A few years ago, the common passion for good wine and good food led a spirited but very unorthodox group of people to come together. They, like many others who shared the same interests, posted their experiences on the internet on bulletin boards created for this subject. This group however turned out to be a little too free spirited, and maybe just a little too crazy for the rest of the internet wine community. They needed to find a place where they could be themselves as lovers and enthusiasts of good wine, good food, and like minded company. Out of this need Wineberserkers.com was born. Now nearly three years later we continue to post, blog, and gather. Each year for the last three years we have held Berserkerfest NYC with a weekend dinner at Manhattan's Peking Duck House. It is an event of sufficient draw to pull attendees in from all over the country. Texas, California, Washington, Massachusetts, and any other state you can think of; we come forth to party. Of course when folks travel this far it can't just be for a weekend. So the festivities begin mid-week with small gatherings at local restaurants or homes of friends and revelers. I am one such reveler and host. So this past Wednesday ten crazies gathered at my home for a night of eating and drinking to warm up our consumption muscles for the weekend.
I planned a menu that would hopefully keep me at the dinner table for most of the meal.
-Cocktail Hour
-Chicken Liver Mousse w/Burgundy Truffle
-House Made Cheddar Cheese Crackers
-Pizza by Pobega (a selection of pies made to order by my fellow Berserker Mike Pobega)
-Escarole and Bean Soup w/Chorizo Picante
-Osso Bucco Milanese (Braised Veal Shanks over Saffron Risotto)
-Salad of Mixed Greens
-Vanilla Gelato w/Fresh Strawberries and Chocolate Shortbread
I would make the veal shanks on Monday, the chicken liver mousse and soup on Tuesday, and the rest would just fall into place on Wednesday afternoon. For a cook like myself, source is everything, so I ordered the shanks from John's Meat Market in Scotch Plains. They are an old school family butcher shop, repeatedly honored as one of the best in the state. When I picked the meat up Monday morning it was as impeccable as I expected it to be.
These would get seared off and then cooked slow in stock and a little red wine.
After two hours in a slow oven they were falling apart tender. The shanks would cool and remain in their cooking broth until Wednesday and the flavors would just get better.
Tuesday I picked up what I would need for the chicken liver mousse and escarole soup. I had already ordered the truffle I needed. Truffles, those prized fungus of legendary status, are seasonal. Summer truffle season was over, and the potent winter truffles from France's Perigord region were a few weeks away. In the interim there is a truffle that comes from Burgundy. It is not quite as potent as the other two, but it was all that I needed for this dish and is about one tenth the price. Chicken livers can be raised to rock star status when they are given the right treatment. Sauteed in a little butter and olive oil with shallots, then doused with good brandy, they get pureed with hard boiled egg yolk and heavy cream. I push the puree' through a sieve to make it smooth and add grated truffle to it. It never fails to get raves.
Used as a filling for deviled eggs, it is a killer hors d'oeuvres. I simply put the mousse into a crock and served it with crackers and warm toasted bread.
Escarole and Bean soup is one of those peasant soups my Mom served us as kids and is still my favorite winter soup. It can't be simpler. Sauteed onion and garlic, some kind of spicy dried sausage, Canellini beans, and escarole are all cooked in good chicken stock until the beans are tender. Each component stands out and is essential to the dish. It is delicious and satisfying all at once and with some good crusty bread is a meal in itself.
The big pieces of the menu were now done leaving only the items that could not be done in advance. The soup and shanks would benefit from a day or two in the refrigerator and being practically complete, would free me up to enjoy the company of my guests.
Osso Bucco usually conjours up the notion of a Barolo, the famous Piemontese wine, for pairing. I had picked up one from Domenico Clerico, the 2003 Pajana. 2003 was a terrible year for Barolo because it was such a horribly hot summer and Nebbiolo, the grape from which the wine is made, really does best with moderate ripeness. The upshot was that Clerico being such a fabulous winemaker, was able to read and adjust to the conditions. While this is not a great Barolo, it is a very good one. I looked forward to the wines my guests would bring and the excellent time we would have the following evening.
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