Wines of the Giro Stage 2: Denmark: Herning and Heering

http://road.cc/content/news/57780-giro-ditalia-2012-stage-2-preview-herning-hernin-206km

Herning to Herning 206 Km

A loop from Herning out to the sea and back, this is a typical early race flat stage, designed to lead to a bunch sprint at the end. For the non-cycling fans, this generally translates in a group of riders going out ahead for most of the day in "the break," while the rest of the peloton rides together. Eventually, the teams with sprinters (really fast and explosive riders) work to catch the break and set up a group finish where they attempt to set up their guy for the win. Occasionally they mistime this and someone from the break wins, but usually not.
Today the riders rode west out of Herning before turning north along the coast, then east and finally south, back towards Herning. There were pre-race concerns about wind, but it turned out be a relatively calm day. The other pre-race concern was general opening days of a Grand Tour nerves, coupled with a right turn 500 metres from the line. 
As expected, we had a doomed early break, followed by a solo attack from Lars Bak that was clearly going nowhere. Things seemed to be setting up for the expected sprint finish, until the Maglia Rosa (race leader), Taylor Phinney had a bike problem. After a few kilometers of drama, Phinney did get back to the group, making the finishing sprint the focus. And, sure enough we had excitement. First up, a not unexpected crash, slightly behind the main group of sprinters. Then came the sprint and Mark Cavendish won easily, with his trademark charge up the middle.

Stage winner:Mark Cavendish

Maglia Rosa:Taylor Phinney

The wine: Well, not exactly. As I had trouble sourcing Danish wine, I've opted for: Heering. 

The bottle and my High Hat.

What, you may ask, is Heering? Well, Imbibe Magazine tells me: "Created by Peter Heering and produced in Denmark since 1818, Cherry Heering is a ruby-red liqueur made by soaking lightly crushed Danish cherries and a blend of spices in neutral grain spirits, then cask-maturing the mixture for up to five years, adding sugar during the aging process. With an elaborate complexity of flavor that places its character closer to that of gâteau than of Ho-Ho, Cherry Heering reclaims the taste of cherries from the candy-colored impostors.

 Useful in many cocktail recipes wherever cherry brandy is called for. . .  Cherry Heering has a rich flavor that adds depth to a number of drinks, such as the brandy-based Ulysses, the classic gin-based Singapore Sling and the scotch-based Blood and Sand."

So clearly, a cocktail was called for. Although I considered both the Singapore Sling and the Blood & Sand, I found something listed in the San Francisco Chronicle's Cocktalian archive that called to me: The High Hat. 

High Hat Cocktail

Makes 1 serving

• 1 1/2 ounces straight rye whiskey
• 1/2 ounce Cherry Heering
• 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
• 1 maraschino cherry, for garnish (I skipped the garnish)

Instructions: Combine all ingredients, except garnish, in a cocktail shaker. Add ice, shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add the garnish, if used.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/01/FDUR1B6I0G.DTL#ixzz1u2dVDOZp

I say: This is a cocktail that hits my sweet spot of rye and citrus with just enough Heering to add color and a bit of sweetness. I tip my hat to it.

Wines of the Giro: Stage 1 Herning, Denmark

http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2012/en/percorso.shtml?lang=en

And we begin. In Denmark. Yes, for the opening stages this year the Giro has traveled to Denmark.


Before I get to the day's action a few words on my Wines of the Giro project. The Giro, for those non-cycling fans following along, is a stage race through Italy. It is one of 3 grand tours on the cycling calendar along with the Tour de France (look for Wines of the Tour here in July) and the Vuelta de Espana. The race is held over three consecutive weeks and features stages that are a mix of mountains, hills and flat stages, as well as individual and team time trials.
The "prizes" include the Maglia rosa (for the rider with the the fastest time when all the stage results are added together, taking into account time bonuses for high finishes and intermediate sprints), the team classification, the King of the Mountains, the points classification, and the best young rider classification. I'll be listing the major leaders here each day along with a few thoughts on each stage, but there are far better sites if you want technical race details. 


