Our recipe for Salmon Pesto Pasta features pasta topped with pesto and salmon for a delicious way to enjoy some healthy seafood. You can make it with traditional pesto or our kale pesto recipe. We paired the dish with a white wine from Navarra, Spain. Disclosure: The wine was sent as a complimentary sample.

Salmon gets combined with pesto and pasta a lot in our home.

I often make a big batch of kale pesto on Sunday. Some of that pesto gets tossed with pasta, with some extra saved for a quick meal during the week. I also like that kale pesto on seafood, so will often serve fish alongside my pasta, while offering chicken or pork to Jodi, who is not a fish fan.

Salmon and pesto combine so well I realized I needed to serve our salmon pesto pasta recipe straight up here on Cooking Chat. It’s a regular on our menu, and if you like salmon and pesto, this salmon pesto pasta might quickly become a favorite of yours, too.

Making Salmon Pesto Pasta

Salmon pesto pasta is a very easy meal to put together. You start by making the pesto.

I provide the salmon pesto pasta recipe below using a classic basil pesto recipe. But these days I am making kale pesto more than basil pesto, and using kale pesto for this recipe is definitely a good option.

The recipe below also uses the typical pine nuts. But our home has been nut free for awhile due to food allergies. Pumpkin seeds are a great substitute in order to make a nut free pesto!

Once you get your pesto made, start boiling the water for pasta. I like to do a simple pan sear method for cooking the salmon. Start that about halfway through the pasta cooking time and things will all come together nicely.

Pairing Wine with Salmon Pesto Pasta

Salmon is one of those dishes where the wine pairing can go in different directions depending on the preparation and what you are serving it with.

I often enjoy salmon with a red wine. This Salmon with Mushrooms recipe pairs beautifully with Pinot Noir, and is a great pairing to dispel the notion that you need to always drink white wine with fish.

But when you add zesty pesto to the salmon and wine equation, it’s time to start thinking about a white wine pairing for salmon pesto pasta.

If I’m just having a vegetarian pesto pasta dish, I am going to focus on a crisp white wine, on the lighter side. Sauvignon Blanc is a classic choice for pesto, and I also like Picpoul de Pinet.

But when you combine salmon with pesto pasta, a fuller bodied white wine is needed to stand up to the fish. A white Rhone blend or a number of Italian white wines can do the trick. When I was getting to make salmon pesto pasta again recently, I thought it would be a perfect time to try the white wine from Navarra that had been sent recently.

White Wine from Navarra

For the April Wine Pairing Weekend event, hosted by Gwendolyn at Wine Predator, we are enjoying wines from the Navarra region of Spain. Navarra is located in Northeast Spain, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Lesser known than the adjacent Rioja region, Navarra definitely has a wide range of wines worthy trying. Learn more about the region at the Navarra Wine website.

I was sent to wines to sample from Navarra, and decided to open the 2017 Ochoa Calendas Blanco ($15, 12.5% ABV) with our salmon pesto pasta. The wine is comprised of 50% Chardonnay, 43% Viura, 7% Moscatel. Light straw color in the glass, lemon on the nose. I tasted citrus and seashells, with a nice long finish.

The balance of citrus and round flavors made this a great match for the salmon pesto pasta. The Chardonnay component gives it the body to match the salmon, the Viura I believe brings the crispness that goes with the pesto, and a touch of sweetness from the Moscatel.

The Calendas Blanco also went great with the serrano ham we nibbled on while I was cooking!

What is that Viura grape mentioned in the wine description? Viura is Northern Spain’s term that goes by Macabeo elsewhere. This article suggests Viura can sometimes be bland, but made well it brings a refreshing crispness to the forefront. Clearly that is happening in this bottle from Ochoa.

Bodegas Ochoa, located in the small town of Olite, traces its winemaking roots to 1370, as the wine supplier for the king. The winery has been continuously family owned and operated since 1845. Learn more about Bodegas Ochoa here.

Salmon Pesto Pasta

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Pasta tossed with pesto and salmon for a delicious way to enjoy some healthy seafood. Make with traditional basil pesto as shown below, or use kale pesto if you like.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: main
• Method: mixed
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

For the pesto

• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 cups basil leaves, tightly packed
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese
• 2 tbsp pine nuts*

For the salmon and pasta

• 12 ozs wild salmon fillet
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp fresh rosemary, minced
• 2 tsp champagne vinegar (other light vinegar is OK)
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 12 ozs ziti or other short pasta shape

Instructions

1. Begin boiling water for the pasta.
2. Place the garlic cloves in the food processor, pulse to mince.
3. Add the remaining pesto ingredients–basil, cheese, olive oil and pine nuts–  to the food processor. Puree until all the ingredients combined in a well-integrated sauce. Scrape the sides of the processor to get any chunk of basil or garlic that haven’t been incorporated yet, and briefly puree again. Set the pesto aside.
4. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook based on package instruction timing and testing for doneness. When the pasta is done, toss it immediate with 3 to 4 tablespoons of the pesto. Cover to keep warm while you finish cooking the salmon.
5. As the pasta cooks, begin cooking the salmon. Heat the canola oil on medium high in a nonstick skillet. When the pan is hot, add the salmon skin side down. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes without moving the salmon. After this initial cooking time, carefully turn the salmon over with a spatula.
6. Sear the salmon for 2 more minutes, flesh side down. Turn the salmon back over to the skin side. Depending on the salmon thickness and how you like it, the salmon may be ready now or need 2 more minutes cooking skin side down.
7. When the salmon is done, remove it to a platter. Break the salmon into serving portions.
8. Plate a serving of the pasta, topped with a portion of salmon, and an extra dollop of the pesto. Enjoy with a glass of white wine!

Notes

• I give the traditional pine nuts in the ingredients list, but since our home switched to nut free due to allergies, I now substitute lightly toasted pumpkins seeds. This works very well.
• I make a version of this dish with kale pesto frequently. It’s pretty similar to traditional basil pesto. Get our kale pesto

The post Salmon Pesto Pasta Recipe with White Wine from Navarra appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Salmon with Lemon Olive Relish recipe bursting with Mediterranean flavors. The recipe we provide makes a perfect date night meal for two, but can be easily doubled for more people. This salmon is perfect served with a Vermentino white wine.

When I heard the Italian Food, Wine and Travel blogging group would be focused on Vermentino today, I searched my Cooking Chat archives for pairing ideas. I decided to remake and share this Salmon with Lemon Olive Relish recipe, as a previous version paired well with a Vermentino.

Inspiration for Salmon with Lemon Olive Relish

I can’t take full credit for the Salmon with Lemon Olive Relish recipe. I adapted today’s salmon dish from the cookbook Stir: Mixing It Up In The Italian Tradition, by Boston chef and restaurant owner Barbara Lynch.

Barbara’s recipe taught me the basic approach I use for pan searing salmon, which serves as the basis for recipes like Simple Pan Seared Salmon with Ginger Soy Marinade. With this approach, you get a skillet good and hot, add a bit of oil, and then sear the salmon skin side down for four minutes without moving it. Then you flip it for a couple more minutes on the flesh side, and turn it back over to finish it.

Under ten minutes cooking time and you have some salmon cooked just right! The pan searing makes the outside slightly caramelized and seals in the flavor and juice.

My lemon olive relish is a bit easier to make then Chef Barbara’s recipe, as I simply squeeze some fresh lemon juice into a bowl along with the other ingredients. Her recipe has a process for segmenting the lemon and chopping it up. Tasty but definitely a bit time consuming.

Vermentino and Salmon with Lemon Olive Relish

I opened the Sàrala Vermentino Di Sardegna ($18, 13% ABV) for this #ItalianFWT event. Floral nose, with lemon and melon fruit. Some minerality, with some almond notes. This Vermentino is more full bodied than many Italian white. The body helps make it a good match for the meaty salmon, and that lemon fruit of course goes well with the lemon olive relish. I definitely give the pairing an A!

I also had a side of pasta with red lentils and ginger with the salmon, and that dish also paired well with the Vermentino.

Sardinia is a great source for Vermentino wine. Lemons grow abundantly on the island, with the lemon trees giving fruit four times per year. Seafood is naturally common on Sardinia. While salmon may not be the fish you are likely to eat there, I’d say our Salmon with Lemon Olive Relish served with a Vermentino definitely captures the spirit of the food you might eat in Sardinia.

What is Vermentino wine?

Are you not familiar with Vermentino? It’s worth getting to know! Vermentino is a white wine grape found primarily in Italy. Sardinia is certainly a prime spot for this white wine grape, but you can also find Vermentino in Tuscany, Liguria and other parts of Italy. In Southern France, the Vermentino grape is known as Rolle.

This article on Wine Folly notes there are two different styles of Vermentino, one being rich and creamy and the other crisp and light. The Sàrala Vermentino is definitely on the richer side. The Aragosta Vermentino that I served with this Spaghetti with Garlicky Shrimp shown above is a good example of the lighter, crisp style of Vermentino.

Salmon with Lemon Olive Relish

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Pan seared salmon topped with an easy and tasty lemon olive relish. Recipe serves two, making it a perfect date night meal. You can easily double the recipe for more people.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 8 mins
• Total Time: 13 mins
• Yield: 2 servings
• Category: main
• Method: pan sear
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Ingredients

For the Lemon Olive Relish

• 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp sliced olives
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/3 tsp honey
• 1/3 tsp Champagne vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

For the salmon

• 10 ozs wild salmon fillet, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 tsp canola oil

Instructions

1. Make the relish: combine all of the lemon olive relish ingredients–lemon juice, olive oil, olives, parsley, honey, vinegar– together in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir, and set aside.
2. Heat the canola oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium heat. When the pan is good and hot, add the salmon skin side down in the pan. Cook the fish for 4 minutes without moving it.
3. Use a spatula  to carefully flip the salmon, to cook it flesh side down for 2 more minutes.  Flip the salmon again to cook another 1 or 2 minutes, skin side down. The salmon should be ready for 8 minutes total cooking time, but cut open to check that it is done to your liking.
4. Remove the salmon to a platter and let it rest briefly. Cut the salmon into serving portions, the top with a couple spoonfuls of the lemon olive relish. Pass extra relish at the table. Enjoy!

Notes

• Other white wine vinegar can be substituted for the Champagne vinegar.
• If the salmon skin sticks to pan when flipping, try to place the salmon back on a part of the pan without any of the skin. This doesn’t happen to often cooking the salmon as instructed. It is more likely to stick if you flip it to soon or move it during the initial 4 minutes of cooking.

Vermentino articles from #ItalianFWT bloggers

Join the rest of our Italian crew this Saturday May 5th live on Twitter at 11am ET #ItalianFWT and learn all about vermentino around Italy.  Join in the fun! See you then for a taste of summer.

The post Salmon with Lemon Olive Relish and a Vermentino #ItalianFWT appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Asiago Lemon Spaghetti: Spaghetti tossed with lemon and Asiago cheese for an easy and light pasta dish. We served it with a Greek white wine called Malagousia for today’s Wine Pairing Weekend event.

We are mixing it up with this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend theme! We typically focus on a specific type of wine or perhaps a wine region. But this month, hosted by Lori from Dracaena Wines, we are talking about wines that start with the letter “M”.

Sure, there are some obvious choices here, like Merlot or Malbec. But as someone who relishes trying new wine, I had to go off the beaten path for this one.

The timing was perfect. I had recently sampled some 28 wines at the Grand Pairing event hosted by Pairings Wine & Food. I scoured the list of wines from the event, and landed on the bottle of Malagousia for today’s theme. I paired the wine with Asiago Lemon Spaghetti, which I’ll talk about more shortly.

What is Malagousia wine?

Malagousia is a Greek white wine grape rescued from virtual extinction in the 1970s by a professor from Thessaloniki University, as recounted in this Decanter post. Once only found in a few mountain villages, Malagousia can now be found throughout Greece.

Malagousia can range in style from fresh and delicate to more full-bodied styles when it is barrel vinified.

Asiago Lemon Spaghetti

Each wine poured at the Grand Pairing event I mentioned was offered along with a food pairing, which helped thinking about pairings for the Malagousia wine. This Greek wine was served with Asiago cheese, and I recalled the pairing worked well. So I decided to make a dish featuring the cheese.

The Malagousia features citrus notes, so I thought a simple Asiago Lemon Spaghetti dish would highlight the nuanced flavors of the wine.

Making Asiago Lemon Spaghetti is so simple! Shred the Asiago cheese and assemble the short list of other ingredients as the spaghetti cooks. Drain the spaghetti, toss with the other ingredients, and your Asiago Lemon Spaghetti is on the table!

Malagousia with Asiago Lemon Spaghetti

We opened the 2016 Domaine Zafeirakis Malagousia ($20, 12.5% ABV) to serve with our Asiago Lemon Spaghetti. Briny on the nose, with lemon fruit, floral undertones and notes of salinity. Medium/light bodied white wine.

As you might imagine, the lemony citrus aspects of the taste profile went well with the lemon spaghetti flavor. The salinity works well with the Asiago cheese, making this a nice pairing.I could also see this Malagousia working well with a light seafood dish.

The Zafeiraki Winery is located in region “Palaiomylos” in Tyrnavos. That location didn’t mean much to me until trying this wine! Tyrnavos is a region near the foot of Mount Olympus, in the middle of mainland Greece. I hear a lot about Olympus and such things due to our son’s interest in Greek mythology. Now I have another reason to be interesting in Greek culture–some wonderful new wines to try!

I definitely enjoyed this Malagousia white wine. I think my mother might too, so if there’s another bottle left at the shop I will have to pick it up to share for Mother’s Day tomorrow!

Asiago Lemon Spaghetti

Spaghetti tossed with lemon and Asiago cheese for an easy and light pasta dish. This recipe can serve as a side or a light main course along with a green salad.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 8 mins
• Cook Time: 12 mins
• Total Time: 20 mins
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: pasta
• Method: boiling
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

• 12 ozs spaghetti
• ⅓ cup Asiago cheese, shredded (plus extra to pass at the table)
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)
• ⅓ tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Boil a large pot of water to cook the spaghetti according to package instructions.
2. When spaghetti is done, drain and toss immediately with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, garlic powder, and parsley.
3. Stir in the Asiago cheese, followed by the lemon just and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Plate the spaghetti, and offer additional lemon and cheese at the table. Enjoy!

