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Watch Peg the Wine Gal from Whole Foods in Reno talk about the “Number 1 Cabernet in her store” – Old River Road Cabernet Sauvignon from the Ponderosa Vineyard in the Sierra Foothills:

If you are looking for a way to support the relief efforts in Haiti consider donating to Doctors Without Borders.

CSWA announced today the launch of a new sustainable winegrowing certification program – Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing. This program, building on the Sustainable Winegrowing Program in development for the past 8-years will serve many purposes including education and consumer awareness. Read more here.

Ingredients
One 6-ounce piece of chunk bacon
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flour
3 cups red full bodied wine
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups brown beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves mashed garlic
1/2 teaspoon thyme
A crumbled bay leaf
18 to 24 white onions (pearl onions), small
3 1/2 tablespoons butter
Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth- this is a must)
1 pound mushrooms, fresh and quartered

Cooking Directions

• Remove bacon rind and cut into lardons (sticks 1/4-inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long). Simmer rind and lardons for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts water. Drain and dry.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Sauté lardons in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a flameproof casserole over moderate heat for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
• Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Heat fat in casserole until almost smoking. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and sauté until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the lardons.
• In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the excess fat.
• Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes.
• Toss the meat again and return to oven for 4 minutes (this browns the flour and coves the meat with a light crust).
• Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees.
• Stir in wine and 2 to 3 cups stock, just enough so that the meat is barely covered.
• Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs and bacon rind. Bring to a simmer on top of the stove.
• Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven. Regulate heat so that liquid simmers very slowly for 3 to 4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
• While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
• Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with one and one-half tablespoons of the oil until bubbling in a skillet.
• Add onions and sauté over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, rolling them so they will brown as evenly as possible. Be careful not to break their skins. You cannot expect them to brown uniformly.
• Add 1/2 cup of the stock, salt and pepper to taste and the herb bouquet.
• Cover and simmer slowly for 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but hold their shape, and the liquid has evaporated. Remove herb bouquet and set onions aside.
• Wipe out skillet and heat remaining oil and butter over high heat. As soon as you see butter has begun to subside, indicating it is hot enough, add mushrooms.
• Toss and shake pan for 4 to 5 minutes. As soon as they have begun to brown lightly, remove from heat.
• When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.
• Wash out the casserole and return the beef and lardons to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms on top.
• Skim fat off sauce in saucepan. Simmer sauce for a minute or 2, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
• If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons stock. Taste carefully for seasoning.
• Pour sauce over meat and vegetables. Cover and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times.

Serve in casserole, or arrange stew on a platter surrounded with potatoes, noodles or rice, and decorated with parsley.

Recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

It’s been one long decade and we’re glad to be moving on! We at Magnanimus wish everyone out there all the best for the coming year & decade. May all your dreams & wishes come true & may peace increase on earth. Cheers!

Thanks for making 2009 a rewarding year even with all the challenges. We look forward to sharing exciting times ahead with our growing family & friends. Cheers!

We would like to thank our good friends Jim and Carleen for their wonderful hospitality on a recent evening. Carleen was a master chef in the kitchen and prepared the most wonderful crostinis. They are a quick & easy appetizer to make on the fly with a group of hungry guests.

This recipe brings together big flavors ― crispy, smokey flavor of caramelized onions with a hint of sweetness, balanced with walnuts and complimented by nutty, semi-sweet flavor of Asiago cheese.

3 tbsp butter
2 onions, sliced
3 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 baguette, sliced
Asiago cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until crispy almost burnt, about 20 minutes.

While the onions are cooking, slice the baguette, then coat each slice with a thin layer of butter and place on a cookie sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown.

Next, chop the walnuts and shred the cheese.

After the onions are finished cooking you will then top each baguette slice with a bit of crispy caramelized onions, walnuts and shredded Asiago. You will then place the Crostini’s back in the oven for about 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serve and Enjoy with a bottle of 2006 Talmage Collection Syrah, Mariah Vineyard.

If you’re looking for a classic seasonal dish to pair with one of our wines – conider this simple yet elegant Chanterelle Fettuccine Alfredo & our 2008 Ukiah Cellars Chardonnay!

Serving Size: 4

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
½ pound fettuccine
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup fresh Chanterelle mushrooms
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon flour, all-purpose
¾ cup heavy cream
1½ cup mushroom stock (or chicken, veggie, etc.)
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon shallots minced
¼ tsp oregano, dried
1 pinch thyme, dried
½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
gray sea salt
fresh ground black pepper

Preparation
1.Cook the pasta in boiling, salted, water (should taste like the Adriatic Sea ) for 7 minutes. Rinse in warm water, toss with a teaspoon of olive oil, and set aside.
2. In a skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter and extra-virgin olive oil over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, cut any particularly large mushrooms in half. Add chantrelles to the skillet and saute with the shallots and herbs in olive oil, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

3.Make a light roux with the butter and flour and break it (correct culinary term!) with the heavy cream by adding it all at once. Cook a bit over medium and add the mushroom stock. Continue cooking until the desired consistency is achieved. A slurry of flour mixed with water can be added through a strainer if a thicker sauce is desired but be mindful that cheese will be added later.
4.Take the chanterelles and add this mixture to the cream sauce, cook a few minutes, and add the cheese and mix everything with the pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.

On Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m., three stunning concert halls at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music will be turned over to an extraordinary, genre-bending lineup of local favorites and SFCM grads, faculty, and friends — all in the name of benefitting current scholarship students at the Conservatory.

Called TUNED IN, this first annual benefit concert aims to showcase the wide variety of genres in which classically trained musicians often work. While many San Francisco Conservatory students go straight to the top of the classical music world, others leave the old masters behind and thrive on the cutting edge of indie rock, jazz, bluegrass, ambient and alternative classical.

Performers will include The Magik*Magik Orchestra, an alternative orchestra known internationally for its collaborations with Sting, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and indie savant John Vanderslice; indie rock innovators Birds and Batteries; and prize-winning bluegrass virtuosos 49 Special, along with many others.