Slow-cooked dishes the perfect winter respite

PBN Staff

01/22/2011

Now that we find ourselves in the midst of a real New England winter, thoughts at dinnertime turn toward hearty fare. When there is a chill in the air, there is no substitute for what used to be referred to as “stick-to-your-ribs cooking” that warms all of our senses.
This winter, local chefs are serving plenty of classic slow-cooked dishes, including ribs. And they are featuring their slow simmered and braised specialties as entrees at winter wine dinners.
Trio in Narragansett was scheduled to host a Taste of California wine dinner on Jan. 21. Guests were expected to be led through a four-course dinner prepared by Executive Chef Kevin DiLibero. Each course was to be paired with a specially selected wine from California. The slow cooking was to come in with the third course, a dish of veal and wild mushrooms featuring slow-braised veal stew meat, wild mushrooms, red wine demi-glace, and shaved grana padano over rigatoni.
This rich dish was to be complemented by the 2005 Villa Mt. Eden Grand Reserve Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara, whose tasting notes describe “zesty ripe raspberries, creamy vanilla and spicy mature ripe berry flavors spiked with spiced oak.” The evening’s entrée was to feature braised local short rib with sweet potato gratin and demi-glace, paired with the 2006 Sebastiani Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma. This hearty red wine is described as “boasting black cherry and tea-like aromas with hints of vanilla and toasty oak.”
On Jan. 31, chef Michael Moreno will feature short ribs as his entrée creation in a winter wine dinner at Bill Pinelli’s Café at Night in West Warwick. Moreno’s short ribs will have been braising all day with root vegetables and will be accompanied – as will the entire five-course dinner – by the wines of Francis Ford Coppola, whose winemaking was influenced by slow cooking. Coppola maintained vineyards for many years and made wine as a hobby.
Each year family members would join the famed movie director in the harvest and at the wine press helping to make wines that all would enjoy with old-fashioned Italian cooking such as rigatoni Bolognese – another slow-cooked classic and braised short ribs of beef.
Moreno’s short ribs will be paired with Coppola’s Director’s Cut Pinot Noir. And as a nod to the Coppola family, rigatoni Bolognese will accompany the Director’s Cut Cabernet Sauvignon. Mario Batali is credited for starting the short-ribs craze in American restaurants around 1998. The slow-cooked, fall-off-the-bone, ribs began appearing on seemingly every restaurant’s menu. However, according to the book Heat by food writer Bill Buford, New York City chef/restaurateur Tom Valenti, who owns the acclaimed Ouest and ’Cesca eateries, brought the short rib into vogue nearly 10 years before when he placed them on his menu in 1990. Incidentally, short ribs were 45 cents a pound 21 years ago. An average portion now costs the restaurateur more than $5.
Slow cooking is not just short ribs, stews and sauce Bolognese, however. The Boat House in Tiverton will feature slow-roasted rack of lamb crusted in garlic and pine nuts with winter vegetable gratin, whipped sweet potato, and date jus as the entrée during an evening of food and wine on Jan. 28. Chef James Campagna’s menu will be paired with featured wine selections from Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.
These chefs are creating delicious dishes and some special winter nights. But you don’t have to wait for a wine dinner to enjoy slow cooking this winter. The chef and proprietor of your favorite local restaurant is likely to be braising and simmering just about every night. They are bringing comfort, warmth and perhaps a bit of nostalgia to our busy lives.
Braising a rack of short ribs or simmering a veal stew cannot be rushed. The hearty and heartwarming flavors and aromas just will not be ready in a minute. Even though we may not have time to prepare such inviting dinners for ourselves, the chefs and restaurateurs do. They are even throwing midwinter parties for us.
And just like the winter storms that demand that we stop our overscheduled lives for a few hours, these enticing, slow-cooked favorites make us slow down just a bit to enjoy their rich flavors, silken textures and each other’s company.
There will be plenty of time to brush off the car and shovel out the mailbox. But a plate of Yankee pot roast or rigatoni Bolognese makes winter in New England seem not so bad, at least for an evening. &#8226

Bruce Newbury’s “Dining Out” food and wine talk radio show is heard Saturdays and Sundays on WPRV-AM 790 and stations throughout New England. He can be reached by e-mail at bruce@brucenewbury.com.

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