This recipe was a huge hit at the Tasting Party on June 12th. We won't need to edit it as it works just the way it is. Please try it and enjoy!

Best,
Holly

Pizza with Prosciutto, Poached Pear, Gruyère and Spring Greens

yield: Makes (3) 7” Diameter Pies

Ingredients

Pizza dough

• 1 1/3 cups warm water (85-110°F)
• 1 tablespoons active dry yeast (from 1 envelope)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 4 cups all purpose flour (plus 1 cup for rolling out dough)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Pizza topping

• 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 4 teaspoons water
• 3 cups thinly sliced Port Poached Pears
• 6 ounces sliced prosciutto, torn into strips
• 3 cups (packed) grated Gruyère cheese
• 2 cups Spring Greens

Preparation

Pizza dough:
Pour warm water into small bowl; sprinkle yeast over and sugar. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 20 minutes. Put flour and salt in large bowl and add yeast. Stir until dough forms. Knead dough until smooth, adding more flour if very sticky, about 6 minutes.

Coat large bowl with olive oil; add dough to the center of the bowl. Cover bowl with damp kitchen towel. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled, about 1 hour.

Divide dough into 3 equal portions. Transfer to floured surface and roll out each to 7-inch round. Transfer to prepared baking sheets. Brush dough with olive oil. Let stand while preparing topping.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450°F.

Pizza topping:
Poach Pears in Port. (follow recipe)

Divide sliced poached pears, prosciutto, and Gruyère among pizza crusts. Bake until golden and beginning to crisp, about 17 minutes. Divide Spring Greens among pizzas.

Pears Poached in Tawny Port

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

Pears

• 1 750-ml of tawny port
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 whole cloves
• 4 2x1-inch lemon peel strips
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 6 firm ripe pears, peeled

• Vanilla ice cream

Preparation

Combine first 5 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add pears, reduce heat, cover and simmer until pears are tender when pierced with knife, about 20 minutes. Cool pears completely in syrup. Cover; chill in syrup overnight.

Transfer pears to medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate pears. Boil poaching liquid in heavy large saucepan until reduced to 1 cup, about 35 minutes. Mix in remaining 1 tablespoon anisette. Cover and refrigerate liquid until cold, about 4 hours.

Arrange pears on plates. Place scoop of ice cream on one side of each plate. Drizzle poaching liquid over pears. Garnish with cookies and serve.

Port Ice Cream

Port Ice Cream! This recipe also needs a little something. For me, it keeps on turning out a little icy because its not freezing all the way. I originally had frozen raspberries in the recipe, but substituted them for the raspberry puree. The whole raspberries were a little too much and the recipe asked for a subtle raspberry presence. The dark chocolate chunks are a must! Enjoy!

Port Ice Cream with Chocolate Chunks

Yield: Serves 10

Ingredients

• 6 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 cups milk (do not use low-fat or nonfat)
• 1 1/8 cups whipping cream
• 8 T Tawny Port
• 2 T Raspberry Puree
• 1 cup chopped dark chocolate chucks

Preparation

Whisk egg yolks and sugar in large bowl until blended. Bring milk and whipping cream to boil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Gradually whisk into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan; stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens, about 15 minutes (do not boil). Strain custard into bowl. Cool. Stir port and Raspberry Puree into custard. Refrigerate until cold.

Remove from refrigerator and add dark chocolate chunks. Transfer custard to ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. Freeze ice cream in covered container until firm, about 4 hours. (Can be prepared 3 days ahead.)

Raspberry Port Brownies

Ahhhh... The Raspberry Port Brownie Recipe! Quite Tasty and Luxurious! It definitely needs your input and some adjustments. The batter has been turning out a little runny, like cake batter. When it is that runny, it needs too much time in the oven too bake which ends up still being a little gooey in the center and the sides burn. I have edited the recipe to add more flour, take out some sugar, and exchange some of the puree for more port; due to suggestions from the Tasting Party. Try it and let me know. Even with its little hiccups, it is still quite sinful!

Raspberry Port Brownies

Yield: Serves 16 brownies

Ingredients

• ¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks)
• 4 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 eggs
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ¼ cup raspberry puree
• 1/3 cup tawny port
• 1 cups flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preparation

Set oven to bake and preheat to 350°F. Grease 8” square pan, flour greased pan to limit batter from sticking.

