Wineshark Home Cooking - 21. Black Bean Sauce Spare Ribs

Ingredients (for 4):

• Spare ribs - 800g
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Black pepper - dashes
• Soy sauce - 1.5 tbsp
• Black beans - 1.5 tbsp
• Shaoxing rice wine - 2 tbsp
• Sake - 1/3 cup
• Oyster sauce - 1/2 tbsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tbsp
• Garlic - 1 clove
• Ginger - 2 tbsp
• Red chili - 1
• Corn starch - 1 tsp
• Green brassica - 12 pcs
• Oil - 1 tsp

Procedures:

1. Boil the spare ribs in water for a short while. 

2. Drip dry the spare ribs and marinate with salt and black pepper.

3. Pre-heat the staub pot and put the oil, then stir fry the green brassica. Add salt and 2 tbsp of water before covering the lid to steam for 2 minutes. Then take the vegetable out and throw away the water.

4. Marinate the spare ribs with the other seasonings.

5. Pre-heat the staub pot and put the marinated spare ribs and sauce in. After the sauce starts to boil, stir well and cover with the lid to cook for 20 minutes.

6. Switch off the stove and let the pot continue to cook for another 20 minutes.

7. Add the vegetable and heat the pot again to reduce the sauce before serving. 

Wineshark Home Cooking - 20. Salad Nicoise

Ingredients (for 4):

• Cherry tomatoes - 16
• Red bell pepper - 1
• Small onion - 1
• Asparagus - 12
• Canned tuna in brine - 240 g
• Eggs - 2
• Black olives - 12
• Salted anchovy fillets - 8
• Basil - a few sprigs
• Wine vinegar - 2 tbsp
• Virgin olive oil - 5 tbsp
• Salt - dashes
• Black pepper - dashes

Procedures:

1. Finely slice the vegetables.

2. Blanch the asparagus and red bell pepper.

3. Drain and flake the tuna.

4. Prepare the hard-boiled eggs, remove the shells and cut them into quarters.

5. Prepare the vinaigrette. Dissolve a little salt in the vinegar, add pepper, and whisk in the olive oil.

6. Arrange the vegetables and tuna attractively in a large salad dish or serving platter. Add the garnish (olives, anchovy fillets, and basil). Drizzle with the vinaigrette just before serving. 

Chateau Canon-la-Gaffeliere

Majority of leading St-Emilion estates are located on the limestone plateau around the town or on the slopes, but Canon-la-Gaffeliere is on the Pieds de Cotes, the limestone escarpment with more sandy characters towards the foot of the slope. The name is derived from gaffet, which translates as leper.

The land around the estate was the location of a leper colony, which was still in existence in the 17^th century, during which a large area was purchased by the Comte de Malets-Roqueforts. The new owners rented much of the land to share-croppers, with part of their harvest paying to the landlord.

The huge estate was divided as times went by, with a portion owned by a gentleman called Boitard becoming the current Chateau Canon-la-Gaffeliere, with the descendants of Comte de Malets-Roqueforts held on to Chatean La Gaffeliere itself.

The current owner is Comte Stephan von Neipperg, whose father Joseph-Hubert, first came into the scene. Joseph-Hubert was a descendant of Franconian nobility, the most recent generation of a long line of successful winemakers in his homeland Wurttemberg, southwest of Germany.

He bought Canon-la-Gaffeliere in 1971, but it was his son who was credited with the transformation of the estate since taking over in 1985. His recent vintages working with oenologist Stephane Derenoncourt, allowing him to expand his portfolio, including Clos de l’Oratoire, La Mondotte, Chateau d’Aiguilhe.

Located on the slopes of St-Emilion’s limestone plateau, with limestone, clay and sandy soils, it is a single block of vines with 19.5 hectares in size, planted with 55% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, with density of 5500 vines per hectare, averaging 45 years.

Stephan sees himself as a grower first, winemaker second, with his vineyard now adopting biodynamic methods, and certainly organic. Only low-nitrogen fertilizer is used, with all processes being manual, yields are severely restricted.

