Serves: 6

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1 ½ pounds asparagus, stalks peeled and coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
¼ cup chopped shallots
1 cup chopped leeks, both white and tender green parts
½ cup chopped, peeled celery
¼ cup chopped, peeled carrot
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
½ cup white wine
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 cups freshly shelled English Peas
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Sea salt to taste

Nonfat Greek Yogurt mixed with lemon juice for garnish
6 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Whisk together and refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a stockpot, heat the oil and sauté the shallots, leek, celery, and carrots until just translucent. Add the asparagus and continue to sauté until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to sauté just until the aroma of garlic is noticeable. Then, add the wine, simmer and reduce by half, scraping pan to incorporate into soup. Next, add the stock and bring just to a boil. Turn down heat to a simmer for 10-15 minutes, until all vegetables are soft. Add the peas and cook for 5-6 more minutes just until they are soft.

Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Pureé with an immersion blender (one of my favorite tools!) if available or alternatively in a blender in small batches. If using a blender, as when pureéing anything warm, leave the blender top ajar and place a dishtowel over the top to catch any soup that escapes.

Serve the soup warm or cold garnished with a swirl of the Greek Yogurt with lemon.

In Your Glass
With the bright yet delicate springtime flavors of this soup we have enjoyed a glass of Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay as well as a selection of wines from Chablis (also Chardonnay). It's also great to try some lesser-known whites such as an elegant Vermentino from Tuscany’s Bolgheri coast with its fruit forward essence and pleasurable minerality.

 

Serves: 6

Ingredients
2 pounds Halibut (6 filets)
1 Tablespoon Hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon finely minced lemon zest
1 Tablespoon white wine
1 Tablespoon canola oil
Freshly ground sea salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon olive oil
6 lemon wedges (for garnish)

Soba Noodle Salad
12 ounces soba noodles or other wholegrain pasta
3/4 cup buttermilk
11/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
11/2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
3 Tablespoons minced chives
1 cup watercress
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned
1 scallion, sliced thinly
Freshly ground sea salt and pepper, to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste

Preparation: Rinse halibut under cold running water and pat dry. Remove any bones. Combine hoisin, lemon juice, lemon zest, white wine and canola oil. Place halibut in a glass dish with just enough room for all filets to lay flat. Pour marinade over halibut, making sure to coat both sides. Cover. Let marinate 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

While the fish is marinating, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add soba noodles and cook until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Mix together, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, chives, and salt and pepper to taste. In a large bowl, gently toss soba with buttermilk mixture. Add watercress, cucumber, scallion and salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Toss to incorporate. Serve or refrigerate until ready to eat.

To prepare halibut: Heat a non-stick sauté pan to high heat. Add olive oil and swirl around pan. Add halibut pieces. Sauté just until halibut looses it’s interior translucency – a little bit of translucency is fine since the fish will continue to cook a bit once removed from the heat. Remove from the pan.

To serve: Place one serving of the dressed soba noodles on serving plate. Top with seared Halibut. Squeeze lemon juice over halibut just before serving – or allow guests to make the choice. Enjoy!

In Your Glass
This is one of those great dishes that we have loved trying with both red and white wines. A Shafer Merlot can be a delicious companion as can a Pinot Noir or a white with a medium to full body, such as a favorite Sémillon.

 

Serves: 6 - 8

Ingredients
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup granulated (baker’s) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups lightly toasted walnuts, finely ground
1/2 cup ground bittersweet chocolate

Caramel Sauce for garnish, optional
1 cup of sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cut parchment in a circle to fit the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan. Butter and flour once parchment has been laid into the pan. With an electric mixer and paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they just hold stiff peaks using the whisk attachment. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Add the walnuts and chocolate and stir to blend. Fold in the remaining egg whites just until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until firm and golden brown. Cool before removing the cake from the pan.

To serve: cut into wedges and garnish with a drizzle of caramel sauce (optional) or a scoop of vanilla gelato.

Caramel Sauce Recipe
Yield: Makes a little over one cup of sauce

Note: Before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go, your “mise en place”, the cream and the butter measured out and next to the pan. It is important to work quickly, with all ingredients at hand, or the sugar may burn.

Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. (It is important to use a pan with high sides since the addition of the heavy cream will cause the caramel to foam up considerably.) As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on.
As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. After 5 seconds, slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate.

Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple of minutes, then pour into a glass jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, you can store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

In Your Glass
We've enjoyed finishing a meal with this cake and a little of Shafer's Firebreak, a Cabernet dessert wine, or a double espresso.