Recipe: Rösch Bakehaus Pretzel Bread Pudding with Rougaroux 13 Pennies Praline Sauce

by Chef Aimee Tortorich

One of the best desserts that you will find in the Deep South is bread pudding. In Louisiana, we take our bread pudding seriously, and rightly so. So simple to make, but celebrated by all, it is no mistake that this dessert canvases menus across the state.

We like sticking to the basics: bread, custard, and rum sauce. No crazy fillings, just bread pudding done right. For our version, we decided to use pretzel bread from our friend Jim Osborne at Rösch Bakehaus. After having a surplus of pretzel buns left over from Brats & Brews at Great Raft Brewing last fall, we decided to give it a shot. The finished product was stunning. A little salt, a bit of sweet and a lot of love made it a perfect bread pudding. Check out Rösch Bakehaus for pretzel bread that is sure to make a difference in your next bread pudding!

Rösch Bakehaus Pretzel Bread Pudding with Rougaroux 13 Pennies Pecan Praline Sauce

Pretzel Bread Pudding
Yields 30 servings

20 bratwurst or hamburger sized pretzel buns from Rösch Bakehaus
1 ½ quarts heavy cream
20 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons of vanilla extract
1 tablespoons of cinnamon

Praline Rum Sauce

2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup Rougaroux 13 Pennies Praline Rum from Donner Peltier Distillers
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups pecan pieces

Praline Pretzel Bread Pudding served at a holiday party

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F.

Crumble pretzel buns with hands into small pieces and set aside. Mix together egg yolks, whole eggs, and sugar until smooth. Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, and cinnamon to egg and sugar mixture. With your hands, mix custard with pretzel crumbled until it resembles oatmeal consistency. Bake uncovered until middle is set and top is golden brown, about 45 minutes.

For rum sauce, heat brown sugar and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add rum, cream, cinnamon and pecan pieces and simmer until thickened. Serve over bread pudding.

Praline Pretzel Bread Pudding served at a luncheon in New Orleans

Recipes: September Class at Fresina's with Anolon

Each month I block out a couple days to do a cooking class at Fresina's Pasta Company at the Drusilla Shopping Center in Baton Rouge.  Since they are an Italian specialty shop with homemade pastas, I make an Italian inspired menu for a group of up to eight people.  Over wine or local beers, I teach some tricks and show off some recipes.  It is always a good time and everybody leaves full from a homemade lunch.

Tomato Sauce for Bruschetta in Analon's "Everything Pan"

In September I made a menu of Italian Sausage Caprese Bruschetta, Chicken Canzanese over Creamy Polenta, and Double Chocolate Fennel Biscotti inspired by fellow Virtual Potlucker Food Hunters Guide.  I also got to use my new pans that Anolon sent me for the first time.  I cooked the sauce for the bruschetta on the 9.5" Nouvelle Copper Stainless Steel "Everyday Pan."  The chicken canzanese was cooked in the 5 quart covered saute from the Anolon Advanced series.  Feel free to check out Anolon on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about their pots and pans.  These two were certainly incredible, especially the Anolon Advanced saute pan which held ten chicken thighs and cooked them up wonderfully with no sticking anywhere in sight!  Here are the recipes for the class.  I hope you enjoy!

Course 1: Bruschetta with Fresina’s Italian Sausage, Creamy Mozzarella, Spicy Tomato Sauce, Fresh Basil, and a reduction of Fresina's Balsamic Vinegar

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 lbs Fresina’s Italian Sausage
2 cups white wine of drinkable quality to cook with
10 cloves of garlic, peeled and divided, mince half the cloves
1 leek, diced
1/2 jar of red pepper chunky tomato sauce from Fresina’s
10 leaves fresh basil
1 baguette of Italian or French bread
1 block of fresh or aged Mozzarella from Fresina’s
Makes 8-10 servings

BALSAMIC REDUCTION
1/3 Cup Fresina’s Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

Place balsamic, sugar, and cayenne in small sauce pan over medium heat.  Allow to simmer and reduce by half until it coats the back of a spoon.

