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!

• Kansas City (Kansas or Missouri, it doesn’t matter)
• Football (only good things about the Broncos)
• Beer(IPA)
• Smoking
• The letter G
• Ribs
• Trucks, Cars, Camping ( No idea how this progresses but it never ceases to amaze me)
• Sunday (Matt’s BBQ day, comes out about 1pm… FYI neighbors)
• Malbec or Pinot Pairings
• The French Dip(come in and just see what comes up)

*please note this list is not nearly cumulative, just merely a start….

We do all love to talk about food here at hope & grace wines, but Barbeque has a particular place in our hearts. The 2008 hope & grace Malbec has inspired us…. Or Matt at least… with dark berry fruit, ripe black cherries, notes of milk chocolate, cola and peppery spice it wasn’t hard.. a 100% Malbec from the Fore Vineyard in Oak Knoll, this wine has spent 24 months in French Oak and has a luscious, rich and velvety texture…

After several weeks, or months, of hearing how amazing the traditional Sunday barbeque was and seeing mouth-watering pictures… we would like to proudly present BBQ Brisket with Dry Rub a la Matt…

BBQ Brisket with Dry Rub A la Matt– serves 4 non-southerners

Total time: Overnight +12hrs

Ingredients

2 tsp. – Onion Powder

2 tsp. – Granulated Garlic

1 tsp. – Paprika

2 T – Dark Brown Sugar

1.5 – 2 Lbs. Beef Brisket (This particular rub is best with beef… trust us… it is what’s for dinner)

2 tsp. – Sea Salt

2 tsp. – Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

Smoking chips (I prefer Apple or Hickory…feel free to use your favorite, though…)

Soaking liquid for smoking chips (Beer, Coffee and Wine to provide amazing flavor…. Please don’t use water, especially tap water)

Directions

The night before – Combine all dry ingredients in medium size bowl and set aside.

Then rub the rub, and I mean massage, dry rub onto and into the brisket. Use dry rub liberally. Place rubbed brisket in a covered dish, place in refrigerator overnight.

The next morning- Take the brisket out of the fridge and set aside. Fill a 2 quart mixing bowl with the smoking chips of your choice. Add enough of your chosen soaking liquid to cover the chips and set aside. Fire up the smoker next, I prefer the “natural” charcoal from whole foods (it lights faster, burns cooler and longer than briquettes and doesn’t impart a chemical taste in the meat). Fill the coal pan half to 2/3 full, ignite, and let the coals heat up Next, add about a cup of soaked chips to the coal to get the smoke going. Put the rubbed brisket, fat cap side up, on the upper most portion of your smoker… put the lid on and let it go. Monitor the smoker periodically, add more chips to the coal as the smoke slows down and don’t allow the cooking temp. get above 225 degrees. Low and slow is the name of the game. Continue the process for about 4 hours, or just long enough for the Broncos to lose to the Pat’s. After 4 hours, set your oven to 215 degrees, remove the meat, place it in a baking dish, loosely cover with foil and put into the oven for approx. 8 hours. Remove the brisket from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving with the all the fixings’.

*If you want to try this while the brisket is smoking. Pour sea salt on to an oven safe plate and put it next to the brisket on the smoker, to make your own smoked salt. It makes a great “finishing” condiment. Here are some pictures of the process from top to bottom…

Little bit of pork lovin’’ and sea salt smokin’’… please serve “delicious” with…

Baked Beans –serves 4 savages

Total time: Overnight +2 hours prep and cooking

Ingredients

1 Lb. dried beans of choice (I went with red Kidney, with the thicker skin they offer a better texture)

2 bay leaves

1 C – ketchup

½ C – molasses plus extra to taste

2 T – dark brown sugar

1 tsp. – dry mustard

1 tsp. – chili powder

1 tsp. – onion powder

1 tsp. – garlic powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

5 slices thick cut bacon diced

½ C – Dark Beer (I chose Pipeline Porter from Kona Brewing Co.)

2 tsp. – Bourbon (Makers Mark…of course)

Directions

Pick through the beans and remove any pebbles. Place beans in a colander and rinse under cold water. Transfer the beans to a large pot or bowl, add water to cover by 2-inches and let soak overnight. The beans will rehydrate and swell to twice their size. Drain and rinse the beans, then put in a saucepan. Add the beer and bourbon with fresh water to just cover the beans and place over medium heat. Add the remaining ingredients and three strips of diced bacon. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 25 minutes or until the beans are tender but not breaking apart. Transfer the beans and broth to a 2-quart Crock-Pot set to low. Meanwhile, cook remaining bacon in a small fry pan and to beans just before serving.