Sip Quips

After a long day, sometimes you just want easy food. The other evening, I was beat, I was starving, it was 6:45, my husband was just getting home from work, and I hadn’t even considered what to fix for dinner. Appetizers to the rescue!

We had a bit of smoked salmon leftover from one of our favorite Jamie Oliver recipes, some horseradish cream, leftover bread – so smoked salmon crostinis seemed a natural extension. The abundance of radishes quickly taking over our veggie drawer, and a recipe that my hubby emailed me from the kitchn and dinner was rapidly taking shape.

We toasted off thin slices of yummy bread, topped them with a little smoked salmon, a dollop of horseradish cream, and a sprinkle of dill and we had one facet of our appetizer dinner. For the other half of the schizophrenic meal, I sliced radishes, spread a little Laughing Cow cheese on top (as we didn’t have any cream cheese – but work with what you’ve got I say!), and cut some garden fresh chives over the top. Naturally, a bottle of bubbly was popped to celebrate an instantaneous appetizer feast, and because it seemed like a great choice for both the salmon and the radishes.

The meal was perfect! Quick, easy, satisfying, and absolutely delicious. In fact, we loved the radishes so much that I have fixed them three out of the past four nights. Somehow, I don’t foresee us having trouble using up our radishes any longer. I love finding new favorite things!

Things have been rather busy around our house recently. We did some serious spring cleaning, both of the house and the wine cellar. To really do the wine cellar justice it was necessary to bottle our homemade wine – a Pinot Noir and a blush of Pinot Noir. Since we don’t have all of the required bottling equipment, we have to rent it, and as this seems to be the height of bottling season for home winemakers, the only time we could rent the equipment was mid-week. Yuck!

So, after my husband got home from work we needed to go through the whole process of bottling. We tasted all of the carboys of wine, to be sure that all of the wine was good prior to bottling. Then came the process of setting up a ‘bottling line,’ a big fermenter (aka giant food-grade plastic bucket), stacked on top of another fermenter so that we could get a gravity siphon going. After filling all eight cases of bottles individually, it was then time to cork them. Individually. It’s a long process, but we were much better, cleaner, faster than our last experience with bottling. 

As we started this whole process at about 6:30, we had to incorporate dinner into the middle of the bottling process. The remaining vegetables from last weeks veggie share pick-up dictated that we have a stir-fry with green beans, oyster mushrooms, and scallions. Since we were in the heat of bottling our Pinot when we stopped for our dinner break, it made sense to celebrate the occasion with a glass of Pinot Noir, and it was perfectly awful? But at the same time I wouldn’t have wanted any other wine – it was perfect, in its own weird way.

The spicy, Sriracha heavy stir-fry was not even close to the right food for our Pinot, which is highly acidic, and has bright raspberry fruit. Its our favorite stir-fry recipe and the Pinot is the best wine that we have made by far. Even though the wine was awful with the food, it was a perfect meal because of the situation. Sometimes the best match is the food that you want and the wine that you want, compatibility be damned!

Aaah…strawberry season. That perfect time of year when the full flavor of summer gets parceled up in perfect little heart-shaped packages. Farmer Tom, of my veggie share, is keeping me well stocked with these little bites of happiness. So much so, in fact, that I am having to find ways to use all of them each week (we are currently getting 6-8 pints of strawberries per week. So it’s sliced strawberries at breakfast, strawberry smoothies, strawberry tarts, fresh strawberries for dessert, and strawberries on my salad.

Last night I whipped up a little salad to accompany the pizza that my husband was bringing home for dinner – aah, pizza night – a welcome respite from kitchen duties, and tasty too! Working with what we had on hand I pulled out some strawberries, some sort of beautiful, curly, red-leafed lettuce, now for the dressing. I immediately thought of the classic Italian combo of strawberries and balsamic and proceeded to make a little vinaigrette (drizzle olive oil over the greens, toss, drizzle balsamic over the greens, toss – come on it’s pizza night – let’s not get too fussy). I riffled through the fridge and rustled up some goat cheese. Perhaps not the best salad to accompany pizza, but a darn tasty one none the less. 

