Rosé wine consumption has exploded in the U.S. over the past several years.

The wine has been growing and growing in popularity, replacing that “glass of white wine” in the hearts and hands of people who used to always sip on Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio.
 
 
THE POPULARITY OF ROSÉ

In fact, rosé outsells white wine in France!

Dry rosé wine is the all-occasion wine in the south of France—no surprise, since Provence is the world base of dry rosé production.

There, vin rosé is paired with all the foods, all year around.

In general, a dry rosé can be substituted any time you need a dry wine. When you can’t decide between red or white wine, reach for the rosé.

In the history of wine, rosé is a relative newcomer. The category was created in 1942 by the founder of Sogrape, a European wine producer.

Seeking a lighter, fruity style of wine, he called it rosé for its rosy color.

The color comes from limited skin contact* with the red grape skins during vinification (longer skin contact results in a red wine).
 
 
ROSÉ OF PINOT NOIR FROM SONOMA CUTRER

Whether pink for Valentine’s Day or for any other day of the year, Sonoma Cutrer’s 2020 Rosé of Pinot Noir is a delicious bottle of rosé.

One of America’s finest wineries, Sonoma Cutrer of Sonoma County has long specialized in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

It also produces Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé.

While a rosé wine can be made from any red grape, Rosé of Pinot Noir is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes from the winery’s Russian River Valley vineyards.

It’s vinified into a dry wine. The 2020 vintage is 11.9% alcohol.

The complexity of the Russian River Valley Pinot Noir grapes shows in the depth of flavor of the rosé.

The Russian River Valley AVA† is known for wonderful rosés made from Pinot Noir.

This elegant beauty, a light salmon color (photo #1), has a refreshing nose of of blueberry, cantaloupe and grapefruit (if you think this is pretentious wine-speak, inhale to find these aromas when you pour a glass).

It has the crisp, refreshing mouthfeel of a fine rosé, and fresh fruit flavors of blood orange, citrus strawberry and strawberry (again, look for these flavors on your palate). The finish is long, just the way we like it.

You can find it for $25 or less.

A bonus: 99% of the vineyard acreage in Sonoma County has been certified sustainable by a third-part certification body.
 
 
FOOD PAIRINGS

In addition to enjoying it as an apéritif wine, Rosé of Pinot Noir pairs well with:

 
Sonoma Cutrer has provided these recipes to pair with Rosé of Pinot Noir:

 
 
MORE ABOUT ROSÉ

 
 
MORE WAYS TO ENJOY ROSÉ

Don’t use a fine rosé above for any of these. You can use a perfectly good $10 bottle of rosé.

 
 
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*Skin contact refers to letting the pressed juice of the grape rest with its skins.
 
†AVA, American Viticultural Area, in Sonoma County, is a designated wine-growing region in the U.S. Here’s more about it.

[1] Pour Rosé Of Pinot Noir with cheese plates and hors d’oeuvre (photo © Sonoma Cutrer).

[2] Serve Rosé Of Pinot Noir with grilled or roasted chicken (photo © Good Eggs).

[3] Pair it with sushi or sashimi—as well as cooked fish and shellfish (photo © Tenzan Restaurant | NYC).

[4] Ham is an excellent matches for a good rosé (photo © Good Eggs).

[5] Enjoy rosé Of Pinot Noir with a salad (photo © Nadine Primeau | Unsplash).

[1] Jambalaya (photo © Gimme Some Oven).

[2] Andouille sausage and shrimp gumbo. Gumbo is the official dish of Louisiana (photo © Good Eggs).

[3] Shrimp and grits, not particularly a Louisiana/Mardi Gras dish, but a Southern favorite that we eat as often as we can (photo © Mackenzie Ltd.).

[4] Hurricane cocktail (photo © Alex 9500 | Panther Media).

[5] Bananas Foster, caramelized bananas with brandy and/or rum, created at Brennen’s Restaurant in New Orleans (photo © Bonefish Grill).

[6] Sweet fritters, perfect for dessert or for an afternoon break with strong coffee (photo © Orsay Restaurant).

[7] King Cake, garnished in Mardi Gras colors (photo © King Arthur Flour).

Mardi Gras 2021 begins on February 16th [note: the date changes every year]. While you may not be able to head to a restaurant (much less to New Orleans) to celebrate, you can cook up some celebratory excitement at home. Why not plan your own celebration of traditional foods; costumes optional.

You can find Mardi Gras music on Amazon, and listen to it on YouTube.

If you want to decorate, Mardi Gras colors are purple, green, and gold.

And you can watch these virtual Mardi Gras events.

First, a bit about the holiday; then, delicious recipes await you.
 
 
WHY DO WE CELEBRATE MARDI GRAS?

Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday in French) is the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season.

