Name: Glazed Pork Loin Roast Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Kale with Delicata Squash
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 (3 to 5 lb) pork loin roast (this roast was about 4 lbs); ¼ tsp allspice (or as needed); ½ onion, diced; 1 cup chopped kale (spinach would also work well); 4 to 6 sprigs of thyme, divided; About ⅛ cup chopped sage leaves, divided; 4 to 8 oz goat cheese (I used approximately 6 oz for a 4 lb roast); 1/2 cup chopped almonds (divided); 2 to 3 Tbsp cherry pepper jelly (feel free to substitute another flavor of your choosing); 4 small delicata squash, thinly sliced (cleaned and seeds removed); ¼ cup pomegranate seeds; Salt; Pepper; Cooking oil, as needed; Cooking twine

Don’t get me wrong friends, I love Napa and Sonoma; however, there’s more to California wine than these two counties. They’re famous for good reason, but sadly, they tend to overshadow all the other amazing areas making wonderful wines in this state –– a lot of which are making wines that are far more wallet-friendly to boot! Since we moved back to California five years ago (Wow, how the time has flown!) Greg and I have been making a point to try to visit and get to know more about these areas, and it has been incredibly rewarding.

Case in point, last year we decided to spend a weekend in Lodi, which is basically directly east of the Bay Area where we live. I admit that it’s easy to overlook this region as it’s home to a lot of big brands, making a lot of big, jammy wines that aren’t always all that well-made. As is often the case though, taking a closer look can be very worthwhile.

For one thing, this is an area with a lot of winemaking history (in US terms anyway), since they’ve been growing wine grapes since at least the 1850s. The region is particularly known for its old vine Zinfandel, as they have vines dating back to the early 20th century.

Lodi is also home to one of California’s most comprehensive sustainability certification programs, Lodi Rules, which looks at many aspects of grape-growing and winemaking across various spectrums. (You can find out more about it here.) The program is so rigorous that it has even been adopted by wineries in other countries. (For example, Golan Heights Winery in Israel, which we took a look at in a couple of posts, is certified under Lodi Rules.)

History, old vine Zins, and sustainable winemaking are all reasons enough to give the area a second look, but we also found several wineries working with unexpected grapes, making wines with a lighter hand than one might typically expect from this region.

Acquiesce Winery & Vineyards was one of these spots that surprised and delighted us with their wines. Flying in the face of everything one expects of Lodi wine, this winery makes only white and rosé wines from Rhône grape varieties.

The Tiptons had purchased their vineyard property not with the intention of making wine, but simply to have the joy of living in the country. In the meantime, Susan fell in love with Rhône’s white grapes after trying a white Chateauneuf-du-Pape from BevMo! She tried to search out more, but they can be tricky to find, and that ultimately sent her down a new path. She elaborated on this point in an interview with Wine Business Monthly:

“I basically tried to buy more of it as a wine drinker and then when I couldn’t, just explored the possibility of planting it here in Lodi,” Tipton said. “I started with Grenache Blanc and really loved what came out of that and planted the other varietals. I wanted to focus on whites and do them right. I always felt that the white was like a second-class citizen in a winery. It was like, ‘Here’s a white and then let’s talk about our beautiful reds,’” she said.

Susan Tipton. Image borrowed from Acquiesce's website.

Making wine started out as a hobby, but it took off. Once she decided to start making her own wine, she and her husband pulled out the majority of the Zinfandel that had been planted on their 18-acre property – the grapes of which they’d profitably sold up until that point – and replanted 10.5 acres with white varieties including Grenache Blanc, Picpoul Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Viognier, as well as Grenache for Rosé. The new label took its name from a K.D. Lang song the couple liked.

Despite being known for big red wines, Lodi’s warm, Mediterranean climate with cool evening breezes turned out to be perfect for these white Rhône varieties. (It’s, after all, quite similar to their home region.) However, finding information on making white wine proved tricky, as there was a lot less info available than for red wines. She enlisted a friend to help her out, and brought on Heather Pyle Lucas, as consulting winemaker. Lucas was one of the founding winemakers at Opus One Winery and now lives in Lodi, making wine at Lucas Winery with her husband. “I was the winemaker, but she was my coach,” Susan explained to us on our visit. Nowadays, it’s basically her and her husband doing most of the work in the winery, plus a few helpers at various points during the year.

