Written & photographed by
Stay-At-Home-Chef

As part of my culinary New Year’s resolutions, I have committed to creating each month’s cover recipe from Food & Wine Magazine. Joining me once again this month is our resident wine expert Kendall Harris of Wine2Three, who provided a fun pinot noir suggestion to pair with this delightful Herb-Roasted Turkey. 

Want to join in on the fun? We’d love the company! Pick-up a copy of the latest issue of Food & Wine and get cooking. Be sure to send me an email at info@cookthatbook.com to let me know you made the cover recipe, and if you’re a blogger don’t forget to post a link to your post in the comments below.

Herb-Roasted Turkey with Wild Mushroom Gravy

Rating: 4 out of 5 (classic roast turkey, easy to prepare)

Initial Thoughts: Giddy up!

THE TEST: Throughout the year as I make each cover from Food & Wine Magazine, my mind flits over to the November issue and the predictable turkey dinner. Prior to embarking upon this monthly challenge, I had never tackled a whole turkey. Now – three years later – I have several turkey dinner notches in my belt. But despite past successes, the idea of making a full turkey dinner always makes me nervous.

Once I saw that November’s Herb-Roasted Turkey with Wild Mushroom Gravy was developed by David Tanis (New York Times columnist, award-winning cookbook author, past chef at Chez Panisse), my anticipation grew. The recipe is part of a feature article highlighting a California-style Thanksgiving feast at a Napa Valley ranch. The photos are stunning and the meal looks incredible! In fact, I’ve bookmarked each and every recipe for the future.

Preparing this turkey is dead simple, making it the perfect recipe for the holidays. In order to maximize flavour, butter seasoned with sage, thyme and garlic is rubbed inside the cavity. Additional sage and thyme are placed inside the bird before the neck flap is plugged with half an apple. The turkey is then rubbed with olive oil and placed on top of celery, onion and carrots. Honestly, this is the easiest turkey recipe I’ve tried and would be great for any home cooks suffering from turkey anxiety. You can’t go wrong. Although please ensure you have a digital meat thermometer on hand. Trust me – it makes life so much easier.

THE RESULTS: The turkey emerged from the oven smelling incredible and looking perfectly golden and crisp all over. Cue oooo’s and ahhhhhhs!

We let the meat rest for an hour, which helps to retain all of those lovely juices and frees up the oven for any side dishes that still need to be cooked. Because I knew that Mr. Spock and the kids would have split the instant I even said the word ‘mushrooms’, I decided to skip the wild mushroom gravy. But let me tell ya the drippings made fantastic gravy even without the fungus.

This recipe is one that I will be making again for Christmas Day, as it is simple to prepare and full of fantastic turkey flavour that is slightly sweetened from the roasted veg. When I do make it again, I am going to brine it for a day or two to really infuse it with maximum flavour. This recipe by Anthony Sedlak happens to be one of my all-time favourite poultry brines.

Despite my usual turkey related anxiety, this meal turned out to be amazing. And having dear friends whom we don’t get to see nearly enough gathered around the table was perfect. It was an evening of good food, great company, and waaaaay too much wine! Having everyone together in the kitchen pitching in with the preparations (whether making gravy, providing carving commentary, or reading stories and practicing demi-plié with the kids) highlighted the importance of community in our lives, and was a good reminder about the true meaning of the holidays.

This month, our resident wine expert Kendall Harris of Wine2Three had everyone abuzz with her suggested pinot noir pairing! Our guests were all pleasantly surprised by the heavy, smokiness of this particular wine. I will definitely be picking up a few more bottles for the holidays! As far as the turkey was concerned, there were a few people who would have preferred a more traditional crisp white to drink alongside the poultry but the majority of the table loved the way in which this wine brought out and deepened the contrasting flavours of the entire meal. And had I made the wild mushroom gravy, there is no doubt that the woodsy taste of the mushrooms would have paired perfectly with the pinot.

