Behind the Vines

Food & Wine Pairing Class a Hit!

by Farley on March 20th, 2008

Picture me last night: exhilerated and exhausted.  The fourth wine seminar at work went really well. After picking out the pairings a couple weeks ago, I hadn’t had much time to work on it with Open House and BK’s mom visiting and other things, such as a BevMo shopping spree.  So I really put my nose to the grindstone on Tuesday, including the purchase of all kinds of goodies to cook up.  I even experimented that night with different preparations of baked apples to go with the Preston Vineyard Marsanne. (That night I even dreamt about apples and Marsanne–talk about working overtime.) Since I always get apple, pear, citrus, nutty characteristics, and creaminess in the glass, I ended up sauteing the apples in butter with cinnamon, lemon juice, and pine nuts, then deglazing the pan with the wine itself and a little more butter.  I also had the class try the wine with apples without the final topping of sauce, and they agreed it did not go as well.

 Round 2: My first time to cook tofu and first time to make peanut sauce.  The tofu marinated all day in tamari sauce, sesame oil, and a splash of the peanut sauce that included coconut milk, peanut butter, lime juice, garlic, curry powder, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper. I then grilled the tofu and finished it in the pan, with a side of sauce.  We had the class try the Rust Ridge Chardonnay at first, crisply clean with lime and apple, but then wowed them with the Kathy’s Cuvee Viognier: full of peach, pineapple, citrus, coconut, and apricots.  It matched the sweetness of the sauce as well as tempered the slight spiciness.

Third pairing was a great hit.  BBQ chicken pizza with the 2005 Planchon Vineyard Zinfandel.  The pizza was dough from Trader Joe’s spread out on a pizza stone and then topped with a light layer of BBQ sauce, also from TJ’s.  I had a couple chicken breasts marinating all day in salt, pepper, chili powder, a spoonful of BBQ sauce, and a dash of liquid smoke that then went on the grill.  Earlier, I had carmelized a big pan of red onions.  When all was chopped and assembled, along with sweet corn and mozzarella, the two pies went into the oven (450) for about 20 minutes.  The smokiness of the sauce matched that in the wine, and the sweetness of the onions and corn complimented the sweet fruit in the glass. Oh, yum. Many people wanted seconds or at least the recipe.

The final round was another comparison.  I had marinated two flank steaks all day in homemade teriyaki sauce and lots of black pepper.  Once those came of the grill, they rested in their own juices, only to be sliced up right before serving.  First, the class tasted the Contra Costa Zinfandel, a fine wine for some foods, but maybe a little light for the flavors going on.  The 2005 Lyons Reserve Zinfandel, however, was a match made in heaven.  I chose this one because I often describe it as “A kitchen experiment with the dehydrator:
peppered beef jerky, teriyaki jerky, dried cranberries and currants” or some such bit.  Everyone raved, and a show of hands indicated their agreement that it was the far superior pairing.

I think part of the fun was showing people an okay pairing and then a great one.  Because as I told them, you can go around drinking wine and eating food and not thinking too much about it.  But why?  When you can have good food made even better by good wine, and vice versa.  It’s all about flavors and balance.  So open some bottles and experiment! 

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POSTED IN: Rosenblum Cellars, especially good meals