Wakey Whiskey: Angel's Envy Port Finish

By Eric Ducote

Good morning everyone, it's time for another wakey whiskey, as despite the disappointing loss last week, LSU football is back at it again today, with a lot still on the line.  They still have a good shot at finishing 10-2, playing in a New Year's bowl game, and there's still an outside (very outside) shot at sneaking back into the playoffs.  Now I'm not holding my breath for that playoff shot, but even still it's safe to say the 2018 LSU football season has so far exceeded my expectations.  

For this week's #wakeywhiskey selection I figured I'd check out some of the Bite and Booze samples I've been sitting on.  I had heard of Angel's Envy before, but I don't ever recall trying some, so this is as good of a time as ever, right?  Angel's Envy spirits are made by Louisville Distilling Company, which recently opened a new distillery in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.  This sample, however, was produced in nearby Bardstown, KY. It's aged on average 6 years in fresh charred oak barrels in the bourbon tradition, then finished for 3 to 6 months in French oak port barrels from Portugal.  This additional finishing violates the rules that would allow this to be called a bourbon, but for all intents and purposes it's practically a bourbon.  

Angel's Envy Port Finish

The pour is a copper color, I wasn't really sure if I should expect a little red from the port barrels, but this could be the result of a golden bourbon with a tinge of red port.  The aroma is mostly vanilla and oak, like a bourbon should be, but also some hints of grapes or raisins from the port aging.  The taste is smooth, with slight fruity notes interacting with the char and vanilla from the oak aging, a hint of honey, and incredibly easy to sip neat at room temperature.  The finish is smooth as well, with a hint of sweetness from the port at the end.

I enjoyed this take on bourbon, but I don't know that I'd be running out to buy some more at a ballpark of $50 for a 750ml bottle.  

Portugal: Street Food Bite and Booze of the World Cup

It's time to sit down to another plate of the street food guide to the FIFA World Cup 2014! Portugal, like many cities in Spain, is no stranger to great eats. Today we're going to take a look at something on the sweeter side with some Portuguese custard cups and a banging port cocktail, the Portuguese Daisy!

Photo Credit: leitesculinaria.com

Pasteis de Nata I are delicious little flaky pastry cups filled with a sweet custard. These may take a decent amount of prep work, but they're perfect for snacking while your watching the match or entertaining for special occasions and holidays. Take a break from those freezer quiche things and try making something fresh!

Photo Credit: matadornetwork.com

The Portuguese Daisy highlights Portugal's most popular product: Port. If you've never had port, it's pretty sweet, smooth, and makes wine look like a bandwagon soccer fan who doesn't understand offsides. Port is awesome and this cocktail combines port, brandy, and little citrus to make one heck of a drink! Try it out and let me know what you think by leaving comment or telling me about it on the Facebook Page.

Emeril's Blogger Party: Red Wine and Port Braised Short Ribs

For my second recipe based on Emeril's Sizzling Skillets and Other One-Pot Wonders (my first posted featured deep dish pizza!), I decided to make a perfect recipe for the Bite and Booze side of me: Red Wine and Port Braised Short Ribs.  Braising is a classic French technique that usually takes a cheaper and not-so-tender cut of meat and simmers it at a reasonably low temperature for a long time until a lot of the fat and connective tissue has broken down, leaving you with fork-tender protein.  One of the keys of braising is definitely to have a a flavorful liquid that will impart layers and depth of tastes as you cook.  For this recipe I once again started at Calandro's Supermarket where I stocked up on supplies including shallots, turnips, herbs and, of course, Port!

The next step to cooking this kind of meal is to take care of the mise en place.  The French culinary term literally means "everything in place".  Basically it means you get all of the ingredients out and prepared before you start cooking.  For me, that meant to peel and chop the carrots, shallots and turnips, measure out some flour, garlic and black peppercorns, and be ready to rock.  Since the recipe called for beef stock and I didn't have any homemade stock on hand, I picked up some of Emeril's beef stock at Calandro's.  I figured that's probably what he would have wanted!