Cover Recipe:
Herb-Roasted Turkey with Wild Mushroom Gravy

The mission of Food & Wine Magazine is to find the most exciting places, new experiences, emerging trends and sensations in the culinary and wine industries. From travel and entertaining to luxury and design, this magazine brings an energetic and stylish take on food and wine. For more information on Food & Wine Magazine, please visit www.foodandwine.com

Wine Pairing by Kendall Harris of Wine2Three

Pairing wine with a Thanksgiving meal can sometimes be challenging – so many different types of food being prepared, so many different flavours, not to mention different people with different palates! A classic food-friendly wine that has become a reliable Thanksgiving recommend is Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned grape, so the resulting wine is a lighter bodied wine, perfect with turkey meat. Also, Pinot Noir displays wonderful berry flavours that harmonize deliciously with the cranberry sauce present at many Thanksgiving tables. Finally, because of its nice level of acidity (which makes your mouth water), it’s an excellent food wine, and won’t overwhelm the meal with big strong sweet fruit flavours (like an Australian Shiraz).

Pinot Noir is called “the heartbreak grape” because winemakers have a tendency to fall madly in love with this varietal. It can be a challenging grape to work with; for example the thin skin of the grapes make it vulnerable in the vineyard and requires more TLC than other varieties. You may also remember the character Miles waxing poetic about Pinot Noir in the movie “Sideways,” one of my favorite wine movies!

I recommend this Leyda Pinot Noir from Chile because it’s absolutely delicious and much of Chile’s grape growing is done under organic or almost organic conditions. Because of that country’s climate, the kinds of pests and mildew problems that plague winemakers around the world don’t show up on Chilean soil. This Leyda Pinot Noir also happens to be well priced, so pick-up a few bottles. At a big holiday dinner, quantity is sometimes just as important as quality!

Cheers!

Kendall Harris is a wine blogger who shares her adventures in the wine world as Wine2three on Twitter & Facebook. She has an Advanced Certificate from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) and is passionate about sharing her wine knowledge with others. “Like” her page on Facebook for fun, informative wine posts! 

Written & photographed by
Stay-At-Home-Chef

As part of my culinary New Year’s resolutions, I have committed to creating each month’s cover recipe from Food & Wine Magazine. Joining me along the way is my fellow blogger Aimée from Food, Je t’Aimée, and our resident wine expert Kendall Harris of Wine2Three who provides us with fantastic wine pairings for each month’s cover.

Want to join in on the fun? We’d love the company! Pick-up a copy of the latest issue of Food & Wine and get cooking. Be sure to send me an email at info@cookthatbook.com to let me know you made the cover recipe, and if you’re a blogger don’t forget to post a link to your post in the comments below.

Ricotta & Fontina Stuffed Shells with Fennel & Radicchio

Rating: 5 out of 5 (great vegetarian option for Thanksgiving)

Initial Thoughts: October’s cover recipe screams comfort food!

THE TEST: This month was extra special for me as it heralded the return of my culinary cohort Aimée from Food, Je t’Aimée, plus I had the pleasure of cooking and sharing this meal with Kendall Harris of Wine2Three! Our resident wine expert is currently on sabbatical in France for the next several months, so I was thrilled to host her for a Food & Wine Magazine cover dinner before she flew across the Atlantic. It was so much fun being able to experience this month’s recipe and wine pairing together at the same table. Definitely something that we will have to do again in the future.

Now on to the food!

After what has felt like an endless stream of meat dishes, it was with enthused relief that I prepared to tackle this pasta dish. Stuffed with sautéed fennel and radicchio along with ricotta and fontina cheeses, this recipe is meant to suffice as a vegetarian main dish option for Thanksgiving. Baked in a homemade marinara sauce and layered with additional fontina, it was easy to see how seasonally appropriate this pasta bake would be to serve guests at this time of year.

The recipe itself is not difficult, but there are several steps involved. Feel free to use a good quality jarred marinara sauce if you are short on time, but believe me when I say this sauce is definitely worth the extra effort. Olive oil is infused with garlic before tomato paste, whole tomatoes and basil are added along with salt and pepper and some sugar for sweetness, and a dash of cream.

