But the food version, from a Food 52 recipe, are little pillows of beef, cheese, and butter love. They became the epitome of comfort food in our house a couple of years ago and have continued to satisfy at the same level they did the first time.
Served with an arugula salad, to mitigate the hand pie fat parade on display, this meal also finds good use for the glut of red wine we have hanging around, bought on a whim, and left to merely to bring color to the dining room as they sit in the wine racks.
But with this meal, as I plow through The Wine Bible, a hands-on (or mouth-on...that sounds sexual as well) understanding of wines we NEVER drink seems like the right thing to do. Like pricier Napa Cabs. Never liked them in a broad sense. Don't crave them. Don't eat food that goes with them. So when would we have drunk them? Tell me? I'm asking.
For $50 at Trader Joe's, the 2014 Heitz Cellars Napa Valley might change our tune. All the signature cabernet notes of currants, licorice, and herbs, just done with a relative quietness. balance, and poise needed from so many other Napa cabs. Tasted like a favorite fall coat that's gone in and out of style a dozen times, and now just looks and feels classic. Its medium length would be its only knock. I wanted the prettiness to continue a tick longer. But it's a great price for old-style, beautifully done Napa cabernet where you can taste what Napa was instead of what it currently is.
Happy combo. A plusher syrah/shiraz or juicy grenache might have extended the decadence of New Zealand hand pies, but we'd do this pairing again.
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