Notes

• Good quality Asiago cheese is key to making the dish a success. Get a block of good Asiago from your favorite local cheese shop or a good cheese department at a grocery store.
• The lemon flavor with the 1 tablespoon of lemon juice is moderate (the amount from about 1/4 of a lemon). You could go with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice for more pronounced lemon flavor. Or offer lemon slices at the table so those inclined can add more lemon–that’s what we did and it worked well.

More “M” Wines from Wine Pairing Weekend

Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick will be discussing “M” is for Marselan

Jill Barth of L’OCCASION explains Monterey Wines For Summertime

Camilla Mann of Culinary Adventures with Camilla  enjoyed M is for Mourvèdre with Maple-Glazed Duck Legs

Cindy of Grape Experiences enjoyed an evening Wine and Dine: La Mora Favorites with Margherita Flatbread

Lauren of The Swirling Dervish is chatting about Dry Muscat from Málaga and Pork Paella

David of Cooking Chat enjoyed Asiago Lemon Spaghetti with Malagousia Wine from Greece

Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm celebrated In the Merry Merry Month of May I Met Magistrate Merlot

Gwendolyn of Wine Predator decided M is for Malbec: 8 Wines, 4 Countries, 3 Continents paired with empanadas #WinePW 

Nicole on Somm’s Table is Cooking to the Wine: Recanati Marawi with Black Cod and Papaya-Cucumber Salad

Lisa, The Wine Chef paired Roast Chicken With Moorooduc Estate Pinot Noir From The Mornington Peninsula – The Best Australian Wine Region You’ve Never Heard Of #WinePW

Jennifer of VinoTravels enjoyed Malvasia on the island of Sicilia

and Dracaena Wines will be #WinePW Meets #Winephabet Street; M is for Moscatel

Join the conversation about wines that start with “M” and foods to go with them by joining our live Twitter chat. Tune into the #winePW hashtag on Saturday, May 12, 11 am ET / 8 am PT to join the conversation.

You can also check out past and future #winePW topics on the Wine Pairing Weekend page.

The post Asiago Lemon Spaghetti with Malagousia Wine from Greece #winePW appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Today we serve Grilled Halibut with Wine from Abruzzo. This is the first in a series of articles following my recent participation in a press trip sponsored by the Consorzio Tutela Vini D’Abruzzo.

After spending a week sampling some wonderful wine in Abruzzo, Italy, I was eager to try some Abruzzo wine pairings upon my return home. Today we share our grilled halibut with wine from Abruzzo, one of the first pairings I have come up with for Abruzzo wine.

Seafood in Abruzzo

Abruzzo is a region in Italy on the Adriatic coast, about 2 1/2 hours due east of Rome. If you land in Rome as I did, you will see some breathtaking mountains and valleys as you cross the Apennines on your way to Abruzzo.

With its proximity to the sea, there is a lot of good seafood to be enjoyed in Abruzzo. Our final night in Abruzzo we ate in a trabocco, a traditional Italian fishing pier converted to a restaurant. After admiring the amazing sunset shown below, one course after another of seafood rolled out of the kitchen.

Octopus, squid and anchovies featured prominently at that meal and others we had in Abruzzo. We also enjoyed mussels, shrimp and other shellfish during our stay. There was also a dish featuring white fish cooked with peas that I enjoyed.

Grilled Halibut with Wine from Abruzzo

I tend to cook dishes inspired by a certain region or cuisine, rather than trying to recreate the authentic recipes. I definitely wanted to feature seafood with some Abruzzo wine here, so when I saw halibut on sale the other day I decided to grab some.

I was traveling light, so I only brought back one bottle of wine from Abruzzo, with plans to track down more. As we wrapped up our tasting at Marchesi De Cordano in the Pescara province of Abruzzo, our host kindly offered to let us choose a bottle to take home. Although Cordano produces some very good Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, I was very impressed with their lineup of white wine.

I chose a bottle of the 2017 Brilla Cococciola (13% ABV) from Marchesi De Cordano. Cococciola is a white wine grape from Abruzzo, which can also be found in other Italian regions on the Adriatic coast.  I enjoyed Cococciola with the seafood in Abruzzo, so we had the makings of grilled halibut with wine from Abruzzo theme.

I decided to top some grilled halibut with kale pesto. I was very pleased with the way this halibut recipe paired with the Brilla Cococciola! This wine has a fresh, flowery nose, with lemon fruit taste and notes of almond. The Cococciola is medium bodied, a nice match for the halibut fish. The crispness of the wine is a nice contrast to the bite of the kale pesto. I give this halibut with wine from Abruzzo pairing an “A” grade for sure!

I also enjoyed a glass of this Brilla with some prosciutto and other antipasti while cooking. We managed to get two nights out of this bottle, and it also paired well with easy sautéed shrimp.

You could certainly enjoy a similar pairing by swapping in other white fish and/or topping the fish with traditional basil pesto.

Stay tuned for more Abruzzo wine pairings along with details from the trip!

Grilled Halibut with Kale Pesto

★★★★★

5 from 6 reviews

Grilled halibut topped with a zesty kale pesto for a healthy entree from the grill. Excellent paired with a white wine from Abruzzo, Italy.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: main
• Method: grilling
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

For the kale pesto

• 4 cups tightly packed kale leaves, stems removed
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
• salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil

For the halibut

• 1 lb halibut fillet
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• pinch salt

Instructions

1. Make the kale pesto: Add the kale and garlic to a food processor, coarsely chopping to create enough room for the other ingredients.
2. Add the pumpkin seeds, salt and pepper, cheese, and olive oil, and puree until it comes to a nice smooth consistency. Set kale pesto aside.
3. Prepare the halibut: Preheat a grill to medium high heat. Combine the 2 tablespoons olive oil, dried basil, garlic powder and salt in a large bowl. Rinse and pat dry the halibut fillet, then dip the flesh side of the fish in the oil mixture, then let the fillet rest in the bowl skin side down.
4. After the grill is heated and the halibut has marinated for about 5 minutes, spray the grill with cooking oil and place the halibut on the grill.
5. Grill the halibut on one side for 4 to 5 minutes, then carefully turn the fish over to cook on the other side for about 5 minutes. The halibut is done when cooked through and it flakes easily. Total cooking time will vary based on thickness of the halibut, likely to range between 10 to 12 minutes total grilling time.
6. When the halibut is done cooking, remove from grill to a platter. Portion the halibut into serving sizes, and plate the fish. Top each piece of halibut with about 1 tablespoon of the kale pesto. Enjoy!

Notes

• This recipe will generate extra kale pesto. You can use the extra to toss with some pasta as a side dish, or save it for future use.
• When turning the halibut, some of the skin may stick to the grill. If that is the case, just place the halibut in a clean area of the grill and scrape the skin off the grates later.

More Halibut with Wine Pairing Ideas

Want some other ideas for halibut with wine pairing? I’ve posted another halibut and wine pairing that worked well, and also rounded up some ideas from some of my fellow Wine Pairing Weekend bloggers:

• I tried my hand with grilled halibut previously, serving Grilled Halibut with Parsley Pesto and a Rosato.
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla paired Roasted Halibut with Grapefruit Fennel Salsa and a Sauvignon Blanc
• The Swirling Dervish paired Roasted Halibut with Grapefruit Fennel Salsa and a Sauvignon Blanc.
• On Always Ravenous, you can findRoasted Halibut with Grapefruit Fennel Salsa and a Sauvignon Blanc

Have you found another halibut and wine pairing combination that worked for you? Please let me know in the comments!

The post Grilled Halibut with Wine from Abruzzo appeared first on Cooking Chat.

This recipe for Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts is definitely a go to option for us when the weather (finally) turns to grilling season! We made it again recently and served it with a great wine pairing, a Pinot Blanc from Alsace, motivation to come back and update this article…though we haven’t had a chance to swap out the photo with the red wine pairing yet! Disclosure: The Pinot Blanc was a complimentary sample from Teuwen Communications as part of the #AlsaceRocks event are doing with the French Winophiles…more details on that coming very soon! 

Throwing chicken breasts on the grill is an easy way to feature lean protein as part of your summer meals. But how to grill that chicken so that it comes out nice and juicy? We experimented with a few tweaks to our method to bring you our family’s consensus favorite, presented to you today in this Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts recipe.

This recipe is for boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I like to buy them as fillets (basically the breast cut in half by the butcher) as it cooks up quickly. If you’re looking to grill bone-in chicken breasts, you’ve got to check out our Simply Scrumptious Grilled Chicken Breasts with Garlic Basil Butter. The method is pretty different to get moist bone-in grilled chicken, but the result in both cases is juicy grilled chicken your family will love.

In addition to aiming for juicy chicken, our goal in this recipe was chicken that is flavorful but straightforward, something our nine year old would enjoy for dinner and in sandwiches for lunch the next day. In other words, we wanted enough taste to please the grownups, but it couldn’t be too spicy or adorned with a fancy sauce.

Tips for Juicy Grilled Chicken

A marinade with some salt is one good step toward juicy grilled chicken. I like to use soy sauce to provide the salty element in many of my marinades, and used that approach for this recipe. The first version of this grilled chicken was tasty but a bit on the salty side. For the final version, I cut down on the marinade time and the amount of soy sauce. One hour to marinade the chicken means you can get home from work, get the chicken marinading while you make a salad and take care of a few other things.

I usually like some kind of citrus in a marinade. In today’s recipe, that citrus was provided by lemonade…not something I’d done before, but we all liked the taste!

A good marinade is the first step toward juicy grilled chicken, but you’ve got to avoid overcooking it on the grill, too. Grilling the chicken covered on medium high, flip the chicken after just five minutes, then check for doneness after 5 to 6 minutes. The chicken should be white throughout but still nice and juicy. Unless you’ve got a particularly thick piece of chicken, 10 to 12 minutes of grilling time should do the trick. Sit down, and enjoy your chicken with a green salad and perhaps a grain like couscous or quinoa.

Wine Pairings for Grilled Chicken

You can go a number of ways with the wine for this one. I will start with a recent pairing for grilled chicken that worked out very nicely.

Pinot Blanc from Alsace

I had the pleasure of receiving 4 different types of white wine from Alsace as part of the #AlsaceRocks event we are doing with Teuwen Communications and the French Winophiles. The warm weather and food friendly nature of the white wines from Alsace quickly had me down to one bottle left to try, the 2015 Ribeauvillé Pinot Blanc ($18, 12.5% ABV).

Pinot Blanc is recommended as an aperitif or to pair with fish or poultry dishes. I was planning to served up our juicy grilled chicken breasts the other night, and I figured it was a good time to open up the Ribeauvillé Pinot Blanc. I was not disappointed!

The Ribeauvillé Pinot Blanc floral nose. On the palate: lemon, stone, and a bit of honey. Medium bodied and nice mouthfeel. Definitely pairs up very nicely with our juicy grilled chicken!

La Cave de Ribeauvillé is the oldest wine co-op in France and a highly regarded Alsace producer. The co-op has an interesting quality control charter, with 100% parcel traceability and organic / sustainable farming methods. La Cave de Ribeauvillé produces all 7 classic Alsace wine varieties.

Other wine pairings for juicy grilled chicken

The Pinot Blanc from Alsace is definitely a great wine pairing option for this grilled chicken recipe. A restrained Chardonnay is another white wine option here. We have also enjoyed this chicken with Pinot Noir.

Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts

A simple marinade help make these juicy grilled chicken breasts a tasty main dish.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 11 mins
• Total Time: 21 mins
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Main
• Method: grilling
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp lemonade
• 1 tsp brown rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets

Instructions

1. Make the marinade: combine the soy sauce, lemonade, vinegar, olive oil and honey in a small ball.
2. Rinse and pat dry the chicken breasts. Place the chicken in a sealable plastic bag, then pour in the marinade. Seal the bag, and toss gently to get the chicken well-coated.
3. Put the bag with the chicken into the refrigerator to marinade for one hour.
4. When you are ready to grill the chicken, preheat a grill to medium high. Spray some cooking oil onto the grill.
5. Take the chicken out of the fridge. Shake the excess marinade off the chicken, then place on the grill. Repeat for each of the pieces of chicken. Reserve the extra marinade.
6. Grill covered for 5 minutes, then turn the chicken over. Spread a teaspoon or so of the reserved marinade on each piece of chicken. Grill covered for another 5 to 6 minutes. Check for doneness, and remove from the grilled when just cooked through. This time should be good for a small to medium piece of chicken, larger breasts may need a bit more time.

Notes

• We have successfully swapped in orange juice and even Gatorade for the lemonade with good results.

The post Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts appeared first on Cooking Chat.

We paired Pork and Cabbage Skillet with a very good Riesling from Alsace for a delicious meal. Just one of the great pairings with had with white wines from Alsace as part of the #AlsaceRocks event. Read on for details about the recipe and wine, as well as other Alsace pairings we enjoyed. Disclosure: The wines were sent by Alsace Wines sent as complimentary samples as part of the #AlsaceRocks campaign.

This month we had a chance to sample four white wines from the Alsace region of France as part of the #AlsaceRocks event the French Winophiles. For today’s event, I wanted to feature one of the wines paired with a new recipe. But I will let you know about the other pairings we enjoyed, too!

Pork and Cabbage Skillet with Riesling

So I decided to focus on making something new to go with the 2015 Cuvée Charles Riesling. In a sense, this should be pretty easy. Riesling is one of the most versatile, food-friendly wines out there. Riesling is considered by many to reach its peak form in Alsace, where it has been grown since the 15th century.

I decided to hone in on making a pork dish to go with the Riesling. There is certainly a lot of pork featured in Alsatian cooking, but I decided to go with a Pork and Cabbage Skillet recipe that leans draws upon Asian flavors, with soy sauce and ginger in the sauce.

To make the Pork and Cabbage Skillet, get the sauce ready first and set it aside. Then you cook up some onions with a bit of bell peppers. The pork comes next, followed by the cabbage. The whole pork and cabbage skillet cooks up in under 20 minutes.