THE RESULTS: Initially after tasting the fennel/radicchio mixture I was concerned it would be too bitter, but once it had a chance to bake everything mellowed out nicely and even the flavour of fennel was not overpowering. The creaminess of the cheese mixture (fontina – where have you been all my life!) balanced the bite of the veggies and the acidicy of the tomato sauce. The results? Perfectly balanced pasta dish that was full of fantastic flavours and deeply satisfying. I was surprised at how hearty the fennel and radicchio filling turned out; it was ironically very meaty!

One piece of advice I would offer is to let the veggies cool completely before adding the rest of the ingredients for the filling. This display of patience will help prevent everything from melting together and allow each ingredient to stand out more independently from the others.

And as for the tomato sauce? No wonder it’s called Best-Ever Marinara! Hands down one of the best (and easiest) tomato sauces I’ve had the pleasure of making.

Well-done Grace Parisi…yet another successful cover recipe.

(Don’t forget to hop on over to Food, Je t’Aimée to see how our fair Aimée made out with this recipe!)

Cover Recipe: Ricotta-and-Fontina-Stuffed Shells with Fennel and Radicchio

The mission of Food & Wine Magazine is to find the most exciting places, new experiences, emerging trends and sensations in the culinary and wine industries. From travel and entertaining to luxury and design, this magazine brings an energetic and stylish take on food and wine. For more information on Food & Wine Magazine, please visit www.foodandwine.com 

Wine Pairing by Kendall Harris of Wine2Three

I had such fun watching Jasmine cook this amazing meal and take the time to photograph the beautiful pictures you see above! For this particular meal I brought an Italian wine; Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. I enjoyed sharing it with Jasmine and chatting with her about its flavour and how well it paired with this wonderful meal.

I have a special relationship with Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Back in my ’20s, I tasted a wine I liked and noticed it said Montepulciano d’Abruzzo on the label. At the time I wasn’t sure if that was the name of the wine, the company who bottled it, or the name of a castle in Italy. But what I did know was that I loved the wine and had to seek it out again. The next time I was in a wine shop, I asked for a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and was subsequently handed a wine with a different label than I remembered. I was a bit confused, but when I tasted the wine it held the same delicious qualities. It has since become my go-to Italian wine! I now know that Montepulciano is the name of the grape, and Abruzzo is the region (essentially it means the Montepulciano grape of Abruzzo).

NOTE: To add to the confusion there happens to be a town in Italy called Montepulciano, which produces a wine called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. This wine is not made with the Montepulciano grape, it is made with Sangiovese which is Italy’s most planted red grape variety. But I digress!

After Sangiovese, Montepulciano is Italy’s second most widely dispersed indigenous grape variety. It produces a wine that pairs perfectly with the Italian dish we enjoyed from this month’s cover. It is not a heavy wine and so is perfect to serve alongside pasta, plus it has that wonderful acidity (the quality that makes your mouth water) for which Italian wines are renowned. Jasmine noticed some nice spice in it, and we both loved how fruity and bright it tasted. I hope this is a wine you explore and enjoy with your next Italian meal (maybe this recipe?) – cheers!

Kendall Harris is a wine blogger who shares her adventures in the wine world as Wine2three on Twitter & Facebook. She has an Advanced Certificate from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) and is passionate about sharing her wine knowledge with others. “Like” her page on Facebook for fun, informative wine posts!  

Written & photographed by
Stay-At-Home-Chef

As part of my culinary New Year’s resolutions, I have committed to creating each month’s cover recipe from Food & Wine Magazine. Joining me along the way is my fellow blogger Aimée from Food, Je t’Aimée, and our resident wine expert Kendall Harris of Wine2Three who provides us with fantastic wine pairings for each month’s cover.

Want to join in on the fun? We’d love the company! Pick-up a copy of the latest issue of Food & Wine and get cooking. Be sure to send me an email at info@cookthatbook.com to let me know you made the cover recipe, and if you’re a blogger don’t forget to post a link to your post in the comments below.

