Published: July 07, 2008 10:01 am         

Tapas Tour: Chateau Chantal pairs great food with great local wine

Todays full article by Nancy Krcek Allen appears in our print edition. Although we cannot publish Nancy's articles online, we do post her recipes:

Chateau Chantal Lemon Cherry Granita

1 c. water

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice

8 ozs. frozen black cherries

Heat water and sugar in saucepan and stir until dissolved. Let mixture boil 5 minutes. Cool and stir in lemon juice. Slice cherries into quarters. Place a piece of cherry in the bottom of each section of an ice cube tray. Pour cooled juice mixture evenly over cherries into ice trays. Freeze until set. This recipe may also be prepared like sherbet. Stir cherries into liquid and chill in a freezer-safe container. Stir every 2 hours or until set but scoopable. Serve several lemon cherry granita cubes in a shot glass, or scoop granita whole into dessert dishes. Makes 3 cups.

Chateau Chantal Whitefish Paté on Crostini

1/4 lb. salted butter

2 T. fresh lemon juice

24 1/4-inch slices baguette or French bread

1/2 lb. Burritt's whitefish paté

1 14-z. jar capers, drained

1 T. finely chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 375˚. To make the lemon butter, melt butter over low heat and stir in lemon juice. Place baguette slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush lightly with lemon butter. Bake at 375˚ for 5 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp. Remove from oven and cool.

Place whitefish paté in a pastry bag with a star tip or in a zip-top bag with one corner snipped off. Evenly pipe paté onto 24 crostini. Garnish each with a couple of capers and sprinkle lightly with parsley. Makes 24.

Chateau Chantal Tango Barbecue Sauce

1 c. Chateau Chantal Malbec wine

1/2 c. Dijon mustard

1/2 c. minced onion

1/4 c. minced tomato

1 T. Spanish paprika

6 t. minced garlic

1&1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper

1 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. water

Mix the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cook until the onions are tender and the mixture thickens and becomes opaque (20 to 25 minutes). Serve hot or cold. Refrigerate until ready to use. Makes 1&1/2 cups.

Chateau Chantal Tango Barbecue Meatballs

1/2 lb. ground pork

1 egg

2 T. chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 c. bread crumbs

1/4 t. dried thyme

1 t. Spanish paprika

1/2 t. EACH salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375˚. Combine ground pork, egg, onion, garlic, bread crumbs and spices. Form into teaspoon-size balls (about 20). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until meatballs register 155˚ on a meat thermometer. Serve hot with Tango Barbecue Sauce. Makes 20 bite-sized meatballs.

Chateau Chantal Savory Beef Empanadas

1 T. olive oil

2/3 c. diced onion

1/3 t. dried oregano

1/3 t. minced fresh garlic

1/3 c. raisins

1/3 c. sliced black olives

1/2 lb. ground beef

1/3 c. water

1/3 t. cornstarch

1 lb. frozen pizza dough, thawed

To prepare filling, heat oil over medium heat in a frying pan and add onions, oregano, garlic, raisins and black olives. Sauté until onion is soft and translucent. Add beef and cook, stirring to break it up, until cooked through. Stir water and cornstarch together and add to meat mixture. Bring it to a boil and when it thickens and clears remove it from the heat. Set filling aside to cool.

Lightly flour a flat kitchen surface and a rolling pin. Roll out pizza dough to an even 1/8-inch thickness. Use a biscuit cutter or the rim of a glass to cut the dough into 2-inch circles. On one half of each circle, place a heaping teaspoon of the beef filling. Dampen the edges of the dough circle with a little water, and fold the dough over the filling to create a half-moon shape. Seal the edges of the empanada by crimping them shut with a fork. Repeat until dough and filling is gone. Place empanadas on a greased baking sheet, and brush lightly with beaten egg. Bake at 375˚ for 10 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot. Makes about 30 2-inch empanadas.

Chef-educator Nancy Krcek Allen teaches cooking during the winter and spring at Chateau Chantal and also at Cucina. She graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. She has worked in restaurants, catered, taught, cooked privately, written about food and owned the restaurant/cooking school, City Kitchen. She worked in Manhattan as a chef-instructor, teaching full-time at the Institute for Culinary Education and The Natural Gourmet Institute.