So as I said my sister in law Michelle was in town and we had tons of fun things planned for the weekend! A picnic was one of them, and it turned out the location was a surprise even to me. As you know we have been in Kansas City for about 9 months now, we moved here from Central California. As you can imagine I miss my wine!!!!!!! Let's not even talk about the weather........ We have been to a couple of local wineries here and were MAJORLY disappointed! Then after a morning of apple picking and pumpkin farms we were ready for our picnic. On the way to a park that I knew of we spotted a sign that said Winery 4 miles this way. What the heck? How bad can it be? Nothing could be worse than the elderberry and apple wine...... Four miles later we pull into this winery that looks every bit the same as a Artisan, Craft winery in Lodi, Cali. Hmmmm, this looks better than the others here.... Let's keep going. The parking lot was overfull and we had to park in the field. Busy? Oh yes this winery was crazy busy! We waited about 30 min in line just to get to the tasting room. My hopes are rising as a crummy winery wouldn't be this busy would it? I was so pleasantly surprised when I took the first sip and it was palatable! Then they had 2 wines that I actually liked!!!! You can't grow traditional wine grapes out here in the Midwest, too hot and then too cold. So they grow grapes I had never heard of, Chambourcin, Norton, and here is the kicker...... Concord. Concord grapes are for jelly and jam NOT wine! The Chambourcin was really quite surprising though. The winery had beautiful grounds and we had our picnic here!
Ok on to the recipe!
1-2 1lb pork tenderloins
1/2 tsp of each: salt and pepper, ground ginger, onion powder, garlic powder
2-3 tbs dijon mustard
1 large onion bachee french loaf bread
1 round of brie cheese
2 tbs truffle aoli or regular mayonnaise
Rub the seasoning on both sides of the tenderloins
Spread the mustard on both sides of the tenderloins.
Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 40-50 min. Take out of the oven and let rest and cool till almost room temp. Slice the onion loaf in half long wise and spread butter on both sides and toast in the oven for a couple of min.
Slice the tenderloins in half long wise also and place on the bread.
Oh by the way grey meat is over cooked meat and yucky. Pork is juicy and flavorful when it is still slightly pink. You wont get sick, so please stop overcooking your pork. Just a friendly reminder.
Trim the Brie round and slice and place on the pork.
Place back in the oven at 350 for 5 min until brie is all nice and melty!
Spread the aoli/mayo on both halves and place back together. Wrap the sandwich in foil and then cling film/saran wrap very very tightly! Place something heavy like a brick or a heavy pot lid on top of the sandwich to compress it.
Once you are at your picnic location, or just when you are ready to serve, slice the sandwich and serve with fresh grapes and a nice dry light wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio, if you will only drink red wine Pinot Noir would be great also.
Perfect picnic sandwich!
TNWT | October 11, 2011 at 8:08 AM
Delightful article and a sandwich recipe that we are going to investigate. You are absolutely right in that you cannot compare mid-western wines to California or from France, but what you will find in time are many, many fine vineyards and new found tastes within 100 miles east of your new home. As for the Norton wine that you will be introduced to at many locations, Doug Frost, a Kansas City wine writer and Norton fan, describes the wine as "powerful, muscular, crazy intense in malic acid and capable of staining teeth or even wineglasses. [The wine is] probably something most drinkers have to learn to love, with its rough and rustic personality often evident. There are an increasing number of Nortons that taste modern, clean and even sleek." After tasting 113 Norton wines, we have found exceptional examples. I really like how Kim , a Madison, WI journalist stated an introduction to Norton wines as “I love the way [Norton] wine becomes an example of what it means to be American, a symbol of a country and a culture" after reading Todd Kliman's The Wild Vine. You will gain a new wine perspective after reading this book. Most Norton wines need to bottle age and also has to breathe for an extensive time before enjoying, ~ a fact that you cannot encounter in most vineyard tasting rooms. Enjoy the Chambourcins, Nortons, Vignoles, and different tastes of Chardonelles that you will soon find.
firefoodie | November 10, 2011 at 5:24 PM
Pork, mustard and bread? Love it. Not getting the local wine thing but I like wine too?!.