Blueberry Merlot Sauce with Vanilla Gelato
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup Merlot
½ cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon vanilla
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Cool and place in a container. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use.
Serve as a topping to vanilla gelato.
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Marinated Pork Chops with Fresh Plum Sauce
Serves 4
4 boneless ¾ inch think center cut pork chops
Marinade
¼ cup honey
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Directions
Place pork chops and all marinade ingredients into a sealed plastic bag and mix well. Place in refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours up to overnight. Remove from marinade and grill pork chops on a hot grill for approximately 8 minutes per side to be well done.
Fresh Plum and Merlot Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons shallots, chopped
6 Italian plums, stoned and chopped
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup merlot wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Directions
In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil and add shallots, sauté for 2 minutes until soft. Add the plums and simmer for 15 minutes, add honey, wine, balsamic vinegar and ground ginger and continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced in ½ and thickened. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Serve warm fresh plum sauce on top of the grilled pork chops.
Here is the prefect gravy recipe. It’s base is an enhanced chicken stock, which has the flavor punched up with merlot wine and turkey pan drippings. The result is so delicious that you will have a hard time not putting this on top of everything on your Thanksgiving plate. Remember gravy is imperative to a successful Thanksgiving meal! Hot gravy can make up for any missteps in timing with your meal, where a dish might have gotten cold.
From by the bay, wishing you hot gravy food memories!
Maryann
Merlot Turkey Gravy
Gravy Base
6 cups chicken stock, if store bought preferably organic low sodium
Giblets and neck from turkey
1 sprig rosemary
1 spring thyme
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 celery stick, chopped
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
Gravy
1 1/3 cup merlot
6 tablespoons flour
6 cups gravy base
4 tablespoons butter
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoons fine grey sea salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions for gravy base
Combine into a soup pot chicken stock, rosemary, thyme, onion, celery, peppercorns, giblets and neck from turkey. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 1 hour. Cool and strain broth and keep refrigerated until ready to make gravy. This can be done one day in advance.
Directions for gravy
Place seasoned broth into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Melt butter in a bowl and then add flour. Whisk until it is a smooth paste. Take one cup of hot broth and whisk into flour mixture until smooth. Pour this back into the broth and whisk to blend. Add bay leaves, molasses, salt and pepper and whisk again. You can have this prepared as the turkey is roasting. Once the turkey is done and removed from the roasting pan pour pan juices into a measuring cup. Spoon off fat and discard. Add remaining juices into broth in the saucepan. Place roasting pan back on heat and deglaze with the merlot. Scrap pan to get all brown bits, let reduce to half, about 2 minutes. Add to the gravy. Whisk together and let simmer until reduced to a sauce consistency. Remove bay leaves, mix adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve with turkey.