Wine and Food
Dinner with wine used to be simple. The rule was white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat. With modern fusion cuisine and wines from new regions around the world, the choices – and confusion – are great. It helps to start with the basic principles of food and wine pairing, as they still provide a good foundation for experimenting with new world cuisines. One of the most important elements to harmonize between wine and food is flavor. Flavor encompasses spices, cooking technique, sauces and type of protein. With that said, Little Raven Vineyards offers a monthly wine and recipe pairing.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Marinated in Berry-Cherry Mostarda   
A mostarda is an old Italian concoction, a truly all-purpose product, which can be used as a marinade or reduced and used as sauce for game, chicken, or even fresh fruits. You can make it in the summer when fresh berries are inexpensive or use individually quick frozen fruits.  

WINE NOTES:
The mostarda is a classic mirror for berry and cherry flavors in red wine, and you can adjust the recipe to suit the wine, e.g.: Add more blueberries to link it to Merlot; add more cherries to link it to Cabernet; add more raspberries to link it to Zinfandel.

DESCRIPTION:
Prepare the mostarda first. In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, wine, sugar, mustard seed, lemon zest, and cinnamon stick and bring to a boil. Remove from the head immediately and stir in the fruit. Cool. The mostarda can be used at this point or it can be stored, covered and refrigerated, indefinitely. If you marinade meats in the mostarda, you can use it again – be sure to bring it to a boil and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes and then cool before reusing.

Once the mostarda is cooled, place the pork tenderloin in a non-reactive bowl or pan and add enough mostarda to just cover. Marinate, covered and refrigerated, for 4 hours overnight, turning the pork occasionally.

Prepare a charcoal fire. Remove the pork from the mostarda and gently pat off any excess marinade. Lightly brush the tenderloin with oil and grill over medium coals until just done, about 10 minutes per side.

NOTES:
If you marinade meats in the mostarda, you can use it again – be sure to bring it to a boil and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes and then cool before reusing.

Reprinted from, From Earth to the Table, by John Ash, Penguin Books, USA

Here’s a basic red-wine marinade for beef, venison, duck, buffalo, turkey, tuna and heavy-oily fish such as salmon and mackerel.  Feel free to improvise, personalize, and add ingredients to make this the foundation for your own signature barbecue marinade!

BASIC RED-WINE MARINADE

In a non-reactive bowl, combine the following:

• 2 cups of a dry and fruity red wine like Beaujolais, Chianti, New World Merlot or New World Pinot Noir;
• ½ cup of olive oil;
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped;
• ½ teaspoon of salt;
• ½ teaspoon of freshly ground pepper; and
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh seasonal herbs (thyme, rosemary, basil, cilantro) to taste.

To tenderize the meat, directly salt and pepper the beef, venison, duck, buffalo and turkey before putting into the marinade. For the fish, salt and sprinkle with lemon. Beef, game and duck can marinate in the refrigerator overnight; fish should marinate no longer than 1 hour. Rosemary pairs well with beef; basil and cilantro goes well with salmon.

Yield:  2-1/2 cups for approximately two pounds of meat.

From the test kitchens of LRV (aka Peter’ backyard) comes a new twist on Sangria. We have personally tested and crafted this recipe and have a home run according to our tasting panel (aka our neighbors). The original version of this was created by Chef Michael Reidt and served in his restaurant Sevilla in Santa Barbara, CA.

RIOJA & ALBARINO WHITE SPANISH SANGRIA

Ingredients:

 1 750ml bottle                      Albarino

1 750 ml bottle                       Rioja

1 cup                                      Cointreau

1/3rd cup                               sugar

1                                            green apple, cored, sliced thin

1                                            orange, sliced thin

1                                            lemon, sliced thin

1                                            lime, sliced thin

1                                            pear, cored, quartered lengthwise, sliced

6                                            star anise, whole

3                                            cinnamon sticks

                                              Ice cubes

Description:

 This sangria needs to be made a day ahead so that it can chill in the refrigerator over night and “marinade” the fruit.

In a large pitcher, mix the first three ingredients. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. The original recipe called for 1 cup of sugar. And to be somewhat faithful to the original recipe, we have left in a 1/3rd cup of sugar. You could leave it out if you feel strongly about no sugar. It does help soften the acidity of some of the fruits. Next prepare all the fruit and mix in. Last of all, add the cinnamon sticks and the star anise. If you are having trouble finding the star anise, try Savory Spices on at 1537 Platte, just one block over to the west from LRV. That’s where we purchase them. But good luck getting out with only the star anise…that store is amazing!

Guidelines for Selecting Wines for Cooking: