Pairings
Foods that will accentuate the flavors in our Oakville
Cross Cabernets...
Greek Stefado
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup butter
3 lbs. lean beef stew meat, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 bay leaf
2 TBS dried currents
1 6oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red table wine
2 TBS wine vinegar
1 TBS brown sugar
1 large clove minced garlic
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp ground cloves
3/4 lb. diced Monterey Jack or Muenster or 1/2 lb. crumbled feta
3/4 cup walnut halves
In a heavy kettle, saute onions in butter until limp. Season meat generously with salt and pepper, add to kettle stirring gently to coat each piece with the onions. Add bay leaf and currants. Stir remaining ingredients together and add, stir to blend. Cover and place in oven until meat is tender, about 2 hours. Sprinkle with cheese and walnuts and place uncovered in oven until cheese melts.
Serve over rice or cous cous, add warm crustly bread, a green salad and a nice glass of Oakville Cross cabernet! Serves 6-8.
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Pozole Soup-er Bowl
Usually, we make this tasty soup for our vineyard workers and guests to celebrate Harvest but this year we'll be making it for the Soup-er Bowl!!
2 T vegetable oil
1 medium finely chopped onion
1 12 oz bottle of green salsa
4 cups chicken stock
2 15oz cans of white hominy, rinsed and drained
1 rotisserie chicken -- meat only
Kosher salt and freshly milled black pepper
Saute onion in oil until softened -- add salsa and cook while stirring for 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken and hominy -- simmer until heated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls -- let everyone add their own garnishes: finely chopped onion, diced avocado, slivered radishes, lime wedges, cilantro and tortilla chips.
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Creamy Basil Dressing
I use this flavorful dressing on greens, summer tomatoes, sandwiches, burgers, grilled or poached salmon, dips -- just about anything!
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, firmly packed
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 green onions with tops, chopped
3 T vinegar
1/8 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic
2 T chopped chives
Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth -- makes approximately 2 1/2 cups.
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Paprika Roast Chicken with Sweet Onion
Our recipe suggestion is a quick, yet hearty chicken dish. It works equally well with a whole chicken or your family's favorite parts. It pairs beautifully with our Oakville Cross Cabernet to make even a quick supper a special occasion.
3.5 lb chicken or equivalent weight of favorite parts
1 sweet onion cut into 1/2 inch wedges
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 T paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with rack in upper third. Mix oil and spices in a medium bowl -- toss chicken and onion pieces to coat well with mixture. Arrange in shallow baking dish skin side up. Bake until tender -- about 30 minutes.
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Oakville Cross Berry Tart
This easy dessert is a perfect pairing with our Oakville Cross Cabernet.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 8" x 8" baking pan add 3 cups blackberries or a combination of raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. *
Mix in a bowl then sprinkle on top of berries 1 cup flour, 1 egg, 1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon baking powder.
Place slices of 1 stick of butter on top of flour mixture. Bake about 30 minutes until golden brown. Double recipe for 9" x 13" pan.
*Use frozen berries when fresh aren't available.
Get a PDF of this recipe here.
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We are honored and pleased that our friends at The Cheese Shop Inc. in Carmel sell Oakville Cross Cabernet. We have asked them to suggest some cheese pairings to go along with it.
The following are three cheeses that will pair nicely:
Fromage D'Affinois, Truffle
A mild, elegant double crème from France, this cheese has just a hint of sweetness, making it the perfect after dinner treat to aide the digestion or as an appetizer with a bit of bubbly! To top it off, this soft ripening cheese has almost three times as much calcium as Brie. This cheese has the pleasure of being blended with truffles to give the cheese a clean earthy flavor without garlic characteristics. Possibly the best truffle cheese we have ever tasted.
Old Amsterdam
A dynamic cheese that is 18 months of age, this Dutch Gouda (pronounced “how-duh”), has a flavor that balances between Cheddar and Parmigiano Reggiano. This cheese has a texture that is rich and creamy in the front of the mouth, and has a “crunch” character towards the finish. Produced exclusively by the Westland family, this has become one of the most popular cheeses we have ever sold in 36+ years of business.
L'Etivaz Alpage Gruyere
WOW!!! We were smitten with our first taste of this extremely rare and limited production “real” Gruyere!! L’Etivaz is a Canton (county region) in Switzerland just northeast of Montreux, and there are approximately 10 smaller villages within this Canton, and about 70 small dairy farms that all contribute their collective milks to make this GREAT cheese (visit our web site, go to L’Etivaz link, and you’ll see some of the small farms with as little as 20 cows, and some built back in the 1700s!!!) Being an “Alpage” Gruyere, this is made from Summer milk only, and exhibits vibrant floral, herb & roasted nut flavors. The milk is heated in traditional copper pots over open wood fires, just as their ancestors did for generations.
OK, so we just can’t help ourselves...So here’s a fourth choice of cheese:
Koko's Coconut Gouda
First you need to smell this cheese...then think of either Rupert Holmes or Beach Boys’ songs...OK, so I am dating myself here!! But this Dutch Gouda has had coconut cream added into the cheese, and the flavors are intense but the texture goes all cheese in the finish. And NO it’s not TROPICANA sun tan oil in this cheese!!
And finally, we should mention that as accompaniments to these cheeses, certainly some Marcona almonds from Spain, dried tart Michigan cherries, and various crackers, baguettes, as well as a mix of olives or salames would futher enhance the tasting.
