simplicity, elegance and french baked eggs

This beautiful room filled with Parisian flare is actually a dining room within a restaurant called Les Bons Enfants. The restaurant is located about 1 and 1/2 hours from Paris in northern Burgundy, France. This is how they dine out in France, surrounded by simple elegance. I frequent the web site France Today often, just to keep up with French trends and to get ideas on living my life more simply. I've come to think that living life simply is not just what you surround yourself with, but what you surround your inner self with. Your inner simplistic self creates your outer simplistic world. With that said, I'm envisioning myself at this beautiful table with family and close friends eating brunch; baked eggs, country sausage and sparkling Italian wine, Prosecco. Enjoy the recipe:

French Baked Eggs

you need enough ramekins to feed 1 eggs per person (if 4 people, then you need 4 ramekins), salt and pepper, Gruyere cheese, and heavy cream

• melt a pat of butter in each ramekin (in the microwave)
• grind a little salt and a little pepper into each ramekin
• carefully crack one egg into each ramekin (don't break the yolk)
• using a tablespoon, top each yolk with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream
• then top each with grated Gruyere cheese or cheese of your choice (about 2 tablespoons of cheese)
• put each ramekin on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for 11 to 16 minutes, depending upon how soft of hard you like your yolk. I like mine runny.

serve with county sausage and your favorite Italian sparkling wine, Prosecco.

Enjoy

Vineyard Recipes - The Beechwood Inn

The vineyard is where wine begins... Living the wine life is about living life to the fullest, eating great food, savoring great wine, and doing all this with family and friends. I am dedicating my blog in part to introduce to you great vineyards from around the world, along with that, sharing great recipes from those vineyards. It will be like taking a vacation without ever leaving your home.

My first pick is not a vineyard at all, although they do have their own wines. The Beechwood Inn is a Bed and Breakfast located in the north Georgia mountains (Clayton, GA) and was voted "Best Inn for Wine Connoisseurs". It's a place where wine lovers can go to have a fabulous 5 course gourmet dinner, made with organic ingredients matched with meticulously selected wines. Gourmet breakfast is served also. Each week there is a different region or theme to indulge in; Tuscany, Spain or the Mediterrenian, just to name a few. Inn guests are often visited by celebrated wine makers and chefs from around the world. Georgia premier wine county inn provides rustic elegance in a romantic setting.

Beechwood Inn

David and Gayle Darugh - Owners/Innkeepers
220 Beechwood Drive
Clayton, Georgia 30525
706.782.5485 or 866.782.2485

http://www.beechwoodinn.ws/

Enjoy this recipe compliments of the Beechwood Inn.......

Recipe for Gnudi

Gnudi means "nude in a Tuscan dialect and is pronounced "nudie." Its name is because it is unrobed of its usual pasta covering.

Gnudi

1 pound fresh ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1/3 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano (about 1 ounce) plus additional for garnish
1/2 teaspoon salt
Large pinch of ground white pepper
3/4 cup all purpose flour plus additional for coating
Sauce and garnishes
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
6 thin pancetta slices
12 whole fresh sage leaves
2 pounds fresh wild mushrooms (such as crimini, oyster, and stemmed shiitake), sliced
2 large shallots, chopped
6 fresh thyme sprigs
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 teaspoon black truffle oil
1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) chilled butter, diced

Preparation:

For gnudi: Line colander with several layers of cheese cloth and spoon ricotta cheese into colander. Let drain at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Beat egg, 1/3 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, salt, and white pepper in large bowl to blend. Mix in drained ricotta. Sprinkle 3/4 cup flour over and stir gently to blend, do not over stir. Cover and chill dough 1 hour.

Do ahead: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place some flour in bowl. For each gaudy, gently roll 1 heaping teaspoonful of dough into ball. Add to flour; toss to coat lightly, shaping into short log. Using the back tines of a fork roll the log several times to decorate. Place on baking sheet.

Do ahead: Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover; chill.

For sauce and garnishes: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large pot or extra-large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 pancetta slices. Cook until crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towels. Repeat with remaining pancetta. Add whole sage leaves to skillet; sauté until crisp, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to paper towels.

Heat remaining 4 tablespoons oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add all mushrooms, shallots, thyme, and chopped sage. Sauté until mushrooms brown and liquids evaporate, about 12 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl. Add broth to same skillet and boil until slightly reduced, scraping up browned bits, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Add 1 teaspoon truffle oil and mushroom mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper. Do Ahead: Sauce can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Cook gaudy in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, rearm sauce. Add butter; toss until blended. Using strainer or slotted spoon transfer gaudy to pot with sauce. Toss over medium heat until sauce coats gaudy. Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer to large shallow bowl. Crumble pancetta over. Top with sage leaves; serve with additional Pecorino.

