Michael Ruhlman: Wine Adds Flavor to Your Dishes

Ruhlman during a visit to Wabash College

So much fuss is made over pairing wine and food that the home cook may not think of wine as an asset in flavoring their dishes.

Michael Ruhlman, one of American’s most prolific and authoritative food authors, said wine can be used as a great marinade to enhance foods. Ruhlman, known for his 18 books and appearances on the Food Network and with Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel, made a recent brief visit to Indiana.

The Cleveland native said one of the most important rules is an old one. “Always use a wine that you would feel comfortable drinking,” he said. “But not a Chateau Margaux (very expensive French wine). You don’t want to throw that in a pot of stew; use a drinkable, affordable wine.”

“I like to add it in the beginning when the alcohol tends to burn off faster. You can add it at the end but it definitely flavors it different. I always add it first at the first de-glazing or adding of the liquid ingredients.”

Ruhlman has written books with some of the country’s top chefs. He also has learned from them while writing. His big career break came when he had the opportunity to help Thomas Keller, chef at The French Laundry in Napa, write The French Laundry Cookbook. The iconic wine country restaurant has long been considered one of the nation’s best.

“I learned this from Thomas Keller,” Ruhlman said. “People often like to put wines in marinades but the alcohol in marinades will actually de-nature the exterior of the protein and prevent any flavors from entering the meat. You’re not really helping the meat; in fact, you’re helping the outside become slightly mushy by marinating in wine.

"What I learned from Keller is that if you’re going to use wine, and it’s a great thing to marinate with, cook off the alcohol first then add the aromatics. Add the onions, carrots, and thyme or whatever you want. Throw in the pepper and some salt so that it steeps and cooks then flame it and make sure you can’t get any flame. Once the alcohol is cooked off then you have this really tasty fluid to marinate your meat.”

Ruhlman said he’d even eat boneless, skinless chicken breast if it was properly marinated. “And let’s face it, chicken breast is the skim milk of the protein world that America relies on. If home cooks would learn to marinate it properly they’d have something really tasty.”

As a celebrity chef often recognized for his appearances as a judge on Food Network’s "Iron Chef", Ruhlman also gets asked about wine and food pairing.

“I tell people to use their common sense and pay attention,” he said.  “Does it go well with the food? Does the red wine go with the fish or does it overpower the fish? How does a white wine contribute to the flavor? Does it have the right acidity for the dish?

“We educate ourselves by paying attention to what we eat and drink. There are no hard and fast rules. I try to tell people not to be intimated by wine. There’s so much to learn and there are experts out there to varying degrees. Don’t ever feel cowed by the experts and rely on your own taste.”

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A Little Wine News: Good and Bad!

First the good news:

I recently announced that a shorter version of my newspaper column Grape Sense would soon start appearing in Indianapolis' weekly news and entertainment paper, NUVO.

My first piece ran today and is up on their website. The editors very much want a local and Indianapolis focus. Since the column has never overlapped much of the Indianapolis market previously, they were fine with me re-purposing a couple of columns I suggested.

The first one running was my story about River City Winery winning the Indy International Wine Competition's top honor. Here is the link to the NUVO site and my column.

The column, and an occasional feature, will run at least twice a month. It's great to have Grape Sense in the Indianapolis market. NUVO is a free distribution paper of more than 40,000 copies.

And now the bad:

Vino 100, Columbus, OH., is closing its doors. The Vino 100 concept is a national franchise the plays heavily on flavor profiles and a consistent look from store to store.

Like any good shop, the Columbus store was driven by its owner Liz Avera. Liz is knowledgable and friendly. She had built a good customer base. The store was located in the affluent Westerville suburb of Columbus.

I don't know what went wrong with my friend's store or perhaps it was just a matter of careers as much as business.

But this seemingly successful store illustrates a point I've made over and over. Support your near-by wine shops. You don't need to buy wine at big-box stores for $1 a bottle less. The small wine shops will educate you, inform you and make you a smarter wine consumer.

