Colle Secco Montepulciano D'Abruzzo DOC

This wine is one of favourites. I love it just on its own. Here is what the vintner has to say about it:

Colour: rich ruby red with purplish highlights and rim of garnet
Bouquet: ripe red fruit with spicy touch of leather, tobacco and liquorice
Taste: full-bodied, with a good structure and well-integrated tannins

Food to serve with: flavoured pasta dishes with tomato sauce, roast meats, game, salami, semi-mature and mature cheeses.

http://www.cantinatollo.it/English/Vini_Abruzzesi.htm

I have also had this with pizza and it was great.

For those living in Calgary I buy this at Co-op liquor stores.

Enjoy!

Wine for the Weekend

Having troubles deciding what type of wine to serve with your Thanksgiving meal? Tired of the old white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat rule? Look no further! I have a couple ideas that you may find refreshing:



Pinot Noir

This smooth red will go very well with your bird. It has little tannin and will not overwhelm the taste of your food.



Riesling

A crisp, dry riesling will refresh your palate by cutting through the fatty flavours of a thanksgiving meal. It offers a balance of acidity and sugar that can stand up to stronger flavours.

You're not just serving turkey - think of all the side dishes, or even other meats. Offering both whites and reds to your guests gives them a choice.

Happy Thanksgiving - Enjoy!!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Mmmmmushroooms! This is one of my favourite recipes. It's quick and easy to put together, can be prepared ahead of time and it incorporates many of my favourite ingredients (herbs and wine!!). Plus, everyone loves them. These took me a few tries to get right so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Sarah’s Stuffed Mushrooms
Makes 20

· 1 small onion (yellow, white or sweet), diced
· ½ cup bread crumbs
· ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Asiago cheese
· 100g pancetta, chopped (you can often find this at deli counters, if not use bacon)
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
· 1 tbsp lemon juice (½ to 1 lemon)
· ½ tsp pepper
· 20 large button mushrooms
· 3 tbsp white wine (a Viognier or Sauvignon Blanc is nice)
· 1 tbsp fresh oregano, finely chooped
· 1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 425º.

Clean mushrooms by wiping with a damp paper towel. Gently break out entire stem. Reserve ¼ of the stems, trim off the woody ends and dice. Place mushroom caps gills up on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan. Briefly sauté the pancetta and onions, for about 3 minutes. Add garlic, sauté another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients, including reserved diced mushroom stems.

Once well combined stuff each mushroom so they are heaping.

Bake for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

When it comes time to stuff I generally just use my hands - the ingredients really stick together so you can just mold a little clump of the filling and put it in the mushroom.

I always use Yalumba's Y series Viognier from South Australia for this dish. It's perfect. Enjoy a few stuffed mushrooms with a chilled glass of this great wine and you will have a match made in Heaven. For more information on this wine check it out here, http://www.yalumba.com/vintage.asp?p=154&l=63&v=1965

Enjoy!!

Redeeming Rosé

For a long time now I have been guilty. Guilty of slandering a type of wine that deserves nothing but reverence! Alas, I know I am not alone in thinking that all wines called "rosé" taste like Ernest & Julio Gallo's White Zinfandel. (For those of you who enjoy this wine, I apologize. But really, you MUST do yourself a favour - just keep reading!) In fact, there is a world of great, dry rosés out there. I've read about "Rosados" from an area of Spain called Navarre which are supposed to be fantastic, but have yet to try one myself.

About 2 weeks ago we were looking at wine (I was looking for the perfect white to go with my stuffed mushrooms - a Viognier from Australia turned out to be perfect) and I was approached by a gentleman working there asking if I needed help. Well, actually, first he stopped to comment on the beer I was holding - Kronenbourg 1664- a really great French beer.
Anyways, we then started talking about a number of wines. After he finished telling me one of my favourite wines tasted like tap water (well la-di-da!) he proceeded to tell Percy and I about rosés. He simply couldn't believe that we had yet to enjoy a rosé in the summer heat, especially when dining al fresco. In fact, he told us a story about this man (a vintner maybe?) that he had spoken with while visiting Bordeaux. Apparently it is practically sacrilege to drink white wine if you are Bordelaise. So, what's the next best thing?? "Le rosé naturellement!" And of course this was all delivered in a great mock French accent. However, that's not the end of the story....he then brought us over to the US section and showed us a rosé that was almost $20 cheaper than usual. Apparently, and this brings this article full circle, in the southern states rosé has a bad rep due to White Zin and so it can be hard to sell rosés at full price. Well, after tasting this wine that suits me just fine:

Kendall-Jackson
Grand Reserve 2006 Rosé Wine
California

Check out your liquor store or wine market for this one. In Calgary I found it at Willowpark. I don't know if it's still on for $11 (rather than $30) but it's worth every penny, either way.

So - hide from the sun no more! When you're armed with a refreshing glass of rosé you can handle the heat. And if you don't believe me, go to Willowpark and ask my wine guy - he'll tell ya! Unless of course you think the Bordelaise don't know their wine.......

