A Recipe for:
Radicchio Salad with Persimmon and Walnuts

Dijon Beef Stew With Cognac

Cardamom Cake With Whole Pears
Hors D'oeuvres
Smoked Trout with Horseradish Cream
Lamb Chopper Cheese
Rustic Sourdough Crackers

Radicchio Salad with Persimmon and Walnuts
Lamb Chopper Cheese
Rustic Sourdough Crackers
2 heads of radicchio lettuce (mix whichever kinds you like)
One ripe fuyu persimmon
Walnuts

Vinaigrette
1 shallot
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
salt and pepper

Method
Cut the radicchio leaves into bite-sized pieces.
Toast the walnuts until lightly browned. Let cool.
Peel and thinly slice the persimmon.
Toss together in salad bowl.
Finely chop the shallot.
In a small bowl, whisk together shallot, mustard, 
honey, salt and pepper. Whisk in the vinegar.
Slowly whisk in the olive oil.
Adjust oil and vinegar to your liking.
Mix the dressing into the salad.

Dijon Beef Stew With Cognac
1/4 pound salt pork, diced
1 large onion, finely diced
3 shallots, chopped
2 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 pounds beef chuck, in 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 cup Cognac
2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into half-moon slices
1/2 pound mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned and quartered
1/4 cup red wine

Method
Place salt pork in a Dutch oven over low heat, and cook until fat 
is rendered. Remove solid pieces with a slotted spoon, and discard. 
Raise heat, and add onion and shallots. Cook until softened but 
not browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to 
a large bowl. If necessary, add 2 tablespoons butter to the pot to 
augment fat. Dust beef cubes with flour, and season with salt and 
pepper. Shake off excess flour, and place half the cubes in the pot. 
Cook over medium-high heat until well browned, almost crusty,
on all sides, then transfer to a bowl with onions. Repeat with 
remaining beef.Add Cognac to the empty pot, and cook, stirring, 
until the bottom is deglazed and the crust comes loose. Add stock, 
Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard. Whisk to 
blend, then return meat and onion mixture to pot. Bring to just 
boiling, then lower heat, partly cover, and simmer gently until meat 
is very tender, about 1 hour. Add carrots, and continue simmering 
for 30 minutes, or until slices are tender. As they cook, heat 2 
tablespoons butter in a medium skillet over medium-high and 
sauté mushrooms until browned. Stir mushrooms into stew along 
with remaining mustard and red wine. Simmer 5 minutes, then 
taste, and adjust seasoning. Serve hot.

Cardamom Cake With Whole Pears
For the pears:
3 medium-sized crisp, firm pears (such as Bosc), peeled but whole, with the stem left on
1 (750-ml) bottle dry white wine
1¼ cups (250 g) sugar
4 cloves
3 star anise
8 cardamom pods
2 cinnamon sticks

For the cake
1½ cups plus 2 tbsp (200 g) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
1 cup (200 g) sugar
4 eggs
1½ cups (200 g) self-rising flour (or all-purpose flour + 2 1/2 tsp baking powder)
2 tsp ground cardamom
Pinch of salt
3 oz (90 g) white chocolate, cut into chunks
9x5 inch loaf pan

METHOD
Poach the pears: 
In a large saucepan, combine the pears, wine, sugar, cloves,
 star anise, cardamom, and cinnamon and poach for 30 minutes 
over low heat. Take the pears out of the liquid and set aside to cool. 
Add 2 ½ cups (500 ml) water to the poaching liquid and boil to 
reduce the liquid by half. Let cool.

Make the Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy. 
Beat in the eggs one at the time. Don’t add a new egg 
until the previous one is incorporated. Sift the flour, 
cardamom, and salt over the batter and fold in.
Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment 
paper. Grease the parchment paper. Spoon the batter 
into the pan. Press the pears into the batter, stem end up. 
Bake for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the 
cake part comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan, then 
gently remove the cake from the pan to a rack to cool 
completely. Very carefully melt the chocolate: Set a 
heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, making 
sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir the chocolate 
in the bowl until melted. Using a spoon, drizzle the chocolate 
over the cake to create nice stripes on top. Let the chocolate 
dry for a bit and serve the cake in thick slices, with the reduced 
pear syrup poured on top. Service with ginger ice cream, if desired.

2017 McGregor Cabernet Sauvignon
Ginger Ice Cream
Mango Tea