It's a sad day when any small shop closes, even if so far away. But don't think the Vino 100 story is unique. There are small shops in Indiana struggling to keep their doors open. Go buy some wine!

 Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Great Friday Night Dining and Wine in St. Louis

SAINT LOUIS - Many of my wine writing friends and wine drinking friends tell me to write more about food and my hits will increase. I know they're right. I do try to write about food and dining when I travel personally or on business.

I've had business reasons to come to this city on a few occasions but never an overnight. So when a group of us had to hit the Gateway to the West overnight we made plans. We were in the city for College business Saturday afternoon.

We had lots of recommendations for an Italian restaurant on the city's iconic "Hill" district and settled on LoRusso's. It proved to be a great choice!

Our table was ready upon arrival which always gets me off on the right foot. We had two experienced wine drinkers, two young wine drinkers, and two current students so four wine drinkers.

We started with great bruschetta and the iconic toasted ravioli. Several of the guys had the standard dinner salad while I opted for the evenings salad special which was a thick slice of toasted bread, gorgonzola cheese, and then smothered with Roma tomatos with a drizzle of olive oil and fantastic balsamic vinegar.

The highlight at LoRusso's was the entrees, as it should be at any great restaurant. One of the guys had wonderful/spicy Cioppino. A couple had pasta/seafood combinations and two of us had beef tenderloin dishes. I had marinated then breaded tenderloin medallions which were charbroiled and served in lemon wine sauce. It was topped with prosciutto and mushrooms. The steak was perfectly cooked to a a nice medium rare and the flavor combinations were simply off the charts. It was one of the best dishes I've had in any Italian restaurant. It included several side choices; I had simple pasta in olive oil.

When asked, no one wanted dessert. Then when the waitress brought around the always-tempting dessert tray to show off the goodies - six desserts were on their way. A couple of the guys had blood orange gelato, one had this marvelous chocolate iced white chocolate/devils food cake with crazy raspberry sauce. I had the cannoli, the only low point of the meal. There was nothing wrong with the traditional Italian dessert, I've just had better in any number of Indianapolis Italian restaurants.

And that brings us to the wine. LoRusso's wine list was top notch. They had wines from all the major wine regions of the world and great selection of Italian reds. The list included $200 Brunello down to $30 Valpolicella offerings. I didn't  want to pay $70 for a Valpollicella so asked for a little assistance. The hostess, and one of the owners, recommended a couple of wines.

Since we had two novice wine drinkers I wanted something a little lighter. The owner suggested a Langhe Nebbiolo, which I was surprised to see on the list for a reasonable $38. The Bricco  Enrichetta 2010 wine was fruity, not nearly as dry as much Nebbiolo and perfect for our appetizers and salads. I thought it was nice and the younger guys loved it.

Interesting enough, everyone loved the bigger wine much more. The recommended Ruffino Modus 2008 blend of 50 percent Sangiovese, 25 percent Cab, and 25 percent Merlot was a great bottle. It sold in the restaurant for $48. (More on the price below.) It was a perfect pairing for those of us with the steak dishes but the other guys liked it as well.

If you're in St. Louis, it's hard to go wrong with Italian anywhere on the hill. But I can personally vouch for LoRusso's as one of the best Italian restaurants I've ever enjoyed outside of Italy.

Since we had the young guys it was appropriate to visit Delmar Avenue, an entertainment area at the heart of a number of college campuses. It has bars, shops, live music, and all the spirited atmosphere you'd expect in a college town. We walked the sidewalks and read the embedded stars, like the Hollywood Walk of Fame, honoring notable St. Louis legends.

A visit to the area is not complete without a stop by the Blueberry Hill. Once a month legendary rock icon Chuck Berry still performs there. But it's a tough ticket. Berry will pick up his guitar Wednesday night and play the Blueberry for his 86th birthday celebration! That's amazing!