 Now on to the wine. What do we have that will complement both pizza, and my tasty salad? I looked over the Italian wines we have, but nothing ticked my fancy. Something French? Nah, although thinking of the expression of a Frenchman when told I was drinking their fine wine with American-Italian food did make me chuckle. What to drink? What to drink?

My eyes drifted towards the remains of a case of a 2000 California Cab Sauv that I got a great price on, and I stopped looking. The older Cabernet would be nice with the pizza, as most reds are, and would be mellow enough not to blow away the salad. 

It was delicious! The softer fruit flavors of an older Cab were delicious with the fruity sweetness of the balsamic, and really pretty against the fresh, bright strawberry flavor. Even if the two parts of the meal didn’t necessarily go together too well, at least the wine was great with both of them – so in the end it all made sense. I do love that a good pairing can bring sanity to a schizophrenic meal!

We just watched the first of the Indiana Jones movies, and I realized that I forgot a genius wine pairing in my last post, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark with, wait for it, Ravenswood Zinfandel. Not only is there the illusive Professor Ravenswood, Indy’s mentor, and Marion Ravenswood, but honestly – could you get a more perfect wine than one whose tag line is ‘No Wimpy Wines,’ if an Indiana Jones movie is the feature presentation?

Of course, any thought about dinner and a movie gets the old hamster wheel turning and I inevitably come up with one or two more thoughts on the subject. If you are watching a Cheech and Chong flick, and choose to keep your mind-altering substances legal – there’s always Absinthe! It’s green, it’s reputed to get you quite high, and it is, as of recently, legal.  

Another thought – Hoosiers with Hangtime Syrah, come on… basketball, hang time? It’s delightfully cheesy and more than a bit contrived. 

I can’t believe I missed this one the first time around – Silence of the Lambs with a nice Chianti ffptf..ffpth..ftphf..fftthpht. Perhaps some fava beans too, if you are willing to go that far, or if you, like me, can’t get enough fava beans. 

This will likely become an ongoing series, and I’d love to hear your suggestions. After all, who doesn’t love a good, cheap date night?

Last night I decided to test out a couple of wine pairings I had been contemplating - carrot ginger soup with Viognier and a nice ‘vegetarian’ lentils with bacon (bacon is a vegetable, at least in my world it is) with a Rhône style blend. My thought was that the aromatic nature of the carrot ginger soup would pair nicely with the floral components of the Viognier and the earthy/smoky flavors of the lentils would be perfect against the rustic Grenache and Syrah. It turned out that both pairings were scrumptious, but since I had two wines open and two distinct dishes I decided to try each wine with the other dish – and may I say that was a move for experienced professionals only, please do not try at home.

It wasn’t so much that the other pairings were bad, which they were, it was that they were opposite flavors and it ended up amplifying all of the wrong characteristics. The Viognier lost it’s delicacy against the hearty lentils and ended up tasting overly perfumey, and the Grenache/Syrah ended up taking on a muddy or dirt characteristic against the aromatic ginger in the soup. I didn’t think that the other pairings were going to be good, but I didn’t realize just how bad they were going to be either. 

I typically take wine pairings for granted – I’ve been thinking about wine and food together for so long, that it’s almost a second nature to choose wines to complement the flavors of the dish. It had been an awfully long time since I had a truly bad pairing, and tasting it last night I had to scrutinize what went so horribly wrong. I came back to the advice I got about food and wine pairing way back in my first restaurant job – like flavors will always complement unless the flavors are either too similar or too strong. Going back to the Viognier lentil pairing with this advise the answer was clear – the hearty, earthy lentil dish was way too far removed from the ethereal, floral flavors of the Viognier, and vice versa. 

What about the too similar, or too strong part of the pairing theory? This applies to your basic flavor components – sweet, spicy, tart, rich, and bitter. Pairing is all about balance, and you don’t want to go too far in any one of these directions, so here you look to contrasting flavors like a sweet Riesling with a fiery, hot dish, or a soft, smooth Orvieto with a tart Chicken Piccata. In essence you are dampening the strong flavor slightly by finding contrasting  flavors in the wine, rather than amplifying it too far by echoing the flavor in the wine. With that settled, I went back to my original pairings and enjoyed the rest of dinner. It’s fun to play with your food (and wine!).