We had the Pork and Cabbage Skillet served over rice. I’ve also had this served over mashed potatoes.

Cuvée Charles Riesling from Alsace

As I mentioned, we opened the 2015 Cuvée Charles Riesling ($23, 13% ABV) to serve with our Pork and Cabbage Skillet. This Riesling has white flowers on the nose. I get green apple and white pepper on the palate, with a touch of honey and cinnamon. Fresh and crisp with a long finish.

This crisp, dry Riesling definitely pairs with the salty aspects of the dish that come from the Asian style sauce. There is plenty of structure here to match the meat. A bit of bacon added to the dish might have been a nice bridge to further enhance the pairing. We were definitely pleased with the pairing.

Cuvée Charles comes from Charles Baur winery, located in the heart of Alsace, in the town of Eguisheim. The winery has been in the family since the 18th century, now with some 42 acres on the slopes of Eguisheim and the vicinity. The family has made a tradition of producing Cuvée Charles to be the most representative Riesling of the vintage, in honor of the winery founder.

The Cuvée Charles Riesling comes from 100% Riesling, grown in sandy soil with gravel. The grapes are pressed and then fermented in temperature controlled tanks with indigenous yeasts. The wine then matures on lees for several months prior to bottling.

For more information on the winery, visit the Charles Baur website.

More Pairings for Alsace White Wines

So as mentioned, I was issued a pairing challenge as part of this #AlsaceRocks event. There were four different white wines from Alsace to try–the Pierre Sparr Crémant d’Alsace Brut Réserve, 2013 Domaine Pfister Gewürztraminer Tradition and 2015 Ribeauvillé Pinot Blanc, in addition to the Charles Cuvée Riesling.

I started out by trying to determine if one of these Alsace wines would pair well with our Black Bean Turkey Chili. Which one do you think would work best?

I had other plans for the Riesling, and narrowed it down to the Crémant d’Alsace and the Gewürztraminer. Sparkling wine goes with so many things, including spicy food, so the Crémant seemed worth trying. Our Winophiles host Jeff from foodwineclick suggested trying the Gewurz, so that was the other one we tested.

Both wines worked reasonably well with the turkey chili, but the bubbly was my preferred pairing. From the Pierre Sparr Crémant d’Alsace ($20, 12.5% ABV) I got apple blossoms on nose light mouthfeel, gentle bubbles. Apple fruit with hazelnut notes. The bubbles and clean fruit cleansed the palate, getting us ready for our next bite of chili.

I should note that our turkey chili is moderately spicy. If it had more heat, the Gewurtz with more sweetness might have worked better.

We managed to save some of the Domaine Pfister Gewürztraminer ($30, 13.5% ABV) to test with a pair of appetizers the following evening. You get a whiff of sweetness on the nose of this Gewürztraminer. Peach fruit and honey on the palate, with a touch of baking spice. Nice long finish.

That flavor profile certainly suggests a good wine partner for spicy food. The Pfister Gewürztraminer went quite nicely with our guacamole as a result — we will add it to the list of wines that work with guac! But the Gewürztraminer definitely found its best partner when we tried it with Indian food…the spice elements of the wine went perfectly with the spices in the vegetarian samosas we had. Not a surprise here, I have previously sung the praises of an Alsace Gewürztraminer with Indian food.

Just in time for today’s article, we had a chance to put together one more wonderful wine pairing featuring a wine from Alsace. The 2015 Ribeauvillé Pinot Blanc ($18, 12.5% ABV) turned out to be a great pairing for our Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts, definitely something to keep in mind this summer!

Pork and Cabbage Skillet

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Pork and cabbage cook together along with onions and a tasty sauce for an easy skillet meal. Delicious with a Riesling from Alsace!

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 17 mins
• Total Time: 27 mins
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: main
• Method: stir-fry
• Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients

For the sauce

• ¼ cup low sodium sauce
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• ¼ tsp dried ginger
• 1 ½ tsp honey
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Additional ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tsp olive oil, divided
• ½ of a red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cups cabbage, chopped into thin slices
• 3 boneless pork chops, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

Instructions

1. Make the sauce by combining the soy sauce, honey, ginger and olive oil in a small bow. Set aside.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the onions, cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the pepper, and cook for a few more minutes.
3. Push the vegetables to the side of the skillet. Add the remaining teaspoon of olive oil, then add the pork to the center of the skillet.
4. Cook the pork for 2 minutes without moving, then stir fry the pork with the onions for 1 minute. Add the cabbage and the sauce, and stir fry for 1 more minute.
5. Cover the skillet and lower heat to medium low. Cook for 5 minutes covered. Remove cover after the 5 minutes, stir, and check pork for doneness–it should be just cooked through. It will likely be done at this time but cook for a few additional minutes, covered, if needed for the pork to be cooked properly.
6. Serve the pork and cabbage skillet over rice or potatoes, along with a Riesling from Alsace. Cheers!

Notes

• You could use fresh ginger instead of dried ginger if you like.

Alsace Pairings and Conversation with French Winophiles

Please join our chat on Twitter – whether you posted or not. We love visitors and happily chat and answer questions. Simply tune in to the #winophiles hashtag on Twitter this Saturday, June 16 at 10am CDT. You can also check out the #AlsaceRocks hashtag for more Alsace fun during and after the chat.

Here’s a list of great Alsace wine suggestions from our Winophiles

• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles shares “A Palette of Pinots – The Hues of Alsace”
• Martin at Enofylz Wine Blog shares “Pinot d’Alsace…Yes Please!”
• Rupal at Syrah Queen shares “Rockin Alsace With Pinots”
• Julia at Julia Coney shares “Alsace – Where Pinot Rocks!“
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Alsace Rocks the Summer Grilling Scene”
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Alsace Wines in the American Kitchen”
• Lauren at The Swirling Dervish shares “Alsatian Temptation: Wine from the Vosges Mountains in France“
• Jane at Always Ravenous shares “Tips and Recipes for Alsace Pairings”
• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Alsace Pairing Challenge? Accepted!”
• Olivier at In Taste Buds We Trust shares “Taking gewürztraminer to a higher level”
• Michelle at Rockin Red Blog shares “Getting Dirty with Alsace Riesling“
• Payal at Keep the Peas shares “Alsace: A Geologist’s Dream”
• Jill at L’Occasion shares “A Riesling Experience: Nuanced Terroirs of Alsace”
• Liz at What’s in that Bottle shares “All in for Alsace Riesling”
• David at Cooking Chat shares “Pork and Cabbage Skillet with Riesling from Alsace”
• Gwen at Wine Predator shares “Alsace Rocks 4 Riesling With Fondue!”

The post Pork and Cabbage Skillet with Riesling from Alsace #winophiles #AlsaceRocks appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Thinly sliced kale along with traditional Caprese salad ingredients–basil, tomatoes and mozzarella–combine for a healthy and hearty Kale Caprese Salad. Enjoy along with grilled meats and other summer food.

When summer rolls in, a Caprese salad on a restaurant menu quickly catches my attention. Fresh local tomatoes and basil sliced and served with fresh mozzarella cheese and extra virgin olive oil is a wonderful celebration of the seasonal produce.

I had a bit of extra kale on hand from making a batch of kale pesto the other day. Fresh mozzarella was on sale, and I was quickly on my way to making this Kale Caprese Salad.

Making Kale Caprese Salad

There are two keys to featuring raw kale in a salad. First, chop the kale leaves nice and thinly.

Second, let kale sit for about 15 minutes with some vinegar and/or other dressing. Both of these steps let the kale soften, making it easier to eat while imparting some additional flavor.

We start making our Kale Caprese Salad with this thin slicing of the leaves and a marinade time with balsamic vinegar and salt. After that 15 minute period, simply toss in the other ingredients and you have your Kale Caprese Salad!

Pairings for Kale Caprese Salad

Our Kale Caprese Salad is a great side dish to go with grilled meats and other summer fare. Most recently, we enjoyed this salad along with our Grilled Steak with Garlic Butter. When serving the Kale Caprese Salad with steak, you are going to want to pair more to the meat. So we opened an Australian Shiraz blend that evening.

But if you want a wine pairing that focuses more on the Kale Caprese Salad, you will want to choose a lighter style wine. A rosé could be the perfect choice. Pick something with some acidity to work with the tomatoes and vinegar. The Montenidoli Rosato made from Canaiuolo grapes in Tuscany is one suggestion that comes to mind.

I’m also thinking a Cerasualo, a rosé of Montepulciano we enjoyed a lot of Abruzzo, would be a good choice here. In fact, I will need to test that out soon! Meanwhile, please let me know what you enjoy with the Kale Caprese Salad.

Kale Caprese Salad

Thinly sliced kale along with traditional Caprese salad ingredients–basil, tomatoes and mozzarella–combine for a healthy and hearty salad.

• Author: Cooking Chat

Ingredients

• 2 cups kale, thinly sliced
• 1 ½ tsp balsamic vinegar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 8 to 10 grape tomatoes, cut into halves and quarters
• 1 heaping tbsp fresh basil, thinly sliced
• 2 ozs fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into half inch cubes
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the kale, balsamic vinegar and salt. Let the kale sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
2. After 15 minutes, toss the kale with the tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and olive oil. Add a bit of pepper to taste. Let the salad sit with all the ingredients for another 5 to 10 minutes prior to serving. Serve the Kale Caprese Salad with grilled meat and other summer fare.

Notes

• If you have a variety of sized grape tomatoes, cut the larger ones into quarters and the smaller ones in half.
• I like to use the smaller balls of fresh mozzarella cheese. I use two of them for this recipe, approximately 1 ounce each.
• Having the kale rest with the vinegar and salt softens the raw kale.

The post Kale Caprese Salad appeared first on Cooking Chat.

This Easy Black Bean Turkey Chili is loaded with lively fresh flavor, and is kid friendly according to our resident expert. I would rate this chili as being medium spiciness, good flavor but won’t burn your insides! After about 15 minutes active cooking, let the chili simmer for 45 minutes more for an easy, healthy meal. Read on for details, or click here to jump down to the recipe. Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Nola’s Fresh Foods, and one of the recommended wine pairings was provided as a courtesy sample. As always, the opinions are entirely my own. Click here to jump ahead to learn more about the Nola’s Salsa we used for the recipe. 

We had a chili breakthrough with this Black Bean Turkey Chili recipe!

Usually our 12 year old just takes his obligatory trying bites of various kinds of chili I’ve made, then seeks an alternative that he can eat. Somehow my instinct told me he might be ready to dig into some good chili–perhaps it is seeing the way he now puts away a big order of chicken curry at our local Indian restaurant. Though I had a backup option in the fridge, I didn’t mention that, and just set out a bowl of the Black Bean Turkey Chili for him, just like Mom & Dad’s.

He took a bit, “Mmm, this is pretty good.” B really started eating it eagerly when he started dipping some tortilla chips into the chili. “This is really good! You should make this again!”

So don’t take it from me, take it from our discerning 12 y.o. food critic! This Easy Black Bean Turkey Chili is a winner!

Nola’s Salsa for Black Bean Turkey Chili

This fall I had a chance to attend an event featuring local food businesses based at the incubator, Commonwealth Kitchen, hosted by Sam Adams Brewery . I sampled lots of great food products at this Commonwealth Kitchen event; the super fresh salsa from Nola’s Fresh Foods is one that really stood out.

Nola’s Fresh Foods is a Boston-based company that gets its name from the hometown of company founder, Sherrie Grillon. Nola’s features fresh salsa made without any artificial ingredients, preservatives, colors, sugars or oils. You just that that fresh tomato and spice flavor coming through when you taste it.

The Nola’s team was serving up some of their award winning chili at the Commonwealth Kitchen event, and I could easily see why the tasty chili received medals. A container of Nola’s Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa is the key ingredient in Nola’s chili, and I decided to feature it in a Cooking Chat chili.

In case you missed it, I have already rolled out another great recipe featuring Nola’s Salsa, this Easy Mexican Dip. That dip or this chili would make for great eating for that big game coming up next weekend! You know that game I mean, the one I can’t mention here because I didn’t spend millions to be allowed to do so.

Making Black Bean Turkey Chili

The good folks at Nola’s aren’t keeping their chili recipe a secret; the recipe is available on their website. Nola’s chili recipe features ground beef. I often like to use ground turkey for my chili, and decided to go that way with this recipe. But I did take the Nola’s recipe as a starting point for our Black Bean Turkey Chili. The Nola’s recipe uses less tomato than I typically use, at least not counting the tomatoes in the salsa. It also calls for ketchup and small amount of mushrooms, two ideas I included in our black bean turkey chili recipe.

The most important strategy I borrowed from the Nola’s recipe is using a container of the Nola’s Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa in our recipe. Clearly this high quality, fresh salsa is key to the vibrant taste of this black bean turkey chili.

Nola’s Salsa is available at Whole Foods in MA, RI, NH and CT, and at specialty stores throughout Massachusetts. More details on their locations can be found here. If they aren’t in your territory yet, I would encourage you to seek out a high quality salsa to use for this recipe for best results. That is, while you wait for Nola’s to come to your area!

Today’s chili recipe lists the jalapeño pepper as optional. I meant to include one, but somehow the jalapeño I got must have slipped out of the cart or something. A chili pepper certainly seems warranted in a chili recipe, but it does have plenty of flavor without it. Go for the 2 full teaspoons chili powder if you aren’t adding a jalapeño.

I like to use fresh garlic for my chili, but you can go with the garlic powder option if you want to expedite things further.

Looking for another turkey chili recipe idea? Give our Slow Cooker Turkey Chili with Avocado a try!

Pairings for Black Bean Turkey Chili

You know we like wine here with most of our recipes, but we tested the black bean turkey chili with beer. Seemed like the thing to do for chili and football in mind. An IPA is generally a good option for spicy food, and we went with the Fresh Tracks from Harpoon–another local New England product (guess who I’m rooting for in that game I can’t mention!). Fresh Tracks is their spring ale, one seasonal ale I don’t mind seeing hit the shelves early! This beer has nice bright hoppy flavor with a touch of citrus, and is refreshing with the chili.