Preheat the oven to 350F

Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom to a large saute pan or high-walled skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the sausage in its casings on all sides as much as possible for 5 minutes or so.  In a second skillet, or in this case Anolon's Everyday Pan, heat enough olive oil to over the bottom of the pan over medium heat, then add the diced leak and the five minced cloves of garlic and sauté until soft, 2-3 minutes.

When the sausage has browned, add one cup of the wine and simmer the sausage uncovered in the wine.  If you need to speed up the cooking process at any time, cover the pan.  When the leaks and garlic are ready, add the tomato sauce and stir.  Reduce heat to simmer.

Slice the baguette on a bias (diagonally) into oval pieces that are approximately a quarter inch thick.  In a food processor, add the five whole garlic cloves and approximately a 1/3 cup of olive oil.  Blend until the garlic is fully incorporated into the olive oil.  Brush the garlic oil onto the bread slices that are arranged on baking sheet.  Place the bread in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes.  During the 10 minutes, stir the simmering tomato sauce, balsamic that is reducing, and flip over the sausage.  If the pan has run out of wine to simmer in, add the other cup of wine in with the sausage, or add a cup of water.  Also, slice the mozzarella into pieces that will fit nicely on the bread slices.  When the 10 minutes is up, remove the bread from the oven.  While it cools slightly, slice the sausage on the bias into pieces that will fit on the bread and are about the same thickness as the bread.  Start building the bruschetta by placing a slice of sausage followed by a slice of cheese onto each of the pieces of bread.  Place them back in the oven for another 5-6 minutes to melt the cheese.

When the bruschetta comes out of the oven, spoon the tomato sauce over each piece, followed by a drizzle of the balsamic reduction.  Top them with the basil chiffonade to garnish.  Eat immediately.

Course 2: Chicken Canzanese - White Wine Braised Chicken Thighs with Crispy Skin
served over Creamy Polenta

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
4 medium garlic cloves , sliced thin lengthwise
8-10 skin-on chicken thighs (about 3 pounds)
2 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups white wine of drinkable quality to cook with
1 cup chicken stock
4 whole cloves
6-8 whole fresh basil leaves
12 whole fresh sage leaves
2 bay leaves
1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed oven safe saute pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add pancetta and cook, stirring frequently, until just starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Add garlic slices and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is golden brown, about 1½ minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer garlic and pancetta to small bowl and set aside. Do not rinse pan.

Increase heat to medium-high; add remaining 2 teaspoons oil and heat until just smoking. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with ground black pepper and kosher salt. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook without moving until well browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Using tongs, turn chicken and brown on second side, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to large plate.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons fat from pan. Sprinkle flour over fat and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Slowly add wine followed by the stock; bring to simmer, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Cook until liquid is slightly reduced, 3 minutes. Stir in cloves, sage leaves, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and reserved prosciutto and garlic. Nestle chicken into liquid, skin side up (skin should be above surface of liquid), and bake, uncovered, until meat offers no resistance when poked with fork but is not falling off bones, about 1 hour. (Check chicken after 15 minutes; broth should be barely bubbling. If bubbling vigorously, reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.)

Using tongs, transfer chicken to serving platter and tent with foil. Remove and discard sage leaves, cloves, and bay leaves. Place skillet over high heat and bring sauce to boil. Cook until sauce is reduced to 1¼ cups, 2 to 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in lemon juice, and butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Plate chicken over the polenta and pour sauce around chicken.  Garnish with chiffonade of basil and serve.

Polenta:
4 cups water, plus more as needed
4 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups polenta
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan

In a large saucepan, bring the water, milk and butter to a boil. Add 2 teaspoons of salt to the water and whisk in the polenta. Whisk constantly for 3 to 4 minutes to prevent lumps. Simmer for 45 minutes, partially covered and stirring every 10 minutes, until the polenta is thick, smooth, and creamy. Remove from heat.  Add the sour cream and Parmesan. Check for seasoning and adjust consistency by adding milk or water to the polenta.

