Fruit and Nut Salad in a Spiced Wine Reduction

(To download a .pdf of this recipe, click HERE.)


Today’s recipe for Fruit and Nut Salad in a Spiced Wine Reduction was inspired by charoset, a delicious apples and walnut salad traditionally served as part of a Passover Seder. Since the time I was a child, it has interested me that people having charoset (pronounced char-OH-set, with the guttural ch as in “yecch!”) for the first time invariably single it out as the best tasting item on the table. And yet I have never seen it served except at Seders.


Friends, that’s about to change. Today’s recipe, a kind of charoset with an attitude, is meant for year-round use in any cultural setting.  (To paraphrase the old kosher hot dog commercial, there’s no such thing as a religious fruit salad.) The traditional sweet apples have been replaced with Granny Smith apples for their firm texture and tart taste, and balanced with pears. The customary walnuts are supplemented with almonds, and toasted for deeper flavor. Texture and flavor are added by using both dried apricots and raisins.


And then there’s the wine. Although you can use any red wine, the traditional choice is sweet and inexpensive Kosher concord grape wine as pictured. (Wine lovers, don’t be put off; while not all that good for drinking – and that’s putting it kindly – I’ve found this type of wine is surprisingly good as an ingredient in fruit dishes, desserts, and anyplace else where its high level of sweetness can serve a good purpose.) Rather than just adding the wine as is, this recipe makes it a spiced reduction to fortify the flavor, a key element to this recipe’s special taste.


(Note also that if you prefer not to cook with wine, grape juice is frequently used as a substitute.)


This recipe makes a little more than 4 cups of fruit salad.


Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees.


While the oven is preheating combine ¾ cup of sweet red wine, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon allspice, and ½ teaspoon ground ginger in a saucepan over low heat. Bring to a boil and continue to cook uncovered until the wine is reduced to about ¼ cup.

• Hint: When making reductions, I’ve found a barbeque skewer marked with the original liquid depth and the desired reduced liquid depth to use as a kind of dipstick is very helpful.
Place ½ cup of chopped walnuts and ½ cup of chopped almonds on a baking sheet, and toast for a few minutes until the nuts are slightly browned and aromatic. Turn off the oven when done.


Combine 3 Tbsp of light brown sugar, 6 ounces chopped dried Mediterranean apricots, ¼ cup dark raisins, ¼ tsp salt, the juice and zest of one medium orange, 2 peeled and finely diced Granny Smith apples, and 2 peeled and finely diced pears in a bowl.
Add the toasted  nuts and the spiced wine reduction after both have cooled.












Mix well before serving. For best flavor, refrigerate the mixture overnight, and serve cold or room temperature.



















As with any fresh fruit salad, this will hold for a couple of days. (Your family or guests will probably finish it all well before that!)


See you next week with another kitchen-tested, great-tasting recipe! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)


(To download a .pdf of this recipe, click HERE.) 

  

The Sampler Wine Merchant and my quest for Vin Jaune

All my plans were thrown out of the window last weekend, thanks to Raymond Blanc. Well, his new TV programme that is. I got so caught up in his delicious description of Vin Jaune , that i made it my mission to hunt a bottle down. And i love a challenge! Now, he also said the combination of Vin Jaune and Comte was (to be said in a French Accent) ''ze must evvenly match on urse. Even a five year old boy would enjoy it''. Any wine and cheese combination that appeals to a five year old boy, MUST be good! I was sold! So after a few strategic phone calls, the man and me finally located the prize at The Sampler Wine Merchant, in Highbury and Islington.  

This place is awesome! There are hundreds of wines to choose from, but the best bit is you can try before you buy! The sample is proportionate to the price of the bottle and with prices starting at 30p, you can really get stuck in! It was actually really nice to try wines that i would never normally go for, especially the expensive ones... 
If you need any extra advice, there are loads of wine related books, to sit and peruse at your pleasure, plus the staff are super friendly and knowledgeable.

The vibe was good too. It was rather amusing to see the place slowly fill up with Arsenal fans, who had obviously just made their way, on a high, from the match that afternoon - a subsequent check on the old iphone revealed they had thrashed Blackburn Rovers 7-1! A much more sophisticated celebration than a pint in the pub...maybe that's how they do it in north London!

 Another plus... i love any establishment that has a resident dog! Say hello to Ivy...

Celebrating Cork @ Anthropologie

Have you seen the fab window display at Anthropologie, Regent Street recently? No you say! Well, for those who are yet to see it, then get down there! You will be greeted by an impressive display, made up of no less than 37,953 corks! Oh yes, that’s a lot of wine. The display is not only visually stunning, but also carries a great message in support of the I Love Natural Cork Campaign. We need to support the cork people!


