A great way to let your valentine know you care is with small, unique gestures. So why not go beyond the traditional flowers and chocolates and surprise your special someone with a romantic cheese platter? Your partner will think the world of you and it only takes minutes to prepare. This platter maximizes pleasure and simplicity, and everything on it can be eaten with a fork. Start off with a Saint-Paulin, a creamy and buttery cheese, and couple it with a salty and savoury Parmesan. Cut both cheeses into cubes and place them on the simplest, most elegant plate you […]
Food & Wine Pairing
Food and wine sites worth visiting
My thanks to following food and wine web sites and blogs that have recently posted the free Drinks Matcher on their sites to keep their visitors coming back for more pairings. Please let me know if you post the Drinks Matcher on your site so I can include you in a future blog post with a link to your site. These sites are well worth visiting, with their wealth of tips, articles and recipes: Everyday Sommelier www.everydaysommelier.ca Wine Love Lust winelovewinelust.com/2011/01/14/natalie-mcleans-food-and-wine-matcher Culinary Thymes www.culinarythymes.com/blog/natalie-macleans-wine-food-matcher Fireside Winery www.firesidewinery.com/products.html Kinkead Ridge Winery www.KinkeadRidge.com/htm/whats_new.htm Saveur Faire www.saveurfaire.net Nickle City Foodie www.nickelcityfoodie.com
Brighten up your winter with food, drinks and friends
The holidays are over and we must now deal with the realities of winter: short days, cold weather and for many of us, no vacation in sight. So let’s create our own holiday by hosting small, intimate gatherings of friends and family. Let’s share laughs and forget about the weather, but let’s keep it simple: use your favourite comfort dish, dress it up with a great appetizer and finish off the meal with a delicious cheese platter. Start off your first dinner party of the new year with a classic dish prepared with a fresh twist: French onion soup with […]
Dry Aged AAA Beef Strip Loin with Warm Asparagus, Crispy Truffle Potato
Makes 4 servings 16 – 20 ounces Dry aged beef strip Loin steaks or roast 20 stalks Asparagus (peeled, blanched & cut, 1 inch pieces) 1.5 lbs Large Yellow or White Potatoes 1 Tbsp Gelatin Powder 2 Tbsp Instant Flour 1 Tbsp Fresh or Preserved Truffles (finely diced) 1.5 Tsp Truffle Oil 1 Tbsp Butter or Olive Oil 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese Beef: Purchase dry aged beef which most butchers carry. Please note: When trimming dry aged beef it is important to remove any exterior tissue that has been exposed to the air because that is the place which […]
Pairing wines and spicy foods
This is a terrific piece on pairing wine with spicy dishes written by my good friend Monica Bhide … There is certainly a noticeable trend in the past few years toward the growth of different ethnic cuisines in the U.S., and wine consumption is also trending up. Combine these and it begs a few questions, such as: What to drink with vindaloo (other than chilled beer)? What to pair with kung pao? How does one pair wine with cilantro? To find the answers to these questions, I turned to Natalie MacLean, editor of a free, award-winning wine newsletter at […]
Veal Roast with Sage and Apple Stuffing
A savoury spiral of succulent veal and bread stuffing makes a deeply flavourful winter meal and an elegant dinner table centerpiece. Ingredients 2 tbsp butter 30 ml 3 stalks celery, chopped 3 1 onion, chopped 1 1 tbsp dried sage 15 ml 1/2 tsp celery seeds 2 ml 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper 1 ml 2 apples, diced (unpeeled) 2 8 cups cubed day-old bread 2 L 3/4 cup dried cranberries 175 ml 5 lb boneless veal breast, trimmed 2.5 kg 1-1/2 cups approx. chicken stock 375 ml Preparation In large skillet, melt butter over medium heat; […]
Holiday wine and cheese party: festive meets simple
During the holidays, some of us feel the need to indulge our loved ones with lavish meals, while others opt for easy but tasty hors d’oeuvres. Here’s an alternative that offers the best of both worlds: a festive wine and cheese party. By matching fine cheeses with bright, sparkling wines you will create a very special event full of holiday magic. Start the celebrations with a bottle of Domaine Rolet Crémant du Jura, a smooth sparkling wine from France, and a colourful Rumball Coonawarra Sparkling Shiraz from Australia. Their aromas of gingerbread (Crémant), blackcurrant and vanilla (Coonawarra) are perfect for […]
Treat your greens to a downpour
We all remember our parents telling us how important it was to eat our vegetables as a child. And if you were staring down at a plate of limp carrots, peas and broccoli, following this command wasn’t always easy. Luckily with this delicate and delicious vinaigrette, getting your fill of leafy greens is much more of a pleasure than a chore. Now there is a palpable difference between a store bought dressing and a homemade one. And by adding Jackson Triggs White Meritage to the recipe, the tastes are immediately taken up a notch. This silver medalist at the […]
Savoury Recipe for Beef and Red Wine Stew
This wonderful recipe comes from Amanda, host and co-producer of The Hot Plate Recipe Author Link: www.thehotplate.net Recipe Author Website: The Hot Plate Recipe: Just the way we like it; rich, meaty and with a healthy dose of wine to round out the flavor. If you don’t have an oven safe pot just slow cook on the stovetop at a very gentle simmer. Stew is an easy dish to prepare if you’re pressed for time or need to feed a crowd because the active time is minimal. ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 lb stewing beef 1 bag pearl onions, […]
Make your Crème Brûlée extra Icy
This delicious dessert is so loved by all that the English, the Spanish and the French all stake claim for its origin. The Spanish have taken credit for this sensuous custard as “crema catalana” since the eighteenth century, while the English claim it originated in seventeenth-century Britain, where it was known as “burnt cream”. It apparently wasn’t until the end of the nineteenth century that common usage of the French translation came into vogue, putting it on the map from Paris to Le Cirque in New York City. Its wide recognition today seems to have given the French credit for […]
