Summer Party Wine & Food Pairings and Recipes

Soaring Hawk Vineyards​
Summer 2024 Wine Club Pick Up Party
Tasting / Food & Wine Pairing Line Up
 
2022 Chardonnay – Stainless Steel
Apricot Crumble Shortbread
 
2022 Chardonnay - Oaked
Crostini with Whipped Lemon-Pesto Ricotta
 
2018 Unité
Meatballs in Cherry 5-Spice Glaze
 
2018 Entwined
French Dip Sliders with Caramelized Onions & Provolone
Roast Beef or Mushroom
 
2018 Zinfandel
Secret Fudge Brownies

Apricot Crumble Shortbread Bars
Adapted from shortgirltallorder.com.
Makes 9 large or 16 smaller bars
We enjoyed pairing these fresh and sweet bars with our 2022 stainless steel-aged Chardonnay.  The bars with the wine made both the food and the wine better than on their own!
 
Apricot Jam
2 cups ripe apricots, sliced
½ cup cane sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
 
Crumble Bars
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup cane sugar
½ cup coconut oil, melted
1 flax egg (1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed and 3 Tablespoons water; or you can use an actual egg)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon water/almond milk (use only if needed if dough is crumbly)
¾ cup apricot jam (see recipe for homemade jam)
¼ cup slivered almonds
 
Apricot Jam
In a medium saucepan, stir together apricots, sugar and lemon juice; Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally. Let the jam simmer 20-30 minutes, until the apricots have broken down completely and the jam falls off the back of a spoon slowly.  If you have a candy thermometer, heat to 220F.
 
Remove the jam from the heat and set aside to cool and thicken.
 
Crumble Bars
Preheat oven to 350F; Line an 8x8–inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving excess parchment on two ends for easy lifting of the baked bars.
 
In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, cane sugar, melted coconut oil, flax egg and vanilla bean paste. Once combined, add flour, salt and baking powder.  Mix until a thick dough forms. It should be thick like a cookie dough, but not be dry and crumbly. If the batter is too dry, add water or milk one tablespoon at a time until dough holds together.
 
In a small bowl, place ¼ of the dough and mix with the ¼ cup slivered almonds; set aside.
 
Place the remaining dough in the parchment-lined baking pan.  Using a spatula, the back of a spoon or your hands, press the dough down and spread evenly.  Par-bake the crust for 10 minutes in preheated oven.
 
After 10 minutes, remove pan from the oven and spread ¾ cup apricot jam evenly over the par-baked crust.  Then spread the dough-almond mixture that you had set aside previously, and sprinkle over the jam in chunks, making the crumble topping.
 
Place the pan back in the oven and bake 20-25 minutes, until the crust has cooked through and the top is lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely before slicing.  Once cooled, lift the parchment paper out of the pan for easy slicing.
 
Lemon Pesto Ricotta for Crostini (or baked pasta dishes!)
Jill Fariss, Soaring Hawk Vineyards
You can also use a packaged pesto for easier preparation.  I can highly recommend this special carrot top-pistachio pesto though.  It’s easy to make, uses your fresh carrot tops and freezes well so you can keep it on hand.  We enjoyed these appetizers with our lightly oaked 2022 Chardonnay – deliciously fresh and flavorful!
 
1 small French bread or sourdough baguette
1 Tablespoon Olive oil, for drizzling
1 16-oz container whole milk ricotta (or make your own batch of Tofu Ricotta, recipe below)
½-1 cup Carrot Top-Pistachio Pesto (recipe below)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 Tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
1 Tablespoon fresh oregano (or ½ teaspoon dried; omit if making the tofu ricotta recipe below)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 Tablespoons unsalted or lightly salted pistachios, crushed or finely chopped
Fresh microgreens, optional
 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Slice baguette crosswise into 1/4-1/2-inch slices.  Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil.  Bake 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden and mostly crispy.  Remove from oven and cool.  They will crisp up a bit more while cooling on the tray. 
 
In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2-1 cup of pesto (depending on taste preference), lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano (only if using dairy ricotta) and salt and pepper.
 
Spoon ricotta mixture onto prepared crostini (or place in a pastry bag (or a ziptop bag with the corner cut off) to pipe the mixture onto the crostini for a pretty presentation.  Top with crushed pistachios and a few sprigs of fresh microgreens and serve immediately.
 
Note:  This ricotta mixture is also delicious in stuffed jumbo shells or manicotti tubes and topped with a fresh basil marinara sauce and baked!
 
Carrot Top-Pistachio Pesto
Jill Fariss, Soaring Hawk Vineyards
I hate to waste those beautiful, fresh carrot tops on our bunches of carrots.  The greens have an amazingly fresh and peppery flavor that works great in a pesto.  I switched up the traditional pine nuts for slightly sweet pistachios.  You can use your favorite greens and nuts to make a fun twist.
 
1 cup carrot top greens, packed and thoroughly washed and tough stems removed
½ cup fresh basil leaves
½ cup shelled, unsalted or lightly salted pistachios
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan (or nutritional yeast to make it vegan)
Zest of one lemon
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about one large lemon)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon salt (adjust if using salted pistachios)
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
 
Add all ingredients, except olive oil, in a food processor and pulse until well-mixed and coarsely chopped.  With food processor running, add olive oil through the opening, mixing until you have a thick and soft paste.
 