Greg and I at Acquiesce in 2019. (Note: Our tasting was comped, as I’m a member of the wine industry. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.)

When Greg and I visited Acquiesce last year, Susan guided us through the tasting and graciously showed us around her winery. One feature of the tasting experience I particularly loved is that each wine is poured with a small bite to give you an idea of how to pair it at home. They even shared recipe cards, so that you can recreate some of their pairing suggestions for yourself. In addition, they have many of the featured condiments for sale in the tasting room.

Here’s are very quick tasting notes for the wines we tasted on our visit and their pairings. You can find more details and current vintages on their website.

Note: All prices listed here are for the current vintage listed, rather than for the vintage listed here.

Picpoul Blanc 2018

Price: $28

Tasting Notes: Green apple, citrus, white flowers, and white grapefruit. The citrus notes, particularly the white grapefruit, intensify further on the palate.

Pairing: Green olive tapenade on a pita cracker, which brought out more minerality and a savory note in the wine. It was also recommended with oysters and other seafood. (Check out this recipe for crab cakes paired with a French Picpoul.)

Grenache Blanc 2018

Price: $26

Tasting Notes: Perfumed with big white flower blossoms, white peach, tangerine skin, and a little grapefruit. This is their signature variety, as it was the first one they planted.

Pairing: Cheddar with violet flower confit. The goal was to bring out more of the wine’s floral character, and I also found it brought out the piquancy of the cheddar in a nice way. This pairing was a particular favorite with those working at the winery. Susan mentioned she also really enjoys this wine with sushi, as well as with steak tartare, as it helps cut the fattiness of the meat.

Clairette Blanche 2018

Price: $28

Tasting Notes: Honeysuckle, really bright tangerine, along with other mixed citrus notes, as well as a touch of tropical fruits on the nose. The wine became more savory on the palate, showing notes of fennel and other herbs, as well as potpourri.

Pairing: Spicy white bean dip on melba toasts. The pairing smoothed the wine out further, giving it an almost creamy mouthfeel in the combo. It was also recommended with Mexican food (which I think makes sense given how the spicy white bean dip worked), as well as raw scallops. It also works well with a wide array of cheeses.

I actually grabbed the recipe card for the simple, tasty spicy bean dip.

Belle Blanc 2017

Price: $34

Tasting Note: A mixed bouquet of flowers draws you in on the nose. Grapefruit pith, white peach join in on the palate, with white stones on the finish. This wine is an homage to the Chateauneuf-du-Pape blancs that piqued Susan Tipton’s interest.

Pairing: I don’t believe we had a pairing with this wine at the winery, but we brought a bottle home and really enjoyed it with a roasted chicken with lightly sweet soy-chili sauce.

Viognier 2018

Price: $26

Tasting Notes: Pear, small white flowers, a mixed fruit bowl, and lavender. Showed finesse on the palate. (Viognier can be viscous and weighty on the palate, this one was much lighter.)

Pairing: Mango chutney served on cheese. The wine becomes even lighter on its feet when had in the pairing.

Sparkling Grenache Blanc 2016

Price: $55

Tasting Notes: White flowers, some blanched almonds, brioche, mixed citrus. Very pretty.

Parings: We had this one on its own at the winery, but I noted popcorn, sushi, and fish and chips as possible pairings.

Grenache Rosé 2018

Price: $25

Tasting Notes: The wine had a very pretty nose of cherry blossoms, crushed berries, and cherries, with a touch of cream. It was bright and tangy on the palate, with strawberries, raspberries, cherries, peach, flowers, and orange skin. On my second tasting, I also picked up a light hint of spice and a very light herb note on the finish.

Pairing: This was paired with a cherry pepper jelly on a cracker, and we loved it so much that we could not resist buying a jar.

Grenache Rosé & a Stuffed Pork Loin Roast

I'm pretty certain I started conceiving the idea for the dish I’m sharing here below on that very afternoon, because I noted goat cheese and pork topped with the cherry pepper jelly in my notebook and the idea stuck in my brain since.

