My Favorite Wine Books

A few good books to help you expand your wine knowledge and wine pairing skills!

Larousse Wine ; The World’s Greatest Wines, Estates and Regions ; published in 2011 by Clarkson Potter/Publishers New York

Wonderfully illustrated, with beautiful pictures and remarkable representation of wealth of information. This book is not just good looks; it has substance too. An amazingly good read with a vast amount of knowledge about wines, pairings, storing, tasting, history and so much more. If there is anything you ever wanted to know about wine; it is in this book and presented in a beautiful and interesting way. Hands down my favorite book!

Winesof the World; Published by DK Publishing, Inc—

This book is broken into regions of the world, just like your local wine store! I find that this makes purchasing wines very simple.

Step 1: Look up Country…France

Step 2: Region…Loire Valley (The book will tell you the history of the region and what they are known for -Sancerre and Pouilly Fume. If you need more information you can always look up those specific wines/grapes and find any information you need. )

Step 3:  Turn to the “Top Wine Producers” of that region….it will give you the name of the producer, styles of wine that are best, even the years that they produced the best wines.

Step 4: Buy a good wine and enjoy

This book is also great for traveling and exploring local wine regions, with detailed maps and lists of local wine producers.

Wine for Dummies- by Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan; published by Wiley Publishing

This book has none of the pretty pictures but is packed full of information. And it will answer any question about wine that you have, simply and straight forward. My I recomend a chapter titled “Confronting a Restaurant Wine List”. It is designed to help with the “emotional-vulnerability” that can come with trying to buy wine. With a little knowledge you will have all the confidence in the world to grab the wine list and order for the table.

Please let me know if you have a book you think I should add to this list. I always love an excuse to go shopping.





Health Starts Here 28 Day Challenge...Coconut Covered Brownie Bite

Have you heard of the “Health Starts Here 28 Day Challenge”?

Well to be honest neither had I, until a friend at Whole Foods asked if I would do a cooking class for them.

It is a combination of  Whole Foods Health Starts Here Program and Eat Right America’s 28 Day Challenge. In the simplest terms they are encouraging people to start the New Year off right with healthy food choices and teaching you to eat healthier.

In not so simple terms they would love it if you got your fats from plant bases foods (you have to eat the plant, olive oil does not count). Same with your sugar, only recomended sugars are the ones that come in the form of berries and other fruits. You are encouraged to go wild with your vegetables, whole grains and water.  Take a look at the picture bellow to get a better idea.

Whole Food is offering special on “Heath Starts Here” prepared foods and showcasing foods in the store that have no added fats, sugars, are nutrient dense and contain no processed foods. Don’t let the scary words fool you, I tried some of the products and they are very good!

I have to admit it was a challenge even for me.  As someone who is a very well versed in special dietary concerns, I still struggled with wrapping my head around making a dressing without oil. Or not being able to sautéed my vegetables in oil.

But once I got over the initial shock it was really quite simple.  Using purees or reductions as thickeners for salad dressings.  Or tossing my vegetables in a bit of Tamari before roasting, to get rich color and flavor.

What I am most proud of is the dessert. I had heard forever about this “Raw” “Vegan” dessert that was supposed to be just like brownies. I thought what a crock! But I played with a couple of recipes and shockingly this one tasted like a brownie. And when you eat it right out to the food processor, while it is still warm, it is just like a gooey warm brownie. Even makes the house smell like brownies.

No-Bake "Brownies" rolled in Cocoa and Coconut

Serves 20 (bite sized pieces)

5                  Dates, pitted

5                  Dried apricots, sliced
1/3 cup       Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup       Raw almonds
1 tbsp                   Vanilla Whey Protein
1 tbsp                   Vanilla Almond milk
2 tbsp                   Unsweetened shredded coconut

