Wine In My Kitchen: Cooking and Reading Everyday

By Karen Tripson

California Dreaming

"Developing the confidence to follow your own taste is the single most important thing when cooking and when enjoying fine wines." - Carolyn Wente, Wente Vineyards

Recipe for Linguine with Halibut and wine suggestions

When I want to transport myself out of a dreary winter day r when life seems too ordinary to bear, my most reliable avenue is wine country dreaming. I understood completely when a Doonesbury comic strip character suggested that buying a vineyard is success management these days. Of course, who wouldn't want to own a vineyard?

Napa Valley is my idea of Disneyworld for adults. Every bit of landscape is manicured, even the stylishly rustic by design. The most divine tourist traps in the world — wineries and restaurants — line the main drag and there are no billboards to obstruct the view. The downside of course is that the thoroughfare's two lanes can be bumper to bumper from the town of Napa to Calistoga. Equally resplendent in acres of grapes and rolling hills, but without the traffic, is the Livermore Valley. Closer to San Francisco, a little less tony, this is a more reasonably priced fantasy, which makes it better for me.

Armchair Travel and Dining in Livermore Valley

Carolyn Wente and Chef Kimball Jones collaborated on promoting the Wente Vineyards Restaurant, in Sharing the Vineyard Table: A Celebrationof Wine and Food from the Wente Vineyards Restaurant (Ten Speed Press $29.95). Carolyn Wente doesn't have to buy a vineyard. Her family has owned one longer than anyone else in California, except Mirassou. As the current president of Wente Vineyards and a fourth generation member managing a valuable inheritance, this book should contribute to business goals. As handsome and substantial as any coffee-table tome, it has a personality that will propel it into the kitchen for cooking and into debates as reference on pairing wine and food.

Great Photos and the Aroma Wheel to Boot

I wish there were more old photographs of the family and winery because they have soul and you get a big feel for how unglamorous the business used to be. How many cookbooks do you know that contain the Aroma Wheel created at U.C. Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology? The wine notes that accompany each recipe are excellent in explaining why and how to work with flavors. Here's an example. Only a very few trailed off into arcane suggestions for a varietal from "warmer coastal appellations" which would mean nothing to many readers outside the Livermore Valley.

It's California food driven by ingredients right out of the garden with a French spin. Chef Jones was mentored by Bradley Ogden at the Campton Place Hotel after graduating from the California Culinary Academy. The recipes read well. Many appear doable in a home kitchen without too much gnashing of teeth. This one shows style in simplicity, which is always harder to create than you think. Organized by seasons, the recipes are further grouped by starters, soups and salads, pizza and pasta, meat and poultry, fish and shellfish, and desserts. This is good food to read about, make at home and fantasize about blue sky days walking through the vineyard on the way to an exquisite lunch.

Linguine with Tomato-Basil Purée,
Halibut, Pattypan Squash and Garlic
Serves 4

Tomato-Basil Purée
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup sliced onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 pasilla chile, roasted, peeled and chopped or 1 jalapeno prepared the same way
5 pounds Roma tomatoes, peeled and seeded
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced green pattypan squash (1/2-inch dice)
1 cup diced yellow pattypan squash (1/2-inch dice)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound fresh linguine
1 pound halibut fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes

To prepare the Tomato-Basil Purée: In a 3-quart sauté pan over medium heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over low heat until softened, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Add the chile and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and purée in a food processor with the basil leaves. Return the purée to the sauté pan and set aside.

To prepare the pasta and finish the sauce: Heat a large pot of water to cook the linguine. In a sauté pan over high heat, heat the olive oil. Add the squash, season with salt and pepper, and cook until lightly golden, stirring often. Add to the tomato-Basil Purée. Slowly heart the purée over low heat.

When the pasta water boils, add the linguine and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. At the same time that you add the pasta to the water, add the halibut to the purée and cook until just done, about 5 minutes.

To serve, drain the pasta and toss with the sauce, Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

Wine Notes

The dominant flavors in this recipe are found in the purée, so I would match the wine to the tomato and basil instead of to the halibut and squash. A medium-bodied red (a full-bodied red would overwhelm the halibut) with hints of mintiness, herbal tones and full, mouth-filling fruit would be a tasty selection-such as Zinfandel, Barbera or Gamay.