I got very similar tasting notes upon opening the bottle at home a few weeks ago, and the idea for this dish began to take shape. I decided to stuff a pork loin roast with goat cheese, as I’d originally planned, but added some greens, herbs, and almonds, then glazed it all with the cherry pepper jelly.

Butterflying a pork loin sounds tricky, but it’s actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. If you’ve never done it before, check out this YouTube video for a little instruction. Sometimes, pork loin roasts come cut in half from the butcher, although it can be hard to tell when they’re tied up with kitchen twine. This turned out to be the case with mine, but the halves were large enough that I was able to butterfly the two smaller portions. You could also just sandwich the filling between the two halves and call it a day.

In addition, I decided to roast some delicate squash along with the pork, as I thought the wine would be able to stand up to the light sweetness. I topped the squash with some pomegranate seeds and more almond slivers for extra color and texture.

The squash seemed a perfect option for fall, but you could easily swap in other vegetables that more seasonal at other times of year.

The wine worked beautifully with the stuffed pork – just as I’d hoped! It was solid with the squash as well but didn’t sing in the same way. That said, the fact that it worked as well as it did with the lightly sweet squash makes me think that this wine would be a great option for Thanksgiving, where we tend to have so many different flavors on the table.

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

Given that this was a fair amount of meat and that there were only two of us to eat it all, we had several chances to try several other wines with this dish. A California Chardonnay and a Gamay Noir from Tessier Winery both worked solidly well with the dish overall, although this rosé was still my favorite with the pork. The juicy Gamay perhaps worked a bit better with the squash.

pork, squash, fall, autumn, goat cheese,

dinner

American

Servings: 6 to 10 (depending on the size of the roast)

By: Nicole Ruiz Hudson

Glazed Pork Loin Roast Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Kale with Delicata Squash

Ingredients

1 (3 to 5 lb) pork loin roast (this roast was about 4 lbs)
¼ tsp allspice (or as needed)
½ onion, diced
1 cup chopped kale (spinach would also work well)
4 to 6 sprigs of thyme, divided
About ⅛ cup chopped sage leaves, divided
4 to 8 oz goat cheese (I used approximately 6 oz for a 4 lb roast)
1/2 cup chopped almonds (divided)
2 to 3 Tbsp cherry pepper jelly (feel free to substitute another flavor of your choosing)
4 small delicata squash, thinly sliced (cleaned and seeds removed)
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil, as needed
Cooking twine

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Sweat the onion in a lightly oiled pan over medium to medium-high heat until soft, translucent, and cooked through – about 12 to 15 minutes. Add the kale and continue to cook until the leaves are softened as well. Season with salt and pepper. Pick the leave from two to three of the thyme sprigs and stir into the mixture along with the sage.
If the pork has been butterflied and tied (as in the case of the one pictured), open it up and separate it into halves. (If the halves are large enough to butterfly, do so carefully.) If it’s all in one piece, slice the pork roast almost through, so that it can open like a book. Open it up to lay flat, cut side up. In either case, once the pork is cut, place a sheet of plastic wrap over the pork and pound to flatten.
Sprinkle the meat all over with salt, pepper, and allspice and rub into the meat. Sprinkle and spread the goat cheese on the meat, leaving about a ½ inch of space from the edge of the meat. Spread the onions and kale on top of the goat cheese, followed by half of the almonds. (If the pork came precut into two pieces that aren’t thick enough to butterfly, you can sandwich the filling between the two halves and secure it with cooking twine or toothpicks.)
Roll the pork up, then tie it with kitchen twine. Using a brush or a spoon, spread the jelly in a thin layer over the rolled pork.
Place the delicata squash in a greased roasting pan and sprinkle salt, pepper, a pinch of allspice, and the remaining thyme and sage on the squash. Nestle the pork in among the squash slices. (Note: If you’re working with a single larger piece of pork, add the squash to the roasting pan halfway through the cooking process.)
Place the pork in the oven and roast until a meat thermometer registers at least 145°F. (As the pork rests, it will continue to rise in temperature another 5 to 10°.) Depending on the size of the piece of meat and how it was cut this timing can vary widely from about 1 to 2 hours. (For example, the pork roast used here came in two pieces, which were each butterflied, rolled, and stuffed. These two smaller pieces took about 1 hour to cook. If the roast had come whole, it would’ve likely taken two hours.) Be sure to stir the squash periodically, through the cooking process.
Remove the pork from the oven once it has reached its ideal cooking temperature and let it rest for 10 minutes. If you’d like a little additional browning on the squash, allow it to continue to cook while the pork rests, or place under the broiler for a minute or two.
Once removed from the oven, top the squash with the remaining almonds and the pomegranate seeds. Slice the pork into rounds and serve with the squash.

