Italian Bread Salad with Shrimp

Recipes, Salads, White wine pairings No Responses »
Feb 022010
shrimp salad

Italian Bread Shrimp Salad

This is not your classic Italian Bread salad, where the juices of ripe tomato saturate the bread with flavor. This bread salad doesn’t even have any tomatoes in it! Instead this bread salad was modified to pair with Chardonnay, so the tomatoes were omitted and the bread was lightly toasted.

  • 4 cups crusty Italian bread cut into 1″ cubes
  • 1 TBS regular olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
bread cubes

Bread cubes

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add the whole crushed garlic clove and cook it until golden brown to flavor the oil. Remove the garlic clove. Add the bread cubes to the frying pan. Toss them in the oil to coat. Cook them 3-5 minutes, just enough to lightly brown one or two sides of the bread cubes. You want to have some of the cube still soft enough to absorb the dressing. We are NOT making croutons! Place the bread cubes in a large salad bowl. Continue reading »

Posted by admin at 5:19 am Tagged with: ,

Pork Medallions with Cherry Sauce

Meats, Recipes, Red Wine Pairings No Responses »
Feb 022010

Slightly sweet, this tart cherry sauce is a colorful and flavorful accompaniment to pork.

pork medallions

Pork medallions with cherry sauce

  • 1 (1 1/2 pound) pork tenderloin
  • 2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
  • 3 TBS butter
  • 2 TBS cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 c. unsweetened cranberry juice
  • 2 TBS Dijon mustard
  • 1 c. dried tart cherries
Slice the tenderloin into 1″ slices. Sprinkle the pork with lemon pepper seasoning. Melt the butter in a heavy frying pan. Brown the pork in the melted butter over medium heat. Remove the pork from the frying pan and keep warm. Keep browning all of the pork slices.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, mustard and cranberry juice.  Pour the juice mixture into the frying pan. Using a wooden spoon, stir the crispy brown tidbits from the pan into the juice mixture until it begins to bubble and thicken about two minutes. Add the tart cherries and the pork slices to the pan and cook for five minutes until heated through.
Ladle the cherry sauce over the pork to serve. Serves 4.

Pinot and pork

Pinot, pork and portabello

Wine Pairing

Pinot noir is the classic pairing when it comes to pork and cherry sauce. We paired ours with Patz & Hall 2007 Pinot Noir.
Posted by admin at 12:28 am Tagged with: , ,

Portabello Pieces for Pinot

Appetizers, Recipes, Red Wine Pairings 2 Responses »
Feb 012010

These marinated and grilled portabello mushroom pieces are so delicious, that Ed tries to keep them for his self.  He calls them “Seattle Slugs” just to discourage others from indulging, but it doesn’t do any good. These earthy mushroom morsels are too good to pass up!

portabello

"Seattle Slugs"

  • 2 large portabello mushrooms, in 1/2″ slices
  • 1/3 c. olive oil
  • 3 TBS balsamic vinegar
  • 3 TBS minced red onion
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning

Place the mushroom slices in a shallow pan. Whisk the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Pour the marinade over the mushrooms. Marinade for 1-4 hours, stirring to coat.

Place the mushrooms on a broiler pan and grill 6″ from the element about 5 minutes until the mushrooms begins to brown. Flip the mushrooms and continue grilling the other side another 3-5 minutes.

Serve warm as a side dish or appetizer.

Wine Pairings

This dish was made for Pinot noir, echoing the earthy mushroom notes of the Pinot noir.

Posted by admin at 11:54 pm Tagged with: ,

Succulent Scallop Chowder

Recipes, Soups, White wine pairings No Responses »
Feb 012010

I took a spoonful of this scallop chowder and said WOW! This was the best tasting dish that I have made in a long time. Rich and creamy with layers of flavor, this chowder is elegant and satisfying. The bacon and Swiss cheese really elevate this dish to something special. Easy and fast to make, this is a dish that impresses.

Scallop Chowder

Scallop Chowder

  • 2 strips bacon
  • 1 bunch green onion, minced
  • 1 1/4c. fresh mushrooms, halved and sliced
  • 1 TBS butter
  • 2 TBS  flour
  • 1 c.  whole milk
  • 1/2 cup chardonnay
  • 1 lb bay scallops, rinsed and drained
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
  • 2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
scraping pan

Browning the flour

In a stock pot, brown the bacon. Remove the bacon and set aside. In the remaining bacon grease, sauté the mushrooms and green onions until they just begin to brown. Add the butter to the stock pot. As soon as the butter has melted, add the flour. Stir the flour into the butter and vegetables until it becomes a thick coating and begins to brown.

Add the milk to the stockpot over medium heat until it begins to bubble and thicken. Add the chardonnay to the stock pot, stirring it into the milk-vegetable mixture. Add the drained scallops. Cook over medium heat about 5 minutes until the scallops turn opaque but don’t over cook. Add freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve in soup bowls, sprinkling the Swiss cheese and parsley on top.  Serve with crusty bread to  best enjoy this creamy chowder. Serves 4.