Melt butter and chocolate over medium heat in medium saucepan. Remove from heat when melted.

In medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, raspberry puree and port. Add melted butter and chocolate and whisk together.

Combine flour, salt and chocolate chips into small bowl and stir together. Add to wet ingredients and stir in. Transfer batter to greased/floured pan.

Bake at 350°F for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until knife comes out smooth.

Recipes to Try at Home

The First Tasting Party on Saturday, June 12th was a great success! Thank you to everyone who joined us in eating, brainstorming and enjoying the lovely day together. In this post, I will be including some of the recipes from Saturday's event. There were so many exciting suggestions on Saturday for the name of the cookbook, theme, and recipes. Please feel free to comment or give your suggestions to any of the below items - Recipes in Progress, Titles/Themes for Consideration, & Recipes to try at home. I value and can't wait to hear your input, so please feel free! It means a lot to me to have your help on this fun project.

Recipe suggestions that I am working on as possibilities the Summer themed July 10th Tasting Party are:

Recipes in Progress

Sangria
Rhubarb Port Crisp
Port BBQ Sauce
Port Gelato
Duck Breast Frisee Salad
Cantaloupe with Port
Sliced Strawberries with Port


Titles/Themes for Consideration

PORT{abella}
Getting it on with Port - playful/sexy theme

• A Wink - recipes with a hint of port
• A Kiss - recipes with a medium amount of port
• A Seduction - recipes a strong port presence
• Love Potion #9 - Chocolate Truffles, sauces and brownies with strong port presence

im(PORT)ed - Categorized Internationally
in ported
Port Everywhere
Port to Port
Call to Port
Port for all Seasons - Categorized Seasonally
PORTable


Recipes to Try at Home

I encourage you to try them yourself and let me know what you think. I made some changes to these recipes from Saturdays menu from the feedback and comments received at the Tasting Party. Please feel free to try them and experiment; make any changes or comments you feel would make the recipe better. As I continue to edit the recipes, I will post them for you to try.


Rosemary Hamburgers with Port Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients

Hamburger Patties

· 1 pound ground beef

· 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary

· 1 pinch salt

· 1 pinch pepper

· 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

· 2 Tablespoons of Port Balsamic Glaze

· 2 Tablespoons butter

Hamburger Fixings

· Port Balsamic Glaze

· 4 ciabatta sandwich rolls (cut in half – toasted if desired)

· 3 cups of sliced sautéed mushrooms

· 1 1/2 cups of crumbled gorgonzola cheese

· 2 cups Spring Greens

Preparation

Preheat a grill for high heat.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, rosemary, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Divide the mixture into four parts and form into balls. Make an indention in the center of each one, and place a tablespoon of butter in the hole. Mold the meat around the butter, and flatten into a patty.

Lightly oil the grilling surface, and place hamburgers on the preheated grill. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes on each side, until well done.

Lightly dip cut ciabatta bread (toast if desired) into Port Balsamic Glaze. Fix hamburgers with sliced sautéed mushrooms, gorgonzola, spring greens; and excess port balsamic glaze, if desired.

Port Balsamic Glaze

Yield: 1 Cup

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 4 shallots, chopped
• 1 cup (or more) Tawny Port
• 2/3 cup dried currants
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

Preparation

Heat saucepan on high heat. Sautée shallots in vegetable oil until tender. Add 1 cup Port, currants, butter, sugar, 1 tablespoon vinegar and 2 teaspoons thyme. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, 15 minutes.

Uncover and cook until onions are almost tender and coated with glaze, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat. Mix in remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead). Cover and refrigerate.

Before serving, rewarm over low heat (adding more Port by tablespoonfuls if mixture is dry). Sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon thyme and serve.

Tasting/Brainstorming Party THIS SATURDAY!

Hello All!

Thank you all for your support and enthusiasm about the cookbook, it has definitely jump-started me into gear. I am excited about this upcoming Tasting/Brainstorming Party on Saturday, June 12, from 2-5 at my home in San Francisco and hope to see you there. Also, I have received some suggestions for a book title and a number a wonderful suggestions for recipes from some of you and look forward to more... but here are the current suggestions. Let me know what you think.

