Underwood Archives - Page 14 of 20

Garden Bounty Pt. 1 A Trio of Gazpachos

July 26, 2019

Now that summer is in full swing, gardeners all over the country are seeing their hard work and dedication beginning to finally bear fruit…and vegetables and herbs. And once the bounty begins, it can really produce a lot of produce very quickly…if ya know what i mean. Even if you aren’t a gardener, your local farmers markets are also beginning to explode with beautiful, colorful fruit and veggies.

So, we decided to run a series of posts about fun, easy recipes that will help put all that great freshly grown produce to good use. For us, Gazpacho is one of the simplest but most pure ways to really celebrate the freshness of the season. There is absolutely no cooking required. Just a little prepping and then a whole lot of blending.

Most people are familiar with the classic Andalusian tomato gazpacho, but there are several other recipes that are just as delicious. With any gazpacho, there is a lot of room for interpretation, so we welcome you to follow our recipes, but we urge you to try your own tweaks or additions. Also, there is a wide variation on the texture of gazpacho. We personally like a chunky gazpacho, as you will see in the following photos, but if you prefer a smoother texture, it’s as simple as just blending longer.

So without further ado, we present a trio of gazpachos*: Tomato, Cucumber and Watermelon.

Tomato Gazpacho

*Note: All three recipes make roughly 1 quart of gazpacho each, which will feed 2 to 4 people.

Recipe:

4-5 medium heirloom tomatoes
1/2 large sweet onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 large cucumber
3 roasted red piquillo peppers
1 Tbs sherry vinegar
1/4 C olive oil
a small piece of baguette (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

Technique:

Peel half the cucumber and remove the seeds. Chop all vegetables into manageable-sized pieces and place in a baking dish. Pour the olive oil and sherry vinegar over the veggies. Season with salt and pepper, mix well and let sit for 10 minutes. If you have a large blender, such as a ‘Vitamix’, you can put everything in together. If you are working with a smaller blender, blend in batches, trying to get equal amounts of all ingredients in each batch. Blend to desired consistency and refrigerate. When ready to serve, garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and some fresh herbs, such as cilantro or basil. Enjoy with a can of Underwood Pinot Noir.

Cucumber Gazpacho

Recipe:

2 large cucumbers
1/2 large yellow bell pepper
1/2 large sweet onion
2 cloves of garlic
2/3 C plain whole milk yogurt
1 small bunch of mint
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt & pepper to taste

Technique:

Peel half of each cucumber. (This will allow for a little texture with the skin, but not too much.) Cut the cucumbers down the middle and remove all seeds. Chop all veggies into manageable-sized pieces. As stated above, if you have a large blender, such as a ‘Vitamix’, you can put everything in together. If you are working with a smaller blender, blend in batches, trying to get equal amounts of all ingredients in each batch. It is okay to add the lime juice and yogurt at the same time as the veggies. Season with salt and pepper and blend to your desired texture. Keep refrigerated. When ready to serve, garnish with some finely diced cucumber and a mint sprig. Enjoy with an ice cold can of Underwood Pinot Gris.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Recipe:

1/2 large seedless watermelon (roughly 3 Cups)
1/2 large cucumber
1/2 large red heirloom tomato
1/2 red bell pepper
juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar

Technique:

Peel watermelon and chop into cubes. Peel and seed cucumber. Chop up the tomato and pepper. As stated above, if you have a large blender, such as a ‘Vitamix’, you can put everything in together. If you are working with a smaller blender, blend in batches, trying to get equal amounts of all ingredients in each batch. Blend to desired texture and then refrigerate. When ready to serve, garnish with a few pieces of watermelon and some chopped fresh mint and enjoy with an ice cold
Underwood Rosé.

So, as you can see, there are many different styles of gazpacho to enjoy. All can be made several days in advance. And again, feel free to tweak the ingredients, texture and garnishes to fit your personal taste.

Bon Appétit!