Notes:

This recipe gives various options for process and cooking times, as these can vary widely depending on the size of the pork loin roast and how it was cut. If you’re working with a smaller piece of pork or if your roast came cut into two pieces, as was the case with the one I purchased, your cooking times will tend toward the lower end – about 90 minutes with 15 to 20 minutes prep time in advance, for a total of about 1 hour and 50 minutes. In this case, it makes sense to add the squash to the roasting pan with the pork from the beginning. If you’re working with a larger piece of pork, you might choose to add the squash after 45 min to an hour. For larger cuts, cooking times could be up to about 2 hours and 30 minutes with 15 to 20 minutes prep time in advance, for a total of about 2 hours and 50 minutes. In either case, the majority of the cooking time is inactive.

Similar Recipes

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The rest of the members of the Wine Pairing Weekend (#winepw) blogging group are also exploring US wines from lesser known areas, hosted by Susannah of Avvinare .You can read her invitation here. Be sure to check out the rest of the group's posts:

Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla says Mahalo Plenty! Hawaiian Sips and Nibbles.
Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm adds Let’s Celebrate Thanksgiving by Eating and Drinking Locally.
Jeff from Food Wine Click! brings Idiot’s Grace: Explorers in the Columbia Gorge AVA.
David from Cooking Chat pairs Cranberry Jalapeño Dip with New England Wine.
Linda from My Full Wine Glass suggests Raising a Glass of PA Cab Franc – Paired with a Philly Cheesesteak.
Gwendolyn from Wine Predator showcases Local Love: 6 Ventura County Wines from Local Vines paired with Watkins Beef, Ventura Fresh Fish.
Deanna from Asian Test Kitchen asks Is Virginia for Wine Lovers?
Susannah from Avvinare offers Wines from New Mexico Paired with New Mexican Style Beef Chile.

Additional sources used for this post:

This post contains affiliate links, including these Amazon Associate links, from which I might receive a commission at no cost to you.

Every bottle has countless stories.

There are the stories of how that bottle was made and who made it. What the weather was like and whose hands it went through to reach us. There’s the story of how the bottle came to us, how it tasted on the day we opened it, and how it made us feel. There are the stories of the occasion we opened it for and who we drank it with, or maybe we kept that bottle all to ourselves.

There is the story of the bottle’s place at our table–what we ate it with and how they went together. We love this part of the story. Personally, it’s one of my greatest sources of pleasure and drives my curiosity. Moreover, as we’ve established, as wine geeks, we here at Somm’s Table are just as likely to start a meal with “What do I want to drink?” as with “What do I want to eat?”

Wineries often have chefs create meals for the their wines. Why not do this at home? We figured that the attempt could yield to some interesting results. Let’s pop open a bottle and see where it goes.

Let’s give the wine a chance to talk to us.

I wanted to start with a bottle with some personal meaning. My husband, Greg, and I just recently moved back to California after five years in New York City. We had a wonderful time in New York, and it was during my time there that I really learned about wine. That said, my pallet started here. This is where I first started going to wineries and tastings and made the first attempts to pay attention to what I was tasting in my glass, so picking a bottle from CA seemed like a good way to celebrate the return.

Ridge Vineyards was a favorite of ours from way back when. Their Lytton Springs location was an early stop in our wine tasting journeys, and it was one of the first places we returned to when we got back. (We have yet to make it to the Monte Bello location, but hope to soon.) This particular bottle of their Geyserville also happened to be from the year we left for NYC, 2010.