But fear not, wine lovers. We have had a chance to sample the black bean turkey chili with some good wine pairings too!

We hit upon a great wine pairing for this black bean turkey chili the other night. I’ve tended to go with red wine with chili, but wanted to get some ideas about what to serve with this. Martin’s ENOYFYLZ article on wine pairings for chili mentions a number of red and white wines to try with chili. I took note of his suggestion “don’t forget about rosé.”

Martin’s comment reminded me that the bottle of 2016 Pure Loire Rosé D’Anjou (12% ABV) that I had on hand mentions that it is good with spicy food. I don’t naturally think of rosé for spicy food, but decided to give it a try!  This wine was provided as a free sample for the French Winophiles February event.

The Pure Loire Rosé turned out to be an excellent pairing for the black bean turkey chili! Salmon hue in the glass, I get melon on the nose. Taste of strawberry fruit, bit of kiwi, with moderate acidity. Refreshing along with the chili! Medium body with nice mouthfeel. I will definitely be getting more of this rosé to try with other spicy foods. It is only available at Total Wine in the US.

This Easy Black Bean Turkey Chili is a go-to recipe in our house, so I recently had the chance to try it with another wine pairing. In fact, we had two bottles of Alsace wine as part of the #AlsaceRocks event with the French Winophiles group.

The Domaine Pfister Gewurztraminer ($30, 13.5% ABV) might have been the winner with a spicier chili. But for the moderate spice levels in this recipe, the Pierre Sparr Crémant d’Alsace ($20, 12.5% ABV) was my preferred pairing. I got apple blossoms on nose, light mouthfeel, gentle bubbles. Apple fruit with hazelnut notes. The bubbles and clean fruit cleansed the palate, getting us ready for our next bite of chili. Give it a try next time you make this Easy Black Bean Turkey Chili and let us know how you like it!

Easy Black Bean Turkey Chili

★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

Turkey and black beans simmer with fresh salsa and spices for an quick, tasty and healthy meal.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 55 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: Tex Mex

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion
• 5 crimini mushrooms, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
• 1 jalapeño pepper (optional), seeded and flesh chopped
• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 14 1/2 ozs diced tomatoes
• 1.5 to 2 tsp chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 14 1/2 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 16 ozs Nola’s Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa
• ⅓ cup ketchup
• 8 ozs low sodium chicken broth
• optional toppings: shredded cheese and/or sour cream

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add the onion, sauté for a few minutes until it begins to soften. Stir in the mushrooms, followed by the garlic and jalapeño pepper, if using.
2. Gradually add the ground turkey to the pot, breaking it up with a heavy spoon as you go. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the turkey begins turning white.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, chili powder and soy sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the black beans, salsa, ketchup and chicken broth to the pot. Stir to combine. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Serve the chili in bowls with optional toppings, if desired, and enjoy!

Notes

• Look for other high quality salsa with roasted corn and black beans if you can’t find Nola’s.
• The ketchup and soy sauce add some good flavor but you can reduce the amount if you want to lower the sodium content.

Have you tried this Easy Black Bean Turkey Chili recipe? Leave a comment and rate this recipe!

The post Easy Black Bean Turkey Chili appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs is a delicious, easy make ahead meal. We’ve made it several times, giving us a chance to test out wine pairings to share with you along with the recipe.

Today’s Wine Pairing Weekend theme, hosted by Wendy at A Day on the Life on the Farm, is American wines from lesser known regions. New England is certainly not known for its wine, so I thought I would choose something close to home.

Knowing that white wine is easier to produce in the cool climate of New England, I thought today would be a good time to share our Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs recipe that we have had waiting in the queue for awhile. If you landed here just to grab this tasty recipe, click here to jump ahead and get to the info and recipe for our honey mustard chicken thighs. If you want to here about my quest to find local wines to pair with the recipe, read on.

Finding Under the Radar American Wine

I love trying a wide variety of wine, and discovering great wines from lesser known wine regions. Ironically, I have found it is much easier to find wine from under the radar wine regions from outside the U.S. than it is to find American wines from beyond California and the Pacific Northwest.

At our local wine shop, I can pick up great wines from places like the Canary Islands, France’s Savoie region, interesting but lesser known parts of Italy, Croatia, and the list goes on. I can even get a good wine from Georgia, but that would be the country, not the state.

But when asking about wines from some of the nearby Rhode Island wineries I have visited, the only option was one dessert wine from Sakonnet Vineyards.

In addition to the limited availability of local wine, I have also found it hard to find wines from up and coming American regions I’d like to sample, such as Texas and Virginia.

So I needed to do some searching for wines to open for today’s Wine Pairing Weekend event. I eventually came up with two white wines from New England.

Wine Pairings for Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs

The first wine I found was the Newport Vineyards Great White ($15, 11.5% ABV). The Great White has notes of the sea’s salinity on the nose. On the palate, honey and lemon fruit. Quite a bit of residual sugar, making skeptical about it as a good pairing for our honey mustard chicken thighs. I haven’t been able to track down what grape varietals are in this non-vintage blend.

Newport Vineyards is located just outside Newport, Rhode Island, a beautiful coastal town. No surprise the Great White wine would have notes of the sea! While the Great White was sweet for my taste to drink by itself, it pair well with spicy foods.

Next I tracked down a wine from Sakonnet Vineyard, a Rhode Island winery that I have visited a few years back. I tend to think of Sakonnet as one of the better New England wine producers, so I wanted to include one of their bottles in this tasting.

The nose of the 2014 Sakonnet Siren Vidal Blanc had me thinking it was going to be quite a bit drier than the Great White, but it also turned out to be fairly sweet, with a brown sugar and lemon flavor profile.

The Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs has some sweetness in the dish from the honey, so I found both Rhode Island wines had too much sugar on the palate to make them a good pairing for the dish.

Fear not, I do have a wine pairing for honey mustard chicken thighs that I can wholeheartedly recommend! The 2016 Château Peybonhomme-Les-Tours ($20, 13.5% ABV), a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Semillon, pairs very well with this chicken dish. This white wine is from the Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux AOC, which we sampled as part of the French Winophiles exploration of the Côtes de Bordeaux region. Disclosure: The Château Peybonhomme-Les-Tours blend was provided as a complimentary sample.

I got lemon on the nose of the white Côtes de Bordeaux, and a bright hibiscus floral taste with citrus fruit. Good minerality and refreshing acidity in this medium bodied white wine. I’d say the subtlety of this wine compared to the bottles from Rhode Island, along with the acidity, makes it a better choice for the honey mustard chicken thighs.

OK, I know today’s #winePW theme is under the radar American wine regions. But the Chateau Peybonhomme does have some under the radar qualities. First, it is a white from Bordeaux, a region known primarily for its famous reds. The Sauv Blanc / Semillon blend is a good reminder there are some great white wines to be had from Bordeaux, too!

In addition, the Côtes de Bordeaux is not quite as well known as it should be given the quality of its food friendly wines, so the region fits today’s under the radar theme too. Get more details on the region in my post about it, which contains links to some great articles on the area from my fellow bloggers.

Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs with Wine Pairings #winePW

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Chicken thighs combined with a few simple ingredients for an easy make-ahead meal in the slow cooker. Plenty of flavor and kid-friendly!

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 8 hours 15 mins
• Total Time: 8 hours 25 mins
• Yield: 7 servings
• Category: main
• Method: slow cooker
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup mustard
• 8 ozs low sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
• salt to taste
• cooked rice or couscous for serving

Instructions

1. Rinse and pat dry the chicken thighs. Place the chicken in the slow cooker, and and sprinkle with a bit of salt.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients–garlic, honey, mustard, broth and sauce–in a small bowl. Pour the mixture over the chicken.
3. Cover the slow cooker, and cook on low for 8 hours.
4. At the end of the 8 hour cooking time, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the chicken and place on a platter. Let the chicken cool for a few minutes.
5. After the chicken has cooled enough to work with, use two forks to shred the chicken. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker, and stir to combine with the sauce.
6. Let the shredded chicken rest in the sauce, with the slow cooker on the warm setting, for about 10 minutes prior to serving. This helps the flavors meld together.
7. Plate a serving of rice or couscous. Using a slotted spoon, scoop a serving of chicken over the rice, and then top with a bit of the remaining sauce. Repeat for the additional servings. enjoy with a good glass of wine!

Notes

• Our 12 y.o. isn’t a big mustard fan so I used more honey than mustard. You could use a 1 to 1 ratio of honey to mustard if you like. I have also done just 1/4 cup mustard but that is a bit sweeter than I like.

Keywords: honey mustard chicken thighs, slow cooker chicken recipes, easy chicken recipes

Under the Radar American Wine Articles from #winePW

Be sure to check out all of the interesting articles about Under the Radar American Wines from the Wine Pairing Weekend bloggers!

• Jade from Tasting Pour is sharing “Cauliflower Rice Risotto and Brandborg Gewurztraminer”.
• Cam of Culinary Adventures with Camilla has “A Few Firsts with the Infinite Monkey Theorem: From Colorado + From a Can”.
• Lori of Dracaena Wine talks about how “Bi-coastal Life Gets Confusing.. Thank Goodness for Wine”.
• David over at Cooking Chat shares “Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs with Wine Pairings”
• Nicole at Somm’s Table is “Cooking to the Wine: Scallops and Mint Pea Risotto with Macari Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc”
• Lauren, The Swirling Dervish answers the question “What Pairs with New Jersey Wine? Everything!”
• Jill of L’Occasion is talking about “Midwestern Gardens and Missouri Wine: America’s First AVA”.
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator invites us to “Ventura County: Ghost Wineries Be Gone!”
• Jane from Always Ravenous says “When in Georgia Drink Frogtown Wines”
• Cindy of Grape Experiences is tells us to “Go Greek; Cinnamon Lamb Stew and Limniona/Xinomavro from Karditsa”
• And Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm is “Chilling Out with Green Barn Winery”.

Be sure to check out all the great Wine Pairing Weekend Articles about Under the Radar American Wine Regions! And join us for a live Twitter chat on the topic, using hashtag #winePW, at 11 a.m. ET and 8 am PT on Saturday, July 14, 2018. You can view past and upcoming Wine Pairing Weekend events here.

The post Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs with Wine Pairings #winePW appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta features healthy and flavorful Premio Italian Chicken Sausages cooked with a tomato based sauce for a delicious pasta meal! Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Premio Foods.

I love the combination of sausage and pasta for a hearty meal. So when I had a chance to try a variety of Premio Italian Sausage products, visions of pasta recipes quickly came dancing through my head!

One tasty result of those pasta and sausage visions was this delicious Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta recipe I am sharing with you today. Premio Italian Chicken Sausages simmer along with tomatoes, onion and of course plenty of garlic. Your home will smell good when you are cooking this up!

We add some white cannellini beans to further enhance the hearty aspect of our Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta. Toss that tomato and sausage sauce with rigatoni pasta, then top with some good quality Parmigiano cheese for a delicious Italian meal.

Allergy-Friendly Premio Sausage

One thing that immediately caught my eye about Premio Sausage is the allergy-friendliness of their products. That’s a big deal for us, as we avoid egg, nuts and sesame in our house due to our son’s food allergies. He also avoids dairy, although he seems like he might be outgrowing that one.

All Premio Sausage products are egg-free, nut-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free. Their Chinese Sausage  links do contain sesame oil; however, according to the Premio, there are processes in place to prevent cross-contamination, making all of the Italian sausage products we tried sesame-free too. Note: always double-check ingredients on labels, as they may change from time to time. When in doubt, contact the manufacturer about ingredients and production methods to assure safety with food allergies.

So Premio Sausage products are allergy friendly, but how do they taste? Well, that’s the best part! We really enjoyed the flavor of the Premio sausages we tried. In addition to the Premio sausages we used for the Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta, we also tried the Premio Sweet & Hot Italian Sausage Combo (pork based sausages) and the Premio Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage.

We loved all the Premio sausages we tried! In addition to this Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta, I also cooked up another pasta dish with the pork sausages and some greens. Stay tuned for that recipe!

In addition, my extended family gathered for a 4th of July cookout and enjoyed a variety of Premio sausages off the grill, sliced up and served with a bit over mustard.

Note that the Premio sausages we tried are not pre-cooked, so be sure the sausage meat gets cooked all the way through.

Making Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta

You start this Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta recipe by browning the Premio sausages in a large skillet. This develops a nice base of flavor for the sauce in the pan, and it helps the sausages stay together when cooking them in the sauce.

Set the sausages aside to cool while you cook up the onions. When the sausages are cooled, they get sliced up to be added back into the skillet.

For a nice presentation, rather than slicing all the sausages after browning, cook one of them all the way through in a separate pan or on the grill. The sausages cooking in the sauce break up a bit; the sausage you cook all the way through separately will give you some photo worthy sausage slices.

The sliced sausages simmer with wine, onions, garlic and tomatoes as the pasta cooks. Adding cannellini beans toward the end further thickens the sauce.

I like to use a short, substantial pasta like rigatoni for this Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta. I bet orecchiette would be good, too.

Toss the cooked pasta with the spicy chicken sausage sauce, top with some good quality cheese, and you are ready for a great meal!

Wine Pairing for Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta

The 2014 Spelt Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Riserva ($21, 13.5% ABV) was a winning pairing for the Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta. The big flavors of this Italian red wine work very well with the dish. Stands up to the meat and spice of the Premio Italian sausage, and has enough acidity for the tomatoes.

Spelt is one of several very good Montepulcianos produced by La Valentina winery in Abruzzo, Italy. I first had a chance to sample Spelt at the winery during a press trip to Abruzzo this past spring, and was very pleased to enjoy it back home with this Italian recipe featuring Premio Sausage®.

We also tested another wine I had while in Abruzzo, a Cerasualo rosé made from Montepulciano grapes. Although the Cerasualos work well with some tomato based dishes, it didn’t have the heft to work with the robust flavors of our Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta.

Barbera can be another good red wine choice to pair with this dish. Typically this grape hails from the Piedmont region in Italy, but we enjoyed leftovers with a a Barbera from Lake County, California– the 2014 High Valley Vineyards Barbera. This bottle has a more plush, fruit forward style than the more austere versions from Italy–either style Barbera would be worth trying with this pasta. And while I definitely recommend the Spelt, other good quality Montepulciano d’Abruzzo should work nicely with the recipe, too.

Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

Healthy and flavorful chicken sausages cooked with a tomato based sauce make a delicious pasta meal!

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 40 mins
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: main
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

• 4 Premio Spicy Italian Chicken Sausages
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/3 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 14.5 oz can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 lb rigatoni or other short, substantial pasta shape
• 2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup Parmigiano cheese, grated, plus additional for serving
• salt to taste

Instructions

1. Coat a skillet with oil spray, and heat a large skillet on medium high. Add the Premio Spicy Italian Chicken Sausages. Cook for about 5 minutes, turning occasionally, to cook the sausages. Remove the sausages when browned, and set aside on a plate to cool. *See notes about an option for the sausage preparation.
2. Add the olive oil to the same skillet used to brown the sausage, and heat on medium. Add the onions, and cook for about 5 minutes until softened.
3. Stir the garlic into the skillet, and cook for about 1 minutes.
4. As the onion cooks, cut the sausages into circle slices about 1/2 inch thick. Note the sausages are not cooked through at this point, and they may break apart a bit as you cut them. That is fine!
5. Add the sausage slices to the skillet, stir to combine with the onions. Stir in the red wine, and cook until the wine is reduced by roughly one half, which will take about 5 minutes.
6. Stir in the diced tomatoes and add the red pepper flakes, and salt to taste. Bring the sauce to a simmer on medium heat. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat if needed to keep the sauce gently simmering. Toward the end of the cooking time, stir the beans into the sauce.
7. As the Premio Sausages cook in the tomato sauce, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the pasta, and cook according to package instructions.
8. When the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain the pasta, then toss it immediately with the sausage and tomato sauce. Add the Parmigiano cheese and basil, stirring to combine. Plate the Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta and enjoy! Pass extra cheese at the table for serving.

Notes

• In this recipe, the Premio Sausages are first browned in the skillet, then slices are cooked through as they simmer with the tomatoes and other sauce ingredients. The sausage slices get broken up into bits of meat as the sauce cooks. If you like, you can cook one of the sausages all the way through in a separate skillet or on the grill, then add the slices to the pasta dish at the end. This creates a nice presentation, and is the way I made the recipe when taking the photos here.

Keywords: chicken sausage pasta, healthy pasta recipes, spicy chicken sausage

The post Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta with Premio Italian Sausage appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Pan Seared Tuna Steak with Olive Relish is a quick, healthy meal you can have on the table in about fifteen minutes. We enjoyed the tuna paired with a Cerasualo rosé wine from Abruzzo.

Looking for an easy tuna steak recipe? You’ve got it!

Our Pan Seared Tuna Steak with Olive Relish can be on the table in 15 minutes, no exaggeration! We use a simple rub of garlic, thyme and salt to give the fish a nice flavor. Topped off with an easy olive relish and you’ve got a restaurant quality Mediterranean style meal on the table faster than you can order takeout.

Oh yes, and of course pan seared tuna steak is a healthy meal packed with lean protein and omega 3 oils.

How to make Pan Seared Tuna Steak

You can certainly pick up some fresh tuna steak to make this recipe. But more often, when I’m making pan seared tuna steak, I use frozen tuna steak from Whole Foods. Frozen tuna is a nice option to have on hand for quick healthy meal.

I thaw the frozen tuna steak by putting the inner bag containing the tuna into a large bowl of warm water. It takes about 30 minutes to be ready to cook this way. Be sure to check regularly as you don’t want the thawed tuna to sitting out at room temperature too long. You can also plan ahead and put the frozen tuna in the fridge to thaw overnight.

Once you have the tuna ready to cook, rinse and pat the tuna steaks dry. Sprinkle the seasoning on the tuna and let it sit for a few minutes as you make the olive relish.

How long do you sear tuna steaks? Not very long at all if you want to have flavorful fish! I time it at 90 seconds per side on medium high heat, for 3 minutes total cooking time. That timing yields a nice medium rare tuna, seared on the outside and a deep reddish purple on the inside.

I got distracted and went a bit over my cooking time when making the Pan Seared Tuna with Olive Relish for these photos. The tuna in the Asian Tuna Noodle Bowls shown above is cooked more to my liking.

Wine Pairing for Tuna Steak

Tuna is a meaty fish that certainly dispels the notion some people have that fish needs to be paired with white wine. We enjoyed a similar pan seared tuna recipe awhile back with a big Merlot, and it worked great, showing that red wine and tuna can work.

But thinking about the Mediterranean flavors of this dish from the olive relish, not to mention the summer heat, I was thinking a full bodied rosé would be the wine to choose. After my recent visit to Abruzzo, I knew just the rosé to fit the bill!

I opened the 2017 Le Murate Cerasualo d’Abruzzo ($15)from Fattoria Nicodemi to go with our pan seared tuna steak. Cerasaulo is a full-bodied rosé made from Montepulciano grapes.

The Cerasualo from Nicodemi is a good expression of this type of wine. Bright floral nose, with cherry fruit and a hint of citrus. A well-structured wine, with more substance than most rosés. The body and flavor profile made it a great pairing for the tuna steak!

Nicodemi was the first winery I visited on a press trip to Abruzzo this spring. Brother and sister Elena and Alessandro have done a great job building on tradition at this family winery while growing their business.  The winery is 300 meters above sea level and about 10 kilometers from the Adriatic Sea, with views of the Gran Sasso Mountain on clear morning. They make wines using organic methods, producing some 200,000 bottles per year. Learn more about the winery at the Nicodemi website.

Pan Seared Tuna Steak with Olive Relish

Simple pan seared tuna steak topped with an easy olive relish for a quick, healthy meal.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 3 mins
• Total Time: 13 mins
• Yield: 2 servings
• Category: main
• Method: pan sear
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Ingredients

For the tuna

• 2 tuna steaks, about 6 ozs each
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/3 tsp salt

For the olive relish

• 8 olives, sliced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp parsley, chopped

Instructions

1. Make the rub: combine the garlic, thyme and salt in a small bowl.
2. Rinse and pat dry the tuna steaks. Sprinkle enough of the rub on one side of the tuna to coat, and gently rub it into the fish. Turn the tuna over and repeat on the other side.
3. Make the olive relish: Combine the olives, olive oil, lemon juice and parsley in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Coat a a nonstick skillet with oil spray on medium high heat. When it is hot, add the tuna and cook for 90 seconds on one side. Turn and sear on 90 seconds on the others side. Remove from heat.
5. Plate the tuna steaks, and top with the olive relish. Enjoy with a full bodied rosé wine if you are so inclined.

Keywords: tuna, wine pairing, seafood

The post Pan Seared Tuna Steak with Olive Relish and Cerasualo appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Orzo with spinach, white beans and tomatoes for a pasta dish that can serve as a side or a vegetarian main. Excellent with a Cerasualo rosé wine from Abruzzo.

Orzo is one of my favorite pasta shapes, especially in the summer. The small size makes it a light accompaniment to a wide variety of dishes.

I often toss orzo with spinach and other veggies on hand. In this case, I used some of the same ingredients I had on hand for Pan Seared Tuna Steak with Olive Relish. This orzo with spinach, white beans and tomatoes made a nice side dish for the tuna.

Adding beans to orzo gives the pasta additional substance and nutrition. Although I served the orzo as a side, it could definitely be enjoyed as a vegetarian main too.

For another tasty idea of how to combine orzo and seafood, check out our Orzo with Grilled Swordfish and Kale Pesto recipe.

Making Orzo with Spinach and White Beans

In this orzo with spinach recipe, only the onions, bell pepper and garlic get cooked before adding it to the pasta. The other ingredients, including the spinach and white beans, get tossed with the cooked pasta right after it is drained. This gives the dish more of a salad quality to it, with some raw veggies, although it is served warm.

Wine Pairing for Orzo with Spinach

As I mentioned, I made this orzo to serve with Pan Seared Tuna Steak. I correctly anticipated the 2017 Le Murate Cerasualo d’Abruzzo ($15)from Fattoria Nicodemi would be a good pairing for this orzo with spinach as well as the tuna. Cerasaulo is a full-bodied rosé made from Montepulciano grapes.

The Cerasualo from Nicodemi is a good expression of this type of wine. Bright floral nose, with cherry fruit and a hint of citrus. A well-structured wine, with more substance than most rosés. But it still had enough nuance and flavor to work well with the orzo with spinach.

Nicodemi was the first winery I visited on a press trip to Abruzzo this spring. Brother and sister Elena and Alessandro have done a great job building on tradition at this family winery while growing their business.  The winery is 300 meters above sea level and about 10 kilometers from the Adriatic Sea, with views of the Gran Sasso Mountain on clear morning. They make wines using organic methods, producing some 200,000 bottles per year. Learn more about the winery at the Nicodemi website.

Orzo with Spinach and White Beans

Orzo tossed with spinach, white beans and tomatoes for a pasta dish that can serve as a side or a vegetarian main.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: side dish
• Method: Sauté
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Ingredients

• 10 ozs orzo
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 orange or red bell pepper, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1 cup diced tomatoes — fresh or canned, depending on season
• 6 olives, sliced
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/3 cup feta cheese
• 14.5 oz can of cannellini beans

Instructions

1. Begin boiling a pot of water for the orzo.
2. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and sauté until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the pepper to the skillet, and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Stir in the garlic, cook for another minute until it become fragrant. Lower heat and cover skillet while the orzo cooks.
5. Cook the orzo based on package instructions once the water starts boiling.
6. When the orzo is cooked, drain and toss immediately with the remaining olive oil, the pepper and onion mixture, spinach and tomatoes. Stir over low heat to combine ingredients.
7. Add the feta cheese, olives and parsley. Stir to combine, then serve.

Keywords: orzo recipes, orzo with spinach, orzo with beans

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Grilled tilapia is delicious topped with a mixture of fresh tomatoes, olives and basil. No surprise that this Greek inspired recipe is delicious paired with a Greek white wine! Our contribution for today’s Greek Wine Pairing Weekend event. 

I love Greek food, and of course Greek wine is the natural pairing for it. So I was eager to jump into today’s Greek themed Wine Pairing Weekend event host by Cindy from Grape Experiences.

Greek inspired food really is probably a better term for what I make at home. Recipes featuring ingredients like feta cheese, tomatoes and olives conjure up a sense of a sunny Greek island for me–take for instance this Greek lamb stew.

I’m just using my imagination, though, as I haven’t made it to Greece yet!

Today’s recipe, Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes and Olives, fits into that Greek inspired food category. Specifically, it was inspired initially by the bottle of Greek white wine we picked up for this #winePW event.

Our Greek Wine for Today: Fteri Moschofilero

Greek wine is fairly uncommon here in the Boston area. My go-to local wine shop, Pairings, typically carries a few bottles. That seems to the case other places, too. I was on a hunt for some more wine from Abruzzo the other day, and figured while I was at Bin Ends I’d ask for a suggested Greek wine.

They have a pretty wide variety of wine at Bin Ends but but not a lot in the Greek department. The staffer there did give a thumbs up to the 2016 Fteri Moschofilero ($15, 12% ABV) from Troupis Winery, so I decided to go with that. He suggested fish to go with this white wine, so I had a basic sense of direction.

Today’s event prompted me to do a little background reading on Greek wines to place the bottle I picked out in context. Troupis Winery is in Southern Greece, on the Peloponesse peninsula. The winery is located in the high plains of central Mantinea, part of the Fteri wine region that is included in the name of the wine.

Greek wine regions — map from Wine Folly

Moschofilero is a white wine grape common in the Mantinea region (also spelled Mantineia). We’ll loop back to talk more about the Moschofilero we opened after we get to the grilled tilapia recipe we cooked up to pair with it.

Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes and Olives

So I was definitely thinking fish to go with the Moschofilero Greek white wine, but what kind of fish? I figured a white fish would make more sense than the meatier salmon or tuna I often feature here. Tilapia is a good white fish for grilling, so I narrowed my focus to it.

I wanted to get some ingredients common to Greek food at work to go with our grilled tilapia. I noted a lot of Greek fish recipes use tomatoes, and August is certainly a good month for tomatoes. I started envisioning grilled tilapia topped with diced fresh tomatoes, combined with some olives and lemon.

The tomato topping for the grilled tilapia needed an herb. Mint is the herb I first associate with Greek food, but the bottle of Moschofilero made mention of basil as an herb that goes with the wine, so I decided to go with that advice.

Moschofilero Paired with Grilled Tilapia

The Troupis Fteri Moschofilero features a bright floral nose. On the palate, pear fruit with notes of vanilla and a bit of salinity. Soft mouthfeel. The first few sips the fruit was more pronounced, but drinking the wine along with the food also brought forth the acidity, which tends to make for happy pairings.

The grilled tilapia had a lot of fresh summer flavor thanks to the tomato and olive topping. The fish paired well with the fruit forward, refreshing Moschofilero white wine. I definitely give this Greek wine pairing for grilled tilapia a thumbs up!

Consider serving the grilled tilapia with our Greek orzo to stay with the Greek theme!

Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes and Olives

★★★★★

5 from 5 reviews

Tilapia is a fish that is easy to grill. We top our grilled tilapia with a tasty combination of tomatoes, olives and basil.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total Time: 15 mins
• Yield: 2 servings
• Category: main
• Method: grilling
• Cuisine: Greek

Ingredients

• 2 tilapia filets, about 4 ozs each
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup tomatoes, diced
• 1 tbsp basil, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 olives, sliced

Instructions

1. Preheat a grill to medium high.
2. Prepare the grilled tilapia topping: combine the tomatoes, basil, lemon juice, olives and half of the olive oil (1/2 tablespoon) in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Combine  the remaining half tablespoon olive oil and pinch of salt in a large bowl.
4. Rinse and pat dry the tilapia filets. Add the tilapia to the bowl with olive oil, and gently turn over the filets to coat with the oil. Let the fish sit for about 5 minutes.
5. Spray the grill generously with cooking oil. Take a tilapia fillet out of the bowl, gently shake off the excess olive oil and place the fillet on the grill. Repeat for the other fillet.
6. Grill for 3 minutes on one side, then carefully flip the fillets to grill for 3 to 4 minutes on the other side. Use a grill spatula to remove the tilapia from the grill to a platter. The fish should be just cooked through to a white color.
7. Serve the grilled tilapia topped with the tomato basil mixture. Enjoy!

