An apple tart competition and a fizzy Moscato

Our friend Christophe loves to make apple tarts. That's one of his specialties and he is pretty good at it. He makes a quick sweet pastry crust, arranges apple slices on top of it and bakes the tart until the apples are soft. That's a quick and easy recipe and we all love his tarts but our friend Jiyon thought that we should also try her own more elaborated recipe as well.


Christophe's tart

Her point was that the dough had to be made with very cold butter and iced water and it was important to use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour in order to avoid warming up the butter. When done, the dough had to be refrigerated for several hours before baking. And then, when the tart is cooked, she likes to brush the top of the tart with a glaze made of apricot preserve and Calvados.


Jiyon's tart

There were unanimous cheers for Jiyon's tart and everybody voraciously ate her/his slice. I thought the crust had a cookie-like crunchiness and was very tasty. I also liked the glaze on the apples but I found the Fuji variety that was used for both tart, too firm and not tart enough for my taste. For our next apple tart competition, I think we should use Granny Smith or even Golden Delicious.

Because it was New Year's eve, we drank a Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rosé, a terrific dry Champagne Rosé with a delicate rose petal color and a lot of finesse, although the Champagne was much too dry to accompany the apple tart.

I think the Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d'Asti that Kobrand Corporation had sent me before the holidays would have worked better with the dessert. Unfortunately, we had tasted the wine earlier in the evening and there was none left.

Made from the aromatic Muscat grape, Moscato d'Asti is a sweet, semi-sparkling wine with low alcohol content. Nivole, which means clouds in the local dialect, is produced by Azienda Vitivinicola Michele Chiarlo, a prominent producer in Piedmont. The fruit is sourced from a single south-southwest facing, steep hillside vineyard. Fermentation occurs using natural yeast and is stopped when the wine has reached an alcohol level of 5.5% using a sterile filtration to remove any remaining live yeasts. Then the addition of unfermented must adjusts the residual sugar level to 11%.

The wine had a pale yellow color and a fragrant nose of exotic fruits. The palate was light and fresh, slightly fizzy, with a definitive sweetness, leaving an aftertaste of honey and apricot. But the uncomplex sweet style of the wine didn't convince everybody: my husband thought it tasted like sparkling apple juice. Maybe he should have tried it with the apple tart.

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With the turkey leftovers, a magnum of 2003 Ridge Lytton Springs

My friend Catherine has delicious ways to accomodate turkey leftovers. So the day after Thanksgiving, she made a soup with what was left of the turkey carcass. She had to cook the carcass for at least four hours to produce the broth, and then she made the soup with the broth, chopped vegetables, and diced turkey.

She also showed us how to make turkey croquettes with leftover mashed potatoes. Simply served with a green salad, they were the ultimate comfort dish: crispy on the outside, moist and tasty on the inside.

And we were far from running out of wine as it was time to open the magnum of 2003 Ridge Lytton Springs that our friend Pierre had brought.

It's in 1972 that Ridge Vineyards started making its first Lytton Springs Zinfandel from 80 year old vines, and in the early 1990s, the winery was able to purchase the land. The place is named after "Captain" William Litton, the actual owner in the 1870s. It was later in the early 1900s that the spelling changed to Lytton.

The vineyard is located north of Sonoma County, in the hills that separate the Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys. It is mostly planted to Zinfandel — including some 111-year-old vines — as well as Petite Sirah, Carignane, a small amount of Mataro (Mourvèdre), and Grenache.

The wine had deep red color and a rich combination of red and black fruits on the nose. The palate had some good acidity and sweet berry aromas without being jammy at all. Overall, the wine was very well balanced, offering much more finesse than most. I was happy: I too rarely find a Zinfandel that I like.

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A memorable Thanksgiving dinner

We spent Thanksgiving in Tahoe with our dear friends Catherine and Pierre and their children. The weather was sunny and cold — no snow — which was perfect for early afternoon hikes and the rest of the day dedicated to various activities including cooking, knitting, reading, playing games, and eating of course. Actually, cooking was the main activity of this extended weekend and our friend Catherine being an awesome cook, I can tell you that everything that came out of the kitchen was incredibly delicious. She was the one in charge of course, the rest of us helping with basic tasks such as slicing, dicing, and mincing.


The turkey in its citrus flavored brine

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The roasted turkey


A sampling of turkey, cornbread stuffing, and side dishes

Our friend Pierre had brought the wine: a 1997 Beaune Premier Cru Les Teurons Domaine Germain that they had bought at the Château de Chorey while vacationing in Burgundy. The domaine includes a renovated castle with five chambres d'hôtes and one suite, as well as several Beaune Premier Cru vineyards mostly planted with old vines. Les Teurons is a 21.04 ha premier cru vineyard known to produce elegant wines which are round, rich and balanced. The wine had a clear light red color with a fragrant nose of floral and fruity aromas. On the palate, it was well-aged, balanced and harmonious, leaving a light smoky note on the finish.

After the turkey feast, we went for a walk, in order to make room for the dessert: a very yummy pear tart tatin that my daughter had made.


The pear tart tatin: seems crumbly but was actually very yummy

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A delicious wine for a great bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse is Marseille's traditional fish stew. The word comes from the Provençal bolha-baissa which means boil and reduce. It is served with toasted bread slices spread with a spicy garlic mayonnaise called rouille or rust. I never tried to make one, thinking that the recipe was too complicated and that I could never find the right fish in California.

But last week, a friend of mine showed me her simplified recipe. Her bouillabaisse ended up being rich in flavor and surprisingly easy to prepare. First, make a fish broth with fish trimmings (such as fish frames and fish heads). This can be done ahead of time. Then, cook onions, garlic, tomatoes, leeks, fennel in olive oil. Add orange peel, fennel seeds, bay leaf, saffron, and the fish broth. Let it boil and reduce. Finally, strain the soup, add fish fillets (halibut, red snapper), scallops, then mussels. Serve with parsley, croutons, and rouille.



With the bouillabaisse, we had a white from the Languedoc, the 2005 Bergerie de l'Hortus Classique Blanc. Domaine de L'Hortus is a 60 hectare estate located in the valley between the Pic Saint Loup and the Montagne de l'Hortus. Bergerie de l'Hortus is the domaine's second label. Made with young vines, the wine was an unusual blend of Chardonnay, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc. It had a bright golden color with aromas of stone fruits and white flowers. On the palate, it was deliciously lush, ripe, and mouthfilling with a touch of sweetness on the finish. Everybody agreed: it worked wonderfully well with the bouillabaisse.


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