Chateau La Bourree Castillon 2009 Cotes de Bordeaux

A goodie. The story of this wine, according to the wine merchant at the English Market, is that the vintner grows the grapes for it on his property but part of his property falls outside the D.O.C. zone for one of grape varieties, so the wine costs half what it would if he just made it from the grapes on the D.O.C. side of the estate.

Stuffing

Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup finely chopped leek
* 1/2 cup chopped celery
* 1/3 cup butter
* 4 cups french bread cubes (about two small baguettes)
* 1/8 teaspoon pepper
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
* 1/4 to 1/2 thyme
* veg broth

Preparation:
Sauté leek and celery in the butter until softened. Combine leek mixture with bread, pepper, eggs, salt, sage and thyme in a large mixing bowl. Stir in broth until well moistened. Bake in a greased covered shallow casserole at 325° for about 35 to 45 minutes. Take the cover off the last 5 minutes to brown.

(The three of us devoured this amount of stuffing in one sitting. Granted, it was Thanksgiving, but in the future make at least double this amount so we have some leftover.)

Gingerbread Cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp (freshly) ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and black pepper, if using.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in molasses, water and vanilla, then gradually add in flour mixture until a smooth dough forms. Divide dough into two or three pieces (dough will be quite soft), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until firm.
Preheat oven to 375F.

For softer cookies:
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to just under 1/4 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters of your choice (2-3″ gingerbread men are ideal!) to cut dough. Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on size of cookie cutter. Cookies should be slightly firm to the touch at the edges. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For crispier cookies:
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to just under 1/8 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters of your choice (2-3″ gingerbread men are ideal!) to cut dough. Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on size of cookie cutter. Cookies should be slightly firm to the touch at the edges and will be lightly browned. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
When cool, decorate with lemon icing (recipe below).
Makes about 30-40 gingerbread men, depending on size of cookie cutters used and whether you make them thick or thin.

Lemon Icing
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tbsp tsp lemon juice

In a small bowl combine powdered sugar and lemon juice. Substitute milk or cream plus 1 tsp lemon extract, if no fresh lemon juice is available. Add enough lemon juice to make the icing thick and pourable, but not runny (start with 1-2 tbsp and add more if necessary. You can always add a bit of extra sugar to thicken it if you add too much) and stir until very smooth. Scrape into piping bag with a fine tip or a ziploc bag with a corner cut off and pipe onto cooled cookies. Allow to set for at least 30 minutes, until firm, before storing cookies in an airtight container.