Notes

• The tilapia can have a tendency to stick on the grill if you don’t have enough oil on the grill. Take care when getting the spatula under the tilapia when turning it over. If a bit of the fish sticks to the grill, that is OK. Move the fish to a clean part of the grill, and scrape the bits that stuck to grill off later.

Keywords: grilled tilapia, Greek food, grilled fish

Greek Wine and Food Pairings from #WinePW

• • Lori of Dracaena Wines writes about The Case of the Confused Country.
  • David from Cooking Chat suggests Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes, Olives and Greek Wine Pairing.
  • Sarah of Curious Cuisiniere serves Moussaka and a Greek Wine Pairing.
  • Jill of L’Occasion writes about the 5 Surprises of Greek Wine
  • Lauren of The Swirling Dervish features A Taste of the Peloponnese: Fresh Swordfish and Mercouri Foloi
  • Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm discovers that Lahano me Kreas Does Double Duty.
  • Jane of Always Ravenous serves Souvlaki Paired with Assyrtiko.
  • Gwendolyn of Wine Predator says Go Greek with Marathon Wines and Grilled Eggplant with Spiced Yogurt for #WinePW
  • Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs Garides Saganaki + A Traditional Semi-Sparkling Orange Wine
  • Jade of Tasting Pour pairs Lamb Kebabs and Agiorgitiko
  • Cindy of Grape Experiences takes on Dinner Tonight: Wine from Crete with Shrimp, Feta, and Tomatoes
  • Nicole Ruiz Hudson of Sommstable is Cooking to the Wine: Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko-Athiri with Scallops, Roasted Veggies, and Preserved Lemon Cauliflower Cream

  Be sure to check out all the great Wine Pairing Weekend Articles about Greek Wines with food pairings! And join us for a live Twitter chat on the topic, using hashtag #winePW, at 11 a.m. ET and 8 am PT on Saturday, September 8, 2018. You can view past and upcoming Wine Pairing Weekend events here.

The post Grilled Tilapia with Tomatoes, Olives and Greek Wine Pairing #winePW appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Our Spinach and Pear Salad recipe shows how you can elevate a basic salad with a few additional ingredients. Ripe pears add delicious flavor to a spinach salad. Then we add a touch of spice to the simple dressing for a salad that might steal the show at your dinner table!

We eat a lot of salad here, but don’t necessarily post a lot of salad recipes. We tend to focus on a few basic preparations, such as this Spinach Salad with Simple Vinaigrette recipe. But when I came up with the Spinach and Pear Salad recipe, I knew we’d have to share it!

This salad recipe was inspired by having a couple pears that quickly went from too hard to eat to being a bit overripe.

Our son loves pears. So much so, when he was a toddler, he once managed to eat an ENTIRE PEAR while I briefly turned my back. Yep, the whole thing, core and all. The whole pear was gone, and he just had a big grin on his face…and a good bit of pear juice!

Fast forward nearly a dozen years, and when B comes grocery shopping with me, he is sure to put a few pears in the cart. Problem is, the pears sit in the fruit bowl too hard for a few days, then suddenly they can be too ripe for our son’s taste.

When our son turned up his nose at a pear that had gotten too soft in his estimation, I was inspired to create this spinach and pear salad recipe.

Making Spinach and Pear Salad

I really should add fruit to salads more than I do. I almost always enjoy salads ordered out that have a bit of fruit in the mix. I guess that was in the back of my mind when I decided to repurpose the very ripe pear for this spinach salad.

You want to slice up the pair thinly so that each bit of pear has a good bit of fruit and just a bit of skin. I don’t recommend add the core!

For the vinaigrette to top our spinach and pear salad, I added a bit of honey along with olive oil and vinegar to enhance the natural sweetness provided by the pear. But then inspiration hit, and I thought a bit of spice would give some nice contrasting flavor to make it more interesting.

The little bottle of garam masala caught my eye. I thought this Indian spice blend featuring curry and cinnamon might be a nice touch. Boy, what a great call! This little addition really added some great flavor.

I often add a bit of feta cheese to my salads, and that could work here. But I had some Gruyere cheese on hand, and shredded a bit of that to top the spinach.

So let’s recap– you have spinach, ripe pear, Gruyere cheese and a vinaigrette with a touch of Indian spice. Yes, this spinach and pear salad just might be the star player on your dinner table! Don’t forget a little sprinkle of pumpkin seed for a bit of crunch, and to put you in that fall food mode.

Wine pairing

I typically serve my salads alongside the main course. This spinach and pear salad found its way to our table several times over the past two weeks. The one wine pairing that stands out is the night I served this salad with our Leftover Steak Pasta recipe.

I opened a big red Lagrein wine from Italy’s Alto Adige – Südtirol region to go with the leftover steak pasta. You might think a big red wine would overwhelm the spinach and pear salad. But there’s a spice element in the Lagrein and enough nuance overall that it worked quite well.

The Spinach and Pear Salad would make a nice starter course for a multi-course meal with wine pairings. If you are serving this salad on its own like that, my first instinct would be a sparkling wine. I just visited Westport River Vineyards in Southeastern Massachusetts, and they have a number of sparkling wine options that could work nicely.

If you aren’t in the mood for bubbles, maybe try a good Gewürztraminer. Let me know what you pair with this pear salad!

Spinach and Pear Salad

★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

Ripe pears add great fruit flavor to a basic spinach salad. We add a touch of spice to the simple dressing for a salad that might steal the show at your dinner table!

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 5 mins
• Yield: 3 servings
• Category: salad
• Method: salad
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tsp champagne vinegar
• 1/2 tsp garam masala spice blend

Other salad ingredients

• 4 cups baby spinach
• 1 ripe pear, thinly sliced into bite sized pieces
• 2 to 3 tbsp shredded Gruyere cheese
• 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted

Instructions

1. Make the vinaigrette dressing: combine the olive oil, honey, vinegar and garam masala in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Place the spinach in a large salad bowl.
3. Spoon the vinaigrette over the spinach. Toss to coat the spinach thoroughly with the dressing.
4. Spread the pear slices over the top of the spinach. Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds and shredded Gruyere cheese over the top of the salad, and serve.

Notes

• This is a good recipe to make if your pears have suddenly gotten a bit overripe. If you’ve got some brown spots on an overripe pear, just cut those brown spots out and use the good fruit.
• Garam masala is an Indian spice blend. If you don’t have it on hand, you could substitute a mix of curry powder and cinnamon, two of the main ingredients in garam masala. I would do a 2 parts curry to 1 cinnamon ratio.

Keywords: spinach salad, pear recipes, spinach and pear salad

Looking for more ways to use pears? Check out this roundup of pear recipes from Bon Appetit. Or if you’re looking for another tasty salad idea, try our Arugula Salad with Maple Vinaigrette!

The post Spinach and Pear Salad with a Touch of Spice appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Orzo pasta tossed with a zesty cilantro pesto and black beans, topped with tomatoes and avocado. This can serve as a vegetarian main or a side for pork, chicken or fish. Excellent served with a Cerasualo d’Abruzzo rosé wine.

I’m a big pesto fan, which you certainly would have noticed if you’ve visited Cooking Chat a few times before!

Most often, I’m making kale pesto, and continue to make classic basil pesto, especially in the summer when fresh basil is abundant.

But cilantro pesto is a nice change of pace from your usual pesto. The cilantro lends a unique zesty flavor which is enhanced by the bright flavors of lime juice.

While I’d never think of making my other pestos without cheese, our cilantro recipe has plenty of flavor without cheese. This makes our cilantro pesto a great option for someone looking for a dairy free pesto. This pesto with cilantro is also nut free.

I noticed people ask online “Can you freeze cilantro pesto?”. I haven’t tried freezing cilantro pesto, but I would anticipate it would freeze well seeing as it doesn’t have dairy.

In addition to be great in this orzo recipe, I really like cilantro pesto with pork. See for instance our Cilantro Pesto Pork Chops recipe.

Making orzo with cilantro pesto

Cilantro pesto is a breeze to make. You can start the water boiling for the orzo pasta as you put the cilantro together.

Just combine the garlic, cilantro, lime juice and red pepper flakes in a food processor and boom, you’ve got cilantro pesto! Set it aside as the orzo cooks.

When the orzo is done, toss it right away with the cilantro pesto, then stir in the black beans followed the cheese, if you are using it. Top it with the avocado and tomatoes, and you have yourself a very tasty dish!

Cerasualo Wine with Cilantro Pesto Orzo

The first time I made this Orzo with Cilantro Pesto recipe, I opened a bottle of the 2017 La Valentina Cerasualo d’Abruzzo ($10, 13% ABV) to with it.

Cerasualo d’Abruzzo is a rosé made from Montepulciano grapes. Since visiting Abruzzo earlier this year, I have been a big fan of this full bodied rosé wine. La Valentina was one of my favorite wineries that we visited on that press trip.

The La Valentina Cerasualo comes from Montepulciano vines that are between 25 to 35 years old. The Ceresualos can be a bit hard to track down in the US. You might have more luck finding the La Valentina Montepulciano d’Abruzzos such as the Spelt, which I paired with the Spicy Chicken Sausage Pasta. For more information on the La Valentina and its wines, visit the winery website. 

This Cerasualo is flavorful and refreshing — ripe melons, great mouthfeel. I don’t believe you will find much cilantro pesto in traditional Italian cooking, but the fruit forward wine does nicely with the bright flavors of the cilantro and lime. As I learned in my Abruzzo visit, Cerasualo also pairs well with tomatoes.

If you can’t get your hands on the Cerasualo to pair with this dish, you might try a Riesling…or let me know if you come up with something else!

Orzo with Cilantro Pesto and Black Beans

★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

Orzo tossed with a zesty cilantro pesto and black beans, topped with tomatoes and avocado. This is a nut and dairy free pesto recipe, although we do include an optional cheese at the end of combining the pasta with the pesto.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 5 servings
• Category: main
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: fusion

Ingredients

For the Cilantro Pesto:

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 cup cilantro
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• pinch red pepper flakes
• ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

Other ingredients

• 12 ozs orzo pasta
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 14.5 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 avocado, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/3 cup Mexican cheese such as cotija (optional)

Instructions

1. Begin boiling the water to cook the orzo.
2. Make the pesto: Combine the garlic cloves, cilantro, lime juice, red pepper flakes and olive oil in a food processor. Puree until the cilantro and garlic are finely chopped and everything is well mixed together. Set aside.
3. Cook the orzo according to package instructions. When the orzo pasta is done to your liking, drain and toss immediately with the cilantro pesto.
4. Add the black beans to the orzo,and stir to combine. Stir in the cheese, if you are using it. Serve the orzo, topped with a handful of tomatoes and avocado. Enjoy! this orzo with cilantro pesto is very good with a Cerasualo d’Abruzzo.

Notes

• Omit the cheese if you wish to serve this as dairy free, vegan dish.
• When tomatoes aren’t in season, I like to use the best grape tomatoes I can find. They seem to be more flavorful than other options outside of peak tomato season.
• Cut the avocado shortly before serving so it doesn’t turn brown.

Keywords: vegan cilantro pesto, cilantro, pesto, cilantro pesto, Cerasualo

The post Orzo with Cilantro Pesto and a Cerasualo d’Abruzzo appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Chicken Sausage Veggie Bowl, served over quinoa and topped with a tasty honey mustard sauce for a healthy meal. Delicious served with a German Riesling. Disclosure: the wine was provided as a complimentary sample by Winesellers LTD.

We have had a nice supply of German Rieslings, and a few other German wines, to sample for this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend. Thanks to Nancy from Pull That Cork for hosting this #winePW focused on German wine.

Today I’m featuring one of the best new recipes I came up with to pair with Riesling– a healthy Chicken Sausage Veggie Bowl. Stay tuned for a roundup of all the pairings I put together.

A Chicken Sausage Veggie Bowl with Riesling

Knowing I had quite a few opportunities to test out some food pairings for Riesling, I sought some input from some Riesling fans about pairings they like. Sausage and mustard flavors was an idea that caught my attention, and led me to today’s pairing.

Riesling can definitely handle some spice, especially if it has some residual sugar. With that in mind, I used an Andouille chicken sausage for this recipe, which definitely has some garlicky kick. The sausage gets cooked along with cabbage and onions. I have definitely like the pork and cabbage combo with riesling, so figured this would work nicely.

Our Chicken Sausage Veggie Bowl gets topped with a honey mustard sauce. I agree with my friend who suggested mustard would be a good call, and the honey aspect certainly picked up some of the sweet notes in the Riesling we opened.

Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Riesling

I’m still really just getting acquainted with the various German Riesling terms, so don’t have great expertise for determining which Rieslings to pick for a particular meal.

I did start to get a few basic ideas down. “Trocken” means the Riesling will be bone dry. “Spätlese” means a late harvest Riesling, and it will likely be on the sweeter side.

This article on Riesling suggests that “Kabinett” can refer to hitting the sweet spot, with just a bit of sugar. I thought that description sounded good as a pairing for our Chicken Sausage Veggie Bowl recipe.

We opened the 2016 Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler Wehlender Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett ($26, 8% ABV) to go with our chicken sausage bowl. I got lemon peel and apple on the nose. On the palate, honey and green apple fruit, and flint notes underlying the fruit.

This Riesling has a bit more sweetness than I expected for a Kabinett style, but that actually worked nicely with the spice of the Andouille sausage and the honey mustard sauce. This was a very good pairing! Not a surprise — Riesling is one of the most food-friendly wines around. Stay tuned for more of the tasty pairings we enjoyed to go with our Riesling samples.

Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler’s vineyards are located throughout the Mosel River Valley, including some of the best locations on river valley hillsides. The prime growing areas tended by this winemaker include Wehlener Sonnenuhr, where the Riesling we enoyed is produced. For more on the estate, visit their web page on the Winesellers LTD site.

