Interesting Recipes

This is a mushroom Wellington, which means that it is a mushroom filling in a puff pastry shell.

Another idea is pumpkin humus.

2019 Merlot

I decided to make a Merlot last year because I still have a stock of Zinfandel. This years grapes were sweet and juicy -- maybe not as grapey. I had a bottle of cherry juice concentrate, and I added it here for some added complexity. I added after two days of fermentation, because I have experienced slow fermentation with it -- though it doesn't say it is inhibited. 

2019 Merlot 

144 lb Lodi Gold Merlot Grapes (Lodi Gold Brand from Delta Packing in Lodi CA

8 ounces of tart cherry juice concentrate (added after fermentation was vigorous)

5.5 g pectic enzyme

14 g yeast energizer

1.5 packets of Lalvin Baugouin RC212

This made about 42L after racking for 10.5 L/case, which means these were juicy grapes. 

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon

I found a new source of grapes at Tropic Banana in Milwaukee's Third Ward. It is a full line produce wholesaler that also does a business in wine grapes. I bought four 36 pound crates of Cabernet Sauvignon there. Unlike my old source in Detroit, I had to order these in advance -- sight unseen. Maybe the price is a little better.

Happily the grapes seem to be both juicy and sweet. Juicy grapes make more wine, and sweet grapes avoid the need to add sucrose sugar. 

My wine cellar is bottoming out as last year I made much less wine because I was moving to a new house. 

2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Recipe

144 lb Cabernet Sauvignon (Lodi Gold; Delta Packing; Lodi, CA)

5.5 g pectic enzyme

14 g yeast energizer

1 packet of Premier Rouge

I pitched the yeast on Sunday night, and noticed slow fermentation by Monday AM, medium by Monday PM, and fast fermentation by Tuesday, and that continued into Wednesday. 

The flavor of the juice was very sweet and grapey. The Brix was 24. and the juice's density was 1.106. This should make 13.8% alcohol, which is fine.

This batch made 39 L after racking. That is 9.75L/case of grapes.

Vegetarian Frittata for Six

I used to make frittata regularly when I was younger. Recently I don't eat so many eggs, but I made one this Easter. There are two kinds of recipes, ones that need to be flipped over, and ones that finish in the oven--fully cooking the egg without overcooking the bottom. With eight people coming, I thought I should try recipes for the non-flipping kind, even though I have less experience with those, and even though the buttery-brown egg crust is one of the best parts.

Easter Frittatas are often full of sausage, but I wanted it this one to be vegetarian. My favorite holiday frittata are cheesy and light, so I wanted to use cream or milk to soften the egg. I wanted flavorful cheese to compensate the missing meat. I wanted potato and mushroom to help cut the richness; some people use flour to cut the richness, but it changes the texture too much.

I started with a Martha Stewart online recipe, and I soon learned that she has at least six frittata recipes. I liked her use of heavy cream instead of milk; she used goat cheese instead of ricotta; and gruyere cheese instead of mozzarella. I found the gruyere inexplicable.

I found great recipes in the The Taste of Memories from Columbus Park, a book of Italian recipes from my home town in Kenosha by Catherine Murray. (I was surprised to see the book is up to $600 for a used copy on Amazon.) There are a few frittata recipes including a baked Frittata with vegetables. I also checked My Calabria by Rosetta Costantino, and that had a ricotta frittata with twice as much as I show below.

Here is the final recipe. I decided to use cauliflower with less potato to help the texture. I am using feta because I like the stronger flavor.


Ingredients

12 eggs
¼ c whipping cream
1 t salt
1 ¼ cup ricotta (drained if wet)

⅓ c spinach ( I used frozen.)
1-2 T shopped basil, fresh
4 oz feta cheese, chopped
4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, diced
1 med potato, boiled and mashed
1 c boiled crushed cauliflower
6 boiled and sliced mushrooms, yes boiled

¼ c olive oil or as needed (maybe I'll use butter next time)

¼ c grated Parmesan


Instructions

Heat oven to 375F. I used the convection setting.

