Today I made a wrong turn and found myself in Virginia Wine Country, AKA Loudoun County.  While there, we stopped at a few wineries, some rude, some good, some closed and one that stood out as great.  Quattro Goomba's Winery in Aldie, Virginia was the great winery of the day.  We chose to go to this winery due to our love of Mario Brothers on the Wii and figured it would make for fun wines to drink while playing video games.  While there was no Mario or Luigi there, there were some serious wines available.  The first wine we tried was the Vino di Frascati a delicious white wine made of the Malvasia Bianca and Trebbiano grapes.  The wine had a crisp flavor with citrus flavors and a good balance, and was done in an excellent Italian style.

But the two drinks really stood out above all the rest.  The first was the Frappe Wine.  Yes that frozen coffee drink you love so much, but without the coffee and made of wine.  They sell a bag of additives to make this at home.  To make add a bag of the mix to one bottle of wine and a bottle of water and freeze for about 3 1/2 hours.  This makes a delicious wine treat on a hot day.

The second wine I got to try is not available to the public yet, but I talked the host into letting me try a barrel tasting.  It is a Merlot/Cabernet blend that was fermented in stainless steel for a year, then aged in barrels that were used to age whiskey.  The flavors of the whiskey and wine blended in a perfect marriage.  This is a wine to keep an eye out for and when it comes out be sure to drive down to Aldie, Virginia and get a tasting at Quattro Goomba's Winery.

I recently received an email asking for a recipe I made for a food and wine pairing a few months ago.  The theme of the wine pairings was wine with foods with aphrodisiac qualities.  This was the first course aphrodisiac paired with white wine.  For the aphrodisiacs on this course I wanted to use asparagus paired with other aphrodisiacs, so I chose truffles, butter, and a sauce with eggs, basil, and garlic.  For the wine I wanted something earthy like asparagus and truffles, but not as earthy that it tasted like I was mowing the grass (aka not a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand), so I chose the Mas De Chabert, Roussanne 2008 from France at a cost of under $9 a bottle. 

The Ingredients:
Asparagus
Phyllo
butter (I choose to use salt free and add salt as needed)
Truffle Oil (Black, white, or a mixture of both will work)

1.  Blanche Asparagus, usually when blanching I add some garlic, salt and pepper to the oil and a dash of wine, Then quickly cool asparagus in ice water bath to stop the cooking.

2.  Melt Butter and add Truffle oil about an 80/20 ratio works well.  Brush Phyllo Sheets with truffle butter.  Layer phyllo 3 layers thick and cut to roll individual spear of asparagus with phyllo.

3.  Bake at 375 until phyllo is golden brown.

For the sauce (Basil Aioli, aka Basil Mayo):
2 egg yolks
Fresh basil
1/2 tsp of salt
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice

1.  Add all ingredients except lemon juice and olive oil to blender.  While blending slowly add olive oil, when olive oil has been added add 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.  If you need the sauce a little thicker add a bit more olive oil. 

I saw a recent Facebook post from friend from high school that said he had kangaroo, alligator, and ostrich at one meal, while on his European vacation.  So I decided to post the kangaroo recipe I did back in October.

Some things to remember when cooking kangaroo is that it's very lean, only about 1-2% fat, so it's suggested to cook it no more then medium rare or it will begin to dry out.  I choose to pan sear the kangaroo so that it would be cooked in a little bit of oil/fat. 

Ingredients:
Kangaroo tenderloin
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper
Olive oil
Puff Pastry
Balsamic Vinegar
Figs
Vanilla extract

1.  In saucepan add 1 cup balsamic vinegar, 5 sliced figs, a dash of vanilla extract.  Reduce over medium low heat until reduced by half.

2.  Cut puff pastry into 2 inch square pieces, fold into the shape of a pouch.  Preheat oven to 425.

3.  Heat skillet with tablespoon of olive oil.  Season kangaroo with Sea salt and fresh ground pepper.  Quickly sear the meat just to brown the outside, and let rest for 6 minutes. 

4.  While kangaroo meat is resting begin cooking puff pastry in the oven.  Slice meat after it has rested (this is to help the meat hold moisture and not bleed onto the cutting board as much.  Cook puff pastry for about 5 minutes.  place the slices of kangaroo onto the pouch of the puff pastry and finish baking until the puff pastry is finished cooking.

5.  Put puff pastry on plate and drizzle with balsamic reduction. Put balsamic fig on top of meat.  Eat and enjoy.

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