A Night at the Temecula's CRUSH

If someone tells you that Temecula is just like Napa, the polite thing to do is to smile and nod and turn your head before you roll your eyes.  Because Temecula is not like Napa, not even a tiny bit.  Whereas Napa is old and established and considered by some to be the wine making capital of the world, Temecula is young and new and still finding its way.

Is this a scene from Gunsmoke?  No, just a typical sight in Temecula. 

And there I was, sitting in the front row in front of Temecula's top wine makers hoping they don't know who I am.  I'm guilty of mocking some of their efforts, but come on, sparking wine that tastes like a Chinese almond cookie?  And I've been there on the weekends where drunk bachelorette parties burst into the tasting rooms shouting "whooo hoooo" and drinking their wines like a Jager shot.  No, Temecula is definitely not just like Napa.

But don't tell these guys.

I must admit, after listening to them talk passionately about Temecula wines for an hour, I finally get it.  Wine making is an art, a way of life, but you still need to pay the bills.  So if sweeter whites are the ticket, the gateway wine to more serious reds, then give the people what they want - hopefully without compromising the art.  That's what Temecula is all about, producing a large variety of wines for every level of wine drinker.  Over the years the wines have gone from meh to a level of surprising sophistication. Seriously, if you haven't been for a while it's time to go back and taste! 

Once a year Temecula holds an event called CRUSH at the Monte De Oro Winery. With over 30 wineries pouring their best and local restaurants serving up gourmet foods, this has to be one of the best food and wine festivals in Southern California. It's a great way to sample all the wines in one place and the sold out event wasn't so packed that you felt like you were at the Del Mar Fair. 

I asked for a glass of sparkling wine and they all jumped to attention!  Gee, thanks!

The main event is held outside on the gigantic patio with sweeping views of the vineyards.  Local restaurants like Rustico served up their specialties, like this killer Mac N Cheesy thing that was rich and creamy and crispy on top and, well, incredible. And unlike a lot of food fests where the serving size resembles a CostCo sample, tastings were generous.  And best yet, the lines moved fast so you rarely found yourself without a plate of food or a full glass of wine. 

Let's see some of the food highlights.

What is that?  The Creekside Grill at Wilson Creek Winery was cooking up these monster pork ribs.  I sort of assumed they would be cutting these up into tiny bites, but look at the final plate.

Da-yammm!  This was an entree sized sample and was melt in your mouth deliciousness.  I knew I had to pace myself but I couldn't resist.  Gone.  What's next?

Meritage at Callaway did a terrific Asian dumpling, a cross between a won ton and a potsticker with a modern touch.  Nice.

Let's stick with the Asian theme and go with a bit of ahi poke on top of a crispy won ton skin with some tangy slaw from the Lazy Dog Cafe, one of my favorite bites of the evening.  I ate four of these, the ahi gloriously fresh and inviting.

Ummm, what is this?  A scallop with bacon?  Gimme, gimme.  I gobbled these up like the Donner Party finding an old friend.  In fact, I loved these so much I forgot to take notes on who made these.  Please forgive me, I was hungry and these were sweet and succulent and oh so tasty.  Whoever you are, thank you. These scallops were every bit as good, if not better, than what I've had in many upscale and ultra expensive restaurants.  One more?

The restaurant at Ponte Winery was responsible for the beef carpaccio and a dessert of cheesecake with cherries with a consistency of creamy yogurt, both big winners.  I ate two desserts, and I usually don't like desserts so you know this was good.

Here's a weird one.  Temecula Catering was wowing the crowd with this simple yet elegant dessert, a bit of molecular gastronomy with a compressed watermelon and a shot of oil and balsamic vinegar on top.  You shoot it in like this -

And then you pop it in your mouth and say "Ummmmmm, wow, ummmmm."  Later that evening they did something even crazier.  Let's see.

It's creme brulee on a stick!  The lines were long for this one and it was fun to see all the adults looking like happy little kids as they were handed their sucker.  And yes, it really tasted like creme brulee.  And you keep the stick!

All in all, CRUSH was a terrific event and quite a bargain at $65.  Wine lovers like myself found more than a few new wineries to check out and no one left hungry if the stacks of empty plates were any indication.  In the end, who cares if Temecula isn't just like Napa?  Maybe being San Diego is good enough.  It was for me.

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Coming Soon!  San Diego Brew and Winery Guide

The Other White Meat: My Slow Cooked Pork Belly Adventure

"Dude, that sounds gross!"