The Pairing

When we popped it open, we got hints of smoke and plums on the nose, a bit of raspberry preserves, licorice, spice, and light notes of forest floor. More savory notes joined in on the palate, with black pepper, tobacco, and hints of flint and baked clay. The fruit was also a little brighter than it had seemed on the nose, with some tart cherries joining the party. Tannins were noticeable, but silky. There was a bit of jamminess to the wine, but it was held up by the acid, and overall it wasn’t at all overbearing in its weight and mouthfeel.

We decanted the wine and it grew evermore integrated and elegant over the several hours that passed before we sat down to dinner. By that point the wine had unwound and there was a gracefulness balancing the fruit, like a curvy gal who moves with the litheness of a dancer. This is a quality I tend to find and appreciate in their wines in general–ripe fruit that is distinctly California, but with a sleek thread running through the core. This is a a tricky tightrope to walk, particularly with Zin, which makes up 64% of this blend. I’m sure this wine will continue to be lovely for several more years.

A big steak didn’t seem quite right. I don’t think it would have been a mismatch at all, but that lithe quality seemed more in line with a mid-weight protein. My thoughts turned to pork and turkey, possibly duck. That said, there were still some big flavors in the wine with its smokiness and long raspberry jam finish, so I thought it would be able to handle some more robust seasonings or sauce.

I headed to the store with my tasting and brainstorm notes and came back with pork chops to be flavored with Bourbon to echo the notes of smoke and spice. A hearty side seemed in order and I thought the slightly nutty flavor of farro would work well. I added in yellow squash as I thought it would add substance, but was also mild enough to play well with the other flavors.

If I do say so myself, the results of round one of this experiment were quite successful! The smoke and spice notes in each definitely came out, but the wine remained refreshing without weighing the food down or vice versa. The wine and the food melded and danced seamlessly together. Exactly the type of match I was hoping for.

The Geeky Details

The full blend for this wine is 64% Zinfandel, 20% Carignane, 12% Petite Sirah, 2% Alicante Bouschet, 2% Mataro (Mourvèdre). New oak was kept to a minimum (10% new, 12% one and two years old, 78% three to four years old. 100%) so a good chunk of the spice that was coming through had to be from the fruit itself. Ridge takes a non-interventionist approach to winemaking (they call it “pre-industrial”) and use all native yeasts in their fermentations.

Ridge actually puts a lot of their wines’ details right on their bottles, including ‘drink by’ recommendations, which can be really helpful. If you want to dive deeper into the details, their website is one of the more informative I’ve seen–providing even specifics on winemaking additives like sulfur. They also have a big section dedicated to food pairings with many delicious looking recipes, if you’re looking for further inspiration. You can find the tech sheet for this wine right here.

Aside: Ridge’s iconic winemaker, Paul Draper, has announced his retirement and it will be interesting to see how things develop (more here.)

Money Talk

WineSearcher.com currently has the average price for this wine at $45, with prices starting at around $35, making it an attainable indulgence.

Other Possibilities

Something about the mixture of ripe fruit with spice and smoke balanced by acid had us thinking that Rioja Reserva might be a good alternate match for this dish. A Grenache based wine of moderate weight might be another good route to take.

Please share any alternate matches that work for you.

Photo credit: Greg Hudson

Smoky Bourbon Pork Chops with Warm Farro-Squash Salad

I’ve separated the two recipes below to make it simpler to make them on their own– I really like them independently as well as together. If you decide to make them together, set the pork chops to marinade, get your farro going, then proceed to do all of your other prep. You can then make the entire farro salad, but hold off on adding the arugula. Set the farro salad aside and keep it warm while you make the pork chops. Wilt the arugula into the warm salad just before serving.

