Eric Ripert | Avec Eric

Salads can be composed with so many different elements.  Usually we let the market and season dictate what goes into a salad, and generally salads have a base of lettuce or other greens like spinach or arugula. These greens can be a challenge to pair wine with on their own because of strong, chlorophyll elements that exist in the leaves.  When you take that green base and then pile on all kinds of vegetables, fruit, nuts and vinegar dressing, it can be very difficult to pair a wine with it.  In this segment, Aldo and I compare two different white wines against a very complicated but tasty salad.

As promised this weekend on twitter (@ericripert) here is my recipe for paella as well as a list of the equipment you will need and the sources I recommend to find these items. Also, on our long-time suppliers of fresh seafood at Le Bernardin, Browne Trading, offers a home delivery service of their products and is a great source for fresh, great quality seafood: (http://www.brownetrading.com/)

Enjoy and let us know how it turns out for you in the comment area below!

From Despana

 http://www.despanabrandfoods.com/

Paella pan

(For this recipe which serves  8, I would suggest this size pan: 38cm, stainless steel.  I recommend steel versus the less expensive option because that material will have a tendency to rust over time.)

http://www.despanabrandfoods.com/home/paellas/paella_12.html ) (or you can get something larger in case you want to scale up the paella recipe)

Tripod burner (propane tank not included)

Make sure you select the right size for whatever paella pan you select

Olive oil

Bomba rice

Chorizo

Saffron

Piquillo peppers

Pimenton

Wine Pairing

I would suggest drinking a rosé with the paella.  I love Domaine Ott Château de Selle Rosé 2009

Eric Ripert’s Paella

8 Servings

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, chopped

½ tablespoon saffron

1 teaspoon turmeric

3 cups short grain rice

4 cups chicken stock

4 cups shrimp stock

4 cups mussel stock

¼ pound chorizo, sliced ¼-inch thick

2 cups green peas

1 red pepper, roasted, peeled and cut into ¼-inch julienne

18 large shrimp, peeled and deveined

12 medallions of monkfish

1 pound mussels

1 cup calamari, cut into rings

¼ cup thinly sliced scallions

Pinch pimentón

1.     Place an 18-inch paella pan over medium-high heat.  Add the olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add onions, garlic, saffron and turmeric and sweat until softened.  Add the rice and stir to coat.

2.     Add chicken and shrimp stock and stir to combine.  Scatter the chorizo around the pan.  Cook for 15 minutes . Stir in the peas.  Place the peppers around the pan alternating colors, like spokes on a bicycle. Place the shrimp and monkfish in between the peppers.  Add the mussels with the hinge side down, so they can easily open then the calamari rings on top.  Cover with tin foil and cook another 4-5 minutes or until the mussels open.

3.     Uncover and sprinkle with sliced scallions and pimentón.  Serve immediately.

Extremely acidic food such as ceviche or raw oysters with mignonette or lemon can be tricky to pair with wine.  Sometimes the thought is to put an acidic wine right beside the strong flavor so that it can stand up to the force of the recipe. But in this experiment, Aldo and I find that there are other options.  We know that fruit or floral notes can add balance to an acidic recipe, but it will be interesting to see if a more delicate wine can be paired with so much tartness and not be destroyed. Hopefully again we will find that our inclinations about how food can elevate wine just as much as wine can compliment food, will help us come to a very nice pairing.

Many people like to serve a collection of cheeses at parties or before or after a meal.  The classic beverage to serve with cheese is definitely wine but because cheese comes in so many textures and flavors, and the same can be said for wine, it is not so easy to just pair any wine with every cheese. In this “webisode”, Aldo and I dispel the myth that “any wine goes with cheese” by exploring a cheese board that is made up of three totally different cheeses—a fresh chevre (goat cheese), an aged cheddar and a very ripe, blue cheese. If we would have paired the same wine with each of these cheeses, it would have been a terrible experience but Aldo explains the reasoning behind each pairing and it makes total sense. I learned a lot during this tasting and I hope you do some wine and cheese experimentation on your own.

Sante