Wine Pairing Recipe for Bordeaux - Mushroom Bake

MUSHROOM POTATO BAKE
spray olive oil
2 large russet potatoes
6 Tbsp. butter, total
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
3 lb. fresh button mushrooms, sliced
6 roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped or 13 oz. canned, diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk (or 1 cup milk and 1 cup half and half)
4 oz grated Parmesano Reggiano
2 tsp. salt
pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil then spray with oil. Slice the potatoes thinly and place on baking sheets, sprinkle with salt. Bake 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter in a large frying pan. Simmwe the onions and mushrooms until translucent. Add spices, mushrooms, tomatoes, sugar and wine and cook over low heat 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add salt and pepper to taste.
FOR BECHAMEL SAUCE: In a saucepan, melt the remaining 4 Tbsp. of butter and add flour, whisking together. Whisk in the milk (or milk and half and half mixture for a richer flavor) and cook on low until the sauce thickens. Add 2 oz. of the Parmesan and the salt, whisk until the cheese melts. Taste and add more salt if desired.
In a rectangular baking dish, spray bottom and sides with oil, then spread half the mushroom mixture on the bottom. Most of the liquid should have cooked out, if not, use a slotted spoon to transfer the mushroom mixture. Cover with a layer of the potato, then spread the last half of the mushroom mixture on top. Carefully pour the
bechamel sauce, it should pour in a ribbon from the side of the saucepan. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Serves 8.

A good wine to pair with this recipe is the 2005 Chateau Le Pape Bordeaux from Pessac-Leognan, France.

In praise of vegetable gardens:
If you love wine, then you probably love good food, too. Just as a great Bordeaux starts with the perfect grapes, so your great meal starts with the best ingredients. No store bought produce tastes as good as home-grown. Plus, we're all looking to save money in this tough economy, so just as the 375 ml. bottles of Bordeaux gives us a way to have benchmark wines without busting the bank, planting a vegetable garden saves on our grocery bills.

These potatoes were grown in the ground, but with the "no dig" method that can be used to grow vegetables in pots, old tires, even plastic trash bags! Here's the secret: line your trash bag or 1' deep hole in your garden with 10-20 layers of newspaper, spread a layer of hay on top, sprinkle a mixture of blood meal and bone meal over the hay, then 8" of potting soil. Plant your veggies and you'll find you need very little watering to grow happy plants. The newspaper keeps in the moisture and once the roots hit the blood and bone meal, the vegetables really take off! For potatoes, use mostly hay to fill your container, sprinkle with potting soil and use tomato cages to keep the hay from blowing away. The potatoes will be easy to harvest from the hay--no digging!
Notes on Bordeaux:
The name Bordeaux denotes the famed French wine-making appellation bordering the Garonne and the Dordogne rivers. Varietals permitted for a Bordeaux blend are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec (though I believe Château Clerc Milon still is permitted to use the Carmenere grape as well). The top vintages are said to be: 1982 - 1990 - 2000 - 2005. Lucky for us all of this week's special Bordeaux sale are 2005! Here's what Robert Parker, Jr. had to say about the 2005 Bordeaux: “Tasting 2005 Bordeaux from the bottle, many of them three or four times, confirmed that this is the greatest vintage produced during my 30-year career.” Robert M. Parker, Jr., The Wine Advocate, Issue 176