Restaurants give a toast to S. America at festival

GALVESTON — The island’s restaurants celebrate their return, and the return of spring, with the inaugural Galveston Island Food and Wine Festival on Friday and Saturday. The event includes special wine and food pairings at nine restaurants, a black-tie dinner to choose the Grand Champion Wine of the festival and a public wine tasting event at Saengerfest Park.

“Our theme for our first year is ‘A Salute to South America,’ so we’ll be featuring wines from South America as well as domestic wines, and there will be live Latin music,” festival spokesman Mike Dean said. “One of the highlights of the afternoon will be the door prizes. The big prize is a collection of one bottle of each of the wines at the tasting, about 50 bottles.”

During the public wine tasting, those enjoying the festival also can purchase food bites, chocolate and cheese from participating restaurants.

“We’ll only have a limited number of diners at our restaurant for the evening wine and food pairing,” the Saltwater Grill’s Danny Hart said. “But during the afternoon, we’ll have a chance to connect with many more people, so we’re going to serve something outstanding that we call crab lollipops.”

The crab lollipop, Hart explained, is lump crab meat from the back fin, still connected to the crab’s flipper. As a hand-held “street food,” it fits into the afternoon’s rhythm of strolling, sipping and snacking.

For the evening wine dinner, Hart has planned a four-course menu that showcases some of the Saltwater Grill’s specialties, including seafood cocktail, gumbo and a surf-and-turf entree, with a wine from Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Vineyard.

“These are special wines that are not on our wine list,” Hart said. “One of the most unique is the wine we’re serving with the main course. “It’s called ‘The Mariner,’ and it complements both the shrimp and the beef.”

The Mariner is one of Dry Creek’s blended wines, made from a mixture of all five varieties of Bordeaux grapes, primarily cabernet sauvignon and merlot, with smaller amounts of petit verdot, Malbec and cabernet Franc grapes.

Other restaurants participating in the wine tasting and wine dinners include Shearn’s in the Moody Gardens Hotel, Luigi’s, 901 Postoffice, Olympia Grill, Yaga’s, Rudy and Paco, Willie G’s and the newly reopened M & M Restaurant.

The M & M continues the South American accent in its evening pairings, which feature two wines from the Alamos Winery, high-altitude vineyards in the Mendoza region of western Argentina. The wines will be paired with selections from the M & M’s meat and cheese boards.

Chef Stephen Griffith has planned a seven-course dinner for 901 Postoffice that pairs each course, from lobster bisque served on the patio to dessert, with a selection from Napa Valley’s Flora Springs Winery. One of the highlights of the meal will be beef short ribs with a cabernet reduction, accompanied by a cabernet sauvignon. The beef ribs will be followed by Mississippi Mud creme brulee, accompanied by Flora Springs’ port.

Tickets for the afternoon wine tasting at Saengerfest Park are $45 in advance or $60 on the day of the event, and available online at galveston.com or by calling 409-762-6676. Reservations for the wine and food pairings at nine local restaurants can be made directly with the restaurants or online at galveston.com.

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Lentil Tomato Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, chopped 3-4 sausage links (e.g. chicken and basil), sliced 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with liquid 2 (14.5-ounce) cans chicken broth 2 cups dry brown lentils 1/2 cup cabernet sauvignon 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Place the onions in the pot and sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Add sausage and sauté for 5-7 more minutes, or until onions are tender and sausage lightly browned.

Add lentils and stir until slightly toasted, about 1 minute.

Break up the canned tomatoes into chunks and add to the pot, along with the tomato juices. If you want a smoother base, you can purée the tomatoes in a food processor or blender before adding to the pot.

Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Then, stir in the wine, garlic, nutmeg and cloves. Simmer for at least 25 more minutes, or until lentils are tender.

Makes six to eight servings.

— Recipe courtesy of Dry Creek Vineyard

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Zinfandel Glazed Short Ribs

6 beef short ribs, 2-inches thick, cut across the bone Salt and freshly ground black pepper Dry rub seasoning mix (store bought is fine) 1/2 cup olive oil 4 Poblano peppers, diced 4 medium yellow onions, diced 4 stalks celery, diced 1/4 cup sliced garlic 1 quart barbecue sauce 1 quart chicken stock 1 bottle zinfandel

Season short ribs with salt, pepper and seasoning mix.

Heat a large roasting pan with lid over medium high heat and add oil. Sear ribs in hot oil on all sides until well browned. Remove from roasting pan and set aside.

Add peppers, onions, celery and garlic and cook until well browned.

Deglaze roasting pan with red wine, then add barbecue sauce and stock and bring to a boil.

Return ribs to roasting pan and cover tightly with foil. Place in preheated 350-degree oven and braise for 2 1/2 hours, or until meat is tender when pierced with a fork.

Remove ribs from sauce and keep warm. Skim fat from the top of sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Pour over your favorite mashed potatoes and serve with a side vegetable.

— Recipe courtesy of Dry Creek Vineyard

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Latin Pork And Hominy Stew

1 pound chorizo, casings removed and sliced 2 red onions, chopped 10 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups Alexander Valley Vineyard Syrah 1/4 cup olive oil 3 pounds pork shoulder, 1 inch cubed 1 cup flour 1 tablespoon salt 2 tablespoon ground cumin 1 1/2 tablespoon coriander 1 tablespoon fennel seed 1 tablespoon oregano 1 49- ounce can chicken broth 1 29-ounce can hominy Juice of two limes 2 bunch green onions, chopped 1 bunch cilantro, chopped

In a large oven proof braising pan add oil and chorizo, sauté for 4 minutes then remove chorizo from pan.

Mix flour and salt together, toss with pork, making sure to shake off excess flour.

Brown pork on all sides, then add onions, garlic and spices and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

Next add hominy and wine, cook for 2 minutes then add chicken stock.

Cover and place in 350-degree oven and cook for 2 hours.

Remove and serve over rice.

— Recipe courtesy of Alexander Valley Vineyards