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Asparagus and Goat-Cheese Frittata
WINE:
Color: Red, Varietal: Pinot Noir, Vineyard: Beringer, Year: 2006, Region: Napa Valley, California
FOOD:
Poultry - Chicken
COMMENTS:
Recommended Wine Pairing:
Beringer Sparkling White Zinfandel

These selections were originally developed by Executive Chef David Frakes for a special Spring-time brunch. The components work well together and—if made apart—are sure to dress up any breakfast.
RECIPE:
Ingredients

Asparagus and Goat-Cheese Frittata
12 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces and blanched anywhere from 30 seconds (pencil-thin) to 2 minutes (thicker stems)
Salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces goat cheese

Chicken-Apple Sausage with Caramelized Onions
2 large onions
2 tablespoons butter
Balsamic vinegar to taste
Salt to taste
1 pound chicken-apple sausage (about 4 links)
1/2 tablespoon butter or oil

Seasonal Fruit Brochettes
12-16 grapes
8-12 pieces melon, cut into 2-inch rounded pieces
1 pint strawberries
8-12 pieces pineapple, cut into 1-inch chunks
Directions

For Asparagus and Goat-Cheese Frittata:

Preheat oven to 350º. Whisk together the first three ingredients in a medium-sized bowl until very well incorporated and there are no unbroken yolks. Add butter to a 12-inch oven-proof Teflon skillet and swirl to coat pan evenly. Once butter has started to foam but not brown, add egg mixture. Gently stir over medium heat with a rubber spatula until the eggs are half-cooked and have a very glossy, scrambled-egg look, 5-7 minutes.

Mix in asparagus and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle goat cheese on top. Place in oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes. Keep in mind that the thicker the frittata, the more slowly it will need to cook to insure it has cooked through without burning on the outside. When cooked through, the frittata should spring back when touched.

Remove from oven. Carefully slide frittata out onto a cutting board. Cut into pie-shaped wedges and serve hot or at room temperature

For Chicken-Apple Sausage with Caramelized Onions:

Slice onions into 1/4-inch strips. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot and add onions, sautéing at medium-low heat and stirring often for about 45 minutes. When finished, onions should be a golden brown and reduced in volume by about half. Add balsamic vinegar and salt to taste.

Pierce each sausage a couple of times with a fork. Blanch in simmering, salted water for 8 minutes. This process will not only cook the sausages through, but serve to plump them up and add moisture. Remove from water and pat dry.

When ready to serve, sauté sausages in butter or oil over low to medium heat, 5-7 minutes. This will give your sausages a nicely browned, finished look.

Cut each sausage at a diagonal into pieces 2-inches to 3-inches thick. Serve on a small bed of the caramelized onions.

For Seasonal Fruit Brochettes:

Serving your favorite fruits on wooden skewers is a nice way to display the season's best in a pure and easy fashion. Any fruit works, just make sure to look for the nicest, ripest fruit available, even if you can only find one or two selections. Here's a sample.

12-16 grapes
8-12 pieces melon, cut into 2-inch rounded pieces
1 pint strawberries
8-12 pieces pineapple, cut into 1-inch chunks

If preparing ahead of time, skewer non-browning fruits in center of skewers, leaving room to add fruits that are more sensitive to discoloration on either end of skewers.

Some thoughts on pairing fruit with wine: If you are a food-and-wine pairing purist, you probably already know that pairing fruit and wine can be a challenge. Beringer's Executive Chef, David Frakes, suggests that in an ideal fruit and wine pairing, one should consider that the sweeter a fruit is, the sweeter a wine should be that is paired with it. On the flip side of this dynamic, the more acidic a fruit is (for instance, most pineapple) the more of a softening affect the fruit is going to have on a wine.

If serving fruit as part of a complete menu, such as this brunch, you need not be so concerned about how the fruit will pair to the wine. The salt present in the other components should help to bridge and lessen the fruit/wine reaction.

Serves 4-6
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