Wine & Country Living

While visiting wineries along the North Coast this week, I had the fortune to dine with friends in Mendocino, who served a wonderful Chicken Tandoori. I love this dish and always thought I needed to have a Tandoori pot to make it in.

I guess figuratively speaking, you do. But back home I experimented, and I am happy to say, a good Tandooristyled dish can be made using the correct spices and by keeping the chicken moist throughout the cooking time without the specialty pot.

Back on the coast: While driving to my friend's home for dinner, I stopped at Charlie Barra's Winery. Barra Winery has a great selection of long-established coastal wines. I picked an Organic 2006 Sangiovese red to pair with the evening dinner.

As I imagined, it was a smashingly good pairing with Tandoori. Barra's Sango is lush with exotics, floating sandalwood smoke, clove and raspberries.

I delivered a dish of Tandoori Chicken to Charlie on the way back to the hotel, and he called the next day to tell me he wanted me to write a cookbook for his wine-tasting room. I guess I should feed you winemakers more often!

Barra has been on the coast growing grapes and making wine for the better part of 65 years. His vineyards have the privilege of butting heads with coastal winds, dampness and even an occasional Garcia River flooding. While most vineyards never see anything like this and claim it would certainly ruin them if they did, the Barra vineyards are healthy, happy and producing merrily on the coast in Mendocino County.

But, it's that exotic lingering sandalwood thing at the back of your tongue that gets drinkers of this wine every time and earns winemaker Charlie Barra 98 points from Wine and Country Living.

Congratulations to Charlie Barra and staff, I will see you again in September, cookbook in hand!

Braised Tandoori Spiced Chicken

Serves 4

2-teaspoons each:

ground ginger, cumin, coriander, garlic granules,

paprika, turmeric, cayenne and salt

Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, whisk spices until well blended. Rub chicken parts with spices and rest at room temperature for one hour. Proceed with braising in 4-tablespoons olive oil, 1-bay leaf, 1-chopped yellow onion and ¼-cup cooking sherry for 12-minutes, then place pot with lid in oven for 45-minutes. Spoon chicken and juices over warm basmati rice and seasonal roasted vegetables.

Hear Judith Speak! @www.chefjudithhenderson.com