This year I wanted to try something different… I’ve been learning so much about wine, I wanted to showcase how it can match and pair with various foods. On the few occasions I’ve eaten tasting menus that pair with a wine, I’m always overwhelmed with how some wines just seem to enhance - synergize - the tasting of foods.

I’ll list a few things we cobbled together to serve.

• cheeses of various textures and flavors
• grapes (sweet, tart)
• nuts (spicy, sweet)
• chocolate (edaname, macademias)
• crab deviled eggs
• assorted crackers
• fire-roasted tomato bruschetta with EVOO
• roasted vegetable salad
• smoked salmon with marscapone and egg yolk
• chicken drumsticks, two ways (Asian flavored: ginger, hoisin-sambal)
• beef tenderloin in cocoa, coffee, porcini crust
• arancini di riso con funghi (fried risotto balls)
• cranberry panettone bread pudding with chocolate and cinnamon crème anglaise

What was interesting in asking someone to bring wine — you don’t know what will appear! I think it was safe to say I found something enjoyable about each selection. I got to try things I might never have gotten on my own. It was very educational, fun, and from my perspective, the food was tasty.

Happy Holidays!

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 21st, 2008 at 4:58 pm and is filed under In the Kitchen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.