November 2004 : Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...

Once again, the festive season is upon us. It seems as if these seasons are almost continuous: shops are displaying Christmas Fayre from late August! Not quite as bad as the USA though, where I remember visiting a giant store that only sold festive goods year-round. Imagine doing your Christmas shopping in January? An amazing kick-start to your yuletide chores I would think. So what is the connection with wine?

After Christmas, stores offload remaining stocks at bargain prices, which provides a splendid opportunity to purchase for the following festive season. For example, late bottled port which improves with age, providing you can restrain from opening the bottle! (Note: fortified wines deteriorate once opened). Usually quality Bordeaux and Burgundies are also offered at keen prices - excellent for laying down. Remember always store wine in a horizontal position. Failure to do so results in the cork drying out and the wine then begins to oxidise with a consequential loss of quality. (Note: inexpensive wine does not improve with age!

As for trends, Pinot Grigio is still riding high and soft fruity reds are very popular, particularly the jammy merlot grape. I tried some Reserva Merlots from Chile recently and they were excellent. Look out for Palo Alto wines, they definitely have a quality edge.

I have no special recommendations for Christmas drinking. I take the view that whatever wine you prefer, go ahead and enjoy it! Who cares if the wine is red, white or pink! However, as always Champagne is the best ever aperitif - more so for the hard-working cook who needs a decent glass of something wonderful after slaving away in the kitchen!

Happy & Healthy Drinking!
Kenneth Harry Putt

This Month's Recipe : Frittata with Roast Butternut Squash

I had some friends around for dinner at the weekend and wanted a supper dish that was easy to get ready and would not take up too much time in the kitchen. This dish effectively cooked itself!

I served it with pre-cooked cannelloni beans which I stir-fried with a little olive oil, garlic, and mange-tout chopped into one inch lengths. Cooked for just a few minutes and then served with the hot, puffy, raised frittata, this is a great taste combination. If there is any left, it is good eaten cold as a lunch snack or in-between some toasted ciabatta.

Ingredients : (serves 4 people for main course or 6 as a snack/starter)

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced
12 free-range eggs, scrambled together with salt and pepper
1 block of feta cheese, diced
2 small red onions, peeled and sliced
2 sprigs of rosemary
a handful of spinach leaves (you could also use rocket or watercress)
olive oil

Method :

Place the red onion and butternut squash into a roasting tin and sprinkle over some olive oil, salt pepper and the sprigs of rosemary. Place into a hot oven at 180 degrees and roast until brown. Leave to cool, but keep the oven switched on to cook the eggs.

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan - ideally one with higher sides as the egg will "puff-up" to about 8" in diameter. Mix the squash, onions and all the remaining ingredients into the beaten eggs and mix well.

Once the oil has heated up, put in the mixture - you want it to sizzle as it goes in. Leave for a couple of minutes and then put the pan into the hot oven. The eggs will take about 15-20 mins to cook, and should be well risen and golden brown on the top as well as feeling firm to the touch.

Take out of the oven and leave to rest for 1-2 mins. You can either slide it out from the pan onto a serving plate or straight from the frying pan. Enjoy the taste of the warm and melted feta cheese with the roasted butternut - delicious!