We've had a busy, busy week at our house, capped off by our Elder Monster receiving a job offer - finally! His first! - from Cedar Point. He'll spend the summer working in one of the hotel kitchens, honing his skills and earning the 250 hours of paid employment he needs to complete his ProStart certificate.
He has been hunting for a job for two years - in this economy, no one wants to deal with the minor labor laws when they can have their pick of desperate, laid off auto workers who will work any hours at any job so they can put food on the table. He had been told that more than a few times, and was getting pretty frustrated by the whole thing. A job offer from one of the best known roller coaster parks in the US has made him feel 42 kinds of happy, and we decided that we would celebrate this milestone with a terrific dinner and a bottle of wine.
We opted to roast a capon for dinner last night. If you're not up on your chicken terminology, a capon is a castrated rooster, who is then coddled and pampered with the finest grains until he is fat enough for the dinner plate. Your typical capon weighs in at about 8 pounds (and sometimes more!), and will feed 6 to 8 people generously, unless any of your dining companions are teenagers. Figure those creatures to eat enough for two!
My favorite way to roast a capon is to stuff him first. To that end, we melted a stick of unsalted butter in a heavy pan, added half a cup each of finely chopped celery and onions, then eight slices of 12 grain bread, cut into cubes, and fried it all until the bread was crispy. We dumped the whole mess into a bowl, added a generous dump of herbs d' Provence and two eggs, mixed well, and stuffed it into the rinsed, dried and salted cavity of our gigantic capon.
We rubbed his skin down with butter, then covered him in more herbs d' Provence, and popped him into the oven, uncovered, to roast at 425°F until he reached 170°F in the thickest part of the breast. He was such a gorgeous golden color when we pulled him out, and the pan drippings, combined with the finely minced giblets and broth that had been simmering on the stove, made for a sinfully rich gravy to cover the stuffing with.
While he rested, we steamed some fresh broccoli and prepared some pasta with a simple dress of butter, light cream, and Parmigiano-Reggiano, and served it with a wine we had picked up at the grocery store because the label amused us.
We often choose wine this way, when we are not in a tasting room. Is it a varietal we like? How old is it? Who makes it? Where is it from? What does the label say about it?
The Night Harvest 2008 Sauvignon Blanc tickled us with both its front label depiction of reaching for the ever unreachable moon, and the slightly pretentious back label blurb emphasizing that they harvest their grapes in the middle of the night to "concentrate the fresh flavors and crisp acidity" of the grape.
For $10 and a cute label, why not, right?
As it happened, the wine was a gorgeous complement to our happily roasted capon. Light, crisp, with a nose redolent of peaches and citrus flowers, and bright, grassy flavors on the palate made the capon sit up and take notice. I really loved the way the wine blended with the flavors of the herbs d' Provence, lending them just the tiniest little kick, intensifying the lavender and marjoram, making an already fragrant dish a total knockout.
It also worked extremely well with the pasta, neatly cutting through the fats in the sauce and gently cleansing the palate. We found the Night Harvest to be a tasty addition to our dinner last night, and would definitely buy this one again. I would also be inclined to try some of Night Harvest's other varietals, having had a positive experience with this one.
It is difficult, here in the Midwest, with our stupid and arcane liquor laws, to get decent (read: not mass produced and mass marketed) California wines without some serious gymnastics and wallet emptying, leaving us with a very (unfair, admittedly) poor opinion of California wines. Thankfully, we've had wonderful California wines from 4 Seasons Wine Club and Wine.com, which has made us more open to trying some of the less expensive brands available here.
The Night Harvest Sauvignon Blanc is a lovely table wine, suitable for a meal of poultry or fish, and I daresay it would also complement our Tuesday Night Cheese Board equally well. This is one we'll definitely be purchasing again.
I had the chance on Saturday to spend some time with my Auntie, indulging in the things we love to indulge in - shopping, gossip, Indian cuisine, and wine. Serendipitously, a "mystery case" had arrived from Laithwaites, and she was more than happy to help me both unpack and give one a try.
