Tis’ the season of multiple wine related events and I can think of no better way to shed the winter blues than by enjoying the restorative power of good food and wine. In the next two weeks, you’ll have opportunities to do just that.

Bridge Road Bistro
The Bridge Road Bistro prides itself on using locally produced foods whenever possible and Chef Robert Wong is planning a gourmet meal featuring Swift Level Farms beef from Greenbrier County.

Swift Level Farms is a 150-acre property featuring historic buildings, premium lodging facilities and a working farm producing spectacular Angus beef. The farm’s natural and organic beef program is based on Angus weanling calves purchased locally which are grain fed and then placed on winter grass with hay and supplemented with kelp.

On Thursday March 4, at 6:00 pm the Bistro will present a multi-course meal with accompanying wines featuring Swift Farms Beef. Yours truly will select and discuss the wines during the dinner, which is sure to be an excellent gustatory experience.
The menu will include a Swift Level Slider, Asian Skirt Steak Roulade, grilled New York Strip Steak and & Braised Short Ribs among other culinary delights.

Price is $69 per person (plus tax and tip) and reservations are required by calling the Bistro at 304-720-3500.

Bluegrass Kitchen
The menu and wine list at this restaurant in Charleston’s East End redefines eclectic. Under the stewardship of owner Keeley Steele and the masterful culinary creations of chef Gary Needham, a meal at the Bluegrass is a tasteful adventure where you can enjoy everything from the “new” Appalachian cuisine to dishes with a distinct Indian influence. The wine list is an ever-changing palette of reasonably priced international selections all available by the glass as well as bottle.

Mark your calendars for Sunday March 7, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm when the Bluegrass Kitchen will present an evening of South African wines and specially prepared small plates by Chef Gary to accompany them. The event is casual – what I like to call a “graze around” – where guests can try the wines with a variety of different foods.

There will be 15 to 20 wines from South Africa and a representative of wine importer Cape Classics will be around to answer your questions. The menu will include a cornucopia of small plates including such delicacies as wild mushroom strudel, ‘Spago’ pizza (with smoked salmon) and homemade country pate.

Cost of the event is $40 per person payable in advance by calling 304-346-2871 or by email to  contact at bluegrasskitchen.com. Space is limited so make your reservations as soon as possible.

Annual Escoffier Dinner

You can top off a week of decadence by attending one of the culinary highlights of the year hosted by Chef Jeremy Stills of Edgewood Country Club. Joining Chef Stills in the kitchen will be some of the area’s best chefs who will create a six-course culinary extravaganza accompanied by specially selected wines.

Mark your calendars for Monday March 8, at 6 p.m. at Edgewood Country Club. In addition to the fabulous food and wine, guests can take part in a silent auction with gifts such as weekend resort getaways, private chef dinners, wine baskets, golf rounds and other goodies. All of the funds raised from the auction and a portion of the funds from the Escoffier Dinner will be used to fund scholarships in the culinary arts to West Virginia students.

Price of the dinner is $75 a ticket or $550 a table and reservations are required. Call 304-545-0802 or go online at www.wvculinary.com.

One of the leanest, most tender cuts of meat is the pork tenderloin. Today, the boy of wine is going to share a great dish with you featuring the little piggy’s tenderloin. I will also recommend a pair of absolutely perfect wines for this dish!

But first, a few thoughts on cooking pork.

As delicious as roasted pork tenderloin can be, it can also be a boring dish unless you spark it up with a good dose of seasoning, stuffing, or saucing. The recipe below will take care of this problem. However, the most common problem associated with preparing this delicate cut of meat is over cooking.

Most of us have been taught by our mothers and grandmothers that you must always cook pork until the center of the meat is completely devoid of any color. Why? Well, when mom and/or ma-ma were growing up, trichinosis, a disease contracted by eating under cooked pork, was a serious problem.

The solution was to cook the meat until it was DONE – in other words until it was stiff, dry and had the flavor and texture of leather. When I was growing up, fried pork chops could have been used as body armor.