Book Title Suggestions

Port A La Bella
PORT{abella}

Recipe Suggestions

Rosemary Hamburgers with Port Sauce
Rosemary Chocolate Port Tart
Port Jelly/Jam with Lemon Curd
Port Poke
Portabella Mushrooms with Port
Steel Cut Oatmeal Cookies
Balsamic Vinaigrette
French Green Lentils
Asparagus with Sliced Strawberries and Port Sauce
Gruyere Pear Pizza with Greens
Kir Royale (with Port Substitute)
Mushroom Cream Reduction
Port Blueberry Soup
Port Ice Cream

Cooking up a Plan for Port

Greetings to my Lovely Friends, Family and Fellow Port Fans!

I am so excited to tell you all about the new project I am working on!

My New Project

The project is called Cooking with Port, a cookbook that incorporates Port into every recipe. This cookbook is designed to increase the enjoyment and enthusiasm of port drinkers and expose the versatility of port/fortified wine. The cookbook will have 30-50 recipes. I will be using our very own Meyer Family Port, a 10 Year Tawny Solera Style Fortifed Red Zinfandel, and designing the recipes with its subtle raspberry flavor in mind.

I Need Your Help with…

· Suggestions for recipes

· Joining me for Tasting/Brainstorming Parties

· Suggestions on a name for the cookbook

The Tasting/Brainstorming Parties

When - Saturdays: June 12^th, July 10^th, & August 7^th

Where – My Home in San Francisco

Time – From 2pm to 5pm

RSVP – Holly Meyer, meyerhc@gmail.com

* Bring your taste buds, recipes and come ready to enjoy our new recipes, talk port and meet other food and port fans. We will give two bottles of Meyer Family Port to anyone who brings a new dish made with our port.

Here is some Information about Our 10 Year Tawny Port

Made in a modified solera method, Meyer Family Port is one of California's signature fortified wines. This rich and complex Port is a blend of several vintages of old-vine Zinfandel that average eight years of age at release.

On the nose, the Meyer Family Port displays aromas of baked fruit and cooking spice, along with warm notes of alembic Zinfandel brandy. Rich and round on the palate, its lush flavors of sweet cassis and brandied cherries are framed by integrated oak and fine acidity. This delicious Port has a long, concentrated finish and pairs beautifully with artisanal blue cheeses, intense chocolate desserts, or a good cigar.

For more information, visit www.meyerfamilycellars.com.

Keeping You Informed…

This is the first post of my blog to keep an updated record on our progress, new recipes and any other news. We will be posting a new recipe monthly on the Meyer Family Cellars website (www.meyerfamilycellars.com) and on our Meyer Family Cellars Newsletter. To add some further inspiration, I have included the recipe that started it all, the Meyer Family Port Chocolate Truffle recipe.

Meyer Family Port Chocolate Truffles

Yields (12 - 1 oz. truffles)

INSIDE

8 oz Bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

3 Tbsp Meyer Family Cellars Port

1 Tbsp Raspberry Puree

4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

4 Tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream

· Place 8 oz chocolate in a large stainless steel bowl and set aside

· Place butter and cream in a pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer

· Pour butter and crew mixture over chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute.

· Incorporate the butter and cream mixture into the chocolate using a wire whisk. Start mixing in the center of the bowl with small circles. Gradually incorporate more chocolate by making larger circles until smooth.

· Stir in Meyer Family Port and Raspberry Juice.

· Pour into a shallow container and chill until firm for approximately 4 hours. (The depth of the chocolate will determine how long it takes for the mixture to set.)

· When chocolate filling is set, shape by hand or use miniature ice cream scoop, place on a parchment lined sheet pan, refrigerate until ready to dip.

OUTSIDE

Roll in Ground Chocolate

OR

8 oz Bittersweet Chocolate

4 tsp Canola Oil

1-2 oz White Chocolate

· Melt bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler. (Not to exceed 115 degrees F) Remove from heat and add and whisk in oil. (Perfect dipping temperature is between 85-90 degrees F)

· Drop truffles into melted dipping chocolate and remove with a chocolate fork and place on parchment paper to harden.

· Melt white chocolate in a double boiler. Once melted, remove from heat and drizzle in desired pattern