Our Wine of the Week, Schramsberg, 2017 North Coast Brut Rosé ($47), is a beauty, a gorgeous, sophisticated and balanced sparkler. Although delightfully dry, bright and crisp, it also has a richness that rises, unfolds, then relaxes into itself until your next sip.
You’ll notice hints of red fruit, especially pomegranate, cranberry, early strawberries and Queen Anne cherries, along with suggestions of savory custard, subtle vanilla and something resembling tropical fruit that blossoms mid-palate. There are hints of bright citrus, too, closer to Meyer lemon than anything else, from beginning to end.
Because the wine is so expertly made from ultrapremium grapes, you can enjoy it with almost anything. Want it alongside a seared rib-eye steak? Add a spritz of lemon just before serving, and the match will work beautifully. It is, of course, excellent with oysters on the half shell and equally delicious with cinnamon toast. Enjoy it with scrambled eggs at midnight or with a big bowl of popcorn slathered with good butter. It is outstanding with crab cakes, crab Louis and Meyer lemon risotto.
For today’s recipe, I’ve chosen a dish I would typically serve with seared scallops. But we have Dungeness crab now, and so instead of searing scallops in brown butter and serving them atop potato purée, I’ve replaced the scallops with chilled crab. The contrast between the hot, rich potato purée and the cold crab is delightful and engages this compelling sparkling wine in a unique way. The brown butter, used as both a sauce and within the potato purée itself, brings all the flavors together and encourages the wine to blossom into its full potential.
Dungeness Crab with Brown Butter Potato Purée
Serves 2
1 stick (½ cup, 8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) butter, preferably local
¾ pound potatoes, such as dry-farmed German Butterball, peeled and sliced
Kosher salt
Meat from 1 Dungeness crab
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ cup heavy cream, hot
White pepper in a mill
2 teaspoons snipped chives
1 chive flower, blossoms separated, optional
Put the butter into a small saucepan set over medium-low heat. When the butter is melted, use a thin spoon to scoop off any impurities that have risen to the surface. Carefully pour the butter into a bowl or other container, leaving the film of white milk solids behind in the pan.
Clean the pan, return it to the heat, pour in the butter and cook until the butter takes on a golden-brown glow and gives off the scent of hazelnuts. Remove from the heat, cool slightly and refrigerate. This step can be completed several hours or a day before preparing the dish.
Peel and slice the potatoes, put them into a small saucepan, cover with water by 1 inch, season generously with salt and set over high heat. When the water boils, reduce the heat to medium and cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 10 to 12 minute or a bit longer for thick slices. Remove from the heat and drain.
While the potatoes cook, pick the crab meat from its shells if you have not already done so. Put it in a small bowl, add the lemon juice and toss gently a time or two. Cover and set aside.
Return the pan with the potatoes to the heat and burn off any water; the potatoes should be quite dry. Use a sturdy fork or a small vegetable masher to mash the potatoes until quite smooth.
Remove the brown butter from the refrigerator, set aside half the butter and whip the rest, a tablespoon or so at a time, into the potatoes. Add the hot cream, season with salt and several turns of white pepper, taste and correct for salt.
Divide the potatoes between two soup plates and top with the crab. Working very quickly, heat about half the remaining butter and drizzle it over the crab and potatoes. Garnish with chives and chive flowers and enjoy right away.
Leftover brown butter will keep, refrigerated, for several weeks.
Michele Anna Jordan is the author of 24 books to date, including “San Francisco Seafood.” Email her at michele@micheleannajordan.com.
The Link LonkFebruary 10, 2021 at 10:08AM
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Crab, brown butter and potatoes a perfect match for brut rosé - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
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