One of my favourite pairings is something spicy with something sweet and this match worked out beautifully. The 2012 Featherstone Black Sheep Riesling is light, crisp and has some sweetness to it, and that cuts right through the spice of the meat, while the rigid acidity of the wine breaks through the fat. Furthermore, the crisp, fruitiness of the wine paired very well with fresh strawberries. The sweetness and the acidity of the wine played nicely with the acidity and sugars of the fruit, accentuating it. Other wines that would work well would include Rieslings from Mosel, Germany, gewürztraminers, Asti Spumante, Pinot Gris from Alsace, Moscato d’Asti and other semi-sweet wines.
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Whenever you sit down to a nice cut of red meat such as prime rib, you need a strong, robust, tannic red to help elevate the dish. For this meal, I chose one of my favourites and a Mike’s Must Have: the 2010 Lua Nova from Douro, Portugal. It was a great match! The grippy tannins in the wine cut through the protein in the meat with ease and the savoury character of the meat was elevated by the robustness and spiciness of the wine. The wine has a lingering finish that, when interacting with the meat, creates a playful sensation with every bite. Complimented with broccoli florets, spicy horseradish and beans, this was truly a great match. Other wines that would work include Bordeaux Red, a full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon or a Brunello Di Montalcino.
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If you live in Ontario, Canada you have the luxury of walking into an LCBO and picking up a copy of the Food and Drink magazine, that is filled with great wine recommendations and delicious recipes. This month, they released a “What’s for Dinner?” magazine, click here to check out the magazine. While flipping through the pages I found myself wanting to make all the recipes, the first one that caught my eye was the Fancy Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower and Chorizo. My girlfriend and I decided to pair it with the 2012 Firesteed Pinot Gris from Oregon, see review here. I highly recommend the pairing as the wine played nicely with the spicy chorizo and saltiness of the cheese. This meal was an interesting take on mac and cheese, I would recommend trying out the recipe for yourself.
Now onto the recipe.
Pair with a nice medium bodied Pinot Gris like we did, or a Sauvignon Blanc to play with the buttery flavours of the dish.
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. cold unsalted butter
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
2 cups shredded old cheddar cheese
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
3/4 cup diced cured chorizo
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil
Finely chopped parsley for garnish
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In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta for 5 minutes. Add cauliflower to pot and bring back to boil. Cook until pasta is al dente and cauliflower is just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain well and return to pot.
- Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together milk, flour, butter and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, about 4 minutes. Simmer, whisking constantly, until sauce is smooth and has thickened slightly, about 2 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from heat and stir in cheddar until melted. Whisk in mustard.
- Add sauce and chorizo to pasta and stir gently. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and then spoon mixture into a greased 10-cup baking dish.
- In a small bowl, stir together bread crumbs, Parmesan and oil. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over pasta. Bake, uncovered, until bully and browned about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.
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Lobster Mash
A heavy albeit exquisite appetizer we constructed was the garlic lobster mashed potatoes paired with a glass of chilled Charles & Charles Chardonnay from Washington State. The mashed potatoes are quite simple. You simply take some lobster meat and saute it in garlic and butter. Boil 2-4 peeled potatoes until soft and then proceed to mash until potatoes are almost creamy. Mix in the garlic lobster as well as some goat cheese and mix well. Sprinkle with chives. Serve hot.
The wine’s smooth, buttery and creamy texture really highlited the richness of the dish while the acidity and buttery flavours of the wine played nicely with the lobster and garlic butter. Highly recommended!
Iced Cider
An absolute delicious treat that we had for dessert the other night was the iced apple cider from Pomme de Coeure from Quebec with some fresh apple slices and apple crumble. The apple slices were dusted with brown sugar and cinnamon and, mixed with the apple, formed a cacaphony of delicious flavours. Very sweet, but hard to resist!
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