Copyright - The European Wine Table 2009

Savannah Deux

This photo is my attempt at taking a food shot with a tini tiny camera. It is also representative of my affection for Savannah, GA. My family and I were there during the 4th of July holiday. We had a fabulous 4 days taking in the Riverstreet sights, frolicking on Tybee Island Beach, and of course eating at Uncle Bubba's. Uncle Bubba's is a seafood place that also serves wonderful side dishes like this Red Rice dish. This rice was so good I pulled out my Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen, when I got home, and made it. It tasted a little different from the restaurant version (more tomato flavor), but good just the same. This dish actually tasted sweet to me, with the tomato sauce being the predominate ingredient. I selected a young fruity Beaujolais to go with it. Yes, you can have wine with southern food. You just have to match the flavors. The Beaujolais was fruity and low in tannin. It was a great match. This dish was good enough to stand on it's own, but it could also go as a side dish with....shall we say.... fried chicken maybe? Enjoy!

Paula Deen's Red Rice

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped bell pepper

2 tbls butter

1 cup diced Hillshire Farms sausage

One 141/2-ounce can crushed tomatoes with juice

1 tbls Texas Pete or red hot sauce

1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup water

3 chicken bouillon cubes

Pepper to taste; add salt to taste if desired

1 cup uncooked white rice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and bell pepper in butter. Add sausage; heat until mixture is slightly browned. Add tomatoes, hot sauce, tomato sauce, water, and bouillon cubes. Season with pepper and salt as needed. Stir in rice. Pour mixture into a greased casserole and bake for 45 minutes.

serves 4 to 6

Monteluce Vineyards

A couple of week-ends ago, I had the privilege of attending the unveiling of Monteluce Vineyards new vintage. Monteluce is a planned vineyard community in northern Georgia, equipped with rolling vineyard hills, Tuscan inspired homes, gourmet restaurant with wine bar, and a Wine University that provides wine classes every Saturday. I had a simple lunch of macaroni with cheese (5 delectable cheeses) and pomme frites....I know...I was having a carb moment. Four new white wines were available for tasting. I paired my meal with their newly bottled Viognier. This viognier was really good. Solid fruit and acidity paired pretty nicely with my meal. The picture you're seeing in the box is my view from the restaurant. It's breathtakingly beautiful here! I could go on and on but I'm going to let their web site speak for them.

http://www.montaluce.com/tuscanstyle.php

Enjoy

Savannah

I absolutely love Savannah, Georgia! My family and I vacation there at least twice a year. I think eventually we'll have to give in and buy a home there. Each time we go we discover another great food spot, and on this trip, believe it or not, I didn't taste a drop of wine. Hard to believe I know! This trip was devoted to great food with beer.....delectable, cool-your-mouth-off, summertime beer. My beer of choice with my Vinnie Van Go-Go's pizza....Peroni. Peroni Nastro Azzurro is an Italian beer brewed in Rome. It has the perfect balance of flavor with bitter and acidity, kind of like a Heineken only smoother in taste and paler in color. This beer also went well with my husbands left over oysters from Uncle Bubba's Seafood (one of Paula Deen's restaurants). All I kept hearing was "boy that's good", after every bite and sip. Try this beer with your summertime grilled burgers and steaks and of course pizza!

Obscurity is coming back into Fashion

Have you ever heard of a grape variety called Petit Manseng? Well I had some this week-end at a winery in Northern Georgia called Tiger Mountain Vineyards. This white wine was a citrus, combined with stone fruit, bomb in my mouth. Flavors of sweet apples, subtle apricot, and honey was evident in the aroma and in its taste. I had summer written all over it. It was very good and I admit that this was the first time I've tasted this varietal, so other examples I do not know. What I do know is that this young wine was balanced in flavor and body. I couldn't even tell that the wine had a 13.5% alcohol level because there was enough acidity and fruit flavor to keep the wine balanced. When the winery owners, Dr. John and Martha Ezzard, mentioned this grape variety for sample tasting, I immediately thought....France. My second thought, after tasting it was, boy this would probably make a great dessert wine. Sure enough, after a little investigating on my part, this grape variety originated in South West France, and is the principal grape variety responsible to the great wines of Juranco. Petit Manseng is a superior form of the grape Manseng. Kind of like Brunello being the superior form of Sangiovese (Chianti). Additionally, because the grape can withstand a longer growing season, in some cases, as late as November, the grape becomes concentrated with sugar, enough to produce great sweet dessert wine. Petite Manseng is becoming a quite fashionable wine within the Languedoc region of Southern France. California is seeing some plantings, and of course you can find a great example in Clayton, Georgia, at Tiger Mountain Vineyards. 706.782.4777