Course 3: Double Chocolate Fennel Biscotti

2 Cups Unbleached AP Flour
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Ground Fennel
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
3/4 Stick (6 Tablespoons) Butter, Softened
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a large baking sheet.

In a bowl whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, ground fennel seeds, and salt. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined.  Add vanilla.  Mix in flour mixture a little at a time.  Stir in chocolate chips.

On the prepared baking sheet with floured hands, form the dough into two slightly flattened logs, approximately 2 inches wide.  Bake for about 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes.  Cut logs diagonally into slices.  Arrange cut sides down on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes. Cool on a rack.

True Lemon Panna Cotta with Pontchatoula Strawberries

True Lemon Panna Cotta with Pontchatoula Strawberries and Chianti Reduction

Panna Cotta is an Italian gelatin-based dessert made with cream, sugar, and whatever flavorings your heart desires. I recently found the beauty of panna cotta in its simplicity. There are few desserts that are easier to make or that give you a more rewarding outcome for the effort! So when I got sent a box of True Lemon as part of a Virtual Potluck promotion, I figured it could work perfectly in a lemon panna cotta!

True Lemon Panna Cotta with Pontchatoula Strawberries and Chianti Reduction

1 quart heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
6 packets True Lemon (equivalent to juice of one lemon)
2 packets gelatin
6 Tbs cool water
1 pint Pontchatoula Strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1 cup Chianti
2 Tbs local honey (Bocage Bee Company)

Makes 8-10 servings
Make 3 hours ahead of time or even overnight



Place cream in sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in sugar and continue to heat until cream is steaming but not boiling and sugar is completely dissolved. Stir in True Lemon until it is completely dissolved as well.  Place gelatin and water in a mixing bowl and allow gelatin to absorb the water. Let it stand until the cream is ready. When the cream is up to temperature and the sugar and True Lemon are dissolved, remove it from the heat. Pour the cream over the gelatin in the mixing bowl. Allow to cool for a few minutes before evenly pouring it into either 8-10 ramekins (to invert onto a plate) or wine glasses (to serve directly out of). Place containers with panna cotta mixture into a refrigerator and allow to set for at least three hours or overnight.

In a small saucepan, heat the Chianti over medium-low heat. When warm, add in sliced strawberries and honey and allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes for all the flavors to combine together, stirring occasionally to ensure that the honey is dissolved. Either top the cold panna cotta with the hot strawberry-Chianti sauce, or allow the sauce to cool, scoop on top of the panna cotta, and keep it refrigerated until ready to eat.


Giveaway:
Company Website: http://truelemon.com/
Company FB page: https://www.facebook.com/truelemon

All True products are 100% natural with no artificial ingredients or sweeteners, preservatives,sodium or gluten. True Lemon's ingredients are the same as found in a lemon: Citric Acid, Lemon Juice, Lemon Oil and Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)

True Lemon, through Bite and Booze, is giving away one gift set (consisting of a box each of True Lemon, True Lime, True Orange, True Grapefruit, True Lemonade, True Raspberry Lemonade, True Lemon shaker, True Lime shaker and a t-shirt) as part of a drawing. Also, anybody who reads this and emails True Lemon directly at customercare@truelemon.com can have some free samples.  Just mention Bite and Booze AND Virtual Potluck in your email!  To be entered to win the gift set, leave a comment on this blog post telling me how you would use one of the True products!  And make sure you follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook too!

Beausoleil Celebrates Their First Anniversary!

For the past year I've been raving about how Beausoleil is not only one of my favorite new restaurants in Baton Rouge, but also one of my favorite restaurants period.  Owners Jeff Conaway and Chef Nathan Gresham have breathed a fresh breeze into BR's restaurant scene with their blend of casual atmosphere, soulful dining, and local ingredients.  Their brunch, lunch, and dinner menus change with the seasons and always impress.  Plus, every dining experience begins with fresh pork rinds delivered to your table instead of the traditional bread and butter!  With a bar menu featuring custom cocktails like the Aviator and craft spirits along with boutique wines, Beausoleil is really doing things right!