Add dates, apricots, cocoa powder, almonds, vanilla whey protein, and vanilla almond milk to food processor and pulse until nuts are ground and the mixture starts to come together.
Run mixer until mixture forms a sticky mass.
Roll dough into small balls with your hands.
Put a tablespoon of shredded coconut into a shallow dish, add brownie balls and shake till coated in coconut.
These can be stored overnight on the counter or in the fridge for a week.
Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving 5 balls
Calories 45.1, Total Fat 2.7 g, Saturated Fat 0.8 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g, Monounsaturated Fat 1.2 g, Cholesterol 0.0 mg, Sodium 3.9 mg,

Potassium 99.7 mg, Total Carbohydrate 5.2 g, Dietary Fiber 1.2 g , Sugars 2.9 g,

Protein 1.5 g , Vitamin A 1.9 %,Vitamin E 5.0 %, Calcium 1.4 %, Iron 2.6 %

Local Guava and Cream Cheese Tart

2012 started with a bang for me. My first private party of the year was a local, organic, and sustainable dinner. Shopping for this dinner party was a great chance for me to wish "Happy New Year" to all my farmers market friends, farmers, fishmongers, and more.

This dessert was created when Laurel from Coral Tree Farm, suggested I use some of her guava puree. The farm had such a great guava harvest that they processed the guava into mason jars full of yummy pink puree (thankfully removing all the seeds and doing all the hard work for me).

The dessert has several steps, but if you have made cookies, cheesecake or home-made Jello you will be just fine. Don't let the length of the recipe scare you off.

May I suggest you serve this dessert with a nice cold glass of your favorite Riesling. The flavors of this dessert pair beautifully with it.

Guava and Cream Cheese Tart

Makes 1 (10 inch) Tart

½ lb                      Unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup                   Sugar
1/8 tsp                  Salt
1                           Egg
1                           Egg yolk
1 tbsp                   Vanilla
2 cups                  All-purpose Flour
1 tbsp                   Lemon zest

8 oz            Cream cheese, cubed and room temp.

1/3 cup       Sugar
1 large        Egg
1                 Egg yolk
¼ tsp          Vanilla
1 tbsp         Lemon juice

1  tsp                     Agar agar flakes

¼  cup                  Water
2 cups                   Guava Puree
1                           Vanilla Bean, cut in half a seeds scraped
1/3 to ½ cup         Sugar
¼ cup                   Myer lemon juice

In an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter sugar and salt.

On medium speed, mix until smooth.
With the machine running add egg yolk and vanilla;  mix until smooth; making sure to scrape down the bowl.
Repeat with whole egg.
Add flour and lemon zest, all at once, and mix on low speed until just incorporated.
Place dough into a 10 inch removable bottom tart pan, cover dough with parchment paper. With the heal of your hand flatten dough and press into the bottom of the pan and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
Press dough into a thin layer and into the fluted edges on the tart pan. Trim excess dough.
Freeze shell until firm, about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Dock tart dough piece the flat bottom of the tart with a fork (all over).
Line shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights.
Place tart pan onto a baking sheet; bake until edge is golden and bottom is set, about 15 minutes, then carefully remove pie weights and parchment (gently prick any bubbles with a fork to release air).
Increase oven temperature to 400°F and bake until bottom is pale golden (and does not have and melted butter liquid), 10 to 15 minutes more.
Let tart shell cool to room temperature.

Place cream cheese, sugar, whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla and lemon juice into an electric mixer and beat with paddle attachment until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Pour filling into tart shell and smooth with rubber spatula. Cover tart shell edges with foil, to keep from burning.
Bake tart for 10 to 15 minutes, or until cream cheese has puffed lightly and looks dull.
Cool tart and filling to room temperature.

Combine water and agar agar flakes in a medium sauce pan; stir let rest for 15 minutes to rehydrate.

Place guava puree, vanilla bean (and scraped seeds), sugar and Myer lemon juice in a double boiler. Cook over medium heat till guava puree is heated through and sugar is completely dissolved.

Cook agar agar and water over medium heat, bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.
Cook till agar agar flakes are dissolved and remove from heat.
Strain agar agar into cooked guave. Whisk to combine.
Remove vanilla bean from guava and pour into tart shell.
Refrigerate overnight to set.