That was the reaction of my co-worker when I told him I bought a chunk of pork belly.  "Bill" (not his real name - or is it?) eats a lot of interesting stuff but doesn't cook, so I could understand his apprehension.  After all, pork belly sounds a lot like cow's head or sheep throat or any other number of unappetizing descriptions.  I had never cooked it before but have eaten it in restaurants and been noticing more and more high end restaurants treating it like it's the new foie gras, meaning a trendy expensive ingredient, so when I saw it for $2.99 a pound, I had to get it.

So this is it.  And look, it looks a lot like bacon!  That's because bacon is made from pork belly.  See, sounding better already.  So let's cook this thing and see what it's all about.

STEP 1:  Score the "rind" (aka pig skin) deep enough to cut through but not so deep as to hit the meat.  You'll need a sharp knife as cutting through the skin is sort of like cutting through a football.  I have a pretty sharp knife but wished I had sharpened it before I started, so there's your first tip.

STEP 2:  Coat in olive oil and liberally sprinkle Kosher salt and pepper. 

Put the slab of pork belly on top of a bunch of onions and add some water to the bottom of the pan to keep things moist as well as keep the dripping fats from burning.  Now some recipes suggest you can make gravy out of the "drippings", but the drippings are 99.9% fat.  I figure this dish has enough artery clogging fat in it so decided to skip the gravy and let the ingredient shine, as they say on all those cooking shows.  So another tip - if you decide not to make gravy, line the pan with foil to make clean up easier. 

STEP 3:  Now pop it in the oven at 320 degrees for a total of 2.5 to 3 hours.  Set your timer for every half hour or so to check to make sure the water hasn't all boiled out.  How much water?  A quarter to a half inch is fine.  If you have a nice bottle of pinot noir, open it and have a couple of glasses.  That's what I did.

Here's what it looks like out of the oven.  You know it's done when the skin goes "thunk, thunk" when you tap it with a fork.  It should be solid and crunchy.  Don't toss those onions - pretty damn tasty, just don't let your guests see them sitting in all that fat. In fact, don't let your guests see any of this!  It might freak them out. 

We decided to go Southern California healthy with the rest of the dinner and oven roast some vegetables - carrots, turnips, fennel, potatoes.  We were going to make mashed potatoes but that pinot sort of gets away from you and before you know it the pork was nearly done so cutting up the tots and tossing them into the oven with the rest of his veggie friends was just too easy to pass up.

Now pork belly is pretty rich, which is a nice way to say that it's fatty.  You don't need a lot of it to feel satisfied, and quite frankly, too much of it and your stomach might be asking what they hell were you thinking.  So let's plate this up restaurant style.

OMG, a bite of golden deliciousness!  The pork is melt in your mouth succulent, the skin a contrasting pop of crunch, is this the best thing I've eaten in a month?  And look, a touch of finishing salt, how elegant!  Thomas Keller suggests small bites like this and serves it as an appetizer, which is probably wise.  But I thought I'd plate it up my way.

Crazy good!  The meat doesn't taste fatty at all.  When I first started cooking this I was thinking it would be 50% fat, but the meat sort of plumps up and the fat, well, let's just say it cooked off  to make everyone feel better.  Let's see the other plate.

I mean, seriously, doesn't this look outrageously good and restaurant quality?  $28?  $32?  How about five bucks for the entire pork belly?  And cooking it was only slightly more difficult than boiling a hot dog.  So there you have it, a not so adventurous pork belly adventure.  You want to impress your foodie friends, cook this dish.  The hardest part it getting the nerve to buy the pork belly.

So let's recap -

HOW TO COOK A SLOW ROASTED PORK BELLY

Ingredients:  2 pounds pork belly, 1 onion, kosher salt and pepper.

1.  Score skin of pork belly to cut through it, but not all the way into the meat.  Make scores about 1/4 to 1/2  inch apart.  Pat dry.

2.  Rub olive oil all over meat and then massage Kosher salt and pepper into it, getting into the cuts of the skin.

3.  Place on top of cut onions and add water to the bottom of the tray.

4.  Put in oven for 2.5 to 3 hours, checking every half hour to make sure the water hasn't all evaporated.  It's done when the skin is all crunchy (tap it with a fork to check). 

5.  Slice it - easiest to slice by turning it upsidedown and cutting through the meat first, then crunching through the skin.

Enjoy!

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Coming soon!  Local Wally's Guide to San Diego Breweries and Wineries!