Winter is officially here and with the holiday season approaching, our free time is limited. After long, grueling days of work and returning home under the pitch black sky, our weekly dinners slowly transform from meticulous and drawn out to quick and rustic. There’s something comforting about hearty peasant fare (as long as the ingredients are fresh and of great quality) this time of year that makes you forget that it feels like six degrees outside. Let the flavors of the ingredients speak for themselves, leave the ring molds and squeeze bottles in the cabinet, and garnish your plate with nothing more than a torn piece of crusty bread…and maybe a big glass of red wine.
Last night I opened a bottle of Barbera d’Alba, arguably one of my favorite varietals since I fell in love with it on my last trip to Piedmont, and because of its versatility when it comes to food pairing. The wine is stellar on its own, but the intense fruit, high acidity, and soft tannins makes it a perfect match for a wide variety of dishes from roasted pork loin to spicy seafood stew.
The specific Barbera that I decided to pop comes from an “unknown” producer under the label, 90+ Cellars, the hottest beverage brand since Four Loko got the boot.
90+ Cellars is the essentially the T.J Maxx of the wine world. They buy high quality, surplus wine from vineyards all over the globe and offer it to you at a fraction of the cost.
Wineries haven’t slowed production even though the economy has been shaky, leaving them with excess product that 90+ is more than willing to pay cash for. Now that customers have had the chance to sample numerous “Lots” over the past year, they now taste the quality, understand the value, and the frenzy has begun. Certain Lots are becoming everyday staples in households everywhere, only to disappear months, sometimes even weeks later when the batch runs out. Customers who call me looking to purchase previous Lots often react as though they lost the family pet.
This whole “you may never see me again”, philosophy has led to an enormous boost in bulk wine buying. I now have some sympathy when Siobhan comes home from the T.J Maxx Runway Collection with Prada shoes for $125 because she just had to have them. I get it. They’re normally ten times that amount. I still think that the twelve bottles that come in a case of wine will get more use than the shoes that kill your feet but who cares? You get the concept.
The Lot 27 Barbera d”Alba is awesome and cheap as hell…perfect for my hearty peasant dish. When creating this dish, I had the ingredients of Portuguese fisherman’s stew in mind, the heat from a San Fransisco Cioppino, and the consistency of a thin, Manhattan clam chowder.
I pulled out my Le Crusset and started layering flavors one by one to add tremendous depth to the stew. I started off by sauteing finely diced carrots, celery, and onion and then a huge handful of fennel bulb, sliced paper thin. I wanted to leave fennel in long strips and the mirepoix rather chunky to give the dish some character and texture.
Next, I tossed in some minced garlic, rosemary and a palmful of dried chili flakes, one of my favorite ingredients. Normally you see these red and yellow flakes crammed inside of a shaker next to the stale “Parmesan” cheese on the counter of your local pizza joint. If you buy fresh ones you’re taste buds will notice the difference. I tilted the pot so that most of the juices and olive oil ran down to one side and I held that corner of the vessel over the flame. This is a quick way to toast the garlic and chili to your desirable doneness as well as infusing the oils that will help cook the rest of the ingredients.
I disrobed the hot Italian sausage from their casings and browned the meat in the pot before I deglazed everything with some white wine and clam juice.
The wine adds flavor and acidity and the clam juice adds a briny undertone that helps you realize that this is still a clam dish. Call it clam essence rather than clam juice if that helps you stomach the terrible name. I feel as though it is the most important ingredient because it knocks the pork sausage right back down to size and says, “this is our show”.
Next, I open two cans of whole, peeled tomatoes and mill them myself. You could buy the cans of tomato puree but your stew would be too thick and I don’t like to think about what the tomatoes looked like that were pureed for those cans. A jar of whole, peeled tomatoes confirms that you’re orbs are gorgeous and healthy. By this point, almost everything is into the cauldron, and I crank up the juice and let it simmer away. After fifteen minutes of a roaring integration of flavor, I add a huge bowl of fresh chopped clams.
Most grocery stores like Whole Foods will have these sitting out because they make chowder daily (just make sure that they weren’t previously frozen). While the little guys are cooking away, I rinse off some live littlenecks and toss them into the pot too. It’s always nice to have some clams in their own shells along with the hundreds of other guys. You know that the stew is ready to serve when the shells of the littlenecks open on their own.
I ladled the steaming, chunky soup into my conveniently shaped, clam bowls and drizzled some really good extra virgin olive oil on top. Siobhan and I each held one side of the chewy Italian loaf and pulled it apart as if it were a wishbone although our wishes was already granted in the fragrant bowls infront of us. Each spoonful was so simple but had so much depth of flavor.
The acidity from the tomato, the briny clams, the sweet pork, the woodsy rosemary, and the faint burn on the finish from the chili flakes. As expected, the juicy Barbera was a match made in heaven. The tannins were mellow and didn’t interfere with the spicy notes, rather the gobs of cherry and plum flavors counteracted them beautifully. The wine is round, medium-bodied, and has notes of brandy and syrupy balsamic reduction in its long, complex finish.
Siobhan and I ditched the spoons after the first bite and started using the empty shells and loaves of bread as our utensils of choice. 90+ Cellars only purchased 554 cases of this gem, so stock up and experience the “wow-factor” for yourself. Experience a case of Lot 27 and maybe you’ll turn a blind eye the next time your wife comes home with a beautiful Alice+Olivia dress for a fraction of the suggested retail cost.