Chicken Sausage Veggie Bowl

★★★★★

5 from 7 reviews

Chicken sausages cooked with cabbage and kale, topped with a honey mustard sauce. Served with quinoa for a healthy, easy meal. Delicious with a German Riesling!

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 40 mins
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Main
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: fusion

Ingredients

For the chicken sausage veggie bowl

• 3 small chicken sausages (9 ozs total), I used Andouille flavor
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups cabbage, chopped
• 1 cup kale, stemmed and chopped
• 1/2 cup chicken broth, low sodium
• 2 cups cooked quinoa, for serving

For the honey mustard sauce

• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp mustard
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• pinch of cayenne

Instructions

1. Spray a large skillet with oil spray. Heat the skillet on medium, and add the sausage to brown. Turn the sausage occasional to brown on all sides. Remove when browned, about 5 minutes, and set aside on a plate to cool. Slice the sausage into half inch thick pieces when cooled.
2. Add olive oil, followed by the the onion and sauté for 5 minutes to soften the onion. Add the cabbage and cook for a few more minutes.
3. Stir in the kale, followed by the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook on medium low for 10 minutes.
4. After the vegetables simmer covered for 10 minutes, stir the sliced sausage back into the skillet, and cook for another 10 minutes.
5. As the vegetables and sausage cook, make the honey mustard sauce by combining the honey, mustard, soy sauce, garlic powder and cayenne. Stir to combine well and set aside.
6. To serve, place about half a cup of cooked quinoa in a bowl and top with a scoop or two of the chicken and veggie mixture. Finish the chicken sausage veggie bowl by drizzling some honey mustard sauce over it. Enjoy with a German Riesling!

Notes

• The 1 cup of kale is measured after removing the thick stem.
• You could serve this dish with brown rice if you prefer, instead of the quinoa.

Keywords: chicken sausage, power bowls, quinoa, cabbage, kale, healthy eating

• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla will be tempting us with “Feasting for Sankt Nikolaus Tag: German Sips, Schweineschnitzel, Spätzle, and Sauerkraut”
• Kat from Bacchus Travel & Tours will share “A German Holiday Celebration #winePW“
• Sarah from Curious Cuisinière is pairing “Chicken Schnitzel and German Riesling“
• Deanna of Asian Test Kitchen will discuss “German Riesling: The Default Asian Food Pairing #winePW“
• Jade of TastingPour will tempt us with “Coq Au Riesling #winePW“
• Jeff from FoodWineClick discusses “50 Shades of Kabinett Riesling“
• Michelle of Rockin Red Blog will share “German Wines: Expect The Unexpected #WinePW“
• Jill from L’Occasion will “Outfit Your Holiday Table With German Wines“
• Jane from Always Ravenous will share “Food Pairings with German Riesling #winepw“
• David of Cooking Chat has prepared “Chicken Sausage Veggie Bowl with German Riesling“
• Gwendolyn from wine predator will enjoy “German Riesling and Fun Fondue With Friends for #WinePW“
• Cindy of Grape Experiences has you covered with “Your Party Planning Checklist: Must-Have German Rieslings“
• Rupal from Journeys of A Syrah Queen will share “Rieslings For The Holidays“
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm will be “Celebrating St. Nicholas Day”
• Jennifer of Vino Travels – An Italian Wine Blog will share “Everyday Pairings with German Riesling”
• Nancy at Pull That Cork will share “Two Styles of German Wine and a Meal for Both #winePW“

The post Chicken Sausage Veggie Bowl with German Riesling #winePW appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Chicken Chilindron is a savory Spanish-style chicken thighs recipe. Chicken thighs braised with tomato, garlic and peppers for a delicious winter meal. Excellent paired with Cariñena, a Spanish red wine. Disclosure: Wines provided as a complimentary sample.

Although I’m a fan of Spanish wines, I don’t have them as often as some other types of wine. So I quickly jumped on the opportunity to sample some Cariñena, a Spanish wine that refers to the grape, the name of the village it comes from, and the surrounding appellation where the grapes are grown.

About Cariñena wine

You might be more familiar with the Cariñena wine grape as Carignan, as it is known in France. I learned researching for this post that although the grape is more widely planted in France these days, the wine grape Cariñena / Carignan was first cultivated in Spain.

The Cariñena region is an appellation in the Ebro Valley, located in Spain’s northeast region of Aragon, near the Pyrenees and the border with France. There are many high altitude vineyards in the region, ranging from 1300 to 2600 feet. Hot dry weather with significant temperature fluctuations create good conditions for growing Cariñena as well as Garnacha, which is now widely planted in the region.

Generally wines made from Cariñena in the region are described as being full-flavored red wines with good acidity, and the jives with the bottles I sampled for this article.

Cariñena has a long history of wine making dating back to Roman times, and many of the wines are produced from vines that are over forty years old.

This article in The Chicago Tribune is a good source of information on Cariñena, in addition to the Wine Region to Watch website managed by our partners for this article.

How to Make Chicken Chilindron

Chicken Chilindron is a savory braised chicken dish with peppers and onions from the Aragon region of Spain, where the Cariñena appellation is located.

The typical Chicken Chilindron recipe calls for Serrano ham or some other cured pork such as prosciutto. I used this recipe on the Wine Region to Watch site as the starting point for our Chicken Chilindron.

The chicken gets season with paprika and salt before cooking. After browning the chicken in olive oil, the Region to Watch version adds prosciutto to the pan.

I was going to be sharing the Chicken Chilindron with someone who doesn’t eat pork, so I added mushrooms instead of prosciutto to provide depth of flavor. Of course, mushrooms add a different flavor than pork, but the end result was very good!

Whether you prepare the Chicken Chilindron with mushrooms or pork, the chicken thighs braise, covered, for a good forty minutes before the dish is finished. Chicken thighs are a great dish for slow braises, a comforting way to cook in the cold weather.

Cariñena Wine Pairing for Chicken Chilindron

I opened the 2016 3C Cariñena “Young Wine” ($11, 13.5% ABV) from Grandes Vinos to go with our Chicken Chilindron. This wine is made from 45 year old Cariñena vines.

The 3C Cariñena has a woodsy nose, with nice plum fruit and licorice on the palate. The wine is well-structured, with bright acidity and integrated tannins. This medium bodied wine is a good match for the braised chicken, and the acidity works with the tomatoes and peppers.

The Cariñena paired with Chicken Chilindron is another great example of the “what grows together goes together” concept!

I also had a chance to sample the 2016 Particular Valero Cariñena (14% ABV) from Bodegas San Valero. I get black pepper on the nose of this Cariñena, with blackberry fruit and notes of vanilla and oak on the palate.

Based on the two bottles of Cariñena I sampled, I really enjoy this grape as it is produced in its native land! Not to mention at around $10 per bottle it is a great value. I will definitely be on the lookout for more!

Chicken Chilindron (Spanish Style Chicken Thighs)

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

Chicken Chilindron is a savory Spanish-style chicken thighs recipe. Chicken thighs simmer with tomato, garlic and peppers for a delicious winter meal. Excellent paired with Cariñena, a Spanish red wine.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 65 mins
• Total Time: 75 mins
• Yield: 5 servings
• Category: main
• Method: braise
• Cuisine: Spanish

Ingredients

• 5 boneless chicken thighs
• 2 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 ozs sliced mushrooms (see notes)
• 3 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 cup dry white wine, divided
• 6 olives, sliced
• 1 handful minced parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Season both sides of the chicken thighs with the paprika and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large pan on medium high heat. Place the chicken thighs in the pan to sear. Brown the chicken on one side for about 2 minutes, then turn to brown the other side for 2 more minutes. After both sides have been browned, move the chicken thighs to a platter to rest as you complete the next step.
3. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan and heat on medium. Add the onion to the pan, and cook until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir the mushrooms into the pan, combining with the onions. Cook about 5 minutes until the mushrooms begin to soften, then add 1/2 of the cooking wine. Cook until most of the wine has been absorbed, about 5 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes, garlic and red bell pepper to the pan, stirring to combine the ingredients. Pour in the remaining 1/2 cup of cooking wine, and add the chicken thighs back into the pan.
6. Cover the pan and cook on low for 40 minutes. Remove cover, stir in the olives, and simmer for 5 additional minutes to reduce the sauce.
7. Serve the Chicken Chilindron over rice, and enjoy with a glass of Cariñena red wine!

Notes

• My Copper Chef Pan worked well for this dish, with its nonstick surface and steep sides. Amazon affiliate link provided for your convenience.
• The original recipe uses prosciutto, adding that after browning the chicken. I was cooking for someone that dosn’t eat pork, so added the mushrooms and olives instead of the prosciutto for depth of flavor. Consult the original recipe for more details on using prosciutto in this dish.

Keywords: chicken chilindron, Spanish chicken, chicken thighs, Cariñena

Want to try another savory chicken thighs recipe with a wine pairing? Try our Chicken Cassoulet with Languedoc wine!

The post Chicken Chilindron with Carinena (Spanish Red Wine) appeared first on Cooking Chat.

We start the New Year with a Healthy Bolognese Sauce recipe paired with an excellent Tuscan Sangiovese. A great way to warm up on a cold winter’s night!

When I heard the January theme for the Italian Food, Wine and Travel Group was “Italian Wines for Cold Winter Nights” my thoughts immediately went to what hearty Italian food I wanted to cook to go with a bold Italian red wine.

Bolognese is a traditional Italian meat sauce that is definitely one of my favorite comfort foods to cook in the winter. The classic version of Bolognese sauce typically uses a combination of meats such as beef, veal and pork. Sometimes it’s ground pork, but you can also find pancetta or prosciutto in the mix.

Ok, the classic Italian Bolognese sauce is very tasty, but maybe we could make a healthy Bolognese sauce to go wit a good Italian red wine? I’m going to tell you how we cooked up a healthier sauce, but be sure to stay tuned for the wine! We opened a special bottle given by a friend who had been in Tuscany earlier in the year.

How to make a Healthy Bolognese Sauce

So the first key to making a healthy Bolognese sauce is to get the depth of flavor without using as much meat and the associated saturated fat.

I have found in other recipes that using ground turkey along with mushrooms is a great way to get a rich flavor while improving the nutritional profile of the dish. In addition to reducing fat content, mushrooms pack in some good nutrition. So ground turkey plus mushrooms is the way we started here.

We go for grass-fed beef in this recipe. Though there are some different views on the topic, the balance of evidence I’ve seen suggest that grass-fed beef improves the nutritional value. In particular, the grass-fed option provides significantly more healthy omega-3 fatty acids and less overall fat content.

For me, eating healthy is largely about putting as many healthy nutrients on the plate, so that the calories we eat are providing benefits. With that in mind, we added some finely chopped kale to the healthy Bolognese sauce to get some more nutrition in there.

You really can’t taste the greens with all the other flavors, but they do also add a bit more color to the plate.

You could also use a whole wheat pasta to make the dish even healthier. I try to use whole wheat about half the time I make pasta. For this meal, we went with a traditional style rigatoni. Whether you go whole wheat or not, a short, substantial shape is the way to go with Bolognese sauce.

Jill asks in the comments below if this sauce could be made without meat, using just mushrooms. I think it could work, and made me think of this Linguine with Meatless Meat Sauce recipe I mad awhile back. It gets substance from a combo of mushrooms and tempeh.

Our healthy Bolognese sauce tossed with rigatoni is a great start for a cold winter night, but you need a good glass of Italian wine to go with it! And we had the chance to have a special one.

Tuscan Sangiovese from Avignonesi

photo credit: John Franson

My friends John and Liz had a chance to visit Tuscany during the spring of 2018. I clearly did not hide my enthusiasm for the wine from Avignonesi that John opened one evening when I was visiting. Hearing about their visit to the vineyard and seeing the pictures only deepened my interest in the wine.

When my birthday rolled around recently, John and Liz gave me a bottle of the 2015 La Tonda Toscana I.G.T. (13.5% ABV) from Avignonesi, packaged in a nice wooden gift box. When I saw the bottle number 172 carefully handwritten on the label, I knew I’d need to take the time to make a good meal to go with this wine!

This wine is 100% Sangiovese, so I thought it would definitely go well with a tomato based meat sauce. Opening La Tonda to go with our Healthy Bolognese recipe seemed like the perfect thing!

I get strawberries and brambles on the nose of La Tonda. The wine has a complex flavor profile, with cherry and prune fruit along with a bit of allspice and a light tough of leather. La Tonda is a substantial red wine, yet has a lightness to it the nonetheless. Excellent velvety finsh. As you might imagine, this Sangiovese was an excellent pairing for our healthy Bolognese.

Avignonesi is based in Montepulciano, and have established themselves as a top Tuscany producer. Avignonesi is the family name of the original winery owners. In 2009 the winery was acquired by retired Belgian attorney Virginie Saverys, who has moved in the direction of organic and biodynamic production.

La Tonda, meaning “round one” in Italian, is produced from a single vineyard on Le Capezzine farm. There Avignonesi was experimenting to determine how vine density and training effected the wine. They concluded that densely planted vines improved grape quality, forcing the roots to go deeper in search of nutrients.

photo credit: John Franson

Avignonesi has all kinds of fun options for visiting listed on their website, including a hot air balloon tour and “reach Avignonesi by helicopter”. But they are closed January and February, so don’t jump in your helicopter just yet!