I think it is really quite fun to work with the restrictions of folks tastes to find a fitting wine for dinner – after all the best guide to pairings is to drink what you like. Finding a wine for my immediate family can prove to be a challenge – my mom likes most whites, roses and a few reds, my dad like only whites and he’s particular (his new favorite is Kim Crawford Unoaked Chardonnay), and my sister and her husband prefer whites and roses that are fruity, but not sweet. You can see how picking a wine to go with a Christmas standing rib roast could be a little tricky, but it’s fun to take the meal, each individual’s tastes, and divine a wine to please all of the palates (including mine). I find that some off my most interesting and fun pairings have come at times when I’m working with strict restrictions and stringent preferences.

I’ve come to learn my family’s tastes so well because it is not uncommon for me to get a phone call from one of them while they are standing in the wine section looking to pick up a bottle for dinner. I always wonder what the other folks in the store think as they dictate the selections into their cell phone, stopping periodically to answer one of my questions about the meal – ‘It looks like they have a rose that’s G-A-R-N-A-C-H-A, and another Mataro. No, just aparagus. French wines? Wait a sec I’ve got to walk across the store. It’s the Alton Brown Dr. Pepper prep. Moulin-a-vent? Like Moulin Rouge? Glazed carrots.’

If you aren’t fortunate enough to have a sommelier on speed dial, first and foremost remember to choose a wine that you enjoy drinking. It may seem obvious, but buying a wine you don’t care for because it is what you’re ’supposed to drink’ is the most frequent mistake people make. If you drink what you like, you’ll always come out ahead. Second, don’t be afraid to try combos that don’t seem to make sense – that’s how I came to learn that Sauv Blanc is excellent with corned beef. And finally, take heart in the fact that nothing truly bad can happen if it’s a crummy pairing. You may not like the food and wine together, but it’s not like this is a ‘red wire or blue wire’ kind of decision. I can assure you that your dinner plate will not explode with the wrong wine selection, so try an Albarino with steak just because you like to roll your ‘R’ when you order it. The only definite rules are to drink what you like and don’t take yourself too seriously.

Let’s face it, food and wine pairing isn’t exactly rocket science. With a little bit of trial and error you’re bound to find combinations that you love. Finding good pairings is something that everyone can, and should, do. All you have to do is look at your food a little bit differently. 

Rather than trust the old adage of white with chicken and fish, red with meat, think about the flavors of the dish as a whole. Coq au Vin is a very different flavor profile than Lemon Pepper Chicken – yet both dishes are supposed to be just delicious with any white wine on the shelf? You have to admit that doesn’t make much sense. Instead of picking up any bottle from the shelf – look for your cues in the dish and match, or complement, those flavors. The rich hearty flavors of  dark meat chicken, braised for hours in red wine – perhaps a red wine would be your best bet, while bright, citrus and spicy lemon chicken call out for something fresh, lively and probably white.

With mildly flavored meats, like chicken, fish, pork, and turkey the preparation and the sauce are more important to the wine pairing than the meat itself. Really hot and spicy sauces call for a lighter white with some acidity and some sweetness to cool the peppery fires – a Riesling, Pinot Blanc or Gewurztraminer all would be lovely. Creamy, or buttery sauces need acidity to cut through the richness – perhaps a PInot Noir or a Sauvignon Blanc. A wine based sauce? Match the wine to the sauce, red with red, and well, you get the point here. 

When you look at the meal as a whole, typically a dominate flavor will naturally step to the forefront and that is what you work with in your pairing. Be mindful of what you are eating and how it’s prepared and have fun with the wines. Dinner is bound to be anything but ordinary if you play with your food, and wine.

There are few things better than a great food and wine pairing. After all, it is what i am always looking for. Last night, I was reminded of one of the things that makes a great pairing – when the food has something that the wine is missing and the wine provides something that the food is lacking. Then you end up with a perfect sum where both the wine and food taste better together than either would without the other.