I recently had the pleasure of attending Beausoleil's One Year Anniversary Wine Dinner featuring a five course meal from hors d'oeuvres to dessert.  Wine pairings came from the Vending Machine Winery which has a local twist as well.  The winery, which is in California, is owned by some excellent Louisianians and is currently only distributed in Louisiana!  The passed hors d'oeuvres featured barbeque rabbit turnovers and shrimp mousse on endive.  The turnovers had a superb texture contrast between the moist and tender rabbit on the inside and the crisp doughy outer shell.  Similarly, the endive had a great natural spice and crunch to it that complimented the creamy shrimp mousse.

When we sat down at our table I knew we were really in for a great evening all around.  My guest Hannah Lane and I were seated at a table with newly weds Brian and Ashley Thom as well as the O'Connors and a few other people.  Pork rinds awaited us at the table, but I knew that I had plenty of eating to do so I didn't overload on them.  I'll admit though, they are incredible hard to resist!  The Premier course brought out a lobster bisque with ghost pepper caviar.  I thought that the bisque would be a little spicier with ghost pepper in the name but Chef Gresham did a marvelous job of incorporating the true flavor of the pepper without leaving behind the intense heat that would have taken away from the delicate lobster and flavorful bisque.  The soup came with the "Loula's Revenge" Chardonnay that contrasted the soup very nicely and left the palate longing for another bite, then another sip, and still another bite.

Our Intermediare course featured a smoked duck breast over mushroom risotto served with a sweet fig sauce.  It paired with the 2009 Vending Machine Winery "Double Shotgun" which is a lovely Petit Verdot/Cab Franc blend.  The duck itself came out masterfully cooked.  The fig sauce had enough sweetness to both contrast with the mushroom risotto and compliment the flavors of the duck.  It actually may have been my favorite dish of the day, which is saying a lot especially with the dish on deck.

Our Principal dish of the evening drew inspiring oohs and aahs when placed in front of the anniversary dinner guests.  Teasing my taste buds sat a blue cheese bruleed New York Strip with crispy fried Louisiana oysters over braised mustard greens and a red wine jus.  Naturally, this dish came with the "Crooked Mayor," Vending Machine's Cabernet Sauvignon.  Everything about the dish worked as I could hardly control myself from gobbling up each morsel as rapidly a Hoover on a dirty floor.  The greens were amazingly tender and the beef had a true flavor despite being surrounded by so many other distractions.  I like to taste a good cut of steak, and I certainly did with this one.  The blue cheese, oyster, greens, and jus only helped add to the party.   

As the Finale to the evening we had a lovely piece of birthday cake and a glass of sparkling wine.  The cake was no ordinary birthday cake though.  The chocolate ganache sat atop salted caramel and underneath some Chantilly cream and fresh berries.  The cake had aspects of dense and fluffy.  It was decadent and flavorful.  The berries, cream, and chocolate all worked together in harmony but were then brought to another dimension by the salted caramel at the bottom.  The cake provided an excellent ending to a magical meal.  Happy anniversary to Beausoleil.  I hope you have many more to come as you continue to make your mark on the Baton Rouge restaurant landscape!

Wine Dinner at Niche Bar and Grill

Niche Bar and Grill on Siegen Lane recently hosted an "Around the World" Wine Dinner.  The seating area had been transformed into a white table cloth dining room and I immediately became excited about the efforts of Ause, the owner, and his staff.  I knew this dinner would be an improvement over the previous wine dinner I attended at Niche, but I didn't know how much better.

The wonderful Lauren Michaud joined me for the evening of food and wine.  Appetizer number one featured what Niche called "Tapas de Brie."  Pretty much a version of bruschetta, the slices of toasted bread were topped with tomato slices and melted Brie then drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette and rosemary.  The dish had great flavors that worked very well together.  For a small plate or an hors d'oeuvres it did the trick.  I didn't quite get the pairing with the Argentina Malbec as the Tapas de Brie seemed more Italian than Argentinean or even Spanish, but, what the heck, its all Latin, right?

