Posts tagged ‘wine’

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August 17th, 2012

LYK Relaxation Station: Sparkling Peach Spritzer

by Chrissy

Hurray for Friday! You know what that means…it’s time for the LYK Relaxation Station to show you how to whip up a tasty post-work/pre-weekend libation.

When life gives you peaches and a heat wave, you make a Sparkling Peach Spritzer. It’s as simple as that.

Especially on a Friday. Especially at 5 O’clock. Especially when it’s 80 degrees, by the beach. Especially when it’s Shark Week…

 

This fancy drink is simply delightful. And it’s the perfect thing to sip on at any time of the day. Socially acceptable? Totally. Because we just said so.


I hate to say it, but I’ll say it with confidence. I think this drink could replace the mimosa. I know a few people who would administer a swift kick to the shin after saying a thing like that, but I stand by my words. Sometimes you just might want something a little less on the bubbly side, so that you won’t have the burps and a champagne baby to deal with for the rest of the day….TMI?

Here’s the Step by Step:

Pit and chop peaches.

Throw them into a blender and puree.

Puree until it looks as smooth as butta’… like this. Then add the honey.

Mmmm the honey really helps bring out the sweetness from peaches and is somewhat reminiscent of a homemade peach jam. You could totally spoon it into some yogurt, or drink it like this, but since it’s from the LYK Relaxation Station, you’ll have to add the wine. :)

Give it a quick blend to mix the honey into the peach puree. Pour into a fine mesh sieve that is sitting over a large bowl. With a spatula, press the puree through the sieve until all but the small pieces of peel are left; discard the peel remnants.

Add a squeeze of lemon, to help prevent the peach puree from browning and mix into the puree.

For a pitcher, add in the finished puree and pour in the bottle of wine (or bottle and a half if you want to get wild, we don’t judge), then add about a cup or so of mineral water.

Or you could go the glass route and make individual servings by adding 1/2 part peach puree, 1/2 part chilled wine, and a heavy splash of mineral water…all to taste!

Feel free to customize your own combination of puree, wine, and mineral water. Just be sure you are still able to taste the fresh peaches!

 

See, super simple and fresh! If that doesn’t cool your jets during these hot summer months, then I don’t know what will…

 

Sparkling Peach Spritzer

Serves 4

4 Peaches

3 Tbsp honey

Juice from 1/2 lemon ( about 1 1/2 Tbsp)

1- 1 1/2 bottle crisp white wine, chilled (we used Pino Grigio)

Mineral water

 

Direction:

Peach Puree: Pit and chop the peaches. Place in a blender or food processer and blend on high until fully pureed. Add honey and mix into the puree. Pour into a fine mesh sieve that is sitting over a large bowl. With a spatula, press the puree through the sieve until all but the small pieces of peel are left. Discard the peel remnants and wash sieve immediately so it can be easily cleaned.

Squeeze half of a lemon into the peach puree and mix. Cover and let chill for a few hours until ready to use, or use immediately.

To make spritzers: In a glass, combine 1/2 part wine with 1/2 part fresh peach puree and a top with a heavy splash of mineral water ( about 3 oz). If you would like to make a whole pitcher, add peach puree, bottle of wine and about 1 cup mineral water, stir together and serve. Garnish with a fresh peach slice or a sprig of mint and enjoy!

 

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Chrissy

Posted in Breakfast, Cocktails, LYK Relaxation Station, Recipes | 7 Comments »

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February 14th, 2012

Spiced Wine-poached Pears with Nutella Mascarpone Filling

by Chrissy


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Simple, gourmet-looking dessert. Zesty, spiced-wine flavor & aroma. Filled with chocolate hazelnut cream stuffing. Sheesh, life is good!

Nutella + Mascarpone = the perfect duo. Put them in a wine-soaked pear and you have your self a masterpiece!

These poached pears are really amazing. I originally fell in love with sweetened, warm pears for dessert, when I lived in Italy. Normally we would have fresh fruit for dessert, which was just the thing you wanted after a hefty pasta & meat-filled meal, but sometimes my home-stay mom would bake apples and pears with a sprinkle of sugar. It was always such a tasty dessert that just warmed up my soul. It was always hard to choose between the two fruits, so I would often indulge in both.

And I wonder why I gained weight over there…

These wine-poached pears are a step up from the baked ones that I had in Italy. The flavors that the pear picked up from the poaching liquid, paired with the light Nutella creamy filling, tastes extravagant!

 

The How To:

Peel pears, but leave the steams on.

Now you have naked pears ready for their bath! Such indecency….

In a large dutch oven, combine wine, water, vanilla bean paste, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, ground cinnamon, allspice, sugar and mix.

Add the naked pears. Bath time! Let these babies soak for 30-40 minutes, and be sure that they are tender. They can hang out in the poaching liquid until you are ready to fill & serve them.

After they cool to room temperature, remove from liquid and de-stem the pears by cutting off the top portion of the pear, reserving the stem/top for later. Core the pears.

