Pickin' Grapes and Makin' Wine

Talk about good timing.

Just when I was learning the harvesting and winemaking process in my Grapes and Wines of the World class, I actually got to go pick grapes!

A weekend or so ago, Jim and I went to his family friend's vineyard to help them harvest their grapes. They started the vineyard a couple of years ago to make their own wine.

It was a gorgeous morning--the sun was out, but it was still cool. The vineyard wasn't that big, so the work was easy. That's a good thing when you have to start at 7:30 on a Saturday morning!

Hand harvesting was all that bad. You just have to watch out for the spiders! Grape picking is glamorous, n'est pas?

Here, the grapes are in a machine that de-stems and crushes them. You just turn the hand crank on the side and the drop down into the bucket at the bottom! When we were done, they placed the crushed grapes in big food-grade plastic barrels and covered it. The skins stayed with the juice because that is where red wine gets its color and distinctive characteristic of dryness. Tannins create the "dry" sensation you feel after you drink wine and the skins are where you find the tannins.

At some point (not sure when...guess I should study a bit more, huh?) they will add sulfur dioxide to the grapes to eliminate any unwanted microbes, usually natural yeasts already found on the grapes. These wild yeasts interrupt the desired fermentation process.

Then the grapes ferment until there is no more sugar for the yeast to ferment. At this point, the skins are separated from the juice and then the wine is left to age (for red wines). The aging process helps lower the tannin level to create a more mellow wine flavor.

In this vineyard, Norton grapes are grown. Norton grapes are the state grapes of Missouri. The Columbia Daily Tribune's food section ran an article on Norton grapes and local Missouri wineries a couple of weeks ago. I know I'm excited to try it.

A lot of this information came from my class. Of course, I always want to know more than my teachers tell me, so I've been reading Wine for Dummies, and I really like it. It has a lot of information on individual grapes, wines and regions.

Food Therapy: Pan-Fried Breaded Chicken Cutlets

Let me just start this post by saying one thing:

I hate frying.

It stresses me out, I can never get the temperature of the oil just right, and I usually end up cursing, crying, getting popped with oil or a combination of all three. The problem? Well, I love fried food. I love frying my own taco shells or making my own pork wontons. The solution? Let Jim do it!

He doesn't mind frying food, so when we make it, he takes over (thank God). I already have two scars on my hand from frying something two years ago. I don't need any more.

I've had a terrible day that involved a forgotten calculator and not understanding the shape of a dam for a conversion problem on a chemistry test. I knew nothing could fix my day like some good old fashioned food therapy! Pan-fried breaded chicken cutlets are familiar and comforting, and when served with roasted potatoes and vegetable gravy it's also refined.

Pan-Fried Breaded Chicken Cutlets

Cutlets:

4 chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper

Flour

2 eggs

2 T. water

Bread crumbs

1/2 sprig rosemary

Place one chicken breast in a gallon Ziploc bag. With the flat side of a meat tenderizing mallet, pound out the breast until it is about a 1/2 inch thick. Repeat with all breasts.

Fill a dinner plate or pie dish with flour. In another dinner plate or pie dish, mix together 2 eggs and 4 t. water (2 t. for each egg). Add enough bread crumbs to another pie dish and mix in rosemary.

Dredge one chicken breast in the flour. Shake off excess flour and place breast in the egg mixture. Let excess egg mixture fall back into the pie dish. Place the breast in the bread crumb mixture and coat until bread crumbs cover the whole breast. Repeat with remaining breasts. Let the breasts rest on a plate or pan for 20-30 minutes.

Add enough oil to a heavy 10-12 inch skillet (cast iron if you've got it) to come a little less than halfway up the side of the chicken, about 1/4 of an inch. And it's important that you don't use olive oil here and instead use another oil like canola, which is still very healthy, because olive oil has too low of a smoke point for the temperature you want to aim for with this dish.

Now that you've got the right kind and amount of oil, heat the oil until it reaches 350 degrees (you have a candy/frying thermometer right?).

Once the oil is good and hot put one of the cutlets into the pan and cook evenly on each side until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees (you have a digital instant-read thermometer right?). Once done, remove the cutlet from the pan and place on a cooling rack with paper towels underneath to catch the excess oil.

If the oil has dropped below 330 degrees, wait until it reaches 350 degrees to begin cooking the next chicken cutlet.

Serve with vegetables and gravy on top.

Vegetables and Gravy

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 zucchini, sliced

1 large carrot, sliced

Around 15 stalks of asparagus, bottoms cut off and cut into small pieces

1 T. butter

2 T. flour

1/2 c. chicken stock

While the chicken cutlets are resting before getting cooked, heat a large skillet over high heat. When pan is very hot, coat bottom of the pan with olive oil. Add the carrot and onion and let cook, stirring the whole time, for about 1-2 minutes, or until onion starts to become translucent.

Add 1 T. butter and lower heat to medium. Add the asparagus and zucchini and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Add the flour and mix together.

Add the chicken stock and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Let simmer until chicken is done. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sometimes Mistakes are Good

Classes are now in full-swing and are keeping me quite busy. I will, of course, try to update the blog as much as possible, but between classes and writing some pieces for the Tribune, I'm quite busy.

So maybe it wasn't such a bad thing I forgot the ricotta cheese in my lasagna--it made wonderful cheesecake!

If you're looking for a light dessert, try this. It's not as dense as cheesecake made with cream cheese, but it's still very good. For added elegance? Make a honey balsamic glaze reduction to drizzle over the cheesecake.

Ricotta Cheesecake

2 lbs ricotta cheese

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

6 eggs

2 oranges, zested

1 t. almond extract

2 tsps vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees. Set rack in the middle of the oven.

Butter and flour a 9 1/2 inch spring form pan and tap out excess flour. Place the ricotta, zest in a large mixing bowl, and beat it until smooth. Add the sugar and the flour and continue mixing until blended. Beat in the eggs at low speed, one at a time. Add the vanilla and almond extract. Add salt.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the center of the oven for about 1 hour, until a light golden color. Make sure the center is fairly firm, and the point of a sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. It will sink slightly as it cools. Cover, and chill until serving time.

Honey Balsamic Glaze Reduction

¼ cup balsamic vinegar


1 T. honey

Bring vinegar and honey to a boil then turn down the heat and let it simmer until it’s been reduced to half the original amount, about 10 minutes. It should stick to the back of a wooden spoon and will thicken as it cools.