Inspired by Boeuf and Rose

This past week I was helping a client with a Rose bottling. We bottled two types of Rose and I was thrilled about their differences. Over the weekend, my mom was elaborating over a cooking show she'd watched with Beef Roulades stuffed with aromatics of fennel, onion, celery, and carrot. We discussed this recipe for several days, further manipulating the recipe that had grabbed her attention. We tried to look up the recipe without success. Finally, we referenced Julia Child's Art of French Cooking and knew we had to sit with a glass of wine to digest it. We were drinking Vin Gris when we decided that we'd combine Julia's recipe with the fennel stuffing that my mom had witnessed. I wanted to welcome some new friends to our home with a delicious pairing. I was inspired to try the aromatic beef roulades with the newly bottled Rose. I thought that fennel stuffed slow cooked beef would bring out the beautiful aromas in the wine. Since Rose is made by blushing the juice with with red skins, it usually has a nice structure. Depending on the grape variety chosen by the winemaker, the wine can actually have quite a bit of tannin and weight- perfect with Boeuf.

Unfortunately, my Mom had to leave before I could prepare this one for our guests.  So, Mom, here is is...

We stuffed pounded beef (best to have eye of round)  into 1/8 inch pieces and stuffed it with sautéed fennel, onion, carrot, and celery. We almost followed the directions in the Julia Child cookbook, but not exactly. We did use rendered goose fat to brown the roulades, which was delicious! Then, we added goose stock and Rose to deglaze the pan and simmer. I made an herb bouquet with California bay leaf, an herb and spice blend, and some thyme.  I put all the herbs into cheesecloth and tied with twine.  whole cast iron pan went in the oven for 1.5 hours with the lid on and basting often. It came out tender and very aromatic! We served this over cauliflower mashed with butter, sour cream, and salt.

I decided to add a flavor bite experiment. I added a hint of paprika to roasted beets with a side of honey. Yummy! Recipe developing here for sure...Beet salad with smoked paprika honey dressing.  Perfectly unexpected.

As for the pairings, we tasted 3 different Roses with the dish and a youthful Cabernet that I made over 10 years ago.

The pairings were delightful! The beet bite was delicious with the Cabernet and the Rose and boeuf was an aromatic coupling.

We enjoyed our evening with our friends and while we discussed wine we also learned about ducks and cats and witnessed our friends wounds from extreme duck training. Sounds like duck dynasty might need a call...

Always up for a sensory adventure, I found this recipe is a great base for aromatic wine pairings. Next time, I will choose different herbs for the herb bouquet to match the wine of choice.