Brenda, Cheers!

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here to view in your web browser.

Published by Bill Kohl and the staff of Harrisburg Hotel Corporation.

A celebration of Food, Wine and Fun from the Hilton Harrisburg and Bricco

Wine & Beverage Reviews:

Romantic Suggestions

A romantic Valentine’s Day is successfully delivered by the following two traditional treats, Chocolate and Champagne! This year add a little twist. Chocolate and red wine can work very well together but only if the chocolate is semi-sweet. Otherwise the sweetness of the dessert will sour the wine. You’ll need a rich, ripe and fruity red to make the match. As a rule, the wine must always be sweeter than or as sweet as the dessert.

An excellent and delightful combination with chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is Banfi “Rosa Regale” Brachetto d’Acqui. Brachetto d’Acqui is a red grape from the Piedmont Region of Italy and is made into a unique red sparkler by Banfi. The wine has fruitiness, crispness and the right natural acidity to balance rich chocolate desserts and keep the palate fresh and clean. Better yet, its festive cranberry color proves to be romantic. Your palate will keep asking for more. It is available in the PLCB Wine and Spirits Shops for about $28.00. Treat your Valentine to this luscious combination.

The art of . . .

food and wine pairing is very subjective, often misunderstood and usually intimidating to most people. For some reason, we worry that our best attempt at gastronomic perfection may be maligned by Daddy Wine Snob who thinks he knows the rules better then you. What are the rules anyway?

The old rules said “white wine with fish, red wine with meat and no wine with salad.” Quite simply, the old rules are a disaster. How would anyone in California survive without wine and salad? So, is there a right and a wrong in the food and wine pairing? Yes, there is. Food and wine are both composed of different molecular components. Some components work well together while others do not. This is food science – chemistry, plain and simple. Can you bend and break the rules? Yes. Once you learn the rules, you can learn how and when to break them.

When matching food and wine, we need to consider three criteria:
• Components
• Flavors
• Textures

We then look for wine and foods with similar components, flavors and textures or those with contrasting components, flavors and textures. There is much more to discus and I could go on for pages but the pairing of similarity or contrast is the most basic tenant of success. We will provide more commentary on this subject in issues to come. 'Til then . . . Cheers!

Save the Date

April 4, Easter Brunch
April 9, Winemaker Dinner, The First Families of Piedmont and Tuscany
April 30, 2010 – Wine of Mendocino & Sonoma Counties

Upcoming News & Events:

Welcome to CHEERS!

Incredibly, it was twenty years ago this year that the Hilton Harrisburg opened and quickly became the hub of hospitality for Harrisburg and the Central Pennsylvania Region. During this time, we have hosted countless charity galas, corporate and association events, entertained presidential candidates, nurtured families in times of joy and sorrow and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities. We have embraced a guiding principle of always maintaining a fanatical commitment to quality. Quality food, quality wine and quality people who delight in providing warm, gracious hospitality.

It has paid dividends. The Golden Sheaf, Harrisburg’s only AAA Four-Diamond rated restaurant has received 19 such awards as well as countless Wine Spectator magazine awards of excellence and is the epicenter of Harrisburg’s wine community, featuring more then 700 wine selections.

Our successful formula allowed us to grow. In 2006 we opened Bricco at Third and Chestnut Streets. At Bricco, we have the unique privilege of training the culinary professionals of the future as a result of our partnership with The Benjamin Olewine III Center for the Study of Culinary Arts and Food Serice Management at Harrisburg Area Community College. Bricco’s staff quickly embraced our tradition of excellence and the restaurant has become highly acclaimed in its own right. In 2009, Bricco received Santé magazine’s award for “Hospitality and Culinary Excellence” rating it the top restaurant in the Northeast Region of the Country and one of only nine restaurants in the United States to receive this recognition.

To help celebrate our twentieth anniversary, we developed this newsletter to showcase all of the promotions and activities that the Harrisburg Hotel Corporation’s restaurants have planned for 2010. We will also provide you with recipes, wine and food pairing tips, information about menu changes and vignettes about our staff. We have an exciting year planned and we look forward to being your first choice for dining and entertainment. After 20 years, we remain . . . "At your service."

Bill Kohl
President
Harrisburg Hotel Corporation

Valentine’s Day Weekend Celebrations

February 12, 13 & 14, 2010

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and this year you have a chance to celebrate all weekend long. Make it a celebration that you won’t soon forget…
Dinner arrangements can be made at one of these fabulous restaurants; The Golden Sheaf, Bricco or Raspberries. Check the link for each restaurants' specific weekend arrangements.
Or, the Hilton Harrisburg is offering the best deal in town for the complete weekend package that is sure to please that special someone. Click here for more details.
We look forward to helping you celebrate.