Pairing rosé with food is easy according to my wine guy. Since the response "anything" is not good enough for me, I did a search:

Pair rosé with:

• pizza (yes!)
• rich patés
• tomato seafood sauces
• pork
• roast turkey (what a nice change for Thanksgiving and Christmas!)
• tuna, shellfish, shrimp
• salads
• vegetarian casseroles

Thanks to nataliemaclean.com for this information. Natalie also has a great new-ish book out: "Red, white, and drunk all over. Check it out, it will make you jealous, and impassioned.

p.s. I'm about to leave for Northwestern Ontario to visit with my family on the lake. I will return August 14th - check back then for more! I think I'll share a favourite family recipe from the cabin.

From Camp Cookin' to Wine

Part 1

Tomorrow my boyfriend Percy and I are heading out to Kootenay lake to go camping!! I can't wait! Even on vacation I still love to cook and see tenting as no excuse to stick to hotdogs on sticks (even though they are soo good....drool, Homer Simpson-styles). We have a propane powered portable Coleman grill that we bring with us - it has a flat side and a grill side. With this you can do so much! I also bring along a pot to heat water for coffee (and dishes), using a coffee press, or French press - which, by the way, makes the best coffee! Beyond the barbequeing basics, such as burgers, steaks and other grilled meats, here is a list of things we've used the grill for in the past, that are well, tent-tantilizing!!

• skewer/kabobs - including meat, poultry, veggies.
• eggs and bacon, sausages
• toast
• fish - straight on the grill, or in a foil packet
• corn on the cob
• put a pot on the flat side of the grill, and make anything you can boil or cook in a pot
• garlic bread
• foil packages of potatoes, carrots, onions, etc
• asparagus - straight on the grill
• fried mushroom and onions
• quesadillas
• and my favourite, Pizza:

• buy pre-made pizza crusts, or use pitas
• buy pre-shredded cheese (unless you are super organized and brought a shredder, shred your own!)
• buy pizza sauce from a can or jar
• go to a deli and get shaved dried salami, ham, pepperoni, whatever you like
• any veggies you like
• set the grill as low as it can go
• assemble your pizza and place it on the grill
• tent some foil over top to help warm up the toppings quicker and to melt the cheese - you don't want to burn the bottom of your pizza
• Enjoy!

And I had to share this recipe I found on thecampingsource.com, it's so rad:

Heat a flat rock in the fire, fry 2 slices of bacon on the rock to grease up the rock, then dip a slice of bread in egg and lay it across the crispy bacon ( the bacon should bake onto that side). Brown both sides of the toast. Once toasty lay the bacon side back down on the hot rock, using your knife cut out a small hole in the middle of the toasted bread to form a well. Try not to slice through the bacon, in this well break an egg into it and fry the egg till you like it done, butter the top and add salt n pepper. Serve with warm maple syrup eat it right off the rock no messy plates to clean up. Enjoy adding your own variations.

Isn't that cool? There must be a Brownie badge for that one! I also like the idea of wrapping potatoes in foil and cooking them in the embers of your camp fire.

Please share your favourite camping recipes or ideas. I'll be back on July 8th - till then!

Part 2

Ah, the Okanagan. For any of you who have not had the fabulous opportunity to go visit wineries in the Okanagan, let me tell you - it is great! When we camp on Kootenay we always take one day to go and buy some wine. Everyone there is so incredibly friendly and at almost every turn off there is another winery: http://www.discoverwines.com/wine-map.php - just look at that map!

The Okanagan is nice and hot in the summer, with great swimming, nice people, tonnes of fresh (and cheap!) local fruits and veggies, and of course copious amounts of wine! (My friend Keelin tells me there's a great Perogie place in Kelowna called Cecil's - who doesn't like pedahe?? We also visited a fantastic Greek restaurant in Penticton once called Theo's).

I want to share with you our favourite wineries (so far at least):

• Hester Creek - Trebbiano -- a really special wine. Last year we went to the winery and they were sold out! I swear I almost started crying. However, we went to this really good Indian restaurant in Oliver and they had the Trebbiano on the menu. I asked if they had any bottles left, and they said yes, we have a few. I then asked if it would be possible, please, to buy a bottle from them to take home - they then proceeded to call the winery to see if that was ok and they said yes!! Thank you, thank you, that is kindness for you! (Sure made my year!) Visit their site to see their description: http://www.hestercreek.com/our_wines/wine.php?id=1004. Personally I think the finish exudes a touch of butterscotch, just enough to make you want to drink 6 bottles in a row!
• Dirty Laundry - Riesling -- this is one of the most beautiful wineries I have ever seen! Summerland is a great place to spend some time. This riesling is nice and crisp and perfect chilled on a hot day. Check it out for yourself: http://www.dirtylaundry.ca/wine/riesling.php
• Blasted Church - Pinot Gris -- you can get this one in Calgary!! Now, THAT is exciting! This unique winery is on the banks of gorgeous Skaha lake, and it makes me want to quit my dayjob, make and sell handycrafts for wine, and play tambourine in the sunset - seriously! http://www.blastedchurch.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=10 I know they sell this wine at Centre Street North liquor store, Altadore liquor store and I'm sure many others. It's about $27 dollars and worth every last cent - just make sure you get your own bottle!

Happy sipping, slamming, chugging, or whatever it is you do!