After seasoning the beef short ribs with salt and pepper and then browning them in a cast iron pot with some olive oil, the next step involved flavoring my braising liquid.  I cooked down the vegetables with a little more olive oil until they started to caramelize and then I added the flour.  After letting it toast and begin to stick to the bottom, I deglazed the pot with red wine and let that cook down a little more.  I soon added the thyme, bay leaves, parsley and whole peppercorns followed by the Port and beef stock.  After coming up to a boil, I had a very flavorful braising liquid that I knew would work extremely well with the short ribs.

Once the liquid got to that rolling boil I removed it from the stove and add the the short ribs back to the pot. I got them all as submerged as possible and then transferred everything to the oven where I let it sit for about 2 and a half more hours.  I opened it up once to mix the ribs around and then removed the lid for the final time.  The fragrance from the pot filled the entire house and I knew that this would be an amazing meal.  However, the work hadn't quite finished there.  I first needed to strain the liquid to remove the herb stems and bay leaves.  I separated the vegetables and beef as well in order to get a gravy left in the pot.  After letting it simmer for a little while longer, the remaining liquid coated the back of a spoon and I returned the beef and veggies to the pot one more time so they could soak up more flavor and come back up to temperature.  I also used that time to make a batch of yellow corn grits to serve the ribs over!

The final product: an extremely tender and flavor-packed beef short rib served over yellow corn grits with carrots and turnips.  I couldn't be happier!

For doing these blog posts from Emeril's new book I received a free advance copy.  It is available in stores in late September.  I'll also be giving away a copy of the book in an upcoming blog post, so stay tuned to see if you can win one!  Also of note, this recipe actually called for parsnips instead of carrots but I couldn't find any.  Carrots worked very well though!

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!

Portugal - The 2010 FIFA World Cup Bites and Boozes

Portugal

Portugal is one of the World Cup nations that I have actually been to so it's nice to be able to write about cuisine and beverages that I've actually consumed.  In the summer of 2006 I spent a week finding my way from Oporto (Porto) in the North all the way down to Faro on the South coast of Portugal.  The trip also included a little time in Coimbra, Lisboa (Lisbon), Cascais, and Fuseta along the way.  With a long Atlantic coastline, seafood clearly belonged as a major staple of Portuguese cuisine.  I recall eating grilled sardines that had just been pulled out of the ocean, among other fresh dishes.  Still, the food brings back the recurring dreams from my memory is the authentic Francesinha sandwich that I ate in Porto.  Oh, and don't forget the Port wine itself!

First, as an introduction to the famous Francesinha, I found this video to show you.  If it doesn't make your mouth water then perhaps you don't like sandwiches.  This is easily one of my top 10 sandwiches that I've ever had in my life and certainly belongs in the same discussion as the very best New Orleans Poboys and Darrell's Specials that I've eaten.

Our first Francesinha from Nando Cuca on Vimeo.

Francesinha (meaning Little Frenchie or simply Frenchie in Portuguese) is a Portuguese sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat and covered with molten cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce served with french fries.  Essentially it is a grilled sandwich that comes loaded with delicious meats and cheeses, then gets topped with more cheese that is melted all over it, and then smothered again with a house-specialty tomato-beer sauce.  It can also be topped with fried egg, just for that extra bit of ridiculousness.  I've seen very few more beautiful sights in the world.

I really had never tried Port until I visited Portugal.  After learning about the fortified wine, how the grapes are shipped down the Douro River to Porto, and how the caves serve has chambers for the wine before they are shipped, I decided that I should give it a try. Port is produced from grapes grown and processed in the demarcated Douro region. The wine produced is then fortified by the addition of a neutral grape spirit known as aguardente in order to stop the fermentation, leaving residual sugar in the wine, and to boost the alcohol content. The wine is then stored and aged, often in barrels stored in a cave before being bottled. The wine received its name, "Port", in the latter half of the 17th century from the seaport city of Porto at the mouth of the Douro River, where much of the product was brought to market or for export to other countries in Europe. The Douro valley where Port wine is produced was defined and established as a protected region, or appellation in 1756 — making it the third oldest defined and protected wine region in the world after Chianti (1716) and Tokaj (1730).

For some information on Portuguese beer, check the BR Beer Scene!