Thankfully, times have changed. Now the pork industry is highly regulated and trichinosis is almost unheard of except in third world countries. The National Pork Board suggests cooking the tenderloin to a final internal temperature of 160 degrees.

You will need an instant read thermometer, keeping in mind that you can cook the pork to about 155 degrees and remove it from the heat allowing it to sit for about 10 minutes. While resting, the temperature of the pork will continue to increase several degrees.

However, I prefer to cook the tenderloin to about 145 degrees F and let it rest for several minutes before slicing and serving. This is a perfectly safe temperature and, while the meat may have a slight pink color in its center, the pork will be much juicer.

Okay, so let’s get to it.

Tuscan Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
Will feed six adults

2 one-half pound pork tenderloins
2 Italian sausage links
1 eight-ounce box of frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed dry)
8 ounces of shredded mozzarella or smoked provolone
1 carrot sliced into two-inch long matchsticks
2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh garlic
1 Small onion diced
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary stripped and chopped (about one tablespoon)
2 ounces of fresh lemon juice
4 ounces extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces of red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of kosher salt

Make a marinade of three ounces of extra virgin olive oil, two ounces of lemon juice and red wine vinegar, a teaspoon of smoked paprika, a teaspoon of garlic and half a teaspoon of kosher salt.

Cut the tenderloins lengthwise (leaving one half inch on either end) and deep enough to make a pocket without cutting all the way through. Rub inside and out with fresh ground black pepper and rosemary.

Place the meat along with the marinade into a gallon plastic bag and put in the refrigerator for a minimum of four hours or up to 12 hours.

Roast or microwave the Italian sausage links, remove the skins and chop finely.

For the stuffing, sauté onions carrot matchsticks and spinach in one-ounce of olive oil and allow the mixture to cool. Stir in the egg, cheese and sausage and add the breadcrumbs.

Place the stuffing into the pork tenderloin and either tie with butcher’s string or use toothpicks to close the opening.

Roast the tenderloins in the oven at 400 degrees (or on a grill) for about 20 minutes or until the inside temperature reaches 145 F – or more if you desire.

Wait about 10 minutes, remove the string or toothpicks, slice into half-inch circles and serve with cheesy polenta or orzo.

The delicate and savory flavors in this Tuscan Stuffed Tenderloin marry incredibly well with sangiovese. My suggestions are the 2006 Bodega Benegas Sangiovese from Argentina ($23) or the 2006 Monte Antico from Tuscany which is a blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and merlot ($14).

Last week I discussed a recent blind tasting I conducted where tasters were asked to evaluate six cabernet sauvignons (or cabernet blends). I suggested that you might wish to sip a few of the wines and judge for yourself before I revealed how our group viewed the order of preference.

So far the only feedback I’ve gotten has come from a few disgruntled wine lovers who have taken me to task for not letting you know which wines were judged best.

Okay, okay, I get the message. Here are the results along with the country of origin and the retail price:

1. 2006 Marques Casa Concha (Chile $19)

2. 2003 Falcor Le Bijou (Napa Valley $32)

3. 2007 El Portillo Cabernet Sauvignon (Argentina $14)

4. 2006 Larose De Gruaud (Bordeaux, France $35)

5. 2007 Guenoc Victorian Claret (California $15)

6. 2007 McWilliams Hanwood Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Australia $11)

As I mentioned, all of the wines were enjoyable with none eliciting serious criticisms. In fact, wines four, five and six were pretty much in a dead heat. My own evaluations tracked right along with the group except my number one choice was Le Bijou and second was the Casa Concha. Le Bijou and the Guenoc Claret were wines which had various other tradlitional Bordeaux blending grapes such as merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot.

I generally prefer the cabernet blends to 100 percent cabernet since they seem to have more layers of flavor and are less “in your face” than full throttle cabernet sauvignon. I must admit, however, that the Marques Casa Concha is an excellent wine and will continue to improve with a few years of bottle age.