Paris-Madrid Grocery is open tomorrow, January 16, 2023 for Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Our hours are 10 AM – 6 PM and we’d love to help you pick out great dinner ingredients, gifts or wine. Stop by and see us!
Four Black Slate Red Priorat wines are now in stock. The grapes for Black Slate Vi de Vila wines grow in twelve different villages in Spain’s DOCa Priorat region. These villages have distinct terrunyos, elevations, and soils, and wines labeled “Vi de Vila” designate one of the 12 cru villages. The concept is that Priorat’s terroir has similarities to Burgundy and thus deserves cru recognition. To explore these wines of Priorat, pick up a bottle of each of these four Black Slate wines, gather a group together, and taste them side-by-side to discover the nuances of each. Choose from these bottles:
Black Slate Gratallops Tinto Vi de Vila Priorat 2021 ($23.99) A blend of Garnacha, Cariñena, and Syrah fermented in tank with indigenous yeasts. Aged in tank or neutral, large French oak barrels. The Black Slate Gratallops comes from a blend of older and younger vine fruit.
Black Slate Porrera Tinto Vi de Vila Priorat 2019 ($25.99) A blend of 20-30-year-old (average age) Garnacha and Cariñena with a small addition of Cabernet Sauvignon that is aged in neutral barrels for 12 months.
Black Slate Escaladei Vi de Vila Priorat 2018 ($22.99) A blend of Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cariñena sourced from the foothills of the Montsant mountains. It stands out among its Black Slate siblings as the most elegant of the lineup being inclined more towards red fruit than black, with a high-toned minerality and spiciness. It is selected from fruit aged in foudre and French oak demi-muids
Black Slate La Vilella Alta Vi de Vila Priorat 2018 ($22.99) A selection of Garnacha and Cariñena grown on both licorella and clay-limestone soils. A blend of old and young-vine fruit and with a small addition of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. La Vilella Alta is a dense and intensively flavored wine that is fermented in tank and aged in French oak barrels of which 35% are new.
We’ve restocked our Tawny Port wine selection. Now is a great time to pick up a hard-to-find vintage for a special anniversary. birthday or Valentine’s Day. Or pick up a great bottle to enjoy yourself or with friends. Picture yourself sipping a glass of port indoors on a stormy winter night, with rain lashing at the windows – now that is warming comfort. Serve port with one of the recipes below to add enjoyment!
Great accompaniments to serve with Port: A bowl of roasted Marcona Almonds or Walnuts; Matiz Fig or Apricot fruit bar with Gruyere Cheese; Dark Chocolate (especially with Ruby ports); or the following dishes.
(Recipes from The Spanish Table Cookbook by Steve Winston)
BLACK OLIVE-FIG TAPENADE
Spain is a land of figs and olives. Marrying them in this tapenade creates a savory-sweet spread that can be served as a tapa with wine, sherry or port.
½ teaspoon Minced Garlic
⅛ teaspoon Coarse Sea salt
1 cup Dried Spanish Pajero Figs, chopped
½ cup Olivada (use Matiz Olivada or see recipe following*)
2 tablespoons Lemon juice
¼ cup Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼ cup Minced parsley
Crush the garlic and salt, then the figs with a mortar and pestle then slowly add olivada.
Thin with lemon juice and Extra Virgin Olive Oil then stir in parsley.
Or mix ingredients in a food processor, pulsing until blended.
*OLIVADA
This simple puree of black olive meat captures the richness of tree ripened black olives. If time is short, it is faster to buy this in a jar and spare yourself the trouble of pitting each olive. Tapenade comes in several versions using empeltre or arbequina olives and even green olives, from both Spain and France. But here are the ingredients if you are in a do-it-yourself mood:
1 cup Pitted olives
2 tablespoons Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil
pinch Coarse Sea salt
Crush together with a mortar and pestle or put in food processor and pulse gently until blended.
BLUE CHEESE AND PORT MONTADITOS Makes 12 tapas
½ pound Cabrales or Andazul Spanish blue cheese
¼ cup White port
2 tablespoon Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Apple, cored and cut into 12 slices
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
12 Walnut halves, toasted
12 slices Raisin nut bread
¼ cup Olive Oil for frying
Using a mortar and pestle, cream the blue cheese with the port and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Dip the apple slices into lemon juice to prevent browning.
Fry the bread slices in olive oil.
Spread a little of the cheese on each piece of fried bread.
Top with a slice of apple and a walnut
CHOCOLATE PORT WINE CAKE
Red Port and chocolate are old friends and they mingle in this intensely rich chocolate cake. Serves 10
2/3 cup Ruby or LBV Port
5 oz Unsalted French butter
6 oz Valrhona 72% Cacao Bittersweet chocolate, chopped
4 large Eggs separated, room temperature
4 oz Blanched Marcona almonds
¾ cup Sugar, split
1 cup Flour
pinch Salt
Preheat oven to 350º
Warm the chocolate, butter and port in double boiler until melted, then set aside to cool to lukewarm.
Put the almonds and 1 tablespoon sugar in a food processor and pulsing to grind them into a powder. The sugar will help prevent the almonds from turning into nut butter.
Whip the egg yolks and ½ cup of the sugar with an electric beater on high for 3 minutes until slightly increased in volume.
Reduce beater speed to low and incorporate the chocolate mixture.
Clean and dry the beaters and whip the egg whites with the other ¼ cup of sugar until they peak (If the beaters are not dry, the eggs may not peak properly).
Gently fold half the egg whites into the chocolate-egg yolk batter then the other half. Mix until just incorporated.
Bake in a 9×9 inch cake pan lined with parchment paper for approximately 35 minutes or until the cakes pulls away from the sides of the pan and springs back from a touch.
Cover top with bittersweet chocolate frosting:
1 cup Whipping Cream
8 oz Valrhona 72% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate
Bring cream to boil.
Whisk in chocolate.
Cool to room temperature before frosting the cake.