Grilled Skirt Steak with Poblano-Corn Sauce & Salsa

Rating: 4 out of 5 (great flavours, quick & easy entertaining)

Initial Thoughts: Am I having deja-vu? Didn’t we just have a steak cover?! Not that anyone in my family would ever dream of complaining about steak, but so far this year’s covers have been pretty meaty. A crazy dessert. That’s what I’m holding out for…

THE TEST: This month I was once again alone in the kitchen as Aimée from Food, Je t’Aimée was busy putting the finishing touches on her new site, which I am happy to announce is now live! You can check it out here. Luckily Kendall Harris of Wine2Three was able to keep me company with yet another excellent wine pairing! Don’t forget to check out her article at the bottom of this post…her choice of Carmenere went perfectly with the buttery skirt steak.

Mouthwatering would have to be the way I’d describe the photo on this month’s cover. But it wasn’t until I read through the recipe that I realized this particular dish had been developed as part of a 3-ingredient recipe challenge. I immediately became intrigued!

Grilled fresh corn and poblano chile are the star flavours alongside the steak. Half of the vegetable mixture is pureed into a smooth sauce, while the remainder becomes a chunky salsa to spoon over top of the meat. This dish came together quickly and easily…especially with Mr. Spock manning the grill. In terms of entertainment food, this would be a perfect recipe to serve guests as the sauce/salsa can be made beforehand and the steak only needs a quick sear on the grill before dinner is on the table. Serve this up with a couple of quick sides and BAM! (Sorry – couldn’t resist channeling me some Emeril).

THE RESULTS: I must admit that I was skeptical as to how much flavour impact this dish was going to have with only three ingredients, two of which (poblanos and corn) I find to be quite mild in taste. But low and behold, this recipe turned out to be a hit at our house! The corn and pepper held a nice sweetness from the grill that was full flavoured and roasted. Combined with the buttery taste of the skirt steak, this dish was balanced, fresh and exciting. The pureed sauce combined with the chunky salsa gave everything an interesting textural difference.

Yes – I would have liked some cilantro, maybe some lime juice and red pepper flakes – but as far as a 3-ingredient challenge goes this was inspired. I will definitely be playing around with this recipe in the future.

Cover Recipe:
Grilled Skirt Steak with Poblano-Corn Sauce & Salsa 

The mission of Food & Wine Magazine is to find the most exciting places, new experiences, emerging trends and sensations in the culinary and wine industries. From travel and entertaining to luxury and design, this magazine brings an energetic and stylish take on food and wine. For more information on Food & Wine Magazine, please visit www.foodandwine.com

Wine Pairing by Kendall Harris of Wine2Three

Carmenere is one of my favorite red wines for grilled meat! Carmenere is famous for being the signature grape of Chile and also famous for its cool life story. It was first grown hundreds of years ago in the famous French region of Bordeaux, and was pretty much wiped out during the late 1800′s when the Phylloxera epidemic hit Europe and destroyed most of its vineyards. Luckily, it had been exported to Chile where it was thriving but the Chileans assumed it was the Merlot grape. Until…in 1994 a French Professor of Oenology corrected everyone: this Chilean grape was not Merlot, but long lost Carmenere! So in a sense, Carmenere is a relatively NEW discovery and the pride and joy of Chile.

Carmenere is a red wine that is characterized by its deep crimson color and its aromas and flavours of red fruits and berries. It often holds a pleasing spiciness which makes it pair wonderfully with grilled meats. The best Carmenere comes from Chilean producers like Concha y Toro, who not only vinify it on its own but also blend it with other grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to make some interesting blends. This is a wine varietal to get to know, and one that can be enjoyed at some very excellent prices as well! Enjoy your taste of Chile!

Kendall Harris is a wine blogger who shares her adventures in the wine world as Wine2three on Twitter & Facebook. She has an Advanced Certificate from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) and is passionate about sharing her wine knowledge with others. “Like” her page on Facebook for fun, informative wine posts!