2010 Winter Winemaker Dinner Series

The Winemaker Dinners Series of themed dinners throughout the year feature premier wines/wineries and sumptuous cuisine in The Golden Sheaf, Hilton’s AAA Four Diamond Award Winning restaurant.
Up-coming events:

February 26, 2010: The Trapiche High/Low Challenge - With each wonderful Golden Sheaf course you will blind taste two or three wines from the Trapiche collection that represent completely different price ranges. You will record your favorite selections and at the end of the evening your true preference for expensive or cheap wines will be revealed. Click here to preview the menu for the evening.

March 19, 2010: A Salute to the Master of American Winemaking -- André Tchelistcheff - Tim Clark, Wine Educator for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates has had the opportunity to work at many of the wineries for which André consulted. To honor André, Tim will be the host of this dinner which will feature wine selections from many of the wineries for which Mr. Tchelistcheff had influenced. Tim’s knowledge and wit will be in evidence throughout this stunning wine event. Menu information will be posted in future newsletters or on our website at www.hiltonharrisburgdining.com.

All Dinners will be held in The Golden Sheaf
6:30 p.m. Reception – 7:30 p.m. Dinner
For Reservations Call 717.237.6400

Bricco's New Menus

Bricco’s Mediterranean cuisine serves as the gastronomic canvas upon which Pennsylvania products are used to create a culinary masterpiece. Recently, Executive Chef Jason Viscount rolled-out his newest seasonal menus. Click here for a sneak peek of Bricco’s newest lunch, dinner and dessert menus as well as new Happy Hour Specials.

The Hilton Celebrates 20 years in Downtown Harrisburg

In November 1990 the Hilton Harrisburg opened its’ doors and for the past 20 years has been at the forefront of downtown's revitalization. But, the Hilton couldn’t have done it alone. To thank you for your continued patronage and support the Hilton is offering a year full of specials and promotions. We look forward to having you help celebrate 20 years in Harrisburg.
Current Offers:
The Golden Sheaf’s Thursday Night $20.00 Allen Brother’s Prime Steaks.
Raspberries 2 for $20.00 Lunch Buffet, weekdays through February 26, 2010.

Chef's Corner

Portuguese Pork with Clams

What You'll Need:

2-pound boneless pork shoulder or butt, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup dry white wine, or as needed
3 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
5 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 yellow onions, diced
4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 pounds small clams
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Serves 6 to 8

The combination of pork and clams is a signature dish of Alentejo, Portugal. The Alentejo region an hour's drive east of Lisbon. Alentejo is famous for its wines, local cuisine, Roman ruins, castles, and cork oaks.

Method
1. Place the pork in a non-aluminum container and add the 1 cup wine, paprika, bay leaf, cloves, and 3 of the garlic cloves. Toss well to mix evenly, cover, and refrigerate overnight. The next day, drain the pork, reserving the marinade. Pat the meat dry.
2. In a large frying pan over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Working in batches, brown the pork cubes on all sides until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate.
3. In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add the onions and saute until soft, 8-10 minutes. Add the remaining 2 cloves garlic and the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the browned pork to the onion mixture along with the reserved marinade, cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the pork is tender, about 1 hour. Check from time to time and add more wine if the pork threatens to scorch.
4. Add the clams, discarding any that are open or have broken shells, cover, raise the heat to high, and cook until the clams open, about 5 minutes. (Discard any clams that failed to open.)
5. Transfer the pork and clams to a warmed serving dish and sprinkle with the cilantro and parsley. Serve immediately with a loaf of Crispy Bread and a glass of a red wine, such as a Merlot.

Corporate Executive Chef, John Reis
John Reis was born and raised in Portugal. He came to the United States in 1966 at the age of twelve. John started working at age 15 as a cook’s helper in Hartford, Connecticut at the Hotel America. There trained under some of the best Chef’s from Europe, learning all he could from them and was eventually promoted to Executive Chef at the age of 23.
Chef Reis came to Harrisburg in 1990 and opened the Hilton Harrisburg as Executive Chef. In 2000, he became Director of Food and Beverage/ Executive Chef and in 2008 became the Corporate Executive Chef.

You are receiving this email because you have indicated an interest in the Hilton Harrisburg. If you would like to unsubscribe from these mailings, use this link.