Thanks and Credits:

http://vimeo.com/9017753

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesinha

http://laseriedemivida.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/1x22-mi-francesinha/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_wine

http://quevedoportwine.com/wine/some-great-port-wine-treasures-kept-secretly-in-american-private-cellarsalguns-tesouros-de-vinho-do-porto-guardados-nas-garrafeiras-dos-americanos/

Yule Tide Joy and Holiday Cheer

The holiday season of 2009 brought many reasons to celebrate the joyous tidings of family and friends.  Starting with Friendsgiving and Turkey Day, the holidays then carried on to Christmas and ringing in the the New Year at Jay's Bay.  I guess it is time to make sure I capture the Christmas bites and boozes on the blog, so here is the best of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Maker's Mark Mint Julep

The Yule Tide Joy got started on Christmas Eve at Mama and Papa Ford's house.  It was rather quiet compared to many Christmas Eve parties at the Ford's, but I still got to see most of the family, including Brayden for his first Christmas.  Collin introduced me to Maker's Mark Mint Julep, a Kentucky Bourbon with mint julep flavors already mixed in.  All I had to do was serve it over ice and enjoy!  Having had authentic mint juleps, I was fairly impressed by the bourbon and the taste that it delivered with no extra mixing.  Strong, yes, but also very tasty.  The mint julep reminded me of Christmas and it sure seems like it would make for a great drink any time of year!

V. Sattui Vintage Port

This Vintage Port came from one of my favorite wineries that we visited in Napa Valley in 2008, and Collin kindly shared with the group for Christmas Eve.  The V. Sattui Winery makes a lot of spectacular vino, and this Port is no exception.  Having been to Porto, Portugal and tasted the real stuff straight out of the barrel, I can say that V. Sattui knows what they are doing when it comes to making fortified wine.  This beverage is delightful when sipped by itself, along many different food pairings, or as a savory dessert itself.

Christmas Goose Before and After

My main contribution to dinner was this Christmas goose that we killed during our duck and goose hunting trip earlier in the month.  I brined the goose over night in some great flavors then Christmas morning I seasoned the goose inside and out with sea salt, black pepper, white pepper, brown sugar, and a couple other spices.  I also used a lemon and an orange to help add some flavor to the goose.  The juice from the fruits got squeezed out all over the goose and then I stuffed the cavity of the goose with the remaining citrus.  I covered the pan in foil and put it in the oven at about 250F for several hours until the meat became tender and started to pull from the bone.  Not bad wild game, if I may say so myself.

Kendall Jackson Cabernet in a Third Row Wine Glass

My father supplied our Christmas dinner with a selection of wines from Kendall Jackson.  Certainly not my first choice, but I'm rarely picky when you put something in front of me.  I drank the Cab until it ran out and then switched to Merlot.  Both were very drinkable, though much like a macro-brewed beer, it was nothing to rave about.

Uncle Rush Slicing the Prime Rib

Uncle Rush kindly cooked an entire ribeye for the dinner and sliced it at the house.  The medium-rare beef had a magnificent marbled consistency and a tender taste that was every bit as mouth-watering as it was beautiful to look at.

Christmas Plate... We're So Classy that We Used Paper!

Yes, the Ducote family is clearly a protein and starch group!  I'm glad I also cooked up a little asparagus to add the slightest amount of green to an otherwise plate of pink and tan hues.  In addition to the previously mentioned goose and prime rib, Travis also cooked up an entire smoked ham for us to enjoy.  We were also graced with Dana's mac and cheese, some sweet potatoes, and several other items that are buried under the mountain of meat.  But like any of our family's holiday meals, it would not be complete without Granny's cornbread dressing!

Granny's Famous Pecan Cake

If there is one thing that Granny does better than cornbread dressing (okay, two things because I'd put her pecan rolls up there too), it is her famous pecan cake.  This traditional, moist, yellow cake is layered with a homemade pecan icing that brings me back to my childhood.  Every bite is a perfect combination of cake and nutty-sweet flavor that I find myself craving between holidays and birthdays.

I certainly ate and drank well over Christmas thanks to my family and friends.  Feliz Navidad!