Our President and resident foodie, Mike Tierney, has been regularly sending State of the Street newsletters, complete with recipes, for many moons now. We've decided it's time to compile these delicious preparations in one place to make them easily available.

Each of these recipes are designed to be paired perfectly with a given wine, making them excellent meal ideas for making a special evening out of a great bottle of wine. Bon Appetit!

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BLT - Taft Street Style

August 2010

With tomato season approaching, it’s time to bring out one of favorite appetizers – a mini BLT, substituting fresh basil for the lettuce.

Makes 24

Ingredients

• 12 roma tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 3 slices bacon, cut in 2 inch pieces
• 12 small to medium fresh basil leaves
• Olive oil for drizzle

1. Slice tomatoes vertically. With your fingers discard seeds and liquid. Place on a baking pan, and sprinkle with shallot and garlic, salt and pepper. Bake in a 250 degree oven for 21/2 – 3 hours, until tomatoes are dry but flexible.
2. Place bacon piece on tomato shell and top with basil leaf. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

If you have any Taft Street Rose of Pinot Noir around, you are in luck. If not, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc will substitute nicely.

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Summer Potato Salad

June 2010

For the next couple of months it’s picnic season, and potato salad is a go-to dish. Here is a recipe that works.

Ingredients

• 2 ½ pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 medium red onion, diced
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
• ½ cup kalamata olives, pitted
• 1 red pepper, cored
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Parsley

1. Place onion and lemon juice in a bowl. Set aside 15 minutes
2. Cook potatoes in boiling, salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and place in bowl.
3. Place garlic, capers, olives and pepper in blender and roughly chop.
4. Pour garlic mixture and onion over potatoes. Add oil and mix.
5. Salt and pepper to taste. Add parsley as garnish.

Serves six. Right now I’m thinking barbeque ribs, this potato salad, and some Taft Street Zin.

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Pesto Popovers

May 2010

Tired of the same old cheese and crackers to go with your evening glass of wine? Here’s an easy alternative.

Ingredients

• Butter
• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon pesto
• 1/3 cup smoked cheddar, grated

1. Grease a muffin tin with butter and heat for 10 minutes in a 425° oven.
2. Blend all other ingredients except cheese. Fill the individual tins one-third full with batter. Top with teaspoon of cheese. Cover with batter until two-thirds full.
3. Bake for twenty minutes at 425°. Serve.

Makes a dozen. Great with any Taft Street wine, especially Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

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A Couple of Sauces

April 2010

With this weekend’s party coming up, I looked for a variety of sauces to accompany the meats, breads and chips. Here are two, each serving 4-6.

Hummus

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 16 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• ¼ cup red onion, minced
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and pepper

1. In a food processor, pulse all ingredients but salt and pepper to a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Spread on bruschetta or celery stacks.

Romesco Sauce

• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 slice whole wheat bread, cubed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 12 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup roasted almonds
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne
• ¼ cup sherry vinegar

1. Cook garlic and bread in olive oil until brown, about 5-6 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
2. Place all ingredients into food processor and mix to a smooth paste. Add ice water as needed,
3. Goes particularly well with grilled meats and fish.

Both these sauces work quite well with our heritage wines – 2008 Sonoma County Pinot Noir and 2008 Mendocino County Pinot Noir.

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Taft Street Shrimp Tacos

March 2010

On a recent trip to So Cal we had some great shrimp tacos on the public pier in Santa Barbara. Here’s our take.

Ingredients

• 1 pound shrimp (30 count) cleaned
• 2 tablespoons Taft Street Rub (recipe to follow)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• sriracha sauce
• ½ small head cabbage, finely sliced
• 4 ounces blue cheese
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped
• Juice from 1 lime
• Salt and pepper
• 8 corn tortillas

Taft Street Rub

• 2 tablespoons cumin seed
• 1 tablespoon coriander seed
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• Salt and pepper

1. Brown cumin seed and coriander seed in a fry pan until they begin to smoke. Put in spice grinder and grind to powder. Mix in chili powder, sugar, and salt and pepper.
2. Make slaw by combining cabbage, blue cheese, sour cream, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Season shrimp with Taft Street Rub. Heat oil in fry pan and add shrimp. Cook until opaque (about 2 minutes).
4. Mix in a squirt of sriracha sauce.
5. Heat tortillas on stovetop or in oven wrapped in aluminum foil.
6. Serve with slaw.