Start reducing the wine liquid.

Make mascarpone filling by mixing the mascarpone with a pinch of cinnnamon, heavy cream, powdered sugar. Whisk.

Add the Nutella and mix again.

Mmmmm.

When the wine liquid is half-reduced, add the pad of butter and keep reducing on high for another 5-7 minutes. Cool and then use later to spoon, generously, over stuffed pears.

Stuff pears with the filling, by using a pastry or Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off. It might overflow, as you can tell with ours, but that’s ok!

Enjoy with tons of sauce, pooling around the pear, and an extra helping of Nutella Mascarpone Filling. It also wouldn’t hurt to throw a heaping scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on the side :)

Holy Mackerel, SO good!

 

 

Spiced Wine-poached Pears with Nutella Mascarpone Filling

adapted from Michael Chiarello

Serves 6-8 (depending on the number of pears)

 

Ingredients:

6-8 firm Bartlett pears
1 bottle red wine (about 3 ¼ cups)
3 ¼ cups water
1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla bean
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
1 ½ cups sugar
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 (8 ounce) containers mascarpone cheese, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream
Pinch cinnamon
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp Nutella

Directions:

Peel the pears but leave stems on. In 6 quart Dutch oven, bring wine and water to a simmer. Add vanilla bean paste (or split whole vanilla bean), cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, sugar, allspice and ground cinnamon. Add pears to the liquid and simmer with lid on for about 30-40 minutes, until tender. Turn the head off, take the lid off and let the pears cool in wine mixture to room temperature.

When they are ready to be filled, cut off the top portion with the stem and set aside. Then, core the pears with an apple corer or a small paring knife, being sure to leave the pear whole.

Bring sauce up to a rolling simmer and reduce by about half. Add the pad of butter and keep reducing sauce for another 5-7 minutes (it’s a lot of liquid!).

Meanwhile, using a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk together the mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, pinch of cinnamon, and powdered sugar until smooth. Add the Nutella and mix until fully incorporated. Transfer to a pastry bag, or a Ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Pipe filling into the cored pears and top them off with the reserved stems.

Once the reduced sauce has cooled, spoon generously over pears. Serve with a side of extra Nutella mascarpone filling and sauce!

 

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Chrissy

Posted in Dessert, Recipes | 10 Comments »

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January 19th, 2012

Hearty Beef Stew: 2 Ways

by Chrissy

 

 

1 recipe. 2 ways to prepare. Things could get wild…

…and they did.

Why? Oh, that would be because we decided to make life difficult and put both means of preparation to the test…unintentionally.

Note to self: never start a fantastic CrockPot dinner at 5pm, when you are already famished. That is called voluntary torture. I am here to be sure that you don’t do what we did.

 

Here are your options: either prepare this recipe in the CrockPot, or prepare it in the Dutch Oven (AKA- a really big pot with a lid). Don’t do both, like we did.

You see, we had talked ourselves into the idea that since it was a cold, blustery, rainy weekend, which doesn’t happen often in Southern California, we needed to have a CrockPotted meal. Instead of starting it in the morning like we should have done, one thing led to another and before we knew it we had just started the beef stew in the CrockPot at 5pm. Way too late. You just can’t rush a hearty beef stew in the CrockPot; you have to give it time to get tender and really tasty.

By 7 O’clock our bellies were voicing their discontent and the stew still had a ways to go. We needed to act fast; we needed an alternative plan. So we quickly transferred the stew into the Dutch oven and cranked it on high until boiling. Then we put the lid on, turned the heat to medium-low and let it simmer, stew, and reduce to its little beefy heart’s content. In just over an hours time, with twice as many dishes to clean, and a loverly beef stew, we were ready to enjoy a hearty meal.

 

Hearty Beef Stew: 2 Ways

Serves 8

Ingredients:

3 potatoes, cleaned and diced into 1-in pieces

5 medium carrots, chopped in 1-in pieces

3 stalks celery, chopped in 1-in pieces

8 oz crimini mushrooms, cleaned and halved

1 ½ lb. lean stew meat

¼ cup flour

1 cup red wine

2 cups low sodium beef broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup shredded cabbage

4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp grill seasoning

2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp paprika

2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

 

Directions:

In the Crockpot:

Put a few Tbsp of olive oil on the bottom of the crockpot, then add the meat and everything else, except the parsley. Let cook on low for 7-10 hours or 5-6 hours on high.

In the Dutch Oven:

Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil, over medium high heat. Coat the meat with the grill seasoning and flour, then add the meat to the oil. Don’t overcrowd the pot, so do it in two batches, if needed. Remove the meat when they are browned, about 5 minutes, and set aside.

Add onions and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms, tomato paste, wine, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, oregano, black pepper, paprika. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cabbage and peas, and salt to taste (if needed), then remove lid and let cook for another  8-10 minutes. Dish up and serve with freshly chopped parsley to garnish.

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Chrissy

 

 

 

 

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