Thanksgiving

More Turkey, Love

Are you still looking for ways to de-turkey? Look no further!! Here’s another completely different and interesting dish.

Yesterday, after a great 8 mile run in the morning, and a barrel tasting at Revolution Wines in late afternoon, I made dinner and yet another Paleo dish with turkey.

This time, the BF and I were kind of celebrating, so we opened my sample of Elyssia Pinot Noir Brut by Freixenet. This sparkling wine has notes of blackberry and blends Trepat with the Pinot Noir to create a unique rosé.

The grape percentages are 85% Pinot Noir and 15% Trepat. It scored 87 points and an “acclaim” rating in Wine Enthusiast Magazine. It has a 11.5% alcohol content and is aged 9 months in the cave with second fermentation in the bottle.

The Elyssia Pinot Noir Brut retails for about $18 per bottle, so it’s a little more fancy than an everyday sparkler. But this was not just an everyday sort of day. 🙂

Want to find this wine? Use this Wine Locator to find Elyssia Pinot Noir Brut near you and use this link to find them on Facebook.

Turkey with Rosemary Butter Couscous and Roasted Root Vegetables

For the turkey dish, I took one cauliflower and pulsed it in my food processor until it resembled couscous. Then I sat it aside.

For Thanksgiving dinner, I had made a rosemary infused butter by warming 2 sprigs of rosemary in 1 stick of butter. I didn’t allow the mixture to boil, but warmed it enough so that the rosemary oils seeped into the butter. Then I strained the butter and let it resolidify in the refrigerator. I used the rosemary butter to saute a red onion and about 1 1/2 cups of mushrooms. After cooking the vegetables for about 5-10 minutes, I added some garlic and then added the cauliflower “couscous”. For color, I added some fresh parsley from my It’s Organic produce box, then about 2 cups of turkey, torn from the leg and breast areas.

The roasted root vegetables are leftovers from our Thanksgiving meal, and I will explain how to make them in my upcoming complete Thanksgiving meal breakdown, which should be a real treat for those of you who are gluten free or Paleo.

November 27, 2011 | Categories: leftovers, paleo, Thanksgiving, turkey, wine | Leave a comment

What Ever Shall We Do with All This Turkey?

Hmm… first of all, if you have leftover food any day of the week, that’s a first world problem to have, so congratulations, consider yourself lucky.

We had a few people over last night, but still have a ton leftover of the Diestel Organic Turkey I ordered from Whole Foods. We made a turkey last week (same size and variety from WF) before our Napa trip (which I will begin to tell you about in the next week), and I made the dish below with the leftover meat and one of my favorite vegetables, spaghetti squash. Freixenet sent me a sample of sparkling wine (pictured below) and it was a lovely pairing.

Freixenet’s Cordon Rosado Brut (Cava) is a great party kick-off wine. It plays nice with all those appetizers, light cheeses and fruit. This sparkling wine has full berry flavors, but crisp and dry. Sign me up. That’s the way I like them. It also scored 87 points and a “best buy” rating in Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

The grape varieties used in the creation of the base wine for this Cava are Trepat and Garnacha. It has a 12% alcohol content and is aged between 12 and 18 months.

The Freixenet Cordon Rosado retails for about $12 per bottle, so if you have a lot of parties to attend or some to host, you can get a case of this without taking out a loan. Want to find this wine? Click here to find Cordon Rosado Brut at a retailer near you. Also, they have a Facebook page here.

Oh right, I was supposed to tell you what you can make with turkey leftovers. Oops. Well, the dish I made was turkey in an onion, pine nut, and three-cheese sauce over spaghetti squash.

First, I threw a spaghetti squash in the oven about 45 mins before I began to prepare the rest of the meal. Then I toasted some pine nuts alongside the squash when it was nearly time to take it out. Be careful with pine nuts, they go from perfectly toasted to burnt very easily. Then I sautéed some onions in coconut oil, added some garlic, and then the turkey, which I had torn into bite-sized pieces. I made the cheese sauce from a blend of mozzarella, parmesan, and asiago cheeses. I melted them in a little chicken broth and some unsweetened coconut milk and then poured it over the turkey/onion sauté. Then I took the squash I baked and portioned it on the plate, and laid the turkey on the top. Then I grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (my favorite cheese EVERRR) to finish it off. OK, so that’s four cheeses, but oh well, four times as good. Happy Thanksgiving weekend, everyone!

November 25, 2011 | Categories: leftovers, Thanksgiving, turkey, wine | Leave a comment

Pinotlicious Wines: Part One

I recently had the opportunity to try the 2009 Sonoma Coast Vineyards Freestone Hills Pinot Noir.

I liked the wine so much that I am ready to extend my upcoming Napa trip up Highway 29 so I can visit a tasting room in Healdsburg that carries more SCV wines along with several other labels. Access to wines like these is exactly why I came to California.

The wine retails for around $40, so it’s certainly not an everyday wine, but well-suited for occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. The wine is deep garnet in color, and soft and velvety with a wonderful finish. It’s fruity enough to bring together the different flavors of the meal, but also worth drinking by itself.

The 2009 Freestone Hills is a 100% pinot noir combining grapes from three vineyards: Bella Sonoma Vineyard, (72%), Petersen Vineyard, (20%), & the Salmon Creek Block, (8%). It was aged 16-months in 60% new French oak, and has 14.3% alcohol.

You can find this wine in Chico at the Mangrove Bottle Shop, in San Francisco at Soma Wines and Spirits, and in Healdsburg at the Vintage Wine Estates tasting room. You can also buy it online from the winery’s website here.