Premix the items from the first group, eggs, cream, salt, and ricotta, and then beat lightly to break up the yokes and larger lumps of ricotta.

Prep the items in the second group so they are available to add quickly. It is ok vary the vegetables a bit, but take care to avoid vegetables that will produce water when cooking.

Use the oil to generously lubricate a large frying pan and heat the pan on medium heat.

Pour the egg mixture into the preheated pan. When a solid egg layer forms on the bottom and sides of the pan, about 60-90 seconds, pour the vegetable and cheese mixture in to the pan. Spread the dry materials evenly and submerge them in the egg mixture.

Cook on medium heat until the bottom is well set, but not so long that the sides or bottom brown. A lid on the pan is useful.

Sprinkle the grate parmesan cheese on top.

Place the pan in the oven until the top is just set, taking care not to over cook. I used convection heating in the oven. This took 25 minutes for me.

Martha suggested a table sauce based on Creme Fraiche. Mine was simple, garlic powder, parsley,  and vinegar.

2018 Nebbiolo

I was in the Piedmont region of Italy last December, and Nebbiolo grapes are native there. I had Nebbiolo wine, and I really liked the richness of flavor. When I went to buy grapes, I was happy to see they had California grown Nebbiolo. I bought five cases, because I am only making one batch this year.

While I was crushing the grapes, my grape crusher broke, and after a crash program of roller repair, I finished crushing the last case. The sugar content was 23.1% with a 21.2 Brix, which I thought was a little low. This was easy to see from the juiciness of the grapes; one could see the grapes were flush with water. The free run juice was clear and sweet. The flavor saying in the pulp of the grape. It will need a while to get the flavor out. I added 6 pounds of sugar, and afterwards the sugar content was 26.9% or (24.5 Brix) which should get 12.8% alcohol.

2018 Nebbiolo Wine Recipe

180 lb Nebbiolo grapes (Pia, California)
6 lb sugar
32 g yeast energizer
1 pack 71B-1122 in the blue container
1 pack RC 212 in the red container





21 April 2019 Update
The batch fermented normally. At this time the wine is light, like a rose, and with a similar taste. This is surprising since the grape skins were kept on the juice for a week. The taste does not have the grapeiness that I had hoped. The flavor is a little harsh, something that I expect will improve with age.

2017 Orange Wine

It is December and wife Jenny bought oranges to be healthy, but later we decided we’d rather make wine from it. Orange wine is a little unusual, but there are recipes on line. Jenny and I decided o make a very sweet wine, where the yeast would die leaving the wine sweet.

Orange Wine Recipe
7 oranges, squeezed
1 lemon, squeezed
57 oz orange juice (Meijers Organic)
1 Tablespoon orange zest
3 lb 1 oz sugar
2 g yeast energizer
1 pack Lalvin 71B-1122


I measured the sugar at 13.6% (specific gravity of 13 Brix and a density of 1.05 g/ml). This would make a wine of just 6.5%. I added 3 lb of sugar to just 2.6 L of juice to bring the sugar up to 20%. The idea is for the yeast to die and leave the wine sweet.

I just converted from Red Star to Lalvin yeast. I used 71B-1122, which is for white wines, and especially wines with residual sweetness.

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2020 Follow-up: This wine turned out to be a disaster. It tasted terrible. For a while I thought I could blend it with my Riesling, but it just wrecked the Riesling. I am probably going to pour this down the drain. I mourn the lost Riesling.

2017 Hard Cider

My wife bought a gallon of organic apple juice because she thought it would be good for her stomach. She decided not to drink it, and so it was available to make wine. It is a true juice rather than a cider, so the apple selection is more for little kids rather than adults.

The sugar content was 14% Brix. This should make 7% alcohol.


Hard Apple Cider Recipe

1 gallon Apple Juice  (Organic from Manzana Products, Sebastopol CA)
3/4 lemon chopped with rind
3/4 tsp of pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp of yeast enzyme
1 packet of Red Star Cotes des Blancs

The plan is to ferment to dryness, then rack, filter, chill, add sorbate and sulfite, and then sweeten.