Monday Night Fish: Salmon with Watermelon Heirloom Tomato Salad

After a bit of overindulging in the food department in Vegas this past weekend, I knew my body needed to return to eating light. Last night's Monday Night Fish was inspired by the beautiful heirloom tomatoes that my mother-in-law gave Big N and I from her garden.

I sliced the yellow heirlooms and stacked the slices vertically with sliced watermelon, held together by a dollop of fresh ricotta cheese in between each layer. I drizzled a little balsalmic vinegar and olive oil, sprinkled celtic sea salt for flavor, and garnished with fresh basil for fragrance. The mild ricotta went well with the sweetness of the heirlooms and watermelon, and the salt provided flavor and texture to this colorful summer salad.

For the salmon I kept it light and simple, seasoning it with salt, pepper, a bit of olive oil, searing on both sides, and finishing it up in a 400 degree oven.

I placed the salmon on a bed of sauteed sugar peas, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little sugar to carmelize.

In under 20 minutes we had dinner on the table, complete with a crisp Cottonwood Canyon Chardonnay. A perfect summer meal.

Focus on Santa Barbara Wine Country: Lincourt Cabernet

Santa Barbara wine country, which sits on the southern part of the Central Coast, is mostly known for its Pinots and Chardonnays, and sometimes known for the raucous throngs of mid-twenties limo riding bachelorette party going sorority chick types looking for a thrilling weekend too far from Vegas. There really should be a name for the whipper snappers that come to wine country to party, during the day mind you, by traveling from tasting room to tasting room, annoying both proprietors and the serious wine patrons. There's no need for anybody to collect signatures with a sharpie on your tutu'd ass. I don't care how much free wine you've sipped!

But back to my point...

Santa Barbara's neighboring Santa Ynez mountains are unusual because they run east-west, and funnel the flow of ocean breezes inland so the fog hugs the hillsides, creating a cooler Burgundian climate in which pinots thrive. The better wines will come from one of three AVAs (American Viticulture Area): Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Ynez Valley, and Santa Maria Valley. Some of my favorite producers are Babcock, Melville, Dierburg, Starlane, Foxen, Black Jack, and Consilience. Consilience is one of the many producers enjoying success with the Rhone varietals, such as Syrah, Viognier, and Roussanne.

This region is still gaining in popularity since the 2004 sleeper hit "Sideways," (mostly likely the culprit for bringing the aforementioned undesirables), but wines here have been steadily gaining respectability all on their own, thanks to the amazing and dedicated producers and a thriving wine community.

Lesser known among Santa Barbara gems is the mighty Cabernet Sauvignon. Big N and I recently enjoyed a fine specimen from Lincourt: the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from La Cuesta Vineyard.

Lincourt is a sister winery to one of Santa Barbara's most acclaimed producers, Bill Foley of Foley Estates. Named after his daughters, Lindsey and Courtney, Lincourt Estate contains just 30 acres and makes smaller production wines. The La Cuesta vineyard sits on an elevated hillside facing the southeast. With just 8 acres of cabernet grapes, each vintage is carefully nurtured and aged in french oak for over two years.

This bottle was one of the easiest drinking Cabs I've ever tried, completely approachable for the Cab-intimidated. Bursting with violets, sweet tobacco, cedar, and rose petals on the nose and dark fruits like plum and blackberry, tobacco, espresso, and canela on the palate. It's a younger drinking wine, enjoy now, and pair with anything off the grill, from hamburgers to lamb rib chops. You'll find this one for about $30, and it's a bargain at that.

18,000 BTU's of Joy: Filet Mignon Restaurant Style

Big N bought LCG a new toy for my birthday: a spectacular Thermador gas cooktop with an 18,000 BTU power burner and extra low simmer burners. The gas cooktop replaced the electric cooktop our house came with that was the bane of my chefly existence (the prior owners obviously didn't cook a lick). I can't understand why a person living outside of Florida would ever want to install electric cooking appliances; it's all about the FIRE people. But I rant.

So last night we took the new Thermador out for a spin with some bacon wrapped filet mignon. Ordinarily Big N demands to barbecue any kind of meat but last night I got my way and cooked up the steaks restaurant style (read: sizzling in a vat of butter). For the filets I pierced with a fork, seasoned with salt and pepper, and wrapped them with bacon tied with a bamboo toothpick. I fired up some grape seed oil using all 18,000 BTUs and added butter (clarified is best) when my oil started smoking. I seared the heck out of my filets on both sides, basting them with the juices while searing. After turning to sear the second side I popped them into a 550 degree oven to finish them off. For sides I made some Israeli cous cous with sun dried tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms, and spicy sauteed okra.
We served the steaks with a 2005 Consilience Estelle Vineyard Syrah from Santa Barbara County. The syrah tasted of rich dark fruits, blackberies and plums, slightly jammy and bit of leather. The wine unfortunately was too hot (15.5% on the label but tasted like it was higher in alcohol) and overpowered the filets. Though we love Consilience, it was a bit disappointing. We suspect that Consilience, which only buys its grapes, has been losing some of its prime contracts with growers who have turned to making their own wine instead of selling their grapes(like Star Lane and Dierburg). But we'll still give them a chance because the folks there are incredibly warm and generous (they refilled a 9 liter bottle we bought for our wedding, no questions asked, when we popped the cork by leaving it out in the sun too long). Hopefully next year's wine club shipments will be better.

