These squidgy double chocolate cookies with toasted macadamias are just the ticket on a grey and chilly day, and even better paired with a glass of mulled wine. We love to infuse our Franc Merlot with Hornby Island Tea’s mulling spices – grab a sachet from the Comox Valley Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings. 2016 Franc Merlot is available at select liquor stores on Vancouver Island, and in the tasting room in December (15th & 16th AND 22nd & 23rd).

INGREDIENTS Makes about 8 large cookies

1 tablespoon milled flax

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup Demerara sugar

1 cup white flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/4 cup dark choc chips

1/4 cup macadamia nuts

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place the nuts in a single layer on a small baking tray and toast for 10-15 minutes until aromatic and just starting to colour. Set aside to cool.
3. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the water, oil, vanilla, sugar and flax. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together with a large spoon.
4. Roughly chop the macadamia nuts and add them to the cookie mix along with the chocolate chips. Mix well.
5. Use slightly wet hands to form the cookie dough into balls (we make 8 pretty large cookies with a single batch). Place the balls on 2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and place in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Rotate the trays once during the bake time. When the cookies are done they will have a slightly cracked surface, but will still look a little squidgy in the centre.
6. Leave the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on their trays before removing them to a wire rack. The cookies will keep for a week in an airtight container.

While cooler days always take a little getting used to, we embrace the opportunity to switch things up in the kitchen. Hearty flavourful dishes are a welcome comfort on chilly autumn evenings. Ribollita epitomizes Tuscan thrift. It’s a truly simple soup that’s stick-to-your-ribs good and naturally plant-based. Its flavours intensify over time, so make your ribollita a day or two in advance for the tastiest result. In Italian, the literal translation is ‘re-boiled’ so Ribollita ain’t ever gonna be a fancy soup. It is however, delicious, nutritious, simple and inexpensive.

We recommend pairing a bowl of hearty ribollita with a glass of 2015 Big Nose Red; a similarly robust blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS Makes enough soup to feed 6 very hungry people

2 medium onions, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

4 cloves of garlic, sliced

3 ribs of celery, roughly chopped

3-4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon tomato concentrate

400g can of chopped tomatoes

250ml vegetable stock

250g can of cannellini (white kidney beans)

2 bay leaves

2-3 all spice berries

4-6 thick slices of stale sourdough bread, torn into chunks (toast the slices if the bread is fresh)

2-3 handfuls of kale leaves, roughly torn

salt and pepper

METHOD

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan. Add the onion, carrot, garlic, and celery and fry over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the tomato concentrate and continue to fry for a minute of two. Next, add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, bay leaves and all spice berries. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat until the soup is simmering gently. Simmer for approximately 30 minutes, uncovered.
2. Add the can of cannellini beans, the kale and the sourdough chunks. Season and stir well. Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes until you have a thick and aromatic soup. When the soup is ready you can either serve it straight away, or chill it for reheating later. Ribollita freezes well and is a great freezer stand-by for cold winter nights.
3. Serve steaming hot, garnished with chopped parsley, olive oil and some thinly sliced red onion.

Mapo Tofu is a punchy but comforting dish from the Sichuan province in China. This recipe is 100% plant based and will go down a treat with a bottle of G’Wurtz. Our 2016 vintage was made in a dry style, but with all of the gingery jasmine and allspice typical of the noble Gewurztraminer variety. It really is an excellent choice to temper a bowl of spicy and pungent Mapo Tofo. This dish takes no time to cook, so as with most Chinese dishes, it really helps to have all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go.

INGREDIENTS Serves 4

1 tsp Sichuan pepper corns

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

5-6 dried shiitake mushroom, rehydrated and finely chopped

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely grated

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tablespoon fermented black beans