Cheesy chowder

Cheesy Scallop chowder

Wine Pairing

This is a dish for a buttery Chardonnay. We paired it with a Patz & Hill Chardonnay and it was good but I surprised myself by saying that I wished that I had a bigger, buttery Chardonnay for this chowder. I am not usually a fan of that wine style but this is an exception.

Posted by Bean at 11:27 pm Tagged with: , ,

Spicy Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Meats, Recipes, Rosé wine pairings, Sandwiches No Responses »
Jan 252010

I have a serious soft spot for spicy pork dishes. I like pulled pork but most pulled pork sandwiches are a bit too sweet for me. This version of pulled pork has a lighter sauce that seasons and keeps the pork moist but it isn’t goopy and sweet like most recipes.  This version is a good alternative  for people who are monitoring their glucose and carbohydrates. I wouldn’t call this a low-carb dish but it is definitely a lower carb alternative to the classic. The sweetness comes from the apple cider instead of the traditional brown sugar and ketchup. The ketchup in this recipe is minimal. The jalapeno is optional but highly recommended for the color and slight kick that it provides.

pulled pork

Spicy Pulled Pork Sandwich

  • 5-6lb pork shoulder
  • 2 yellow onions, cut into 1/8ths
  • 1 1/2 c. apple cider

Pour 1 cup of the cider into the bottom of a dutch oven. Layer the onion wedges on the bottom of the pot. Rub the spices into the pork shoulder and place it on top of the onions.  Pour the 1/2 c. of apple cider over the pork. Cover the dutch oven and cook for 5 hours at 300º. Ladle the onion and juice over the pork about every 20-30 minutes the last two hours. Strain and remove the cooking liquids. Put the pork and onions to the side. Wipe out the dutch oven in preparation of making the sauce.

  • 1 c. apple cider
  • 1 c. apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 c. sweet and hot stone ground mustard
  • 1/4 c. ketchup
  • 1 TBS paprika
  • 2 tsp cayenne
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 TBS lemon juice
  • 1 fresh jalapeno pepper finely minced (optional) Continue reading »
Posted by admin at 11:05 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Lamb Roast stuffed with Feta, Mushroom and Spinach

Meats, Recipes, Red Wine Pairings No Responses »
Jan 192010

I love lamb but not everyone that I love, loves lamb. Lamb is a rare but treasured treat for me so I usually like to do something a bit special with it. This roast is easy to prepare that looks gorgeous and tastes fantastic.

Stuffed Lamb Roast

Lamb roast

  • Approximately 2 lb boneless lamb roast

Marinade

  • 1 cup dry left over red wine (this recipe is a great way to use up days-old wine!)
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 TBS fresh thyme
  • 2 TBS  fresh rosemary
  • 1 TBS fresh thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
  • 2 tsp Minced garlic
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

*Use fresh herbs if you can for this marinade, it does make a difference. If you only have dried herbs adjust the measurements down and be sure to use a processor to release as much flavor as possible.

Continue reading »

Posted by Bean at 4:21 am Tagged with: , ,

French Onion Soup

Recipes, Red Wine Pairings, Soups, White wine pairings 1 Response »
Jan 182010

Many French Onion soups on the Internet claim to be “authentic” Julia Child recipe. This French Onion soup does not, but it certainly is inspired by Julia Child. Ed is a big fan of the Julia and Julie film and book and Nancy was ecstatic about a French Onion soup pairing at Rover’s at their Julia Child inspired dinner event.  So, when we had a dinner “work” party it was time to make soup!

    French Onion Soup

    French Onion Soup

  • 3lb yellow onions (approximately 6-7 cups thinly sliced) -do NOT use sweet onions for this recipe
  • 1 TBS regular olive oil
  • 2TBS  unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 TBS flour
  • 2 boxes low sodium organic beef broth or 6 cups  homemade beef stock
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 tsp sage, ground
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 1/2 french baquette, sliced into 1/2″ thick slices
  • Olive oil for drizzling
  • 1/2 lb swiss cheese, grated
  • 1/4 lb guyere cheese, grated
  • 1/4 lb parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1/2 raw yellow onion, grated
  • 2-3 TBS brandy
Sliced onions

LOTS of sliced onions!

Thinly slice the onion with a mandoline or food processor. Heat the 1 TBS olive oil and the butter in a heavy stock pot, add the onions to the pot and stir with a sturdy wooden spoon to coat the onion slices with the oil/butter mixture.  Cook the onions over medium-low heat for about 40 minutes or until very tender. Turn up the heat to medium high and add the sugar and salt to the onions.  Stirring frequently with the wooden spoon, cook until the onions caramelize and start to brown. They will reduce in volume by about 25%. Continue reading »

Posted by Bean at 12:17 pm Tagged with: , , , ,
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