The steak was a success, tender, juicy, oh so rich and a joy to cook thanks to my new gas cooktop. No more electric crap. LCG is happy in her kitchen once more.

French Cuisine in Agua Dulce: Le Chene

Our very good friends H+M reside in the Santa Clarita Valley and while we enjoy wining and dining with them, we have to do a little digging to find non-chain restaurants on their side of town that meet our admittedly snobby foodie expectations. This weekend we were blown away by Le Chene, a nearly 30-year old french bistro on Sierra Hwy in Agua Dulce.

The restaurant resembles a large stone wine cellar, fitting considering the spectacular wines we found within. For starters, H & I split the tongue vinaigrette while the boys had crab cakes. I haven't had tongue in years but this tasted better than I remember. It was served cold with a tangy tomatillo vinaigrette, and was tender and tasty. As long as you don't think too much about what you're actually eating, it's quite good. Next I ordered creme of lettuce soup, which resembled split pea in color and thickness. The soup was rich and perfectly seasoned.

Back to the wine, Le Chene's list is worth the trek to Agua Dulce. It boasts hundreds of french bottles spanning decades, including Ch. d'Yquem, a few Margauxs, and several Ch. Lafite-Rothchilds, among other notable bottles. Best of all the mark-up is nearly non-existent. Here you can try amazing french wines rarely seen outside of private libraries at reasonable prices. We decided to stay in Bordeaux, and started the evening with a 1995 Ch. Moulinet-Lasserre from Pomerol (a very good year for the right bank Bordeauxs, think Petrus!). Our timing was perfect, as this find was tasting beautifully. Merlot dominant, on the nose we picked up rich earth, mushroom, violets, and dark chocolate, while on the palate we experienced mostly dark, ripe fruits including black cherry and plum, and a little clove and cinnamon. Gorgeous.

By the time our dinners arrived (filet au poivre for me and H, ostrich medallions for Big N, and buffalo steak for M), we were so thrilled with our right bank beauty we ordered a 2001 Ch. D'Assault Grand Cru Classe from St. Emilion (yes, the same D'Assault that makes airplanes). This wine, also from the right bank and merlot dominant with cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, was more fruit forward on the nose, with bing cherries, ripe blackberries, white floral, and wood, and lush ripe deep fruits and cardamon spice on the palate. It paired beautifully with my perfectly cooked filet and rich buttery au poivre sauce.

Dessert of chocolate covered poached pears and vanilla ice cream was good but not memorable, but I forgive them for it.

We had a wonderful time, and can't wait to return to raid Le Chene's wine cellar again.

Wine Pairing Dinner: Pinot Noir and TBA

Big N and I took a trip to our cellar to drop off some wine and pick out a couple that have come of age. Last night we invited friends H & M over for a wine pairing dinner featuring two of our favorites: Pinot Noir and late-harvest Trockenbeerenauslese (this one was of the Ortega grape varietal, a Müller-Thurgau hybrid similar to Reisling), or TBA for those in the know.

We started off the evening with Penner-Ash 2006 Willamette Valley Pinot, paired with two sheeps milk cheeses, Dante- a hard cheese, and Guilloteau Berger de Rocastin- think brie but with more barnyard qualities. The pairing was beautiful. The Pinot was spicy, earthy, with plenty of terroir typical for the dark volcanic soil of the Willamette Valley, more old world style. The spiciness was complemented perfectly by the creaminess of the Guilloteau.

For dinner we did a surf and turf: ginger sake glazed grilled salmon, ginger garlic and soy marinated flank steak, sweet potatoes with clove, cinnamon and maple syrup glaze, and sauteed spinach garnish. We paired that with a Pinot from one of our favorite Central Coast producers: Cottonwood Canyon 2001 Elizabeth's Vista Pinor Noir from the Santa Maria Valley. This pinot had some age to it, so it was a beautiful crystal clear garnet color, with strawberries and cream, soft leather and scented tobacco notes and a touch of gaminess, and dark fruits on the lingering finish. Not as spicy or earthy as the Penner-Ash, but the ginger and clove in the meal complemented the wine well.

For dessert I cooked a recipe from The Wine Lovers Dessert Cookbook. 'Tis the season for Quince! I made individual Quince Pot Pies, spiced up with cloves and cinnamon, and added a little TBA to the mix because cooking with wine never hurt anybody. We paired it with the TBA of course, Villa Palatina 2005 Ortega Trockenbeerenauslese from the Pfalz region. This wine was a beauty- it can be aged 40 years! Amber golden color, peachy notes with stone fruit and molasses on the palate. The wine is so viscous it reminds me of maple syrup. The apple/peachy quality of the quince and the buttery flaky topping brought out the creaminess and tempered sweetness of the wine.

My tummy was satisfied and my palate was quenched. Not a bad way to spend a mellow Saturday with friends.