News, Events, and Recipes

Food & Wine - for the Holidays!

Try these tasty holiday recipes from Jeff's latest: The PlumpJack Cookbook; Recipes for Living Well (Rodale Press 2006). It's no surprise they match perfectly with SoloRosa dry rosé and fruity Piccolo Rosso Pinot Noir.

Goose Breast with Red Wine Gravy, Wild Rice and Braised Red Cabbage

Enjoy a succulent, rich goose breast this holiday season. It's easy to prepare (but you might have to order the goose breasts in advance from your butcher or supermarket). Braised Red Cabbage with Bacon and Wild rice complete the picture, with their crunchy texture and sumptuous flavors.

For greatest ease in the kitchen, make the rice and cabbage - and any other side dishes you might like to serve as well - in advance. The side dishes can all be kept warm or be reheated, which will leave you free to cook the breasts to order with minimum fuss.

Start with the rice:
If you don't prepare the wild rice well in advance, begin cooking it just before you start to prepare the goose and gravy. Total prep and cooking time for the rice is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Time things so that the rice is ready to eat before the goose, or you risk overcooking the meat while waiting for the rice.

Wild Rice with Mushrooms and Toasted Pine Nuts

Wild rice is not exactly rice, but is an aquatic grass seed native to North America. It was enjoyed long before the arrival of Europeans. Today, most wild rice is cultivated rather than wild.

With its nutty, firm texture, wild rice makes a versatile and refreshing alternative to other forms of rice. But like any grain, it can be somewhat plain on its own. The addition, here, of mushrooms and pine nuts adds a complex, earthy sweetness.

1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups water
1 cup wild rice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup onion, minced
4 white medium sized button mushrooms, chopped fine
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a medium pot or saucepan, salt the water and bring to a boil. Add the wild rice, bring to a boil again, reduce to simmer, and cover. Cook slowly until all or most of the water is absorbed, about 1 hour. (If water remains in the pot after 1 hour, drain the rice in a colander.) Cover and reserve.

In a large sauté pan or skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until it moves easily across the pan. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir gently to coat with the oil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the mushrooms have cooked through, about 10 minutes. (If the mushrooms start to sear, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water to the pan.)
Add the wild rice and pine nuts to the pan and toss to blend with the mushrooms and onions. Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to a large serving bowl.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish.

Braised Red Cabbage with Bacon

This tangy, spiced cabbage adds zip to a meal and works particularly well alongside the richly textured Goose Breast with Red Wine Gravy.

5 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 -inch-wide matchsticks
1 onion, diced
1 head red cabbage, shredded
1/3 cup cider vinegar
3 juniper berries
1 ½ teaspoons whole cloves, tied in a piece of cheesecloth
1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

In a large, deep-sided skillet, cook the bacon and onion over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the cabbage, vinegar, juniper berries, cloves, salt, and pepper. Stir and reduce heat to medium. Simmer uncovered, stirring every 5 or 10 minutes, until the cabbage is wilted and soft, about 30 minutes. (Add 1/4 cup water if the cabbage begins to dry out.)

When the cabbage is cooked through, remove the cloves. (The juniper berries are crunchy and edible.) Transfer to a serving bowl.

Serves 4 to 6.

Goose Breast with Red Wine Gravy

Goose, like duck, can be treated almost like a red meat. It has a seductive, earthy quality. But even if you prefer your meats well-done, try eating goose medium rare. When overcooked, it becomes tough and flavorless.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry red wine
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 full boneless goose breasts (about 1 ½ pounds each), split

Preheat oven to 400º F.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir or whisk in the flour to form a paste and continue to heat, stirring often, until it becomes nut brown, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock or broth and stir to mix. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until the volume is reduced by one half, about 15 minutes.

In a small saucepan, bring the wine to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the wine is reduced by half. When both the wine and the chicken stock are reduced, stir the wine into the stock, add salt and pepper to taste, cover, and reserve until ready to use. Reheat gravy immediately before serving.

Using a fork, poke 4 or 5 sets of holes in the skin of each goose breast. Season both sides of the breasts with salt and pepper.

Heat a large ovenproof pan or skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the breasts skin-side-down and cook until the skin is browned and crisp, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove each breast from the pan and discard the fat that has accumulated in the bottom. Place the breasts back in the pan - this time skin-side-up - and cook them in the oven until they are medium rare, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Slice each breast into 1/4-inch-thick strips (no need to let them rest), drizzle with hot gravy and serve at once.

Serves 4 to 5.