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The eagle-eyed amongst you might have noticed two things.... That I didn't publish a post here last Wednesday, and that I am posting yesterday's Wine Utopia today on a Thursday (thanks to Football, Work, and small children being sent home from school with a yet-to-be-solved mysterious allergy). Oh and lunch at the soon to open Shoal which is based in the Guild Hall. Check back for a full review of that at the weekend!)....
This is a double post including the slightly amended Rick Stein's Flammkuchen recipe that went with the Borsao Rubic Macabeo from last week, and a link to a delicious Brown Butter Paneer Makhani Curry by Sanjana Feasts that goes brilliantly with this week's wine - a Pasquiers Savignon Blanc/Vermentino 2019 - the pairing suggestion for which was fragrant spiced foods. I don't think this paneer curry is particularly spicy by the way, it's just really really good and full of flavour...
But first last week's Wine Club Pick... A 2019 Borsao Macebeo 2018. This Spanish White is rather drinkable with lots of peach and citrus notes, and lots of people notice a similarity with a white rioja, which is not really surprising given that it's the main grape in the white wines from that region. In the wine club notes the pairing suggestions were chicken, pasta or fish, but I thought it would work really well with a Flammkuchen (or Tarte Flambe) and I wasn't wrong (even if I do say so myself)... We were pretty spoiled in our last country in that we could pop to many a restaurant for Flammkuchen - my favourite was the Kellar restaurant directly left of the Lions in Odeonsplatz in Munich (that only serves Flammkuchen and wine, no bier!), or the super authentic version we had in Stuttgart where I was also given the booziest Rum Baba ever which put Stuttgart in a whole new light afterwards!... We could also pick it up in the supermarket which means we have never had to make it, before now... And I don't know why we haven't before, it's easier (and much quicker to prepare) than Pizza...
This is a Rick Stein recipe, which I have changed a tiny bit...
Ingredients
Dough:
250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
½ tsp salt
150ml tepid water
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Topping:
200g chopped smoked bacons or cubed pancetta
250g/9oz full-fat crème fraîche
1 large red onion, thinly sliced (it's pretty insipid looking otherwise)
250g Gruyère
whole nutmeg, for grating
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl, add the water and oil and bring together to make a dough. Transfer to a floured work surface and knead well. Roll the dough into two equally sized rectangles.
Dry fry the bacon/cubed pancetta until crispy, drain on kitchen paper.
Preheat the oven to 230C/210C Fan and line two flat baking trays with baking paper.
Put the dough on the trays and spread the crème fraîche over leaving a little border around the edges. Top with the sliced onion, gruyere, and pancetta/bacon. Season with salt & pepper and a fine grating of nutmeg (not too much!)
Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until the base is crisp and the cheese is bubbling. Slide the tarts onto a wooden board and use a pizza cutter to cut them into portions. Serve immediately with a green salad and a good white wine like last week's wine club pick...
This week's wine is a Pasquiers Sauvignon Blanc/Vermentino 2019 from Languedoc, France. Full of luscious exotic fruit flavours from the Vermentino which are balanced by the Sauvignon. The pairing suggestion was for fragrant spiced foods, and having seen this wonderful recipe by Sanjana Feasts for Brown Butter Paneer Makhani on a delicious Instagram feed called Whip up a Storm, I thought it would go perfectly, and it did....
I am afraid I am fully cheating with this recipe and just including a link directly to it as it's a pretty convoluted one - worth every single step though. If you are missing any ingredients, Nirmala next to Gurkha's Inn can help with pretty much everything...
For full details of the wine and the Wine Utopia Wine Club, please check their website...