Uncork the Sun at Home this Easter Long Weekend

The gorgeous sunshine and warmer days says one thing to us… BBQ time! Go smile at your local neighborhood butcher (from afar of course) and order a delicious steak or chicken breast for dinner. Top with some blue cheese or herby butter, pair with a spinach salad and open a bottle of vinAmite’s Petit Claret. With notes of cooked cherries, plums and raspberry jam, combined with licorice, cocoa, anise this robust Merlot and Cabernet Franc blend stands up beautifully to the rich umami of BBQ flavours.

CHEF’S CHOICE  

We seriously can’t wait to be sitting overlooking our beautiful valley, on the patio at Miradoro Restaurant, with a glass of wine in hand so we asked Chef Jeff van Geest for a recipe that might help us recreate the Miradoro magic at home. Here’s the recipe for his Funghi Pizza (or if you live close by, order it from Miradoro’s take out menu!)

Miradoro’s Funghi Pizza 

• High quality pizza dough rolled into a 12 in round (homemade or store bought)
• 2oz of cream
• 1 tsp of parmesan
• 1 tsp of Alpindon from Kootenay Alpine Cheese Co. or another semi-firm, sharp cow’s milk cheese
• ¼ cup of caramelised onions
• ½ cup of a selection of supermarket mushrooms – button, oyster, portabello
• ¼ cup of wild mushrooms such as morels
• 3 tsp of quality olive oil
• 1 tsp of sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp of dry oregano
• 1 tsp of chopped fresh parsley
• A pinch of salt and pepper to taste

• Cut one onion in half, top to bottom, lay cut side down and cut into strips about ½ cm wide, in a heavy bottom saute pan, heat a ¼ cup of oil on high heat, add onions and a pinch of salt and cook until the bottom of the pan starts to brown, stirring occasionally.

• Turn off the heat and let the onions sit until they start to brown on the bottom, scrape the pan with a wooden spoon and put it back on a medium high heat. Repeat this process a few times until the onions are soft and sweet with a nice dark golden brown colour.

• Clean the mushrooms and cut into manageable pieces. Mix the olive oil and sherry vinegar together, and toss into the mushrooms with salt and pepper, just enough to coat them. Bake the mushrooms at 350 degrees until they start to brown.

• Spread cream all over the pizza base, add the mushrooms, caramelised onions, cheese and dry oregano and bake the pizza on a pizza stone at 500 degrees. This should only take a few minutes but note that every dough and oven will be different. Sprinkle with more cheese and fresh parsley and serve!