The “fat” refers to the practice of eating richer, fatty foods the last night before Lent, the six weeks of penitence before Easter. Lenten season. It’s a period of ritual fasting* for followers.

A very brief history: Centuries ago, Catholics in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent.

The idea expanded, engendering huge Carnival events elsewhere—the most notable including New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro.

You don’t have to be Catholic to join the celebration, as all attendees are welcome to the parades, etc.

> More Mardi Gras History
 
 
MARDI GRAS MENU

Pick and choose from these Mardi Gras recipes:

Cocktails

 
Appetizers & Snacks

 
Mains & Sides

 
Desserts

 
 
POPULAR NEW ORLEANS DISHES

Bananas Foster: Bananas Foster (photo #5) is a dessert made with bananas and vanilla ice cream. The bananas are sautéed in butter with brown sugar, banana liqueur and Grand Marnier (orange-infused brandy) or rum. The original recipe was created at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans.

BBQ Shrimp: Neither barbecued nor served with barbecue sauce, whole shrimp (with the heads and tails on) are grilled in Worcestershire sauce and butter. Typically, French bread is used to sop up the buttery sauce.

Beignets: Beignets (photo #6) are sweet fritters, typically made from pâte à choux, but may also be made from yeast dough. They are addictive.

Crawfish: A bowl of boil-and-peel crawfish is a New Orleans seafood specialty.

Étouffée: Étouffée is a dish of shellfish, simmered in a sauce made from a light or blond roux and served over rice. The most famous version of the dish is made with crawfish, although crab or shrimp are also popular.

Gumbo: Gumbo (photo #2) is a hearty, thick soup, the official dish of Louisiana. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored broth with a thick, almost stew-like consistency. The soup is thickened with a roux (pronounced ROO, French for browned butter). The broth contains meat (chicken, sausage) and/or shellfish (crab, crayfish, fish fillets, oysters, shrimp, e.g.). It’s also known for the Cajun/Creole “holy trinity” of bell peppers, celery, and onions; and for filé powder (made from sassafras leaves), sprinkled on top before serving for additional flavor and thickening.

Jambalaya: Jambalaya (photo #1) is a Creole rice dish of West African, French, and Spanish influence, typically consisting of meat and/or seafood and vegetables mixed with rice. Traditionally, the meat always includes andouille or another sausage, along with pork or chicken; and seafood, such as crawfish or shrimp.

King Cake: King Cake (photo #7) is typically a Danish yeast ring (it can be elaborately braided). Some are made from brioche or cinnamon bread. The cake is covered with a poured white icing and sprinkled with purple, green, and gold-colored sugars—the Mardi Gras colors. Contemporary pastry chefs make modern interpretations that go beyond yeast cakes, but still are garnished in Mardi Gras colors.

Milk Punch: Milk punch is a milk-based cocktail made with brandy or bourbon, plus sugar and vanilla extract. It is usually garnished with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Muffaletta: The muffuletta is a hero-style sandwich made from a type of Sicilian sesame bread of the same. It originated in New Orleans among Italian immigrants. The classic filling has layers of ham, mortadella, provolone, salami, and Swiss cheese, topped with a marinated olive salad.

Po’ Boy: Another signature Louisiana sandwich is the po’boy (poor boy), which has a base of roast beef or fried seafood (crab, crawfish, fish fillet, oysters or shrimp). The protein is served on New Orleans French bread, a style with a crisp crust and a fluffy center. Add-ons can include lettuce, tomato, pickles, and sauces, from hot sauce to rémoulade, a mayonnaise-based sauce that’s a cousin to tartar sauce.

Pralines: New Orleans Pralines are patties made from sugar, nuts and butter. Bring your sweet tooth! Southern-style pralines are not to be confused with chocolate bonbons by the same name, or hazelnut praliné. Here’s a comparison.

Oysters: Oysters from the Gulf of Mexico are served just about everywhere—baked (Oysters Rockefeller were born here), fried, grilled, on the half shell, and everything in between.

Red Beans & Rice: Red Beans & Rice are a tradition on Mondays, dating back to when household chores resumed after Sunday’s day of rest. Traditionally simmered from 4 to 6 hours, practically any meat from ham hock to sausage to pickled pork is placed in the pot with red or kidney beans and spices. Every family and restaurant has its own spice preferences, but bay leaves, cayenne pepper, sage, and thyme are common.

Bon appétit!

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*During Lent, many Christians commit to a certain degree of fasting, including giving up rich foods, in order to replicate the account of the sacrifice of Christ’s journey into the Judaean desert for 40 days and nights following his baptism by John the Baptist. This ritual fasting is known as one’s Lenten sacrifice.

†Creole cuisine blends influences principally from France, Spain and West Africa, plus Amerindian (Native American) and Southern U.S. cuisines.

Here’s a delicious bite with a Valentine’s Day accent—although it’s a yummy bite any day of the year (photos #1 and #2).