The fruit passes over a sorting table before fermentation in temperature controlled wooden tanks, which replaced stainless steel ones from 1997 onwards. There is pigeage of the cap and micro-oxygenation, before the wine goes into barrels for up to 19 months, 100% being renewed each year.

There is restricted use of sulphur, and in barrel the wines are aged with lees. The wine is racked only once, with regular batonnage. Very light fining and filtration is sometimes done, with the grand vin being Chateau Canon-la-Gaffeliere of about 7500 cases per annum. A second wine is made named Clos Mignon La Gaffeliere.

I have recently tasted the 2006 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has deep ruby color, with garnet rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium intensity aromas of black fruit such as blackberry, dark cherries and plum, herbal notes of tobacco leaf and eucalyptus, oak notes of cedar, kernel notes of chocolate, pungent spice of licorice, hints of maturity savory notes. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium tannin of ripe and silky texture, with medium (+) alcohol and full body. It has medium intensity flavors of black fruit such as dark cherries, plum and blackberry, some herbal notes of tobacco leaf, sweet spice of nutmeg, oak notes of caramel, kernel notes of chocolate. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion

Very good quality St-Emilion with a reasonably intense nose showing good complexity, the wine is a bit green when first opened, but after leaving to air for about two hours it opened up beautifully. On the palate it is well-balanced, with good structure and harmony, demonstrating fair concentration and complexity, with a fairly long finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 3-5 years.  

Wineshark Home Cooking - 19. Ragu alla Bolognese

Ingredients (for 4):

• Minced pork - 1 lb
• Garlic finely - 1 tsp
• Onion - 3 oz
• Celery - 3 oz
• Carrot - 3 oz
• Oil - 1.5 tbsp
• Peeled tomato - 6 oz
• Basil - 1 tsp
• Oregano - 1 tsp
• Thyme - 1 tsp
• Tomato paste - 3 oz
• Water - 500 ml
• Salt - 1.5 tsp
• White pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
• Red wine - 1 oz
• White thickening - 2 oz

Procedures:

1. Put the minced pork in oven to slightly roast it.

2. Use oil to sautee the vegetable, then add garlic and minced pork. 

3. Add the tomato paste, water and herbs.

4. Slowly cook for one hour and then add the white thickening, then season.

5. Serve with penne or other pasta.

Wineshark Home Cooking - 18. Fresh Prawn Cocktail

Ingredients:

• Fresh prawn - 20 
• Lettuce - 4 oz
• Tomato - 2
• Cucumber - 2
• Salt - dashes
• White pepper powder - dashes
• Brandy - dashes

Procedures:

1. Boil water with some celery, onion, bay leaf, whole black pepper and lemon for about 10 minutes.

2. Add the fresh prawn to cook for about 8 minutes. Once cooled down remove the shell.

3. Marinate the prawn with salt and white pepper powder, adding some brandy.

4. Put the shredded lettuce on the bottom, then put the diced tomatoes on top. 

5. Put the fresh prawns in the middle and then decorate with the cucumber on the perimeter.

6. Put the dressing on top. 

Wineshark Home Cooking - 17. Thosand Island Dressing

Ingredients:

• Onion finely - 1.5 oz
• Sweet gherkins - 1.5 oz
• Boiled egg - 1
• Mayonnaise - 5 oz
• Cold water - 2 oz
• Brandy - 0.5 tsp
• Tomato ketchup - 1.5 oz

Procedures:

1. Boil the egg and chop into small pieces.

2. Chop the onion, gherkins into small pieces, and then mix well with egg. Add mayonnaise and other ingredients.

Chateau Rauzan-Gassies

The history of Chateau Rauzan-Gassies begins with the Rauzan estate, which gave birth to both Segla as well as Gassies. The original Rauzan estate was created by Pierre des Mesures de Rauzan, who in 1661 purchased a large portion of the Medoc around Cantenac. In fact his purchases were the origin not only of his eponymous estate but also of the Pichon vineyards, passing to the Longueville family through the marriage of his daughter Therese.

A Rauzan descendant Jean was said to have chartered a ship, loaded with his wines, and sailed to London and moored on the banks of Thames, setting up as a floating wine merchant. But because the locals were not eager to buy the wines, Jean ended up emptying the wines into the river, prompting the people to buy the wines.

