We received this great recipe from our friend Jean, author of “A Chef’s Journey”. Stop by the tasting room to pick up a copy of her book to try some other wonderful recipes.

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Just had to send you this recipe, Sara - we stopped by the winery the other day and picked up a bottle of the Bliss, came home and reduced it and served as a sauce over ice cream with sliced bananas. It was just wonderful.

Pear & Port Reduction

Recipe By: a Chef's Journey

1 firm but ripe pear -- peeled and cut in half

1/2 cup granulated sugar

5 whole cloves

3 whole allspice

2 stick cinnamon -- broken in half

1 bottle ruby port or Merlot wine -- (750 ml) (and now Blackberry Bliss wine)

Bring port, sugar, cloves, allspice and cinnamon to boil in heavy 2-qt. saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Reduce heat to medium low; add pears, cover and simmer 20 min. Remove pear and keep to use on a salad or fruit platter.

Strain the liquid and return to saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Let reduce to a syrupy consistency - stay close, once the reduction starts, it goes quickly.

At this point you'll have to play with to get the consistency you want. I would stop when the liquid is like a maple syrup, it will thicken more as it cools.

If it's not the thickness you want after cooling, return the pan to the heat and reduce a little more. This step will just take practice.

You can use this reduction to drizzle over a salad, fruit platter ( I arrange the fruit, drizzle with the reduction and sprinkle with Parmigiano Reggiano ), over ice cream, pound cake, hot cakes/waffles.....it's fantastic!

Tip for marking a reduction of 1/2 - measure 12 oz (approx. half of a 750 ml) of water and pour in pan you will use for reduction - stick a skewer in and mark with a pen where the level is. Discard the water and go on with the recipe - when reduction starts, every minute or so measure with your skewer till the same amount is reached. That's when the reduction will go quickly, so stay close.

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C. Jean Denham, CC

Owner/Chef, a Chef's Journey

achefsjourney.com

Perfect Wine Pairing

Having been reunited via Facebook with some old friends from grammar school (GRAMMAR school, of all things!) I felt blessed to be able to share with them a couple of great wines from Harbinger Winery as we caught up on the last oh, 20 years or so of our lives.

It made me realize that after years of searching for the ultimate paring for Harbinger Wines, I realized that the perfect pairing for our wines is Friendship! What could be better. Really.

Pairs perfectly with our great Rhone style Washington State Syrahs, our award winning Chardonnay, our unique take on Viognier, and the oh so delicious blackberry, cranberry, and raspberry wines! Share a bottle. They taste better that way.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

No, I can't say that I paired a nice glass of Harbinger wine with a corned beef sandwich. I stuck with the tried and true pint of Guinness! But I did try to come up with some good pairings for corned beef. Any suggestions? Viognier? Mouvedre? Or is it like the elusive Thanksgiving feast?

But I DO know that the next holiday coming up is Easter and that means brunch! I am hoping that it's warm. In which case I think I will break out a bottle of the Blackberry Bliss (A festive northwest blackberry table wine) and sip in the sun in the warm spring air (yes, we like to push for summer here).

And don't forget: the vernal equinox is on Friday the 20th. That means SPRING IS HERE!!

(posted from Stephanie)