Whether for your own home or as a homemade gift, a cheese lover may be more appreciative of this gift than with empty-carb chocolate or homemade cupcakes.

The recipe takes immerses cheese balls in honey, olive oil and pink peppercorns. There’s more about them below.

It’s the pink peppercorns (photo #5) and the honey sweetness that add the Valentine touch.
 
 
> Check out all the different types of pepper.

> The different types of cheese: a photo glossary.

> The history of goats and goat cheese.
 
 
WAYS TO SERVE THE GOAT CHEESE BITES

The honeyed goat cheese balls are perfect on:

 
If you aren’t a goat cheese fan, you can substitute bocconcini (bite-size mozzarella balls). They aren’t be spreadable, but you can use them for all the other uses above.

By the way, fried goat cheese balls are a popular appetizer and party snack. You can find quite a few recipes online.
 
 
RECIPE: MARINATED HONEYED GOAT CHEESE BALLS

You’ll need a nice jar or other refrigerator container for gifting.

Prep time is 10 minutes; marinating time is 1 hour or longer.

The goat cheese balls can be stored up to 7 days in the fridge. Remove 1 hour prior to serving.
 
Ingredients

[1] Honey goat cheese balls for you or for gifting (photos #1 and #3 © Vermont Creamery).

[2] If you’re making them for yourself, you don’t need a pretty container (photo © Sweet Paul Magazine).

[3] You can serve the goat cheese balls as they are, or spread them on crostini, toast, etc.

[4] A radicchio salad with goat cheese. Here’s the recipe (photo © Eat Smarter).

[5] Pink peppercorns are not actually pepper. They’re called peppercorns because they look like them. Here’s more about them (photo © Silk Road Spices).

[6] A peppercorn flavors combines the differing hot flavors of the black, green and white peppercorns with the sweet fruitiness of the pink peppercorns (photo © Silk Road Spices).

*Piper nigrum is the botanical genus and species of the common black peppercorn, from the family Piperaceae. Black, green, red and white peppercorns are the fruit of the same Piper nigrum vine. Green peppercorns are not yet ripe; white peppercorns are the ripe black peppercorns with the black skin removed.

†A mastic tree is a particular genus of evergreen shrub or small tree.
 
 

[1] H2O Sonoma Soft Seltzer comes in 4-packs and 12-packs. Above, the Rosé variety (all photos © H2O Sonoma Soft Seltzer).

[2] Sparkling water with the essence of Pinot Noir.

[3] Sparkling water with the essence of Sauvignon Blanc.

[4] Sparkling water with the essence of Sauvignon Blanc.

[5] Pinot Noir grapes used to make the de-alcoholized wine for H2O Sonoma Soft Seltzer.

[6] Sauvignon Blanc grapes used to make the de-alcoholized wine for H2O Sonoma Soft Seltzer.

This week’s Top Pick hails from Sonoma County, using the County’s famous wines.

But it’s not a bottle of wine, and it has 0% alcohol.

H2O Sonoma Soft Seltzer is the world’s first wine-infused, non-alcoholic sparkling water.

It’s called “soft” seltzer to differentiate it from hard seltzer, which contains alcohol.

It’s an all natural, great-tasting, premium beverage that may just launch a new category of 0% alcohol drinks that still provide the flavor of alcohol.

H2O Sonoma Soft Seltzer combines the refreshment of sparkling water with flavor of fine California wines.

The company calls it “what to drink when you’re not drinking,” and it’s perfect for:

 
H20 Sonoma Soft Seltzer is also a great chaser, that helps to re-hydrate you after alcohol consumption*.
 
 
WHAT’S IN H2O SONOMA SOFT SELTZER

It’s pure water infused with the juice of 100% California varietal wine grapes, premium de-alcoholized† wine and natural flavor extracts.

And the varieties?

Delicious! They’re as wine-like as a glass of sparkling water can be!

There will be eight varietals. Three are in the market now (photos #1, #2, #3, #4), and five will join them later this year.

Available now:

 
Available soon:

 
We couldn’t be more pleased with this thirst-quenching, hydrating line.

It’s the best of both beverages—sparkling water and wine—with just only 30-60 calories per 16-ounce can (depending on the varietal).

(The cans are recyclable, of course.)

A bonus: H2O Sonoma Soft Seltzer was created with holistic health, well-being and conscious consumption in mind.

 
 
THE SHORT HISTORY OF H2O SONOMA SOFT SELTZER

The line was created by award-winning Sonoma County winemaker Robert Rex of Deerfield Ranch Winery.

As he poured thousands of samples of his wines at Whole Foods Market over the years, he heard many customers express their desire for a wine-related, non-alcohol refreshment that they could drink anytime, anywhere.

After much study, Rex was able to port the subtle flavor essences from his favorite wine grape varietals into a refreshing, non-alcoholic drink.

