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There comes a moment when even the most well-ordered cellar needs re-organising. It’s rather a nice chore - I expect you know the feeling. Perhaps a case or two of wine bought en primeur needs accommodating. This is the ideal time to spend a happy hour moving older wines from inaccessible bins, creating space for newcomers. Sooner or later an interesting odd bottle will come to light. It’s like meeting old friends who have been out of your recent orbit.
It was a bit of a red-letter day when this happened in the Hanson household recently. The bottle in question that had been squirreled away to mature was Penfolds Grange Hermitage 1976. The level was good.
After consulting “The Rewards of Patience”, it seemed to be a good moment to drink it. Whilst it may be able to last until 2030, we certainly won’t. It just remained to invite a friend or two to share it, and think about what to match it with.
The tasting note described it as a plush, powerful wine; I turned to notes made during a trip to the Rhone valley some years ago, and found a recipe given to me by a wonderful cook, the wife of Marcel Guigal in Ampuis. She is very experienced in preparing food to go with well-structured wines. The following dish is one she likes to serve during the harvest. Like many excellent French regional dishes, the recipe uses a good value cut and, by giving it a bath in red wine for two days and then cooking it slowly, turns it into a great dish.
Marinated leg of pork
Mme. Guigal’s recipe, serves 8- 10 people
A piece of leg of pork weighing about 3 -4kg,
with the rind removed.
For the marinade:
1 onion, stuck with 3 or 4 cloves
2 or 3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
2 bottles red wine
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
a bunch of fresh or dried thyme sprigs
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons brandy
Salt
Aprox. 6 black peppercorns
For the sauce:
1 teaspoon cornflour
aprox.1 tablespoon redcurrant jelly
4-5 tablespoons pouring cream
salt and black pepper
Put the pork in a large bowl with the marinade ingredients. If the meat is not quite covered by the wine remember to turn it from time to time. Leave it somewhere cool for 36 hours. If you have to put it in the fridge allow an extra 24 hours.
When you come to cook it, have the oven preheated to gas mark 4, 350 F, 180 C.
Lift the pork from the marinade, drain and put it straight into a roasting tin and into the oven. Roast for about 30 minutes per 500g, occasionally basting with the fat in the tin. If you think it is looking dry, lower the heat a little and cover with tinfoil.
To make the sauce, sieve the marinade into a pan – avoid aluminium which will react with the wine. Boil the liquid, uncovered, to reduce it by about half, skimming off the rather unappetizing looking scum that comes to the top. Allow about 20 -30 mins for this. Mme Guigal points out that the longer the wine cooks, the more its natural acidity predominates. This is corrected by adding the redcurrant jelly and cream at the end.
Put a teaspoon of cornflour in a little bowl. Add a small ladleful of the reduced marinade and mix until smooth. Add this to the pan and let it simmer, stirring for about 5 minutes.
Taste – it will be quite acidic. Stir in about half the redcurrant jelly and taste again. Add the rest of the jelly if needed. Add the cream and reheat gently. The sauce now looks the colour of crushed raspberries and cream. Taste once more and add salt and pepper as you think fit.
While you are working on the sauce, take the pork out of the oven and let it rest, loosely covered in foil, for about ten minutes. Carve and arrange on a dish. Pour the sauce over it and serve.
If pork is not to your taste, here is a robust lamb dish which is equally convivial, and suitable for matching with Penfolds. The recipe comes from the Teisserenc family who make wine near Beziers in the Languedoc. It is a typically southern landscape with juniper bushes growing wild, and the smell thyme and rosemary on the warm wind.
When fresh walnuts, figs and grapes are in season this dish is a great combination of flavours which can stand up to rich wines.
Leg of lamb with figs, walnuts and grapes
For 8 people
1 onion
1 carrot
olive oil
1 leg of lamb weighing about 2 kg
salt & black pepper
fresh figs (white or black), 1 per person
500 g white grapes
500 g fresh walnuts
a few juniper berries
2 glasses of red wine
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4,350 F, 180C.
Peel and chop the onion and carrot. Heat a little oil in a large casserole – chose one with a lid, big enough for the leg of lamb. Season the lamb and brown in the oil with the onion and carrot. Turn so all sides are sealed in the heat – this will take about 20 minutes.
Wash the figs and grapes. Roughly chop the figs. De-pip the grapes if you so wish. Crack the nuts and peel off as much of the bitter skins as possible. Chop them roughly. Add all to the casserole round the lamb. Finally, add the juniper berries and red wine. Let the wine come to a simmer, then put a layer of tin-foil, followed by the lid – in the past the lid was sealed with a flour and water paste, but this is really not necessary if you make sure the lid fits snugly. Put the lamb in the preheated oven and leave for 2 ½ hours. Don’t be tempted to lift the lid!
Let the lamb rest for 10 minutes in a warm place before carving and arranging on a deep serving dish with the fruit and nuts, and the sauce which has resulted from the wine and cooking juices.
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