Serves 4. These really go well with our new 2009 Sonoma County Rose' of Pinot Noir.

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Chocolate Torte and Zin = Valentine Treat

February 2010

This one has LOVE all over it.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup flour
• Powdered sugar
• 2 cups berries (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries)

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter a 10 inch springform pan; dust with sugar.
2. Melt sugar and butter in saucepan over low heat stirring often. Cool, stir in sugar. Whisk in eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla, salt and flour. Pour into pan.
3. Bake about 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool.
4. Dust with sugar, add berries for garnish. Dust with sugar again.

This and a bottle or two of 2007 Taft Street Russian River Zinfandel Cobblestone Vineyard will delight eight people.

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Clam Chowder Taft Street Style

January 2010

We will be serving this for Winter Wineland. Come on by for a taste.

Ingredients

• 1 1 pint shucked clams (or 2x6.5 ounce cans minced clams)
• 4 ounces bacon, diced
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• ½ cup chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped celery
• 2 ½ cups milk
• ½ cup cream
• 3 tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon saffron threads
• salt and pepper

1. Drain clams; reserving liquid. Add enough water to liquid to measure 2 cups. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan crisp bacon; dice and set aside. Add reserved liquid, potatoes, onion and celery to fat in saucepan. Cook about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in clams, 2 cups of milk and cream. Stir remaining 1/2 cup of milk into flour; stir into chowder.
4. Cook 2 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, saffron, salt and pepper. Sprinkle bacon on top.

Try this with 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay Garagistes or 2006 Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir Garagistes. You'll be glad you did!

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Black Pepper & Sao Jorge Biscotti

December 2009

This Sunday I will serve the annual savory biscotti to complement our array of wines for the local wine club members. We use our local favorite cheese, a cow’s milk farmer’s cheese from local cheesemaker Joe Matos, but Parmigiano-Regggiano is a fine substitute.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ tablespoons freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 ½ cups Matos cheese, finely grated
• 1 ½ sticks cold butter, diced
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, 2 cups cheese, and one tablespoon black pepper. Blend in butter to create a coarse meal. Whisk 3 eggs and milk and add to mixture until a soft dough forms.
3. Turn dough on board and quarter. Form each piece into a log, about 12" by 2" by 1". Transfer to 2 ungreased baking sheets.
4. Whisk remaining egg and brush logs, then top with remaining cheese and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, switching position of pans every 10 minutes.
5. Cool 10 minutes. Reduce oven to 300. Take each log at cut into i/2 inch diagonal slices. Return to pans, cut side down. Bake another 20 minutes, turning over slices midway.
6. Cool 15 minutes. Can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature.

These are great with Taft Street Zinfandel and Pinot Noir.

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Chimichurri Sauce

November 2009

The inspiration for our fire pit cooking came from an Argentine recipe – Una Vaca Entera. This recipe called for "1 medium cow, about 1400 pounds, butterflied, skin removed." We decided to start with something a bit more manageable, and our Saturday party was a big success. Chimichurri sauce is a staple of Argentine cooking, and it varies from region to region; but the basics include parsley, garlic and olive oil. Makes 2 cups.

Ingredients

• 2 cups parsley leaves
• 6 cloves garlic
• 6 cloves garlic
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• ½ cup olive oil
• salt

1. Combine parsley with salt, garlic pepper flakes, and half the oil in a food processor. Process, scrapping down the sides of the container if necessary.
2. Add vinegar and the rest of the oil and process.
3. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve with a wide variety of dishes. It was a real hit with grilled steak!

Zinfandel and Syrah are natural fits for steak with chimichurri sauce – Taft Street of course.