November 24, 2004
ThanksgivingThanksgiving-a time for celebration. A time for food and wine. Last week I offered Natalie Ostini’s traditional turkey recipe .
Today, here’s yet another tempting recipe from another important family of food and wine-from Lompoc resident, Julia Cargasacchi. It’s delicious and easy to fix.
Pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, anything pumpkin is hard to beat-especially this time of year.
Julia’s Pumpkin Soup
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 can (48 oz) chicken broth or chicken stock
1 can (29 oz) pure pumpkin
2 tsp chopped, fresh thyme
2 cups heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Rosemary or thyme sprigs for garnishHeat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrots; sauté 7-8 minutes or until softened. Stir in broth, pumpkin, thyme. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Working in batches, puree soup in a blender or food processor. Return to Dutch oven. Stir in cream; simmer until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.
This soup matches well with red wine. I suggest you try with Peter’s syrah or pinot noir. Their label is called Point Concepcion. According to their website, “Point Concepción Wines was established in 2000 by Peter and Julia Cargasacchi with the goal of producing food-friendly wines from California’s Central Coast which are ready to drink when they are released. The first vintage was produced in 2002 at Kahn Cellars in Buellton, California. The 2002 vintage consisted of one Pinot Noir and three Syrahs, and were released in the summer of 2004. Production as since moved to Lompoc in 2003, where the same year’s vintage included Pinot Noir, Syrah, and a Sangiovese rosé. “The roots of our winemaking tradition are found in the Italian traditional pairing of food and wine at mealtime. Our family has been making wine for consumption with food for many generations in Italy. “Peter Cargasacchi is the fifth generation of his family in California but the first one born in California. His great, great grandfather was the first to come from Italy and he founded a restaurant and hotel in San Francisco that was destroyed in the fire and earthquake of 1906. Subsequent generations, though born in Italy, lived and farmed in the California Central Coast since the early 1900’s. Peter planted his first vineyard in 1999 in the Santa Rita Hills AVA, and a subsequent vineyard in the Jalama area outside of Lompoc. “Julia Cargasacchi is also the first generation of her mother’s family to be born in California. She has fond memories of helping her grandmother out with the vendemmia (grape harvest) in Italy, where she spent many summers. It was from her grandmother that she developed an interest in cooking and a love for Italy.” Visit the website at www.pointconcepcionwines.com.
Flaming Spinach Salad
Festive salad? Try my flaming spinach salad, a salad I’ve made since the early 80s. I shared this recipe a year ago in this column. A festive treat, this recipe serves four to six people and is an adaptation of a recipe given to me from the old Chanticleer restaurant in Montecito. I have been fixing this for over 20 years. I still have the cocktail napkin I wrote the recipe down on.
1 bunch spinach
6 slices bacon
2 large shallots
6 good-sized button mushrooms
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
ground pepper to taste
half cup high quality red wine vinegar
flambe with four ounces of vodkaCut up the bacon and crisp over a low fire. While the bacon is cooking, add the sliced shallots and sliced mushrooms. Add the Dijon mustard and the vinegar.
Pour the hot dressing over the spinach leaves. Just before serving, heat the vodka in a separate pan. As the vapors develop, ignite, pour over the hot dressing and mix thoroughly.
A nice variation for the salad is to substitute Mosby’s delicious grappa for the vodka. Their grappa, distilled from gewurztraminer, is very spicy and peppery.
Bon appetit!
Wine lover, food lover and Santa Maria Times Wine columnist, Bob Senn, lives in the bucolic Los Alamos Valley and owns the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium
