One of the highlights of our trip to Sicily four years ago was a visit to a winery high in the hills above Palermo.
It was springtime, so the bright green grape vines were just in their infancy. I imagined the flurry of activity that would occur in fall and the rush to harvest to make the lovely wines we tasted that evening.
I grew up with Italian wines, although my dear father stuck with a few favorites that could be bought at the state store at the time: Bolla’s Valpolicella and Soave, the Corvo white and red from Sicily, and a light, white Verdiccio that came in a delightful, fish-shaped bottle. His favorite, when he could find it, was a white wine from Campania called Lacrima Christi or “Tears of Christ.”
We had wine on holidays but not every day. And, other than the dry sherry she used in her orange and walnut holiday cake, my mother didn’t cook with wine either. Wine in the Baer household, however, is another matter. My husband jokes that our monthly wine bill is like a car payment. In recent years, we’ve gravitated to mostly Italian wines. To me, they are soft and lovely and very unlike the dry French reds and whites we drank in our youth.
Wines are a special part of our family dinners, and we try to pair what we are drinking with our menu. I admit to liking Pinot Grigio, although there are some bad ones out there. Soave from Venice and Gavi from northwest Italy are crisp whites that go with almost everything. For reds, there is Bardolino and Dolcetta d’Alba.
And then there is the unique Chianti made from the Sangiovese grape and perhaps the best-known Italian wine in America. Chianti is produced in the green hills between Florence and Siena in Tuscany. Remember the straw-and-wax-covered Chianti bottles that graced tables in Italian bistros in the 1950s and ‘60s? Well, Chiantis have come a long way. Good ones can be found at our state stores often as a “Chairman’s Selection,” a promotion offering nice wines at reasonable prices. Some Chiantis we’ve tried are Banfi Chianti Superiore, Castello D’Albola Chianti Classico and Straccali Chianti.
The recipe that follows is a favorite of mine from“Savoring Tuscany,”another of my much-loved cookbooks. It calls specifically for Chianti and, in Italian, is known as “bistecchine di maiale ubriache” or “drunken pork chops.” This dish pairs a rather unusual taste combination, fennel and red wine.
This fall, re-discover Chianti. Try it with red sauce pasta or polenta with a mushroom ragu. Substitute Chianti for Burgundy in a hearty beef stew. Or sip it with rosemary-scented lamp chops.
I love drinking wine and cooking with wine. Some time ago, one of my doctors told me never to drink more than four ounces of wine a day. I don’t follow his advice.
DRUNKEN PORK CHOPS
Ingredients
4 center cut loin pork chops
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons crushed fennel seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil
I cup crushed canned or boxed tomatoes
½ cup Chianti
1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
- Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and the crushed fennel seed.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet (that is large enough to hold all 4 chops) over medium heat. Sear the chops briefly on both sides and sprinkle with salt.
- Raise the heat to high and add the crushed tomatoes and Chianti.
- After 1 minute, reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan and let the chops and sauce simmer, turning once until the chops are browned on both sides, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer the chops to a platter.
- Toss the whole fennel seed into the sauce and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the chops and serve.
- Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts that have been roasted with a little balsamic vinegar and sea salt.