Tapas de Brie

Graffingna Malbec

Appetizer two included Oysters Portofino paired with a glass of Bottega Vanaia Pinot Grigio.  The oysters were breaded and covered with a spicy basil red sauce and melted mozzarella cheese.  The wine pairing on this course was right on target.  The oysters themselves were decent, but the sweetness and acidity of the wine that matched the tomato sauce is what really made the dish work.

Oysters Portofino

Bottega Vanaia Pinot Grigio

The first entree course emerged as by far my favorite dish of the day.  A blackened redfish filet sat on top of a deliciously fried eggplant slice.  Both the redfish and eggplant were smothered in Niche's signature spicy crawfish cream sauce.  The Hess Chardonnay matched extremely well with the trio of fish, eggplant and cream sauce.  The textures and flavors of every aspect of this plate struck my taste buds in a harmonious symphony.  This is the best dish that I've had at Niche, which made me really happy!

Redfish Feliciana

Hess Chardonnay

The lamb dish, our fourth course, is the one that I most eagerly anticipated.  The frenched lamb chops were covered in a mustard-mint demi-glace and served with rosemary red potatoes.  In another very appropriate wine pairing, the lamb came served with a glass of French Pinot Noir.  While I really liked the lamb, it didn't quite match the previous redfish plate.  The mustard-mint demi-glace fell short of being a stunning sauce with the lamb.  I enjoyed it, but it didn't quite work perfectly for me.

Lamb Chops

Louis Jadot Pinot Noir

The meal wrapped up with tiramisu and a glass of Port.  I again found it odd to pair an Italian dessert with a Portuguese wine, though they did work fairly well together.  I think a glass of Prosecco or another Italian dessert wine may have been more appropriate.  Still, the dessert tasted pretty good and the I'm a big fan of Port, so I left the dinner very happy!

Tiramisu

Fonseca Porto

Thanks to Niche for continuing to put on these dinners of assorted beverages.  I very much applaud the efforts to bring a dinner like this to a more casual dining atmosphere.  This wine dinner proved to be worth every penny.  I found some of the international pairings a little odd, but in the end they worked well enough to ensure that everyone had good food, good wine, and a great time!  And I think that Redfish Feliciana might be on the menu now or at least run fairly often as a special.  Do yourself a favor and go try that!

Cafe JoJo's in Morgan City

On a recent trip to the Louisiana Coast I had the pleasure of getting treated to a fantastic dinner at Cafe JoJo's in Morgan City.  The restaurant, which opened its doors in 2003, sits in downtown on the banks of the Atchafalaya River.  Fortunately the levee system saved them from most of the flooding after the Morganza Spillway opened this past summer.  Still reeling from the oil spill over a year ago, the Louisiana seafood industry is currently on a long path to recovery.  Morgan City was at the center of the storm, so to speak, during the whole fiasco.  With an ironically named "Shrimp and Petroleum Festival" as the city's largest annual event, it is easy to understand the strong ties of seafood and oil that bond the community.  I made commentary on the connection between Louisiana and Alaska in an earlier post based on seafood and oil, and thanks to Exxon and BP, the coastal communities became even more connected in a tragic way.

Dinner at Cafe JoJo's began with a fried crab cake in an artichoke and corn sauce.  The cake itself came packed with fresh Louisiana crab.  The artichoke and corn sauce impressed me as it had both an intriguing uniqueness  and an excellent taste to go along with the crab.

Course two saw an Oyster Rockefellar bisque.  While I admire the idea of turning a classic dish into a soup, this happened to be the only course that didn't overly satisfy me.  The fried oysters in the creamy bisque felt out of place and left an odd texture.  However, the flavor of the soup still had me eating the entire cup.  Maybe I'm just a fat ass.

The Cafe JoJo's staff brought out the third course.  A delicious seafood crepe came out loaded with shrimp and crab and smothered in an amazing buttery, creamy herb sauce.  I gobbled the crepes up in record time.  They had a great savoriness to match the sweetness of the seafood.  