Tofu Ricotta
From Jeanine Donofrio, loveandlemons.com
We like this plant-based ricotta better than the dairy version – it is so tangy and flavorful!  We hope you give it a try!  If you don’t have nutritional yeast, you can use freshly grated Parmesan cheese to make it vegetarian instead of vegan.  It would still be delicious!
 
14 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (available at most supermarkets in the health food section)
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
2 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
 
In a food processor, place the tofu, lemon juice, olive oil, nutritional yeast, lemon zest, garlic, salt, oregano and red pepper flakes and pulse until creamy.
  
Cherry 5-Spice Sauce
This simple glaze is amazing with all sorts of delicious foods, from serving over soft goat cheese or a wheel of warm brie on a charcuterie platter or using as a dipping sauce with potstickers or veggie spring rolls.  Or with a few additions, make a simmer sauce for meatballs (see below)!
 
1, 13-oz. jar of Cherry Preserves (such as Bon Maman)
2 Tablespoons Cranberry juice
1 Tablespoon Red wine or Apple Cider Vinegar
½-1 teaspoon Chinese Five-Spice powder
 
Whisk all ingredients in a medium saucepan until well-combined.  Bring to a boil over medium-low heat.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low and let simmer about 10 minutes or until thickened slightly.  Remove from heat and cool.  The mixture will thicken more once cooled.
 
Note:  To use as a glaze for simmering meatballs, just add 2 more tablespoons of cranberry juice and ½-1 cup of dry red wine, as needed to cover the meatballs in the sauce.  Simmer meatballs according to package or meatball recipe directions.  You can also keep them on slow cook mode for several hours to enjoy as a hot appetizer for the duration of the party, or until you run out!  We love to serve these yummy meatballs with a light red Rhône-style blend, such as Soaring Hawk Unité or Entwined.
 
French Dip Sliders
Adapted from southernliving.com.  This recipe is fun to serve a crowd or to take to a potluck.  We enjoy these sliders with our easy-drinking twisted Rhône varietals and Zinfandel red blend, Entwined. 
  
1 Tablespoon olive oil
6 Tablespoons (3 oz.) unsalted butter, divided
1 large (13 oz.) sweet onion, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
Cooking spray
1 (12-oz.) pkg. savory butter rolls (such as King’s Hawaiian)
1 lb. thinly sliced deli roast beef (or use sauteéd mushrooms for a vegetarian option)
6 (3/4-oz.) sharp provolone cheese slices
1 1/2 teaspoon light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (plus a pinch for caramelizing onions)
2 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, divided
1 teaspoon minced garlic (from 1 medium garlic clove)
1 cup beef broth
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
 
Heat olive oil and butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat; stir in onions and a pinch of kosher salt.  Place lid on top and cook over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes to sweat the onions. Remove the lid and continue to cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally for 25 to 30 minutes, until the onions are caramelized and golden brown. This could take much longer than 30 minutes, if your stove top is on a very low setting. If the onions are cooking too fast, lower the heat. Don't rush the process – you do not want burnt onions! It is worth the wait to go low and slow.  Remove from heat; set aside.
 
Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 13- x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.  Using a serrated bread knife, cut rolls in half horizontally, keeping top and bottom halves intact; place bottom half of rolls in prepared baking dish.
 
Arrange roast beef slices evenly over bottom half of rolls in the prepared baking dish. Top evenly with cheese and caramelized onions, and place top half of rolls over cheese and onions.
 
Melt brown sugar and 4 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan over low, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and whisk in mustard and salt. Brush top and sides of rolls with butter mixture, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of thyme. Loosely cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until the top buns are golden brown and cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.
 
Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 Tablespoon butter in a small saucepan over medium. Add garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in beef broth, Worcestershire, and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme. Bring to a simmer over medium; cook, undisturbed, until reduced slightly, about 10 minutes. Serve hot sliders with au jus.
 
 
Secret Fudge Brownies
From chocolatecoveredkatie.com.  The secret is they are made from Black Beans – and they are delicious!  Don’t tell your family or friends what they are made of until after they tell you how much they love the fudgy deliciousness!  They’ll never guess!
 
1 ½ cups black beans (1, 15-oz can), rinsed and drained well
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
½ cup quick oats (I use whole grain rolled oats and they work great!)
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup pure maple syrup (or honey or agave)
2 Tablespoons sugar
¼ cup coconut or vegetable oil (I use extra virgin coconut oil because I love the coconutty flavor. You could use refined coconut oil if you don’t want any coconut flavor)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup to 2/3 cup chocolate chips (I use ½ cup. Katie says these are not optional-to omit them is a risk!)
 
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients except chips in a good food processor, and blend until completely smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan. Optional: sprinkle extra chocolate chips over the top.
 
Cook the black bean brownies 15-18 minutes, then let cool completely before cutting.  If you just can’t wait for it to cool completely, let cool at least 10 minutes before trying to cut them or they will be extra sticky. If they still look a bit undercooked, you can place them in the fridge overnight and they will magically firm up! Makes 9-16 brownies.