The quality of the wines was good then, as suggested by the purchase from Thomas Jefferson on his visit there in 1787. Later it became fragmented as it passed from one generation of the family to the next, and in 1792 during the Revolution the property was divided between Pierre Louis de Segla, who took the majority share on marrying one Rauzan daughter, and a second daughter who married the Seigneur de Gassies.

The latter portion, perhaps one-third of the original estate, gave rise to the Rauzan-Gassies of today. The chateau went with Rauzan-Segla, and the modern-day proprietors live at another of their properties, Chateau Bel Orme Tronquoy de Lalande. In the 1855 classification, both the Rauzan estates were ranked as second growths.

The property passed through the hands of several different owners afterwards, including Rhone-Peraire who is credited with doing much to improve the estate. It was in 1946 that the estate came into the hands of the current proprietors, the Quie family. Paul Quie, a wine merchant from Bercy, acquired the estate and in 1968 he passed to his son Jean-Michel who in turn passed the baton to the next generation in 2001, brother-sister duo Jean-Philippe and Anne-Francoise.

The vineyards lie around Margaux and Cantenac, on typically gravel soils but some areas sand is more predominant. The size is 28.5 hectares in total, with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. The average vine age is 35 years, planted at a density of 10000 vines per hectare, and harvested usually between 40-50 hl/ha.

Unlike many other classed growths, Rauzan-Gassies did use machine for harvesting, and with leaf removal part manual and part machine. The grapes are checked manually in the vineyard, and then machine do the rest, with Jean-Philippe an advocate for machine harvesting, not just because of labor shortage and cost.

After that the must sees a cold maceration lasting 48 hours, and up to 10% of the juice is bled off to give greater concentration in the final wine. There is temperature-controlled fermentation in stainless steel vats, followed by 12 months in oak, with 30% new barrels each vintage. The wines are blended by tasting, fined with egg white and bottled.

I have recently tasted the 2005 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has deep ruby color, with fading rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of black fruit such as cassis, blackberry and dark cherries, mineral notes of earth, oak notes of cedar, animal notes of meaty and leather, maturity notes of tobacco, kernel notes of chocolate. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium (+) acidity, the wine has medium (+) tannin of ripe and velvety texture, with medium alcohol and full body. It has medium (+) intensity flavors of black fruit such as cassis, blackberry and plum, pungent spice of licorice, oak notes of cedar and vanilla. The wine has a medium finish.

Conclusion

Good quality Margaux with a fairly concentrated nose of good complexity, the nose has good acidity balancing the robust structure of the palate, with equally intense flavors of reasonable complexity. The wine is of a nice finish on the length, overall a nice wine of good ripeness. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 2-3 years. 

Wineshark Home Cooking - 16. Apricot Tartlets

Ingredients (for 4):

First we prepare the sweet shortcrust pastry:

• Apricot - 2
• Apricot preserves - 30 g
• Flour - 125 g
• Salt - 1.5 tsp
• Butter - 60 g
• Egg yolk - 1
• Sugar - 20 g
• Water - 20 ml

Procedures:

1. Sift the flour with the salt, then rub the butter into the flour with fingertips until reaching the texture of coarse crumbs.

2. Incorporate the egg yolk, sugar and water, avoiding to overwork the dough, and form it into a ball.

3. Flatten it out with the palm to ensure it is thoroughly mixed. Chill, covered in plastic wrap, for 20 minutes.

4. Roll the dough out with a pastry roller into a circle about 3 mm thick. Cut the circles big enough to line the tartlet moulds and transfer them to the moulds. 

Then we prepare the almond cream:

• Butter - 50 g
• Sugar - 50 g
• Ground almond - 50 g
• Egg - 1
• Vanilla extract - a few drops
• Rum - 1.5 tsp

Procedures:

5. Cream the softened butter well with the sugar. 

6. Add the ground almond, and then the egg, mixing them in one by one. Add the flavorings and whisk until smooth.

7. Half fill the tart shells with the almond cream.

8. Wash the apricots, cut them in half, and remove the pits.

9. Place an apricot half in the centre of each tartlet, pressing it into the almond cream. 

10. Bake for about 20-25 minutes under 180 degree Celsius. 

11. Transfer to a cooling rack and brush them with apricot preserves, which need to liquefy a little over low heat first.