Healthy Bolognese Sauce

★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

In this Healthy Bolognese sauce recipe, a combo of ground turkey, mushrooms and grass fed beef replace the meats used in a traditional Bolognese sauce. This healthier version of the sauce still packs plenty of flavor, and is excellent with a good Tuscan Sangiovese.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
• Yield: 8 servings
• Category: Main
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 ozs mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup red wine
• 1 lb ground beef, grass-fed
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp ground fennel
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 28 ozs diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup finely minced kale or other green
• cooked pasta for serving — shapes like rigatoni and ziti work well for Bolognese
• grated Parmigiano cheese for topping

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion, and cook until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until they begin to soften and sweat, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the red wine and minced garlic, stirring to combine with the mushrooms and onions.
4. Once the wine has been mostly absorbed, add the ground beef to the pot. Stir occasionally. When the beef begins to brown, after about 5 minutes, add the turkey and cook for a few more minutes.
5. Stir in the tomatoes and beef broth, along with the kale plus the herbs and spices (basil, sage, ground fennel). Raise the heat to bring to a simmer, then lower to medium low to maintain a simmer. Simmer uncovered for at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Cook your pasta according to package instructions after the sauce has been simmering for about 30 minutes. Drain and toss immediately with sauce. If you are using about 20 ounces or more of sauce, you can toss all the sauce and pasta at once. If using a smaller portion of pasta, toss initially with several scoops of sauce, then add the additional amount of sauce needed to have the pasta sauced the way you like it.
7. Plate the pasta and served topped with freshly grated Parmigiano cheese, along with a good glass of Italian Sangiovese.

Notes

• This Healthy Bolognese Sauce makes enough for at least 20 ounces of pasta. If you only have 2 to 3 people eating it, you may want to cook enough pasta for the first night, then save the sauce to serve with a fresh batch of pasta the next time you have it. Alternatively you can cook the 20 ounces of pasta and toss it all with the sauce, and save the leftovers to be quickly reheated. That makes the leftover night easier, but the fresh pasta improves the taste.
• If you have basil or other fresh herbs on hand, definitely substitute the fresh for the dried. 1 tbsp fresh basil is roughly equal to 1 tsp dried basil.
• We used basic button mushrooms but feel to free to use other types of mushrooms if you prefer.

Keywords: Bolognese sauce, lightened recipes, healthy recipes, Italian food, pasta sauces

More Italian wine for a cold winter night

• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm gives us Pure Comfort~~Pasta with a Bottle of Aglianico.
• Martin of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog prepares A Surf and Turf Feast with Donnachiara Wines.
• Jill of L’Occasion posts For Table And Cellar: Warm Up With Italian Wine.
• David of Cooking Chat serves up Healthy Bolognese Sauce with a Tuscan Sangiovese.
• Jane of Always Ravenous pairs Italian Meatballs with Donnachiara Wines.
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator offers 4 Montepulciano Paired with Osso Bucco Warms Up Winter Italian Style plus #ItalianFWT plans for 2019.
• Nicole of Somm’s Table is Cooking to the Wine: Fontanafredda Barolo and Braised Short Ribs with Mushrooms.
• Katarina of Grapevine Adventures encourages us to Get Cosy By The Fire With Italian Wine.
• Lynn of Savor the Harvest writes about Italian Wine To Warm Your Soul.
• Jennifer of Vino Travels is Starting the New Year with the Big Boys: Barolo and Barbaresco.
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs a 2014 Camilla Barolo + Filet Mignon in a Creamy Mushroom Sauce.

All of these posts will be live between Friday and Saturday, January 4th and 5th. If you catch this in time, feel free to join us on a live Twitter chat at 11 am Eastern / 8am, Pacific time. Follow hashtag #ItalianFWT.

The post Healthy Bolognese Sauce with a Tuscan Sangiovese #ItalianFWT appeared first on Cooking Chat.

You’ve got to try this Cream Creamy Cauliflower with Kale and Chickpeas recipe! What’s not to love about a creamy yet light pasta dish that is packed with nutrition? We pair it with an excellent white wine from Paso Robles. Disclosure: The wine was provided as a complimentary sample. 

We hit the ball out of the park with this new Creamy Cauliflower Past recipe! OK, I know the Super Bowl is the big game coming up, but I’m a baseball guy at heart.

Roasted cauliflower gets pureed with garlic and coconut cream to create a creamy rich consistency. Roasting cauliflower gives it great flavor and the garlic provides some nice kick here.

Adding kale to the cream cauliflower adds some more nutrients along with a bit of color. Cauliflower is a very healthy ingredient, but on its own pureed cauliflower doesn’t have a lot of aesthetic appeal.

Adding chickpeas to the creamy cauliflower pasta adds some protein and fiber, while making the dish more substantial.

I’d like to say I invented the idea of making a creamy cauliflower sauce, but I got the idea from Pinch of Yum. The POY recipe boils the cauliflower, I like roasting it for a rich flavor. For more cauliflower goodness, try our Salmon with Creamy Cauliflower Farro and the Curried Cauliflower Dip.

Making Creamy Cauliflower Pasta

This Creamy Cauliflower Pasta with Kale and Chickpeas is easy to make. You will definitely need a good food processor! (Amazon affiliate link provided to the Cuisinart brand that is a workhorse in our kitchen).

The cauliflower takes about 25 minutes to roast, and you can start the pasta water boiling toward the end of the roasting time.

Make the creamy cauliflower purée as the pasta cooks. It’s a simple matter of puréeing the cauliflower along with the garlic, kale and cream.

I used coconut cream  as we had some on hand. Stick with that to makes this a vegan dish. You can use milk or heavy cream if you like; although I’d recommend milk or the coconut cream if you want to keep the dish healthy as possible.

Toss the pasta immediately with the cauliflower kale puree, then add in the chickpeas. You are ready to serve and enjoy with a good glass of wine!

Wine Pairing for Creamy Cauliflower Pasta

I’ve teamed up with the folks at Teuwen Communications to sample a variety of wines from Paso Robles. A nice treat! I tend to be a fan of the region’s wines, and this is giving me a chance to try some new ones.

I decided to try the 2016 Summerwood Marsanne Alta Colina ($35, 15% ABV) with the Creamy Cauliflower Pasta. Paso Robles wineries produce a number of wines like Marsanne that are most closely associated with Frances Rhone region.

The Summerwood Marsanne is a deep rich gold in the glass. Citrus and wet stones on the nose. Lemon fruit on the palate with a little touch of spice, and a creamy mouthfeel and good finish. A very good wine!

I will often go for a Marsanne or white blend including Marsanne when I want a fairly full-bodied white wine, but a bit lighter than a Chardonnay. As suspected, the Marsanne pairing worked out very well with the creamy sauce. The Paso Marsanne is a bit more full-bodied than its typical Rhone counterpart, which helped it stand up to the texture sauce and the garlic kick.

I describe the wine as being fairly full bodied, although the tasting sheet describes it as medium bodied. Perhaps it is the 15% alcohol content giving it the ripeness that I’m picking up. I was quite surprised to see the 15% figure after trying the wine. As a well-made wine, it doesn’t come across as being high alcohol.

Summerwood is owned by Kesao Fukae, and is named after his son, Natsuki (“Summerwood” in Japanese). Their wines are made from grapes in the Willow Creek and Templeton Gap regions of Paso.

Just 90 cases of the 2016 Summerwood Marsanne Alta Colina were produced, so I’m happy to have enjoyed a bottle! The wine is aged for 12 months on lees, 50% new French oak and 50% neutral oak barrels.

Summerwood makes a variety of other wines, white and red, mostly based on Rhone varietals and Cabernet Sauvignon. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for a chance to try another Summerwood wine!

Creamy Cauliflower Pasta with Kale and Chickpeas

★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

Roasted cauliflower puréed with kale and garlic, then tossed with pasta and chickpeas for delicious, healthy meal.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins
• Total Time: 45 mins
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: main
• Method: roasting + stove top
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

• 1 head of cauliflower, florets chopped (about 4 to 5 cups chopped cauliflower)
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup coconut cream ,(see notes) divided
• 2 cups kale
• salt and peper to taste
• 1 14 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 lb whole wheat elbow macaroni or other short pasta
• optional cheese at pass at the table for topping. Skip this or use nondairy cheese to make this a vegan dish.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss the cauliflower florets with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil along with a bit of salt. Roast the cauliflower the cauliflower for about 25 minutes. The cauliflower is ready when it is starting to get tender and can be easily pierced with a fork. When done, remove the cauliflower from oven and set aside to cool briefly.
2. Begin boiling water to cook the pasta, and cook according to package instructions.
3. Make the creamy cauliflower sauce as the pasta cooks. Add the garlic to a food processor and pulse the blade to mince the garlic. Add the roasted cauliflower and 3/4 cup of the coconut cream, and purée. Add the kale and purée to incorporate the kale into the sauce.
4. When the pasta is cooked to your liking, reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta. Toss the pasta immediately with the creamy cauliflower sauce along with the reserved pasta water and the remaining 1/4 cup of coconut cream. Plate the pasta, and pass the cheese at the table if you like. Enjoy!

Notes

• We prepared this as a vegan dish, using coconut cream we had on hand. If you like, you could use milk or heavy cream instead of the coconut cream. I’ve included an Amazon affiliate link to a coconut cream product that looks similar to what I used, although I used a different brand.
• 3 cloves garlic does create a strong garlic flavor. Drop to 2 if you want a more moderate garlic taste.

Keywords: cauliflower, cauliflower pasta sauce, creamy cauliflower pasta, wine pairing, Paso wine

The post Paso White Wine Paired With Creamy Cauliflower Pasta appeared first on Cooking Chat.

Easy Baked Cod is delicious topped with an olive lemon relish! Even better with a nice Albariño white wine from Paso Robles. Disclosure: the wine was sent as a complimentary sample.

Over the past year, I’ve discovered our son loves baked haddock. I adapted the approach I use to make that, and cooked up this Easy Baked Cod with Olive Relish.

B skipped the olive relish, but gives the Easy Baked Cod preparation a thumbs up. Glad to have another type of fish he is eager to enjoy with me! I try to do a fish meal at least once per week on average. Cod seems to be on sale at the store a fair amount, perhaps because it can be caught not to far from our New England coastline.

I could eat the Easy Baked Cod with a simple squirt of lemon juice, but topping the Easy Baked Cod with the olive relish makes it more in tune with adult taste buds. Pairing it with a good Paso Albariño white wine also makes this grownup happy! More on the wine in a minute; first a few quick notes on preparation.

Making Easy Baked Cod

To make Easy Baked Cod, in addition to the ingredients listed, you will need:

• 2 bowls large enough to dredge the pieces of cod fillet
• 1 smaller bowl for the relish
• 1 baking sheet, lined with aluminum foil

You start by getting the ingredients set up to make the cod coating, which features panko breadcrumbs as a primary ingredient. One bowl is for the dried ingredients, the other for the olive oil.

Have the baking sheet ready to point the cod right on after you’ve dredged the pieces in the olive oil and dried ingredients.

Make the olive relish while the cod bakes. Note that pounding larger parts of the cod to make the pieces fairly even helps with consistent cooking of the fish.

You want the cod cooked through and to flake easily. Larger pieces might take a few minutes more than the 20 I call for here, but don’t overcook the fish!

Easy Baked Cod with Wine from Paso Robles

We have been enjoying sampling a lineup of very good wine from Paso Robles, California. I thought our Easy Baked Cod would be a perfect evening for opening our Albariño from Paso, as it tends to be a very seafood friendly wine.

The 2016 Barr Estate Albariño ($17, 12.7% ABV) definitely proved to be a good pairing for the baked cod. This Albariño has a subtle nose, with hints of the sea, setting up the seafood pairing. On the palate, kiwi fruit with racing acidity, and mineral undertones. Light bodied with a medium finish.

The fruit and acidity were great elements to go along with the briny olive relish, with its lemon and salty flavors. I definitely give this pairing an A!

We most closely associate the Albariño grape with Spain, particularly the Rias Baixas region. I haven’t had a lot from California. I would say I liked this one from Barr Estate better than other California Albariño I recall trying. This Paso Albariño has a bit more fruit and weight than you might get on a Spanish version, but still has that strong sense of the sea that makes it such a great seafood wine.

Barr Estate is a small family owned and operated winery established in 2007. Natives of New Orleans, Tealy and Greg Barr started a second career growing grapes and making affordable, high quality wines.

The grapes for this wine are grown in the Geneseo District of the Paso Robles AVA. The tasting sheet, which I looked at after sampling, notes the terroir and temperature are similar parts of Rias Baixas. Definitely can see the similarity in taste!

The fermentation and maceration are done in stainless steel, under strict temperature control.

Easy Baked Cod with Olive Relish

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

Easy baked cod recipe is delicious topped with an olive lemon relish! Even better with a nice Albariño from Paso Robles.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: main
• Method: baking
• Cuisine: seafood

Ingredients

For the cod:

• 1 lb or so cod fillet, rinsed and patted dry
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• pinch salt
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp mustard (optional)

For the olive relish

• 6 green olives, pitted and chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp champagne vinegar (other vinegar OK to substitute)
• handful of fresh parsley
• couple grinds of fresh black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium to large bowl–panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, basil and salt. Pour the 2 tablespoons olive oil into a separate medium to large bowl.
3. Take one piece of the cod fillet, dip both sides in the olive oil and let the excess oil drip off. Dredge the cod in the dried ingredient coating, both sides, and place on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil. Repeat with the remaining pieces of cod.
4. Place the cod in the oven, and bake for about 20 minutes.
5. As the cod bakes, make the olive relish. Combine the olives, 1.5 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar in a small bowl. Set aside.
6. Check the cod for for doneness at 20 minutes– the cod should be cooked through, white flesh and flake easily. Some pieces might need a bit more time than others. If so, removed the cooked pieces to a platter and let the other pieces cook for a few more minutes. Don’t overcook the fish!
7. Plate the cod, and serve topped with the olive relish. Enjoy!
8. After the cod has been rinsed and patted dry, place it on a cutting board and cut into 3 roughly equal sized pieces. If some pieces are thicker than others, pound the thicker ones to get the pieces to be relatively equal size.

Notes

• A good size cod fillet of 1 pound or more will likely have some parts that are pretty thick, and some thinner parts. Cutting the fillet into a few pieces helps ensure it all gets cooked right, cooked through but not overcooked! Pounding the thicker pieces to make them all similar size helps with even cooking.
• I didn’t use mustard in making the cod, but have done so cooking haddock with a similar preparation. So if feel free to use a bit of mustard here if you like that flavor.

Keywords: cod, seafood, baked cod, wine pairing, Albariño

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Want to try another cod recipe? How about our New England Beans and Cod!

The post Easy Baked Cod with Olive Relish and Paso Albarino appeared first on Cooking Chat.