Inspired by the end of a “winter”(I use this term loosely as not to offend anyone) season and the beginning of a new growing season, I dished out a can of Urbani Truffle products to each of the hope & grace team members. The assignment? Concoct the perfect, decadent and soul-warming pasta recipe… Let’s say goodbye to “winter” and welcome spring! Use either season as an inspiration…

Here are two of my colleagues unbelievable truffle/pasta recipes…. Special Thanks to VICKIE AND CINDY!!!!!

Vickie’s White Truffle, Porcini and Lamb Risotto

Braised Lamb
1 ½ lb  lamb shanks, not trimmed
½ cup dry red wine (or more)
2 heaping T Dijon mustard
2 t sea salt
1 t freshly ground black pepper
½ head of garlic
½ yellow onion
olive oil to brown onions, garlic and lamb
Chop garlic and onions, add to olive oil in frying pan, brown.
Remove lamb shanks from pan and deglaze pan with red wine, adding mustard as well.
Place lamb, and sauce from frying pan in slow cooker.  Cook approx. 3 hours high, 3 hours on low.  May take less time.

Risotto
6 tablespoons butter, divided
16 oz Arborio Rice
4 cup hot vegetable broth
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
6.1 oz can Urbani White Truffles and Porcini sauce

Melt 3 T butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add rice, stir 1 minute. 
Add 1 cup hot broth.  Simmer until broth is almost absorbed, stirring often.  Repeat, using remaining broth, 1 cup at a time.  Stir and simmer until mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes longer.  Stir in remaining 3 T butter, parmesan cheese, and Urbani White Truffles and Porcini sauce.
Add braised lamb to risotto, garnish with parsley and serve with 2008 hope & grace Russian River Pinot Noir.
PS.  I would add asparagus next time!

Cindy’s Truffled Pasta

1 can Urbani Tomatoes Truffle Thrills
4 Tbsp. Tomato paste
3 Tbsp. finely sliced shallots
3/4 cup sliced shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup sliced baby portobello mushrooms
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tsp fresh chopped oregano
1/2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
3 Tbsp Olive oil Plus  additional to finish
1/2 cup water or stock

Heat olive oil until shimmering, add shallots and sauté until barely tender, add shitake and portobello mushrooms, sauté until they release their liquid. Sauté until pan is almost dry, kick up the heat and deglaze the pan with the wine. Sauté 4 minutes, add the oregano and rosemary, let cook 3 or 4 minutes. Add Urbani tomato Thrill, and tomato paste. Stir together, add 1/4 water or stock if very thick, bring to a simmer. Simmer 12 minutes, watching thickness and adding water or stock for desired thickness.
Serve over warm parmesan polenta or cooked pasta of your choice! Enjoy with hope & grace 2009 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir.

As we swap books and recipes we are always looking for great staples that can be tweaked to our fancy to elevate the delicious elixir in our glass in hopes of reaching “Napa Nirvana”. The ‘Seasons in the Wine Country’ features recipes from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone provides wonderful recipes that ensure perfect results from their easy to follow directions. With a few practice rounds(yes my job is soooo hard… haha) you can start to elaborate and unleash that creativity and make it your own….

This recipe was perfect with our 2009 hope & grace Santa Lucia Highlands Doctor’s Vineyard Pinot Noir… Sweet, savory, salty and succulent! So delicious the dogs won’t have a chance to taste even a morsel!

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with apple bacon compote-Recipe by The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, Cate Conniff, Seasons in the Wine Country -

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Mince 8 of the sage leaves and reserve until needed.

2. Bring the tenderloins to room temperature and dry completely with paper towels.

3. Place a roasting rack on a baking sheet. Season the pork with 1 teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. In a large sauté pan or skillet over medium-high heat, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil until a sheen develops and oil begins to separate. Add the pork and brown well and evenly on all sides, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes per side.

4. Remove the pork from the pan (reserve the pan) and place the pork on a roasting rack. Place the pork on the middle rack in the oven and roast until the center of the meat reaches and internal temperature of 145°F for medium-rare( pink in the middle), about 25 minutes, or 150°% for medium, 30 to 35 minutes.

5. While the pork roasts, add the bacon to the reserved pan and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes, stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until aromatic. Stir in the onion, minced sage, and thyme and sauté stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan for browned bits, until the onion is tender, about 4 minutes. Add the apples and sauté, stirring often, until lightly caramelized and tender, about 5 minutes.

6. Turn the heat to high and add the cider to deglaze the pan. Scrape any remaining browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat to medium-high and reduce the liquid to a thick glaze, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt and the ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Remove from eh heat and keep warm.

7. Remove the pork from the oven and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let stand 10 minutes. The internal temperature will continue to rise by 5 to 10 degrees.

8. While the pork is resting, hear the 1 cup canola oil in a small sauce-pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is warm enough so that the sage sizzle without smoking, fry the remaining 16 sage leaves until crisp, 10 to 20 seconds. Remove the sage leaves and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

9.Cut the pork into ½-inch-thick medallions. Arrange the medallions and border with about ½ cut apple and bacon compote per serving. Place 2 sage leaves on each plate and serve immediately.

As always, we encourage you to try this recipe than make it your own… we always like to go a little barbeque with everything. Throw together some cayenne, smoked paprika, dry mustard, salt and pepper and add something extra to your pork. It’s great with the apple bacon compote…

You won’t stuff this pork into the couch cushions that’s for sure! Bon Appetit!

We understand that each and every wine tastes different and has a unique aroma, mouth feel, texture and expression. We understand the role that the soil, climate, vintage and élevage all have on this elixir…. Yet, we have never had a concrete visual expression of wine.

Our winemaker, Charles Hendricks passion for the science of the wine industry lead him to Sondra Barrett, a Bay Area artist, who explores the molecular expression of vitamins, minerals and even wine! Sondra has used a microscope with a prism to capture the molecular expression of our 2008 hope & grace Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir and our new 2008 hope & grace Cuvee Amor…

Sondra Barrett, PhD, a biochemist, first used the microscope to photograph human cells while developing diagnostic tools for human leukemias when on the faculty at UCSF Medical School. However, an exhibit of brain chemicals photographed with a microscope enticed her to explore the artistic beauty of molecules. Soon she began photographing chemicals of life – vitamins, minerals, and hormones – to teach science with art and give “inner space” slide shows to children with cancer.

Applying for Sterling Vineyards’ artist-in-residence program, she photographed her first wine – a 1978 Sterling merlot.  When the winemaker said the ‘picture looked like the wine tasted’ she became intrigued with the many possibilities of the inner world of wine. Working with winemakers and looking at Napa Valley wines she began documenting winemaking from the inside out uncovering distinct shapes and patterns that wine maestro Andre Tchelistcheff called ‘the jewels in wine.’

She has photographed thousands of wines, worked as a harvest intern and released her first book Wine’s Hidden Beauty. Sondra’s compelling photographic portraits visually capture moments in time of the personality, character and expression of a wine’s exciting life stor

(The pictures above are more of her amazing photographs of our Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon)

Please visit us at the hope & grace tasting salon at 6540 Washington St, Yountville, Napa Valley to see the exhibit and explore this new world….