Pecan Paté

What dishes pair best with wine? We vote for ones loaded with meaty, savory, umami. Now one of the official “tastes,” it literally means “essence of deliciousness” in its original Japanese. With their own savory flavors, red wines particularly love pairing with umami-rich foods–like, for example, our rich, creamy, savory Pecan Paté.

Try our utterly delicious Pecan Paté for an easy-to-make vegan appetizer that’s best if prepared in advance. A perennial favorite with the Urban Legend wine club, it’s a perfect complement to virtually any wine. Adapted from a recipe from Outpost Natural Foods (outpost.coop)

Orange Almond Cake

In the dead of winter (or what passes for it in California), nothing brings the sunshine back more than citrus. As a winter treat, Steve created this delicious cake for oranges or a mix of orange with other citrus. It’s reminiscent of Middle Eastern or northern African recipes. It can be iced (we used a simple cream cheese icing), glazed with either a cooked juice/sugar syrup or marmalade, dollopped with whipped cream, or sprinkled with chopped nuts or powdered sugar—or some combination of all.

Yes, you read the recipe correctly: use WHOLE fruit. After all, some of the most intense aroma is in the rind, and boiling removes the intense bitterness of the white pith, leaving a pleasant “edge”—almost like the flavor of an Italian aperitivo. Depending on your combination of citrus you may want to adjust the amount of sugar you use; tangerines or blood oranges may require more than a typical navel orange. If seeds are present, remember to remove them before processing the fruit after boiling.

This cake pairs beautifully with Urban Legend’s Aglow, an orange dessert wine. There’s a bit of that edge with it, too—it’s not too sweet and has notes of baking spice from fermenting the grapes with the skins and seeds (just like a red) rather than just fermenting juice.