By the time the fourth course came out almost everybody at the table had already gotten full.  Not me.  I knew what I had in store and I got my second stomach ready.  The main entree featured a grilled Louisiana redfish filet with green beans topped with an intoxicating pesto-chardonnay sauce.  The dish is one that I'd love to recreate at some point.  While the meal as a whole just continued to get heavier and heavier with butters and creams, this dish and this sauce stood out on their own.  I loved every bite of it and needed extra bread to soak up the sauce that remained abandoned on my plate.

And naturally, no meal is complete without dessert.  I tasted the turtle cheesecake (front and center), the bread pudding (far left), and my favorite, the homemade Chantilly cream (top right).  The cream had a light fluffiness that ideal rounded out the heavy meal.  I managed to have a few bites before bringing the rest back to the hotel with me.  All in all, Cafe JoJo's served up an outstanding and memorable meal, and I'd be happy to return any time I dine in Morgan City.

Unwind with Baton Rouge Uncorked

This article has been published in the May 2010 issue Town Favorites Magazine. You can visit the Town Favorites website at http://www.townfavorites.com/, follow them on Twitter @TownFavorites, and find their magazines at over 150 restaurants and businesses around Baton Rouge! Pick up a copy today!

Unwind with Baton Rouge Uncorked

by Jay D. Ducote

As a city on the move, Baton Rouge is now home to many events that give us first-class outlets for unwinding our tangled lives after work.   A prominent example of this type of social and fun-loving gathering is Baton Rouge Uncorked.  By combining wine tasting, charitable giving, and an aspect of competition, Uncorked had emerged as a go-to event for the area. 

Seven guys living in Baton Rouge came up with the vision for Uncorked and held the first tasting in October of 2007, and the event has taken off from there.  Pete Bush, Doug Cochran, Edmond Giering, Doug Allen, Patrick Coogan, Luke Williamson, and Miles Higgins are all wine lovers who thought that providing young professionals with an opportunity to enjoy delicious wine and “pass a good time,” all while supporting local charities, would be a great idea.  It turns out they were right! 

The group borrowed the format from Louisville Uncorked, where Pete Bush read about the event in a social magazine.  After reading the article, Pete passed it along to Doug Allen and Jennifer Guillot to see if they thought it could work in the Red Stick. The two loved the idea, scheduled a conference call with the founders of Louisville Uncorked, were graced with Louisville’s approval, found five other founding members, and the rest is history!  Their “Eat, Drink, and Be Charitable” event was born.

Eusebio Gongora, Jennifer Guillot, Jay Ducote, and Nicole Colvin discuss the wines at BR Uncorked

The current format for Baton Rouge Uncorked has been the same from the beginning.  Each event uses a different varietal such as Pinot Noir, Shiraz/Syrah, Merlot, or Cabernet. Teams register for the event ahead of time at www.batonrougeuncorked.com.  Teams can consist of up to three members, and each team is required to bring three identical bottles of wine, including vintage, in addition to their $20-25 registration per person.  At the event, which has an average attendance of around 400 people, two of the wine bottles from each team are bagged and numbered so as to hide the identity of the wine while still being able to keep track of the different bottles.  Attendees then mingle and socialize while tasting wines from unknown vineyards.  Some people take tasting seriously, writing down notes on each glass about the nose, tannins, and legs.  Others just drink.  Either way, the event offers a unique way to do blind tastings in a social setting.  Everyone is then allowed to submit a ballot with the number for their favorite wine, as well as their least favorite wine.  The winner (team that brought the best wine) usually brings home around 60 bottles of wine from the third bottle collection.

Three Bottles of Cabernet Are Ready for a Blind Tasting

I attended the April 8^th wine tasting at the Baton Rouge Little Theater.  The featured grape this time around was Cabernet Sauvignon, which I could not have been happier about.  Cabs are usually one of my favorite wines because of their rich and bold flavors without an overpowering sweetness.  I like to taste a little fermentation and some notes of darker fruits like cherry and plum.  I also appreciate drier wines, which Cabs usually attain wonderfully.  The event also featured some wonderful food provided by Executive Chef Scott Varnadoe from the Monmouth Plantation.  Chef Scott put together a lovely arrangement of foods to fill our stomachs.  He featured dishes from bowtie pasta in a cream sauce to a gloriously roasted pork loin, and also threw in some finger foods like mini-muffalettas. 

