You can cook 4 sandwiches at once if you have a griddle or 2 nonstick skillets. Otherwise, you’ll have to cook the sandwiches in batches. Keep the first batch warm in a low oven.
Quick, light, and delicate, this supper takes about thirty minutes, and that includes chopping time. I use pasta shells because they catch the juices and, since you want the scallop and pea flavors to dominate, make sure the shells are thin.
Serve With: Calluna Vineyards Cuvee , Chiarello Giana Zinfandel , Jaqk 22 Black Cabernet , Sean Minor
If you prefer, you can use strip loin, porterhouse or a rib-eye steak with this method. Remember to always use the best ingredients that you can find, from the meat to the gray salt to the balsamic vinegar. The marriage of all these ingredients will reveal a noble meal that’s still true to the cowboy way of life.
Serve With: Twenty Rows The Grappler
It is hard to have too much roasted garlic around. You can roast the little bits from the tips of the garlic heads. Put them in a separate small baking container, such as an individual custard cup. Season with salt and pepper, douse with olive oil, cover and place in the oven to bake along with the whole garlic heads. Depending on their size, they will be soft and browned in about half the time needed for the whole heads. The little pieces make a good "cook's snack" while preparing dinner, or can be squeezed into tomato sauce or onto pasta.
Michael’s Note: If you plan to serve the caponata as part of an elegant appetizer, use a sharp chef’s knife to cut the eggplant into 1/4-inch dice. If your style is more casual, you can dice them as large as 3/4 inch.
Dust meats or other ingredients just before cooking, or the flour will get gummy. The flour needs to cook for a few minutes to lose its raw flavor. It is important when adding liquids to a roux to stir while the mixture comes to a boil. Otherwise, the flour may stick to the bottom of the pan and scorch. The flavor of the stew depends on a good caramelization of meat and vegetables.
Beef chuck is recommended for the recipe but if you prefer skirt steak, flank steak or any other cut feel free to substitute. Please visit www.napastyle.com for the Grilled Avocado Rockamole recipe.
Serve With: Kaiken Malbec , The Left Bank
I have included my recipe for Chimichurri sauce. It is a great sauce or condiment (just think of it like an Argentinean “pesto”) to so many foods, be it meat, fish, poultry or vegetables. It can even be used for a salad dressing.
An absolutely delicious burger that’s quite a change from the ordinary.
Serve With: Cru Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
If you’re sautéing chicken for dinner, cook the mushrooms in the same pan after you’ve removed the chicken. They’ll pick up a lot of meaty flavor.
There are so many variations on this French classic, but I think you’ll find my version easy to make. Any flat fish can easily be substituted if sole is unavailable.
Serve With: Vevi Rueda Verdello
I went to college in Miami where the avocados are gigantic but not nearly as flavorful as the California variety. I resorted to grilling them to add some extra kick and stumbled upon a huge flavor. Back in California, the rich avocados are truly spectacular on the grill. Sometimes it is as simple as adding an unexpected technique to an expected ingredient that makes all the difference in the world.
Serve With: Nine Stones Shiraz , Reinking Zinfandel
Most people start to put BBQ sauce on their food too early when it comes to the grill, as often the sauce will burn as opposed to making things juicier and giving additional flavor. Make sure to brush the ribs with the sauce in just the last half hour. This way it enhances the flavor of the meat.
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