As for the wine, each day I drink a wine to pair with the stage, either from a town the riders cycle through or one from a surrounding region. And, yes, I am geeky enough that I track all of this in a spreadsheet that I print out and carry with me when I shop for the wines. This year, due to the start in Denmark, I'm including Heering and Akvavit as well, as I had no luck sourcing Danish wine.


Today's stage was an individual time trial, 8.7 km through the streets of Herning. For those not familiar with cycling, an individual time trial (ITT) is a stage in which cyclists race alone against the clock. In this case, the fastest riders finished in a little more than 10 minutes.

Stage and Maglia Rosa:  Taylor Phinney, BMC

The wine of Stage 1 and Violet.

To drink: Much as I start the wines of the Tour de France with Champagne, opening day calls for bubbles. When I dropped by Biondivino for my wines of the Giro, I told Ceri that I thought I would start with Prosecco. Her suggestion: Blanc de Morgex Brut Avalanche 2009  

The regional website tells me that: La Cave du Vin Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle is the highest winery in Europe, with its original, ungrafted vines climbing at altitudes of up to 1200 metres, in a natural setting in which the imposing Mont Blanc “watches over” the vineyards below. This is the home of “glacier bubbly”, in other words Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle brut and extra brut, a traditional method sparkling wine with a Controlled Denomination of Origin (DOC).

As for the grape, Prié Blanc, it is apparently the only native white grape of the region, and takes its name from the typically early ripening of the grapes. Cultivated in the vineyards of the High Aosta Valley, from La Salle to Morgex, this grapes produce an easy to drink, straw yellow colored wine with greenish highlights, strong fruity perfume, intense, dry and fresh to the palate.

My thoughts: Straw in color with a nose of bread and white flowers. On the palate, creamy and soft with minerality.

Wines of the Giro: Starts Tomorrow!

Starts tomorrow!  For each stage, a wine from the region. Or, in the case of Denmark, a spirit.

stage		start	finish
1	05-May	Herning
2	06-May	Herning
3	07-May	Horsens	Horsens
	08-May	REST
4	09-May	Verona
5	10-May	Modena	Fano
6	11-May	Urbino	Porto Sant’Elpidio
7	12-May	Recanati	Rocca di Cambio
8	13-May	Sulmona	Lago Laceno
9	14-May	San Giorgio nel Sannio	Frosinone
10	15-May	Civitavecchia	Assisi
11	16-May	Assisi	Montecatini Terme
12	17-May	Seravezza	Sestri Levante
13	18-May	Savone	Cervere
14	19-May	Cherasco	Cervinia
15	20-May	Busto Arsizio	Lecco/Pian dei Resinelli
	21-May	REST
16	22-May	Limone del Garda	Falzes
17	23-May	Falzes	Cortina d'Ampezzo
18	24-May	San Vito Cadore	Vedelago
19	25-May	Treviso	Alpe di Pamepago
20	26-May	Caldes	Passo dello Stelvio
21	27-May	Milan

Cooking from the Books with K: Strawberry Girl Shortcake

Food styling by K: star biscuit, lime curd, berries, whipped cream and backyard berries on top.

Sometimes Cooking from the Books with K starts with a book, sometimes with a recipe. In this case, it started with K repeatedly asking to make strawberry shortcake. It was easy enough to put her off in January, with "the berries are not good right now" and "no, strawberry jam is not a substitute for fresh berries." But now that strawberries are at the farmers market and ripe in our own yard, I had run out of excuses. So it was time to find a book pairing.

After a search of K's bookshelves, we opted for Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski, a Newberry Award winning book in 1946. From K: "It was about people who lived in Florida. There were two families. One grew strawberries and the other had cattle that walked in the strawberry fields. It was interesting to hear what it was like to live on a farm, kind of like a newer Little House. I also thought that Birdie was a funny name, but so was her real name Berthenia Lou. There was also a boy named Shoestring. The dad said "Don't count your biddys fore they're hatched."

Since, as K pointed out, I "never make strawberry shortcake," I asked on twitter for recipe suggestions. Thebestjasmine had a few, including large cakes, individual biscuit versions and even one with chocolate. K opted for what she decided was the traditional version, made with individual biscuits. The recipe Jasmine had suggested for that was an Alice Waters' recipe on the Ezra Pound Cake blog, a blog that you really should visit if you haven't been before. I can also recommend the Overnight French Toast there, as it was breakfast after K's sleepover birthday party.