Smoky Bourbon Pork Chops

Ingredients

2 - 4 pork chops (about ¾ to 1 inch thick)

¼-½ tsp of smoked chili powder (approximately ¼ tsp was enough for 2 pork chops, increase accordingly to suit the number of pork chops)

Pinch of allspice

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

¾ cup -1 cup stock (I used chicken stock)

¼ cup Bourbon

Cooking oil

½ - 1 Tbsp butter

Salt

Pepper

Instructions

1. Mix together the chili powder, allspice, salt and pepper. Rub the mix into the pork chops and place into a bowl. Add the Worcestershire sauce and allow pork chops to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

Note: You’ll want the pork chops to be at room temperature when you start cooking. If you marinate far in advance and decide to return the pork chops to the fridge, make sure to pull them out with enough time to come back up to temp–at least 30 minutes.

2. When you’re ready to start cooking the pork chop, remove them from the marinade and pat dry. Reserve the marinade. Heat a small amount of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the pork chops to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and sear for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Flip the pork chops and cook on the second side until an internal read thermometer hits between 135°-140°F for medium rare chops–approximately another 4-5 minutes. Remove the chops to a separate platter or cutting board and rest for 7-10 minutes.

3. Make the sauce while the pork chops rest. Remove excess oil from the pan, then deglaze the pan with a little bit of the stock. Add the bourbon followed by the rest of the stock. Add about a ⅛ cup of the marinade to start. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Once the sauce has been reduced a bit, taste and adjust seasoning. You might also choose to add more of the marinade mixture at this point, however, since the Worcestershire-chili flavor is strong, this should be added gradually to suit taste. (If you add more, make sure to bring the sauce back up to a boil before serving.) Reduce the sauce to the consistency of a light glaze.

Note: The amount of liquid needed might vary depending on the size of your pan, as liquid will cook off more quickly in a large, flat skillet. Adjust as needed.

4. When you’re ready to serve, turn off the heat then add the butter to the pan and swirl to melt. Return the pork chops to the pan and briefly run through the sauce on both sides to coat. Serve each chop with a small amount of the sauce on a mound of the farro salad.

Warm Farro-Squash Salad

Ingredients

1 cup dry farro, rinsed

2 ½ cups liquid (I used chicken stock, but use whatever stock you like. Of course, water will work as well.)

1 large onion, diced

2 yellow squash, diced into approximately 1 inch cubes, with the majority of the spongy center trimmed away (You can certainly substitute in other thin-skinned squash or zucchini.)

2 garlic cloves, diced

½ cup shredded carrots

1 ½ - 2 cups arugula

Cooking oil (I used olive oil)

Salt

Pepper

Instructions

1. Add a small amount of oil to a large pot, then add the farro, along with a generous pinch of salt, and toss it all well to combine. Heat gently over medium-low to medium heat and allow the farro to warm and toast slightly until it starts to smell lightly nutty–this should just take a couple of minutes. Add the liquid to the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for 30-40 minutes, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the grains are tender. Cover and set aside for a few minutes before fluffing.

Notes on farro: Start checking on the farro at around 20 minutes for consistency. Soaking farro ahead of time can reduce cooking time a bit, but it cooks pretty quickly even if you skip it. If you soaked the farro ahead of time, 20 min might be all it takes.

A lot of recipes and package instructions for farro call for 3 cups of liquid to one cup of grains, but then also state that excess liquid should be drained off. I found that by reducing the amount to 2 ½ cups, all the liquid absorbed without having to drain it off and the farro cooked through completely. Add more if you check on the farro and find that it’s not fully tender, or drain off excess if there is still a bit left once the farro is tender and toothsome.

2. Prepare the vegetables while the farro is cooking. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onions with a generous pinch of salt and sauté until lightly golden and starting caramelize (about 10-15 minutes), stirring frequently. You want to develop the color on the onions gradually without burning them, so if needed, periodically add a little bit of water to slow the cooking down. This also helps to deglaze the pan as you go.

3. Once the onions are soft and lightly golden, add the squash and the garlic, and continue cooking until the squash is beginning to soften–about 8 minutes. Then add the shredded carrots and cook for another couple of minutes until all of the vegetables are tender. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

4. Fluff the farro once it has had a few minutes to rest. You can then combine the farro and the vegetables and toss gently. Set aside and keep warm. When you’re ready to serve, add the arugula to the warm salad and toss to gently wilt the arugula. Taste again, adjust seasoning, and serve.