Photography, Recipe and Text by David L. Reamer. (@dlreamer)

Tillamook Frozen Custard & Underwood Strawberry Cooler Syrup

July 19, 2019

A Perfect Pairing:
Tillamook Frozen Custard & Underwood Strawberry Cooler Syrup

Strawberry season goes by way too quickly, but we aren’t quite ready to say goodbye just yet!

We have recently discovered (and fallen in love with) some of our local Tillamook Creamery’s Special Batch ice cream, gelato and custards. We thought it would be interesting to pair strawberries with their Sea Salt & Honeycomb Toffee Custard, and it worked amazingly. To sweeten the deal we created a simple, yet very complex tasting, Strawberry Cooler Syrup, which really highlights the salty crunchy bits of toffee in the creamy custard.

The syrup is simple to make and will stay good for weeks in the refrigerator.

Underwood Strawberry Cooler Syrup

Underwood Strawberry Cooler
3 ripe strawberries
3 sprigs of mint
1/4 teaspoon of black peppercorns
2 Tablespoons of sugar (optional)

STEP ONE:
Pour a can of the Cooler into a wide, heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil. If adding the sugar, do so at this time. Stir until the sugar is dissolved so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.

STEP TWO:
Immediately reduce to a simmer and continue to cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

STEP THREE:
After 15 minutes, place the strawberries (stems removed), mint and peppercorns into the pot and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.

STEP FOUR:
Strain liquid immediately into a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use. Once cooled, scoop out some custard (or your favorite Tillamook ice cream flavor), add a few strawberries and a healthy drizzle of the syrup.

Bon Appétit!

Photography, Recipe and Text by David L. Reamer. (@dlreamer)

Frosé at Home

July 12, 2019

We were very excited to be the wine sponsor for this year’s Waterfront Blues Fest in Portland. Besides providing our wines for the event we wanted to do something extra special that would elevate the 4-day experience. Since Blues Fest days are usually nice and hot, we created a Frosé drink using slushy machines and it turned out to be a tasty—and popular—cold wine option. So popular in fact that a few people asked for the recipe!

Since we all can’t have a commercial grade slushy machine in our homes we came up with a smaller scale version that you can enjoy at home. All you need is a little time and a blender.

Pour 1 full bottle of Underwood Rosé into a baking dish. Place in the freezer for 4-6 hours (or overnight). While waiting for the wine to freeze, make a simple syrup by boiling ½ cup sugar and ½ cup water, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Do this early enough so it has time to cool.

Once the rosé has been in the freezer for a number of hours, it should be slushy but not completely frozen. Take it out, pour it into a blender with a handful of ice and 4 oz of simple syrup. Blend until completely combined and place the blender in the freezer for another 1-2 hours.

Pour into your favorite Mazama Wares glass and enjoy on a nice day.
Frosé will stay good in the freezer for a couple of days.

Redefining The Radler

July 5, 2019

Riesling Radler Granita with Grilled Pineapple

During these hot summer months there is very little as refreshing as an ice cold Underwood Riesling Radler. It’s light, citrus flavored, white wine makes for a solid afternoon beverage. But that got us thinking about how else we could bring the flavor of one of our favorite cans to life.

Enter the Granita. An Italian flavored ice dessert, it is similar to a sorbet but instead of needing an ice cream maker, Granita can be made simply with a pan and a fork for mixing. Often served as an intermezzo, Granita also makes a delicious and refreshing dessert. We decided to pair our Radler Granita with grilled pineapple as both can be done in advance when entertaining. This recipe will serve 4-6 people.

STEP ONE:

Preheat your grill.
Peel your fresh pineapple and slice into rounds that are roughly 1/2 an inch thick.
Lightly brush slices with canola oil and grill on both sides for about 5 minutes per side.*
Let slices cool and then keep in a container in the fridge until ready to serve.

(*To achieve the “crosshatching” grilled effect, simply turn the slice 45 degrees halfway through the grilling process.)

STEP TWO:

In a medium sized metal or ceramic dish, pour:

1 can of Underwood Riesling Radler
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 1/2 oz simple syrup

Place dish in the freezer. Set your timer for 20 minutes.
When the timer goes off, stir the liquid gently with a fork to begin incorporating the frozen bits into the liquid. This is done to create a shaved ice texture, and not have the liquid freeze into a solid sheet.

