If you were sponsoring a dream dinner contest at a wine shop what would the food & wine pairing be?!
If you were sponsoring a dream dinner contest at a wine shop what would the food & wine pairing be?
Answers: Course No. 1: Appetizer with crab cake - take crab lump and mix with some stuffing and goat cheese and some egg, bake to perfection, nice and toasted, topped with pineapple tomato cilantro salsa. Wine: La Sirena Muscato Azule - light crispy somewhat fruity wine that is not overpowering and complements well with crab and the salsa.
Couse No. 2 : Spinach salad with aged balsamic vinegar reduction (reduce to less than 50 percent of initial volume), then cook that with red onion, topped with 2 strips of turkey bacons and candied pecan. Egg white/york on the side to preference. Wine: Far Niente Chardonnay, a buttery but not overly oaked or overly dried white wine that would complement with the slight bitter spinach and sweet balsamic reduction.
Course No 3: Chilean sea bass, lightly salted and oven baked to make crispy outside but soft inside, then placed in shallow mix of sake/light cilantro/light garlic/sea salt, topped with a small amount of soy sauce/sugar reduction and cut green onion. Wine: either Shea Pinot Noir (light and fruity, not to overpower the fish but will go well with the sake sauce/soysauce) or Caymus Conundrum (which is sweeter, goes well with the sea bass that doesn't have much of a taste but with the sauce would complement well)
Course 4: Lamb shank osso bucco. Take tomato, onion, beans, slight touch of jalapeno, with chicken brorth and bring to broil and remove the tomato crust. Add 1/2 bottle (or more) of cheap cabernet sauvignon. Place a lamb shank, bring to slow broil for at least 2 hours until the fresh falls off. Filter the reduction. On another pen, make mash potato mixed with a touch of garlic, some crawfish tail, and a touch of goat cheese. Serve mash potato at bottom and topped with lamb shank and covered with reduction and possibly some more herb. Alternative, may substitute the lamb reduction with cabernet reduction - take the other half of cab and reduce like there is no tomorrow and use that as a sauce, add with some nuts. Wine: Big Cab from California, like Insignia, Caymus Special Selection, Bob Foley Claret, Mondavi Reserve Cab. Need something really strong to cover the taste.
Course 5: Cream burlee - traditional, with Far Niente Dolce or Pride Mistelle de Viognair. Or Chocolate lava cake completed with Warren's Vintage Port. i would defenetly include some fine aged cheese! no answer, i can't top J's contribution, i also can't stop drooling.