Saturday mornings for me are often a little wine shopping. After an internet search and some reviews, we settled on visiting the nearby Wine Merchant on Hanley Ave. It also proved to be a great choice. They're known for their Burgundy supply and it wasn't hard to see why. I was incredibly impressed by the staff knowledge and ability to match the right wine to just what the customer wanted. They also had a nice selection of cheese from around the world. It's a great shop. I signed up for their email newsletter for their deals and Burgundy offerings.

Oh, that $48 Ruffino Modus Super Tuscan we had at dinner retails at about $23 at Wine Merchant. That's a typical restaurant markup and only one I'm willing to pay when enjoying a great restaurant. It was worth the $48 at dinner, but a very good value for a more reasonable $23.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

A Pinch of Salt (Oops, Oak) Can Make a Darn Fine Wine

Peters and Miller in the vineyard behind Kokomo Winery

No wine tasting or even a subscription to Wine Spectator can teach wine enthusiasts more than a few hours visit to the vineyard. The ultimate experience is to tour a vineyard and then spend time with the winemaker.

Through four years of writing about wine it's an opportunity I've been afforded on a number of occasions.

Kokomo Vineyard's Erik Miller was a gracious host earlier this year and put a few things in perspective with his own winemaking thoughts.

After touring a barrel-making plant in Windsor, Calif, Erik talked about his vineyards and the winemaking process. The conversation started where the morning began and that was with oak barrel aging.

"My philsophy on oak is that we use oak like you'd use salt at a meal," the Kokomo, IN native said. "You want some salt on your meal so it has that seasoning. It would be bland with out it to some degree but you don't want to taste the salt."

But wine is more than just the oak its aged in. Great wine comes from the vineyard. "It's the terrior - the earth, soild, sun exposure, the bench (land)," Miller said. "That has to be first and foremost in the wine and then that oak is more than a storage vessel. The oak adds some tannin, some flavor and some mouth feel.

"We have to know how to use that and not overpower the delicacy or sense of place. Here I am making 12 different varieties of Zin alone and we use five different vineyards. If I put the same oak on all five vineyards I'd have the same Zin. That common thread would give me a house flavor. I never want a house flavor because those vineyards are very different."

For vineyard manager Randy Peters the success of Miller's Kokomo Winery gives him input on what he does with the land and vines.

"Now that we have many more small wineries I can see the end product," Peters said. "My father and grandfather sold to bigger wineries. There were not a lot of small wineries in their time. All the grapes went into a blend with all the other growers. All the Zin went in a 10,000 gallon tank somewhere.

"Now with smaller wineries like Kokomo, it shows us the things we do in the vineyard throughout the year translates into the wine as a finished product. It makes us feel better spending money and doing work to make a better quality product. We can see it in the finished product by having vineyard designate wines."

Peters isn't a grower who sells the grapes and disappears to next year. He is a partner with Miller and regularly tastes the wines of all the wineries who buy his fruit. "That's an important part of the process, especially if they're going to put a vineyard designate on it. Then it has to meet my quality standards as well," Peters said.

Peters and Miller agree that when a wine is a vineyard designate bottling its more than Kokomo Winery."It's Paulene's Vineyard on that bottle, or Peter's Vineyard," Miller said. "If there was something lacking that Randy doesn't think met his standards that's going to hurt his brand of the vineyard. When you give up the fruit all control is not lost here because we're in partnership with the vineyards because that name is going on the bottle as well."

The Dry Creek Valley Kokomo Winery is modest but the wines go far beyond the limited releases seen in the midwest. Miller and Peters team for several wines which often don't make it beyond the winery or California.

Howard's Picks:

The Kokomo Cab is really pretty easy to find in wine shops and better liquor stores and a great wine for the price point. But for a real treat try some of the winery's higher end wines. The Kokomo 2009 Timber Creek Zinfandel (vineyard designate) is tremendous wine. The wine had beautiful black pepper and nice acidity and a well balanced feel on the palate for wine of more than 15 percent alcohol. Wine Spectator gave this wine 90 points.

Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, IN., writes every other week about wine for 20 midwestern newspapers in Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com