Now, I love a good theme. So when Anthropologie invited me to their wine tasting (cork=wine) event, I just couldn’t say no… although i very rarely say no to wine anyway! The event was great fun. Not only did you get to learn a little as you drank - how to quaff wine like a pro and what to look for in a good bottle -  but you also got free reign on their goooorrrgggeeous store. Which after a few glasses of the good stuff, was even more tempting than usual!

I am now also fully behind the environmentally friendly, super sustainable, down right sexy cork. Where is the pleasure in a screw top anyway? Give me that lovely ‘plonk’ sound when opening a bottle any day! Say no to Screw and yes to Cork!

Fernandez and Wells - Spanish Heaven on Lexington St

This is one of my favourite places... ever. Now, you should know, I am the kind of person who can be enticed into any establishment, if there is Jamon hanging in the window! Even if you are not a fan of the deliciousness that is cured meat, you are bound to fall in love with this place for many more reasons. The food is mouth watering (with only top notch ingredients used), the wine selection delicious and the staff friendly and knowledgeable, but the great thing about this place is the atmosphere. It is so comfortable and relaxing, that inevitably a quick drink easily turns into a bottle with food - not that I'm complaining! A great place to meet friends, enjoy an intimate date or indulge in a cheeky glass of wine on a Wednesday night! Get a feel for the place (and food) here.

Order in the Court: A Non-Traditional Court Bouillon for Poaching Fish and Vegetables

Greetings, faithful readers. Before we get to this week's recipe, one I hope you'll find different and interesting, there's a bit of news to share. Kissing the Cook is now linked onto Facebook! Just sign on, look up Kissingthecook Recipes (or search for the e-mail address kissthecookben@ymail.com), and, if you like, send a friend request. I promise it will be accepted. :-)


And now for our regularly scheduled recipe.


A classic (a polite word for "old"), tasty, and healthy way to prepare fish or vegetables is to poach them in a court bouillon.  Fortunately for us all, this wonderful and simple cooking method is making a comeback.


Court bouillon is quick and easy to put together. (In fact, it's a French term for “quick broth.”) There’s a modest bit of cooking time involved, but the broth doesn’t require very much attention while this is going on. And poaching itself cooks the meat or vegetables in just a few minutes which, for most of us hurried souls, adds to the method’s appeal. Court bouillon ingredients can vary from cook to cook, but all follow a basic structure of acid, water, herbs, and usually some vegetables. The acid is typically something like dry white wine or a good quality vinegar.


Being from the part of New Jersey which the locals usually refer to without the “New,” I was inspired to create my own take on all of this that I call, “Hudson County Court” Bouillon. The recipe follows. You’ll see that one of the key elements here is that the dry white wine is replaced by a good quality beer. (This is Jersey, after all.) To offset the bitterness that sometimes comes from cooking down beer, I’ve also replaced the water with vegetable stock.


And although it's not the usual way to use court bouillon, it also seemed to me that after the poaching has infused it with the essence of the cooked fish or vegetables, the remaining liquid could be turned into a very nice gravy-type sauce that would tie the whole dish together. As described below, a few additional ingredients do the job.


So all rise: Hudson County Court Bouillon is now in session. Judge for yourself. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)


To make enough to poach, and have sauce for, three or four servings of fish or vegetables, begin by combining the following in a pan:  8 ounces of beer; 1-1/2 cups vegetable stock; 1 teaspoon dried parsley; 1 medium onion, chopped, with about 2 tablespoons set aside for making the sauce later); 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon whole peppercorns, 1 bay leaf; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 1 stalk celery, chopped; and 1 carrot, chopped. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer it uncovered for about 20 minutes. When it’s done simmering, strain the mixture (discarding the solids) and return the liquid to the pan.


Bring the liquid to a boil, add the fish or vegetables to be poached, and lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer until the fish or vegetables have finished cooking. How long this takes depends on what your’re cooking, of course, but it should generally be only a few minutes, so keep an eye on it. When the fish or vegetables have finished cooking, remove them from the liquid and set them aside while you make the sauce.


To make the sauce, add the butter substitute, flour, and the 2 tablespoons of chopped onion you set aside earlier to the liquid, adding the flour slowly and whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Add the honey, then continue to cook over low heat until the sauce is the desired thickness, continuing to whisk constantly.


You’re done! All that’s left is to top the fish or vegetables with the sauce and serve warm.


As always, for a notebook-ready cookbook-style copy of this recipe, or any other recipe from this site, just post a comment asking for it (or send me an e-mail) and I’ll get it right out to you.


See you next week! Till then, stay well, keep it about the food, and always remember to kiss the cook. ;-)