 A Massive Copper Pot Filled with Pork and a Chef Varndoe Secret

 A Chef Varnadoe Special: Bowtie Pasta with a Crawfish Cream Sauce

After tasting just the right amount of wine with some good friends and new faces, the time had come to name the winners of the contest portion of the event.  The top rated wine from the balloting was a 2008 Casillero del Diablo from Chile.  Coming in second was an Estancia Keyes Canyon Ranch from 2007, followed by a 2007 Decoy from Napa.  The people who brought those bottles were handsomely rewarded with the bounty of all the remaining wine from the evening.  Not too shabby, especially since everything is for charity.

I asked Jennifer Guillot, who serves on the Host Committee and works with media for Uncorked, what she enjoys most about the tastings.  She replied, “These events are all about having fun while supporting a good local cause.  Each event is so unique since the charity, venue, and wine are different at each event.”  She continued by suggesting, “I think at the wine events it is fun for the ladies to strut their stuff a little bit and for the guys to fake like we are more sophisticated than we really are!  But the beer will give this one a new spin, maybe a little more like a cross between a tailgate party and a low key social event.  I guess we’ll see!”

A beer event, you say?  Indeed, the next Baton Rouge Uncorked event will actually be Baton Rouge ‘Untapped’!  The beer event will be held on May 22^nd at the Baton Rouge Zoo.  Pete Bush explained the upcoming event to me.  “After the initial success of Uncorked people started approaching us about other ideas, like a bourbon tasting, martini tasting, and beer tasting.  When we approached our friends at Mockler Beverage, they liked the idea as a way to showcase some of the different varieties of beer since they had mostly been known as a Budweiser distributorship,” Pete noted.  “We had heard of other ‘Brew at the Zoo’ type of functions around the country and thought it was a natural fit for the first beer tasting event as an offspring to our very successful wine events.”  Pete, you had at me beer.

Baton Rouge Uncorked Wine Bottles at the Baton Rouge Little Theater

The founders have looked into other directions to morph Uncorked into, but at the end of the day they agree that the simpler, the better.  According to Jennifer, “The beauty of uncorked is in its simplicity.”  She went on to say, “Well, that and the most important aspect, which is that it gives the 20-30 something demographic an outlet for being charitable within a reasonable budget.”  I couldn’t agree more.  Many people crave social things to do in Baton Rouge and at the same time are charitably minded.  For them, Uncorked is perfect.  Uncorked has considered changing the ticket price in the past but opted to stay true to the original format that has been so successful.  Jennifer concluded by saying, “Sure, I would love to attend a ‘real’ wine tasting where people swirl and sniff in the glass talking about the wine's tannins, legs, and whatever other fancy pants wine people talk about, but that is not what Uncorked is about!”  As far as that goes, I think Jennifer is spot on.  While some people swirl and sniff and truly appreciate the blind tasting, the event is casual and promotes a good time in addition to the delicious wine.  And, as the motto says, it all really boils to down to finding a good way to eat, drink, and be charitable!

The April 8^th wine tasting was the first of four events that Baton Rouge Uncorked will be hosting this year.  The rest of the schedule is as follows:

MAY 22

Benefiting: Baton Rouge Untapped at the Baton Rouge Zoo

Location:  Baton Rouge Zoo

AUG 26

Benefiting:  The Louisiana Art & Science Museum and Teach for America

Location:  The Louisiana Art & Science Museum

NOV 4

Benefiting:  Best Buddies and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Location:  The Hilton Capitol Center

For more information please visit www.batonrougeuncorked.com or e-mail info@batonrougeuncorked.com. 

Jay D. Ducote is the author of the blog Bite and Booze, which chronicles his culinary and indulgent cultural adventures around Baton Rouge, South Louisiana, and the world.  It can be found at www.biteandbooze.com.  You can also reach him by email at jaydducote@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @biteandbooze. 

Thanks to Eric Ducote of the BR Beer Scene for taking all the pictures for this article.

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