Drink Rhône Rosé - Eat TOO!

Gougeres with Wild Flower Honey

Makes 25 gougeres

1 cup water

6 tablespoons butter

1½ teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup flour

4 eggs

½ cup blue cheese

1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

4 tablespoons wild flower honey

Preheat oven to 350’.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, bring the water to a boil with 6 tablespoons of butter, salt &

cayenne.

Boil until the butter melts, then remove from heat. Pour in the flour, beat for one more minute

with a wooden spoon to blend and bind the ingredients. Return to medium heat and continue to

beat until dough pulls away from the sides of the pot, and holds together, about two minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat.

Make a center in the dough and break an egg into the mixture. Beat to incorporate the egg.

Repeat until all four eggs are incorporated into the mixture and it is a smooth paste. Add the

blue cheese and beat until smooth.

Fill pastry bag with mixture. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Butter a baking sheet or use a silpat sheet. Squeeze into about 1 ounce puffs. Using a pastry

brush, coat the top surface of each puff with the egg & water mixture.

Bake until puffs are golden brown, about 12 – 15 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Drizzle with honey.

Heirloom Tomato & Watermelon Salad

Serves 6

For the vinaigrette:

1 medium yellow tomato, blanched, peeled and seeded

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon champagne vinegar

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and white pepper to taste

For the salad:

½ cup feta cheese

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound seedless watermelon, rind removed, sliced into ½ x 2-inch rounds

2 pounds assorted heirloom tomatoes, sliced into ½-inch pieces

2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, for garnish

Sea salt, for garnish

To prepare the vinaigrette:

Place the yellow tomato in a blender. On medium speed add the mustard and then the vinegar.

Slowly add ½ cup of olive oil. Taste and season with salt and white pepper as needed and set aside. In a separate bowl, crumble the feta and mix it with 3 tablespoons olive oil.

To serve:

Divide the heirloom tomato slices and the watermelon slices equally among 6 plates. When plating, alternate the slices and garnish with a bit of feta. Drizzle the vinaigrette over each portion and garnish with the oregano leaves. Add a touch of sea salt to the salad if desired.

Duck Confit with Lentils, Applewood Smoked Bacon

Serves 6

Season:

12 duck legs

½ cup coarse salt

15 whole cloves garlic, peeled

1 bunch thyme, (about 25 sprigs)

Confit:

3 pounds rendered duck fat

1 cup water

Searing:

2 tablespoons blended oil

Lentils:

¼ pound bacon, small dice

½ onion, small dice

½ stalk celery, small dice

½ carrot, small dice

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 pound French green lentils

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

2 tablespoons chopped parsley stems

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

5 cups Chicken Stock

salt & pepper

Trim excess fat from duck and reserve. Salt the duck well on both sides. Layer the duck legs on top of each other with several cloves of garlic and sprigs of thyme between each piece. Refrigerate for twenty four hours.

Preheat oven to 325’.

Put rendered duck fat, duck trimmings and water in a pot and slowly bring to a simmer. Simmer until water evaporates and simmering stops. Rinse salt from duck and dry. Put the duck in a hotel pan or deep casserole dish and cover with rendered fat. Cover with foil. Cook slowly in the oven for about 3½ hours.

Duck is finished when meat can easily be pulled from the bone. Chill at least four hours. Duck Confit must be chilled before cooking to eat.

Preheat oven to 400’.

Heat the oil in an ovenproof pan until hot. Place duck in hot pan skin side down and cook for 1 minute. Place in oven and cook for 12 – 15 minutes. Carefully remove from pan with spatula as not to tear duck skin from meat.

In a large sauté pan, sauté bacon over medium-high heat until bacon becomes crispy. Add onions, celery, carrot and garlic, cook until soft. Add lentils, herbs, mustard and stir. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook until tender, approximately 30 minutes adding extra liquid as needed during cooking process. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Peach & Blackberry Cobbler

Serves 8

Dough:

1 cup flour

3/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1 egg

In a mixer, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, allspice and salt together.

Add egg into dry ingredients. Add melted butter and incorporate into mixture. Form the dough into a ball. Chill the dough for at least two hours. Separate the dough into eight portions.

Roll out dough (between pieces of wax paper) to at least ½ inch larger than the size of the ramekin on all sides.

Filling:

6 medium peaches

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons corn starch

2 tablespoons water

4 pints blackberries

¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter

Cube the peaches into 1” pieces and coat with lemon juice. In a separate bowl dissolve the cornstarch in water. Add blackberries, peaches and brown sugar to the bowl. Mix gently.

Place an equal amount of the filling into the baking dishes. Add ½ tablespoon of butter over fruit.

Cover with dough.

For baking:

Preheat oven to 375’.

Bake for 40 – 50 minutes. Crust should be golden brown.

Serve.