Chateau Trotanoy

It was probably the Giraud family who first planted vines in Chateau Trotanoy, and the land was referred to as Trop-Ennuie, translating to ‘too annoying’ because of the soils of thick clay and gravel being too difficult to work. During the 19^th century, the estate was comfortably positioned with the best of the appellation, including Vieux Chateau Certan and La Conseillante. It was also one of the largest, with 25 hectares.

From 1898 the estate became more parcellated, due to the Napoleonic rules of inheritance and also inheritance tax, which saw some of the vineyards sold off. With world war and economic decline the estate declined in size, which was incorporated then as the Societe Civile du Chateau Trotanoy, reducing to just 11 hectares.

The first change of hands happened after more than two centuries, shortly after World War II, to the Pecresse family. However, they did not hold the estate for long, and in 1953 it was sold again to the Moueix family, with Jean-Pierre the one who struck the deal. It is now under the next two generations of the right bank dynasty, Christian and Edouard Moueix.

The Trotanoy vineyards comprise just 7.5 hectares, positioned partly in the Pomerol plateau, partly on the slope to the west. The lower parts of the west-facing slope are rich in a dark clay which is the character for much of Pomerol , with the parts higher up much more gravel. The subsoils contain gravel and sand, and deeper is a rock-hard layer of iron-rich soil.

Jean-Jacques, Christian’s cousin, now resides in the chateau which is a modest but attractive house dating from the late 19^th century. The vines are 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, approximately 40 years on average. The harvest in Trotanoy may have finished in less than two days, even if the pickers are restricted to work in the afternoon after the warmth of the day has lifted the morning dew.

The hand-picked fruit is delivered to the cellars, where it is vinified in small concrete vats for up to ten days, followed by a week of maceration on skins. Up until 2007 it was Jean-Claude Berrouet that oversaw the operations, who also did at Petrus. With his retirement he has been replaced by Eric Murisasco, still having very similar processes as Petrus.

The main difference on the barrels at Trotanoy typically only one-third to one-half are new each vintage. The wines are kept within typically 18 months prior to bottling.

I have recently tasted the 2006 vintage and below is my tasting note:

Appearance

Bright and clear, it has medium ruby color, with fading rims and legs.

Nose

Clean, with medium (+) intensity aromas of black fruit such as blackberry and plum, herbal notes of mint, pungent spice of anise and licorice, oak notes of vanilla, kernel notes of dark chocolate, sweet spice of nutmeg, maturity notes of tobacco. The wine is developing.

Palate

Dry with medium acidity, the wine has medium tannin of ripe and silky texture, with medium alcohol and medium body. It has medium (+) intensity flavors of black fruit such as blackberry and plum, oak notes of vanilla, pungent spice of licorice. The wine has a medium (+) finish.

Conclusion

Very good quality Pomerol with a good concentrated nose of good complexity, the wine has demonstrated elegance and at the same time a firm structure, with the Cabernet Franc characters particularly strong to my surprise. The palate is equally intense and the wine finishes with a fairly long finish. It is ready to drink now though can benefit from further ageing of another 4-6 years. 

Wineshark Home Cooking - 15. Prawn Cutlets and Sesame Prawns

Ingredients of Prawn Cutlets (for 4):

• Prawns - 8
• Salt - dashes
• White pepper powder - dashes
• Flour - 1/4 oz
• Egg - 1/2
• Bread crumbs - 1/4 oz

Ingredients of Sesame Prawns (for 4):

• Prawns - 8
• Salt - dashes
• White pepper powder - dashes
• Flour - 1/4 oz
• Egg - 1/2
• White sesame - 2 tbsp
• Basil - 1/2 tsp
• Paprika - dashes

Procedures:

1. Remove the shell of prawns, retain the tail, and cut the back to flatten it. Marinate.

2. Coat with flour, egg, and then bread crumbs.

3. Mix well the white sesame, basil and paprika, and use it to replace bread crumbs for the Sesame Prawns.

4. Deep fry the prawns till golden brown.