Pinot pairings – Sandy’s Block
A cranberry sauce and roasted squash for your Thanksgiving table!
You’ve got the bird, you’ve got the wine…now here are a couple of scrumptious and unique side dish recipes to complete your Thanksgiving table, brought to you by Napa Valley-based (by way of NYC) chef-couple Adrianna Holiat, a private chef and instructor, and Garrison Price, the Executive Chef of Bear at Stanly Ranch! Thoughtfully chosen to pair specifically with our 2020 Sandy’s Block Pinot Noir, these two recipes feature a cranberry sauce with warm spices and blood orange, and a kombu roasted honeynut squash dish with creative additions of bee pollen, pumpkin seeds, guajillo chili and lime! Give one (or both!) a try for your turkey day feast, and repeat the menu for flavorful autumn delights all cozy-season long. Get ready to impress your guests with your culinary and wine pairing skills! Without further ado, let’s get cooking…
Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce with Warm Spices & Blood Orange*
*this dish is Garrison’s personal family cranberry sauce recipe with a secret ingredient of…raspberry!
Serves 4 guests + leftovers
Prepare:
In a medium 4 quart sauce pot with a lid combine the cranberries and raspberries. Cut the blood oranges in half, pick out seeds. Squeeze the juice over the cranberries and add the whole halves of the oranges, then sprinkle the sugar over top, and add the salt, bay leaf, star anise, and cinnamon stick. Cover the pot and place on low heat to gently warm the cranberries and raspberries until they start to release their juice so that the bottom of the pot doesn’t burn.
Once the juice of the fruit has been released, turn the sauce up to a medium heat and bring it to a boil, cover and gently boil for about 7 minutes to activate the natural pectin in the sauce. After the sauce has boiled, uncover the pot and taste for seasoning and texture. The sauce should look like jam and the juice surrounding the cranberries should be clear and bright.
Remove the star anise, bay leaf, and cinnamon stick. Remove the orange halves, being sure to squeeze the juice out with a pair of tongs to extract maximum flavor. Serve the cranberry sauce alongside your Thanksgiving feast! The cranberry sauce will keep refrigerated for 7 days or in the freezer for months, and is great mixed with mayonnaise for a leftover turkey sandwich.
Kombu Roasted Honeynut Squash with Bee Pollen, Pumpkin Seeds, Guajillo Chili, and Lime
Serves 2 to 4 guests
Prepare:
Start by soaking the kombu in water for about 2 hours until the kombu is soft and pliable, using hot water or heating the water will hydrate the kombu faster. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F with the rack positioned in the center of the oven.
Next, using a sharp knife carefully cut the squash in half lengthwise. Then, use a spoon to scoop out the seed pod from the squash. Place the squash cut side down on the sheet of kombu and wrap in aluminum foil in a single layer ensuring that the foil is crimped well and is air tight. Place the squash packet on a baking sheet and into the 325 degree F oven and bake for about 35 minutes until the squash is very tender. Timing will vary depending on the size of the squash. Be careful not to break or damage the squash as it will be very soft and delicate. The squash should not have a great deal of roasted color. Allow the squash to cool at room temperature.
While the squash is resting, prepare the guajillo chili oil by combining the dry chilies, 1 teaspoon of salt, and neutral oil in a blender. Blend the oil and chilies on high speed for about 2 minutes until the chilies are finely ground and begin to turn the oil red. Transfer the oil and chili mixture to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat the chili oil just until it starts to bubble after about 4 minutes, being careful not to burn or over toast the chili oil. Remove the chili oil from the heat and allow the oil to infuse and come to room temperature before straining through a coffee filter over a fine mesh sieve in a bowl. The strained oil should be bright red and fragrant. The oil will keep at room temperature for several weeks or months in the refrigerator.
Next, in a small saucepan, combine the raw pumpkin seeds and chili oil and place over low heat. Very gently warm the pumpkin seeds over low heat, stirring every 2 minutes, until the pumpkin seeds become plump and begin to turn light brown. This may take about 12 minutes to toast the seeds in the oil, be careful not to burn the seeds and oil, remove from the heat and transfer to a heat proof bowl to allow the seeds and oil to cool and infuse with flavor.
For the bee pollen seasoning, combine the bee pollen, aleppo, and smoked sea salt. Reserve to season the squash.
The squash is delicious at room temperature, or for added flavor, grill the skin side of the squash over medium-high heat to lightly char the squash skin and warm the natural sugars in the squash. If grilling, also cook the soft roasted sheet of kombu over the flames for about 2 minutes on each side to serve with your squash presentation.
In a wide serving bowl or rimmed plate, first place the grilled kombu down and top with the squash halves cut side up. Season the squash generously with the bee pollen spice mix then fill each of the pockets where the seed pods were with the spoonfuls of the toasted pumpkin seeds and chili oil. Next, squeeze the juice of the entire lime over the squash and top the dish with watercress sprigs, cilantro, and basil leaves.
Enjoy and pair with our 2020 Sandy’s Pinot Noir – Happy Thanksgiving!
About the chefs:
Adrianna Holiat and Garrison Price are a chef-couple who met in NY and now live in Napa, CA. Garrison is a 20+ year veteran chef having worked with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jose Andres, at il Buco and is now Executive Chef of the newly opened Bear at Stanly Ranch, an Auberge Property. Adrianna is a bi-coastal private chef and cooking instructor. Together they enjoy sharing their love for all things food and wine. The stars aligned when Garrison, Adrianna, and Chad met at a culinary weekend for The Resort at Paws Up in Montana six years ago, and quickly developed a friendship and mutual respect. Chefs Garrison and Adrianna are happy to share two of their favorite holiday recipes.
Garrison and Adrianna touring Melville Winery’s westside vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills…
