2020 Franck Chavy, Beaujolais Blanc + Sur Lie’s Lobster Popovers
For this month's wine club chef recipe we got together with “Shef” Mimi Weissenborn of Sur Lie for a lesson in delicate decadence. When you try this 2020 Frank Chavy Beaujolais Blanc you will be floored by how complex the chardonnay grape can be when grown in its home region and treated with reverence. The same can be said for Mimi’s Lobster Popover. This pairing is beautiful. This Beaujolais Blanc has a richness of fruit—preserved and salted lemons, ripe yellow apples, and pears. With salty minerality, buttery tones, and oak aging influence, fullness in body and ample acidity. It is a symphony all on its own, but when paired with Mimis standout Lobster popover with beurre monte, It becomes an opera.
The wine and the popover both have a sense of place. This Beaujolais Blanc is exactly how the Chardonnay grape was meant to taste when grown in the right place and this dish is a perfect example of how Maine cuisine can be elevated past grandma's cooking. While Chef Mimi is not originally from Maine, she has certainly embraced the local cuisine and created a dish that celebrates the flavors of the region. The lobster popover is an elevated version of a classic Maine baked good with the addition of Lobster and beurre monte to take it to another level. The salty preserved lemon and butter notes, and perfectly balanced acidity appear in both the dish and the wine, creating a chemistry that elevates this pairing to a remarkable wine and food experience. We're confident that once you try this dish and wine pairing, you'll want to make it over and over again.
Working with Chef Mimi was a pleasure, and her food was absolutely delicious. Although a new face in the Portland food scene, her background and experience in the restaurant industry is impressive. She recently moved to Portland from New York City after a tough COVID year, which included her having to give up the restaurant she was in the midst of opening. Since then she has become the new executive chef at not one but two restaurants both with impressive menus, Sur Lie in Portland, and Gather in Yarmouth.
In conclusion, this month's Wine Club Chef Pairing is not to be missed. The Lobster Popover with Beurre Monte by Chef Mimi Weissenborn is a remarkable dish that celebrates the flavors of Maine, while the 2020 Domaine Franck Chavy Beaujolais Blanc is a perfect complement to the dish. The pairing is a lesson in balance and restraint, and the result is a fantastic option to a traditional lobster roll. If you haven't tried this pairing yet, we highly recommend it.
RECIPE:
Lobster Popovers
Yields
6 popovers
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
30 min
Popover INGREDIENTS
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk, lukewarm
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups a.p. flour
3 Tbsp melted butter
Beurre Monte (emulsified butter sauce)
Juice of 1 lemon
6 Tbsp butter, cut into chunks
Lobster
1 cooked & cleaned lobster
Instructions
Making Popovers:
Using a blender, blend eggs, milk, and salt; add flour in increments, blending until smooth; then add the melted butter at the end, blending until frothy. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and place a rack in the bottom third position (to make room for tall popovers and to ensure the tops don’t burn!) and another rack in the top position. Make sure the convection setting or fan is on in the oven
Place a 6-slot popover pan or muffin pan onto a baking sheet, then place on the lower rack of the oven for 2-5 minutes while the oven is preheating.
Spray the hot pan all over (including inside the wells and the outside rim) with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour the rested batter evenly into the muffin slots, almost to the top.
Bake the popovers for 20 minutes without opening the oven door. Reduce the heat to 350°F (again without opening the door), and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until they're tall, have "popped" over the tops of the pan, and are a deep, golden brown.
(Without opening the oven door, check them with the oven light during the last few minutes to make sure they’re not over-browning. If so, quickly open the door and put a cookie sheet on that upper rack to shield the popovers' tops from direct heat.)
Remove them from the oven, let cool
Beurre Monte (Emulsified Butter Sauce)
Bring the lemon to a boil in an appropriate size saucepan.
Reduce the heat to low and begin whisking the butter into the water, bit by bit, to emulsify.
Once you have established the emulsion, you can continue to add pieces of butter until you have the quantity of beurre monté that you need.
Lobster
Heat lobster up by lightly poaching in butter until hot.
Stuff desired amount of lobster into popover.
Place the buerre monte on the bottom of a bowl, place your stuffed popover on top, crack open the beaujolais blanc included in April Wine Club deliveries, and Enjoy!
Mimi Weissenborn | Creative Director & Executive ‘Shef’ of Sur Lie and Gather Restaurant
A native Maryland crab, Shef studied at L’Academie de Cuisine and promptly decided to pursue a culinary career in New York City as a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. As the Creative Director, and later Executive Chef, at Vinateria she received a Michelin recommendation, participated in multiple chef collaborations such as New York City Food & Wine Festival, Harlem Eat Up and a gamut of James Beard Foundation dinners headlining and selling out one of her very own.
Read more about Shef Mimi Weissenborn here.