For dinner last evening it came in the form of a shrimp risotto and an unoaked Chardonnay. The risotto was rich, creamy, and nutty, thanks to the addition of a plethora of freshly grated parmesan. It was delicious and decadent, but on its own it did seem to be missing a certain something (no offense hon – you know I love your risotto).

That certain je ne c’est pas came from a bright, crisp, unoaked Chard by Clos la Chance. The wine was lovely on its own, but it was almost too bright, zesty, and acidic. It needed something to round out those crisp, clean edges. Then, in comes another bite of that luscious, creamy risotto, and wow!

It was perfect! The risotto, on its own, was too rich. The wine, on its own, was a bit too crisp. Though when you have the two together each offered something the other needed, and you end up with something so much more. Call it Gestalt or call it food science – I’ll call it delicious!

Yummy pairing last night, it made me remember how nice a good Brouilly can be! Honestly it was a meal of convenience – the pork chops were in the freezer, I had some turnips and kale that needed to be used soon as we were getting a new CSA delivery, so there’s the basic ingredients for dinner.

I brined the pork chops (thank you Cook’s Illustrated for saving me from dry meats) in a salt/brown sugar/cider vinegar and water solution, then tossed them on the grill pan – or rather the husband did the grilling, our daughter was in need of a change when dinner needed to hit the heat. Then the turnips were steamed with a potato, mashed and finished with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Finally after the kale was boiled for ~ 3 minutes, it went into a hot pan with butter, s & p, and a little balsamic when we (or should I say he) pulled it off the heat. Simple? Yes! Delicious? Definitely!

The wine? A Brouilly from from Pierre Dupond. What is Brouilly, you ask. Well Brouilly is one of the ten Cru villages in Beaujolais. Yes, these are light bodied wines from the same area as those electric labeled Beaujolais Nouveaus you see around Thanksgiving, but the Cru villages are set apart as being the highest quality locations to grow Gamay in all of Beaujolais. 

The wines of Brouilly are light-bodied and packed with bright strawberry and raspberry fruit and a pretty little floral characteristic. It was such a perfect complement to last night’s meal because the simply prepared pork needed a fairly straightforward wine, and the sweetness of the turnips and the balsamic were really nice with the bright, red fruits of the wine. We served the wine with a slight chill, not intentionally, but because I forgot to pull the bottle from under the house until right before dinner, and it was a excellent choice. All in all, better than most restaurant meals, and a heck-of-a-lot cheaper than restaurant meals. Especially since the wine was from our last stock up at the BevMo 5 cent sale, but unfortunately it’s not around this time. It may take a little effort and thought, but we are eating and drinking like the recession has already recessed. 

I know it may sound improbable, after all brussels sprouts are in the cruciferous vegetable family, and we all know what that means – sulfur. Right now you are probably thinking that the funky, sulfury smell of brussels sprouts is going to ruin any wine pairing you might dream up. Well, it certainly does provide a challenge, but all hope of a decent pairing is not lost.

First to the plate, Chardonnay. Now if you are looking to pair a Chardonnay with brussels sprouts you want to look towards the middle of the road. Too acidic, you’ll end up with a wine that tastes overly bitter. Too oaky, you’ll end up accentuating the sulfur component in the tiny cabbages. Too buttery, you’ll end up well drinking a buttery Chard, and that is just never good. Think about a Chard from anywhere in Burgundy that is not Chablis, or a domestic Chard that is toned down on the tropical fruit flavors, because, well, bananas and brussels sprouts, need I really say more.

Next to bat, Cabernet Sauvignon. This works especially well if your brussels sprouts are snuggled up to a big juicy steak. Granted, this is not a pairing for the faint of heart. The tannins of the Cab will stand up to the bold brussels sprouts, but you will be left with a slight bitterness, so if you are sensitive to tannins steer clear of this match-up.

And bating third, Syrah. To really hit it out of the park, cook the brussels sprouts with bacon. Aaah, c’est magnifique!! The bacon with the smoky flavors of the Syrah, the way the softer tannins of the Syrah tone down the bitter component of the sprouts, the way the leafy little cabbages soak up all that bacony goodness it really is true love. Check out the recipe for bacon and brussels sprouts and pop open a bottle of Syrah or Shiraz. Whichever name you call it, it’s going to taste delicious.