The recipe, with our changes in italics:

Strawberry Shortcake from Ezra Pound Cake

Adapted from Alice Waters’ “The Art of Simple Food”
Makes 6

• 4 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1/4 cup sugar

Topping:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (We used 1 teaspoon as K loves vanilla.)
• 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste

• 6 baked 2-inch Cream Biscuits (recipe below)  (We made star shaped biscuits)

              • Homemade lime curd (We had some in the freezer from our lime jelly      

                 project.)

• Backyard berries: We substituted for her optional powdered sugar, some of the small berries from our yard as an additional topping.

1. In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar.
2. Remove 1 cup of the strawberry mixture, and purée it in a blender or food processor (We mashed with a potato masher.) Return the purée (mashed berries) to the rest of the strawberries; stir. Set aside at least 15 minutes.
3. In a standing mixer with the whisk attachment, whip together the cream, vanilla and sugar until it starts to form soft peaks.
4. Slice the Cream Biscuits in half. For each biscuit, spoon the strawberry mixture onto the bottom half, and add a dollop of whipped cream. Top with the other biscuit half, and dust it with powdered sugar. (We did not slice in half but simply placed 1 large spoonful of lime curd on top of each biscuit, covered it with sliced berries and whipped cream and then garnished with a small handful of backyard berries.)

Brushing the biscuits with cream.

Cream Biscuits

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons sugar (optional) (We did include it)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar (if using) and baking powder.
3. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingertips. The pieces should be the size of small peas.
4. Measure cream; set aside 1 tablespoon. Add the remaining cream to the flour, and stir with a fork until the mixture just comes together. Lightly knead the dough a few times in the bowl, turn it out onto a lightly floured board, and roll out about 3/4 inch thick.
5. Cut six 2-inch circles or squares out of the dough. Reroll the scraps, if necessary. (We used a star shaped cookie cutter for this. We ended up with 6 stars and 1 medium size biscuit.)
6. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment, and brush the tops with the tablespoon of cream.
7. Bake for 17 minutes or until golden and done. (Note that this is one of the few times the baking time has been right on for our oven.)

Lime curd and star shaped biscuit

Cooking from the Books with K: Percy Jackson & Blueberry Muffins

From K: "Percy Jackson is a series where the Greek gods still exist and have kids. The kids are special and monsters try to attack them, starting when they become teenagers. They are demi gods and to the monsters they smell like prey.

Camp Half-blood is where the kids learn to fight the monsters and defeat them. Percy is the only mortal son of Poseidon, who was supposed to not have any mortal kids. Because, apparently, if Poseidon, Zeus or Hades had a mortal kid, when the kid turned 16,  he or she would either destroy or save Mount Olympus. The books are all basically about Percy's life. He has a Cyclops half-brother and he spends all of his time with a satyr and a girl named Annabeth. There are five books in the first series and then another series comes after."

"I like that a girl is really helpful in them. I love Greek mythology and there is a LOT of it in the books. And the mom is the awesomest parent in a fantasy series. She likes to eat as much blue food as possible so today we made blueberry muffins. Plus, I think blue food is awesome because I never get it."

Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Muffins

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups blueberries (we used frozen berries from the farmers market) 

zest of one lemon and the juice of half of the lemon

2 eggs

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional Blue food coloring (we did not use it, but if you want really blue food. . .) 

 

Preheat your oven to 375℉. In a bowl, combine the flours, sugar, and baking soda. Stir in blueberries and lemon zest and juice. In a second bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla. Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet. Divide batter evenly in a 12-cup muffin tin, lined with papers. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

Spring

After some dreary weather, we opted for a trip to the Botanic Garden rather than a day at the stove working on a new Cooking from the Books with K. 

Below, some signs of spring.

10!

The birthday cake Candied Violet Ice Cream Cake from Mr and Mrs Miscellaneous. Plus, Star Wars plates!: