Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Wine With Our Pedal South


How could you not like a wine from a place called Casablanca Valley? Just saying Casablanca brings my thoughts immediately to the 1942 film staring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. I bet I have watched that movie 50 times! The part I love the most, and of course is famous, is the very end at the airport when she is leaving, just the softness of her face and the look in her eyes while they are speaking....and "here's looking at you kid". OK Deb, snap out of it. This is a wine review, not a movie review! Last night a bottle of 2006 Casas Del Bosque Sauvignon Blanc was on our tasting menu. This winery is located in the Casablanca Valley, not far from Santiago, the capital of Chile. The Casas Del Bosque was a nice crisp wine with a pleasing citrus, such as lime, taste on the plate with a hint of mineral following. A nice refreshing, balanced white wine for under $10.00. We did not have this wine with any particular food, just a nice sipping wine to start the end of the day!



In my last post I talked about the books by Sarah Leah Chase, Pedaling Through Provence and Pedaling Through Burgundy. Two great little cookbooks highlighting Sarah's trips through these two special spots in France. I told you about 2 dishes that I made from the Provence book, but I now want to give you a taste of potatoes that I prepared and served the other night with the Basil Green Bean Salad and the Tarragon Chicken dish.



Potato Gratin Dijonnaise

3 pounds of potatoes, I used Yukon Gold
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large yellow onion thinly sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 teaspoons dried chervil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cups creme fraiche
3 heaping tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 ounces freshly grated Gruyere cheese

Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Cook until fork tender. Drain and let cool enough to handle. Remove skins and slice into 1/3 inch rounds.
Melt the butter in a small skillet and saute the onion until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and butter a shallow 12 inch wide baking dish and set aside.
Gently combine the potatoes with the onions in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley and chervil.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the creme fraiche, mustard and lemon juice until smooth. Gently, but thoroughly, combine the mixture with the potatoes. Turn this into your buttered baking dish and cover with the shredded cheese.
Bake in the oven until bubbly and nicely brown on top, about 30 minutes. Cool and serve.

This is a great fall dish as the mustard and the creme fraiche make it so comforting. The flavors will surprise you!

Cheers!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mmmm, I could have used those potatoes yesterday as I was nursing my housewarming hangover. But I would have had to pass on the wine, tasty as it sounds....

Wendy said...

I absolutely adore that first photo. The wine looks so crisp and fresh.
And the potatoes sound amazing. Yum.

winedeb said...

Hey Farley! I think you should have another glass to aid in your recovery. Happy New House!

Hi Wendy, must say both are quite "yumtious"!

Katie Zeller said...

OMG! Mustard, creme fraiche and gruyere! I would ride my bike for hours to get to that!
And it looks good, too!

Gloria Baker said...

I really congrats you!!! so nice your comments and picture about wine, I am proud you comments the wines of my country (Chile). For these I am writen a little comments about wines in my blog, because I know many people don't know, here too sometimes.And the wines of Casablanca are so special. I love the white wines!.I like soooo your blog.Gloria

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Ingrid Bergman is my favourite actress. I love Anastasia!!! I have been to Casablanca in Cuba...does that count??? The potatoes dijonnaise look wonderful!! They would have such lovely colour and flavour!

winedeb said...

Hi Katie, used that wonderful French mustard, cannot go wrong!

Hey Gloria, thank you for stopping by! I have had a few of the Chilean white wines and have enjoyed each and every one of them!

Hi Valli, sure any Casablanca counts!

Shayne said...

Nice to see that your taste buds are back in action!

The Potato dish looks sinful absolutely sinful, just the way I like them.

Figs, Bay, Wine said...

I think that's a genius idea for a book, Deb! Brief write ups on movies (could be modern and classics too), and then recommend a wine to drink while you're watching them. Would a cab help you brace yourself for a tear jerker? Or would it be better used to help you feel cozy for White Christmas and the Bishop's Wife? Would prosecco or something else equally simple be good for 1980s John Hughes movies? It could be a damn funny book, you know. I'll bet you could sell it in a heartbeat.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Hi Deb,
You are on to a winner there with me, I love potatoes! They are such good comfort food! It is turning to autumn here, such a good time to oven bake potatoes!
I would like to second the book idea or at least a few posts! That would be really interesting!
You should start off a food event, where the host nominates the movie and the bloggers have to post and submit a recipe to go with the theme!

Jann said...

Great books and wonderful post~visiting you for the first time! I have made a similar potato dish and it is a hit each yime I make it!Great photos, I am scrolling down and admiring many!

Gloria Baker said...

Winedeb Hi I post my article about wines!! is a little contribution but I invite you to my blog if you want see. www.canelakithen.blogspot.com xxxxx Gloria

Belinda said...

Oh my gosh, Deb, these potatoes sound like the pinnacle of potato perfection...every ingredient is a winner, so there is no way this couldn't be simply outstanding. And I love the sound of these two books...I'm going to go right now and see if they are available on Amazon! :-) I'm glad you are drinking wine again after last week's brief respite from wine enjoyment. :-)

winedeb said...

Hi Shayne, yep you should try them. I think the kids would like them also!

Hey Amanda, you know I have given that a thought and I just might see it through!

Holler, you have returned a new happy bride! Congrats again to the both of you!

Thanks Jann, hope you enjoy the site and come back soon!

Hey Gloria, I did hop over to your site and you have done a great job with the information on your country's wine!

Belinda I know you would enjoy these two books. I am an armchair traveler and these books were perfect for that, besides being cookbooks!