Continue this process, remembering to set your timer and stirring every twenty minutes or so. After about an hour, you will see the liquid becoming quite slushy.

Continue this process until the Granita is completely frozen and there is no more liquid in the pan.
At this point, you can transfer the Granita to a quart container. This will save room in your freezer and also make scooping it out easier.

STEP THREE:

When it is time to serve, place a slice of the grilled pineapple on a plate. Using a 2 oz ice cream scoop, dip the scoop into some warm water, pack the Granita tightly into the scoop and place in the center of the slice.

Serve with an ice cold can of Radler. Bon Appétit!

Photography, Recipe and Text by David L. Reamer. (@dlreamer)

Wine Can Chicken on the Grill

June 28, 2019

Wine Can Chicken
(The Best Damn Chicken You’ll Ever Eat!)

Most people are familiar with Beer Can Chicken, a technique where you barbecue a whole bird balanced on a beer can. This is done so that as the bird roasts, the beer steams and flavors the bird from the inside out.

Well, we wondered how this would work out if we used an Underwood Pinot Gris can instead, and let us say that we were absolutely blown away by how easy and how delicious this turned out! To make a more complete meal out of it, we roasted some potatoes at the same time, and while the bird was cooking, we whipped up a simple Chimichurri sauce.

STEP ONE:

Remove any offal or neck pieces from the cavity of the bird. Rinse well inside and out with cold water and pat dry.
Evenly coat the whole bird with olive oil and salt and pepper.

STEP TWO:

Fire up your grill. Whether you’re using charcoal or gas, you don’t want any heat directly under the bird, so keep the center free of direct heat.

Crack a can of Pinot Gris and drink about 1/4 of the wine. This is actually a very important step, as it will create a little room for the wine to steam and not overflow into the grill. Slide the can into the cavity of the chicken and place it in the center of the grill.

This is the most important part—make sure the can is sitting flat on the grill and splay the legs so that they form a steady tripod. We found it best to lean the legs into the grooves of the grill plate. Cover the grill and let the bird cook for about 10 minutes. Check to make sure the bird hasn’t fallen over and then recover it and DO NOT UNCOVER IT for at least another 45 minutes. If your grill has a temperature gauge, try to keep the heat around 450 degrees. The bird will take about 1 hour to cook altogether.

You can also place a few medium red potatoes on the grill—again, make sure they are not directly over the heat, and let them roast as the bird cooks. They should finish at just about the same time as the chicken.

In the meantime, make the Chimichurri sauce—a sort of zesty Argentinian pesto. There are many variations of the sauce. Here is ours:

CHIMICHURRI SAUCE:

1 bunch of cilantro
1/2 bunch of curly parsley
3 large sprigs of oregano
juice of half a lemon
1 TBS red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 medium shallot
pinch of salt & crushed red pepper
1/2 C olive oil

Rinse, dry and pick all the herbs. Finely dice the shallot. Set aside.

In a food processor, place the 2 cloves of garlic and pulse several times Then add all the other ingredients except the shallot and the oil. Pulse a few more times.

Once everything is starting to be finely chopped, slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the food processor is running. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the diced shallot. Keep covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.

BACK TO THE BIRD…..

Cook the chicken until a thermometer inserted reads 165 degrees. Carefully remove the chicken from the grill and set it on a pan to rest. Gently remove the can, it will still have a good amount of VERY hot wine in it so be very careful.

Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes and then carve, removing both legs and breasts.

Arrange your desired pieces on a plate with a few pieces of the potato and a generous amount of Chimichurri. Crack an ice cold can of Pinot Gris and DIG IN!

Photography, Recipe and Text by David L. Reamer. (@dlreamer)

Garden Bounty Pt. 1 A Trio of Gazpachos

Tillamook Frozen Custard & Underwood Strawberry Cooler Syrup

Frosé at Home

Redefining The Radler

Wine Can Chicken on the Grill

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