1 tablespoon gojuchang, or sambal oelek will work too

500g pack of soft tofu, cut into bite-sized chunks

300ml vegetable stock

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

2 tablespoons rice wine

2 tsp corn starch

METHOD

1. Place a dry wok over a high heat until the wok is very hot. Remove the wok from the heat and add the Sichuan peppercorns. Agitate the pan for 30 seconds until the peppercorns are toasty and aromatic. Set the peppercorns aside.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in the wok over a medium/high heat and add the chopped shiitake. Fry for 5-6 minutes. Set the shiitake aside.
3. Heat the remaining canola oil and the sesame oil in the wok over a medium heat. Add the ginger, garlic and green onions and fry for a minute or two until the mix is bubbly and aromatic. Add the fermented black beans and the gojuchang and mix well, frying for a further 2 minutes.
4. Add the tofu to the wok, along with the vegetable stock, soy sauce, sugar and rice wine. Mix gently and turn up the heat so that the sauce starts to bubble. When the sauce is bubbling, turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered.
5. Mix the cornstarch with 150ml of cold water and pour over the tofu. Mix gently and continue to cook until the sauce thickens (about 2 minutes). 
6. Crush the Sichuan peppercorns and add them to wok , along with the reserved shiitake. Mix well.
7. Serve immediately, garnished with more spring onion, and served alongside some jasmine rice.

Farinata is a kind of thick chickpea pancake hailing from the Liguria region in north west Italy. It is typically cooked in cast iron in blisteringly hot ovens and then served in wedges as a healthy snack or as an ‘aperitivo’. The white wines of the Ligurian coast are crisp and salt whipped – Pigato, Vermentino and Bianchetta are common and thoroughly delicious, with lots of structural acidity and bright fruit aromas. Not too dissimilar from the whites we produce here in the Comox Valley! And so, if an Italian vacation is out of the question, don’t even worry – pick up a bottle of our 2017 Epic and whip up a skillet of farinata. You’ll be glad you did…

INGREDIENTS (makes enough for 6-8 people as a snack)

1 cup of chickpea flour

a really good glug of olive oil (about 4-6 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary

1.5 tsp salt

fresh ground black pepper

METHOD

1.Whisk the chick pea flour with 1 3/4 cups water, then whisk in the salt, rosemary and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Don’t worry – the batter will appear quite runny. Cover the mixture, and set aside at room temperature for at least a couple hours, or ideally overnight.

2. Heat oven to 400°F. Heat 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large cast iron or other oven proof skillet (10-12 inches diameter) over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot, add the batter – take care as it might splatter a bit. Place the skillet in the oven and cook for about 25 to 30 minutes. Check by inserting a knife in the center; if the knife comes out clean, the farinata is cooked. The top should be a blistery, golden colour. You can fire the farinata under the broiler for a minute or two at the end of its cooking time to achieve this effect.

3. Allow the farinata to cool slightly before cutting it into wedges. Top with some freshly ground black pepper and serve drizzled with some more olive oil.

This 100% plant-based ‘quiche’ is made with chickpea, or gram flour. It’s a favourite of ours at Beaufort because it’s simple, satisfying and really tasty. It pairs perfectly with 2017 Pinot Gris – a 100% Island-grown single varietal. A short stint on Ortega lees in Hungarian oak barrels creates a round finish, albeit with a bright and punchy zing to compliment the savoury flavours in the ‘quiche’.

You will need enough pastry to fill a 20cm pie case. Blind bake the pie crust at 370F for about 10 minutes, or until the edges of the crust are just starting to golden. Set it aside ready for filling.

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 small onion, finely sliced

3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and finely sliced

2 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1 cup chickpea flour

2.5 cups water

1/4 tsp turmeric

1.5 tsp salt

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

black pepper

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to 370F. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add onion. Fry for 3 minutes over a med heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Add the shiitake mushrooms and fry for another 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat, and sprinkle over the thyme leaves. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the chickpea flour with 1 cup of the water (cold), the salt, pepper, turmeric and nutritional yeast. Whisk to ensure there are no lumps. Set aside.
3. Bring the remaining 1.5 cups of water to the boil in a saucepan. When boiling, pour in the chickpea batter, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and continue stirring until the batter thickens – this will take about 2 or 3 minutes. Continue to cook over the lowest heat for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly to prevent the chickpea filling from catching on the bottom of the pan.
4. Spoon the mushroom and onion mix into your prepared pie crust and pour over the cooked chickpea filling. Tap the pie case gently against the countertop to evenly distribute the filling. Bake at 370F for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden. Remove from the oven and brush the top with a little olive oil. Allow to cool and set completely before serving. Serve with a big leafy salad and chilled bottle of Pinot Gris.