Hospices de Beaune

2011 marks the one-hundred-fiftieth year for the Hospices de Beaune Charity Auction; an annual event in the midst of the Trois Glorieuses, Burgundy's most important three day wine celebration. Hospices de Beaune Auction has and continues to support the healing and the dedication to wellness at the hospice de Beaune, the way its benefactors intended since the 15th century. Most buyers will focus on barrels and not the cause though. This event is considered one of the most important wine events of the year held annually on the third Sunday in November. More than forty of Burgundy's Cuvées will be offered. If you are doing the math; buying a barrel corresponds approximately to 288 bottles, so 24 cases of 12 bottles, or 6 magnums.

November 21, 2011 Hospices de Beaune Charity Auction, Beaune France 

Grapes of Roth

Harvest has a few meanings in Hampton's farm country, but to Winemaker and Friend Roman Roth it means Halleluja! Time to toast! Picking has come to an end - for this year anyway. So what's happening at Grapes of Roth? I'm thinking, one more reason to give thanks and toast with Roth's 2004 Merlot and 2008 Riesling.

 The Grapes of Roth, Long Island, New York

Roth Merlot: The wine shows how wonderfully balanced yet intense the best Merlots from Long Island can be. It received the highest rating in New York with 92 points from Parker (David Schildknecht, Issue 188) and is a wine that can stand up to the best.

Riesling: This wine is very classic in style. Perfectly ripe fruit balanced by just the right acidity and minerality. The alcohol level is low at 10.8% and residual sugar is only 6 grams per liter making it very food friendly.

Vanilla Cupcakes

Celebrate any occasion with my all natural cupcake recipe. Use the very best quality ingredients to ensure the best tasting outcome. Be sure to use good vanilla, like Madagascar Vanilla. Then top with either my delicious chocolate or vanilla icings. 

Vanilla Cupcakes by George Hirsch 

Makes about 2 dozen 

1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line muffin pans with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter on medium speed until smooth. Scrape bowl, add the sugar gradually and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 

Add the eggs in three stages one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three stages, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over mix. Scrape down the bowl after each addition to make sure the ingredients are well blended. 

Fill cupcake liners approximately three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the muffin pans for 5 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. 

Ice the cupcakes with either Vanilla Icing or Chocolate Icing. 

image: David Smith 

Bacon and Egg

In honor of National Sandwich Day, here's my homage to the simple but important Bacon and Egg Sandwich. I am very particular when it comes to my sandwiches and you'd be surprised how many people miss a beat making something as simple as an egg sandwich. There are only three ingredients; bacon, eggs and bread; but the success is all in the quality of the ingredients and cooking technique, combined.

I do have a family member who prefers the most inexpensive white bread, but I prefer a good quality sour dough, baguette or brioche with some flavor and texture for my sandwich. The eggs; I am lucky, I have friends with chickens, so farm fresh Araucana eggs are my preference - as long as the girls keep laying eggs. Bacon; this is where I can go either reduced-fat turkey bacon or a good quality applewood smoked bacon; like from D'artagnan or medium-thickness slab bacon, from my local speciality market.

During my put out a few hundred breakfast banquet chef'n days, the bacon would be lined on sheet pans and cooked in a 350 degree F oven until light brown. Allow for carry-over temperature; remove the bacon before the rasher of bacon cooks to a well done or burnt stage. Isn't it funny how bacon cooks from done to burnt quickly?Today, a microwave is a great appliance for cooking bacon. Probably one of the best uses I have found for using a microwave. 

Here's the part where most people get derailed; the egg pan (I use a non-stick pan only for eggs) needs to be preheated to a medium heat, then add a combination of unsalted butter and olive oil to lightly grease the pan. Caution: pan - don't let the pan get too hot that the white of the egg burns. Flip the eggs using your best saute chef move (ha), break the yolks with a spaltula, top with warm bacon and fresh grated black pepper. Cook eggs until desired doneness. To guild the lily, warm the brioche or bread slices in the pan before topping with cooked eggs and bacon. 

There you have it, the makings of the perfect Bacon and Egg Sandwich with slightly runny eggs. Required, two napkins.

Apple Dessert

When was the last time you ate a caramel apple? This is one of those classic fall harvest treats that captures popularity with people of all ages. I suggest the combination of a crisp, tart apple like the Granny Smith with good old fashioned sweet caramels.

Come apple picking with me; watch GH Living it UP! TV segment: Visiting a Hampton's Apple Orchard

Directions: Making of a Caramel Apple.

George Hirsch TV series: Halsey Apple Orchard