The result has been enthusiastically received by wine lovers and non-drinkers nationwide.

The first bottling of H2O Sonoma Soft Seltzer immediately sold out!
 
 
>TO PURCHASE H2O SONOMA SOFT SELTZER, VISIT AMAZON.COM.
 
 
> FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT H2OSELTZER.COM
 
 
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*Alcohol is a diuretic. It causes your body to remove fluids from your blood through your renal system (the kidneys, ureters and bladder) at a much quicker rate than other liquids. If you don’t drink enough water with alcohol, you can become dehydrated quickly [source].

“De-alcoholized wine” refers to wine that has had the alcohol removed. By comparison, “non-alcoholic wine” can sometimes just be grape juice dressed up as wine.

February 9th is National Pizza Day. We’re making a new-to-us type of pizza: Detroit-style pizza. (After we wrote this article, we discovered that Detroit Pizza has its own holiday: June 23rd. So we’ll plan a Detroit-Style Pizza party for then.)

The style is known for its square shape and thick, crispy-edge crust. It’s very different from the pie-like style of deep-dish Chicago pizza.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF DETROIT PIZZA

Detroit-style pizza is a descendant of Sicilian-style pizza. It emerged in 1946 when Gus Guerra wanted something new for his neighborhood bar, Buddy’s Rendezvous.

He began with a Sicilian pizza dough recipe from his mother-in-law, topped with cheese and tomato sauce.

He chose to use brick cheese*, popular in the Midwest, instead of mozzarella.

However, rather than using the conventional round pizza pan, he baked his pizza in a square, blue, steel automotive parts pans—plentiful in Detroit (Motor City) at the time.

The thick pan with sides allowed the cheese at the perimeter of the pan to caramelize.

This formed a golden brown, crisp, cheesy crust around the pie: crunchy goodness that made Detroit-style pizza different. It’s known as a frico (FREE-co) edge.

This crunchy, cheesy edge is made by pressing shredded cheese around the edge of the dough and up the sides of the pan. It creates a well-browned, crispy, savory ring of cheese called frico.

Since then, many other toppings have made their way onto the pie.

Here’s more about Detroit-style pizza.
 
> THE HISTORY OF PIZZA
 
 
RECIPE: DETROIT-STYLE PIZZA

Thanks to DeLallo for this recipe.

To get the right perimeter, you’ll need a heavy-duty rectangular pan (we used a medium-size roasting pan).

You can tailor the recipe to add any topping you like, from arugula (photo #2—add it after removing the pizza from the oven) to pepperoni.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

If you’ve purchased ready-to-use pizza dough, or have made your own, skip Step 1. You can make the dough up to 3 days in advance and refrigerate it.

1. MAKE the crust. Combine flour mix and yeast packet in a large mixing bowl with 1-1/4 cups of lukewarm water. Stir with a fork until the dough begins to form.

[1] Detroit-style pizza topped with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. The recipe is below (photo © DeLallo).

[2] A garnish of fresh arugula. You can add it to this recipe, or instead of the cherry tomatoes (photo © Detroit Style Pizza Co.)

[3] It’s the heavy-duty metal pan that makes the difference (photo © Carbert Wiki | CC-BY-SA-4.0-License).

2. PREHEAT the oven to 500°F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 13” x 9” high-sided cake pan. Be sure to use a pan that has sides 2 ½” to 3” tall.

3. PRESS out the dough in the pan, being careful to reach the sides and corners. Cover and let rise in a warm area for 10 minutes.

4. ASSEMBLE the pizza: Start by layering the dough evenly with the shredded cheeses, all the way to the corners. Drizzle the sauce over the cheese in 3 to 4 rows, making sure you don’t fully cover the entire pizza and cheese. Arrange the tomatoes on top of the pizza.

5. BAKE for 20 minutes, or until the dough has puffed up, the cheese has melted and the sides and edges are lightly blackened and crispy.

6. REMOVE the pizza from the oven, using a spatula to loosen the pizza from the pan. Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Allow the pizza to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer the pizza from the pan onto a cutting board and cut it into squares to serve.
 
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*Brick cheese, from Wisconsin, is a medium-soft, cheddar-like cheese made in a brick-shaped form. The color ranges from pale yellow to white. The cheese has a sweet, mild flavor when young, and matures into stronger, ripe flavors.

†Frico is a traditional dish of Friuli, a region in north-east Italy. Cheese is heated in a round pan. Other ingredients, such as potatoes, can be added, along with bacon or speck, chiles, herbs, and onions. Originally frico was prepared as a way of recycling cheese rinds among impoverished people of the Carnia Mountains, who served it as a main dish. The result is a crunchy crust and a soft center, ideal as a main course or even a single dish. Written records of frico date to the mid-15th century. Here’s a recipe.