wine and food pairing

You are currently browsing articles tagged wine and food pairing.

During the cooler months, our Sunday nights are often spent in front of a fire and a movie, cozy Sunday supper and good glass of red wine. It’s a great way to unwind, but being home and focusing on the end of the weekend sometimes also brings on the Sunday blues.

Last week we had a very stressful date in court with a nightmare contractor, and before that was even scheduled, we had made plans with a group of friends to try out the Sunday Supper Club at MC Spiedo. It turned out to be the perfect way to get our minds off of the stressful week ahead, and after an amazing meal with great people, we slept better than we had in a long time.

MC Spiedo Supper Club Supper Club Sunday is a phenomenal value, to start. With wine pairings, it’s $65, including tax and gratuity, and the food just keeps coming. The wines poured were really excellently paired with the courses.

We met for cocktails prior to dinner, and I had the Bourbon Month special, which was a delicious blend of Smuggler’s Notch bourbon, apple cider, and lemon. It was autumn in a glass.

meat and cheese board

Our feast started out with a meat and cheese board with farmstead cheeses, pickles, and a killer pate that was mixed with local cranberries.

Next up were the pizzas. There was a pork pizza, a mushroom pizza with blue cheese, and a white pizza with pesto. The crust was chewy perfection, and all of the topics were delicious. My favorite was definitely the mushroom though, the Bayley Hazen blue nutty and salty with spice from the salumi and earthy, meaty ,mushrooms making for an excellent combination.

By the time we were done with the pizzas, we were getting full. The food could have stopped then!MC Spiedo pizza

But the main feast was yet to come! Each Supper Club has a featured protein, and this week was a suckling pig, carved tableside. While I did not enjoy looking at the pig’s face, I have to say, the meat was melt-in-your-mouth incredible. It was so tender and flavorful, served with pickled tiger figs for a nice contrast. There were plenty of sides for us to enjoy along with it.

In addition to a Warm Farro Salad and Roman-Style Cauliflower, we had Polenta Fries, Brussels Sprouts, and a perfect Tagliatelle Bolognese.

polenta fries

Brussels sprouts

 

bolognese

Ooof.  The main course was served with an incredible Sangiovese from Emiglia-Romagna. It had notes of black cherries and cocoa, and it really stood up to the richness of the food. Even a friend who is not usually a fan of Italian reds loved this wine.

Meyer Lemon Zeppoles

While we didn’t think we could eat another bite, we did manage dessert. A Hazelnut Torte and Meyer Lemon Zeppoles rounded out the meal. The cake was a little too sweet for my liking, but I loved the light, lemony zeppoles.

All in all, Supper Club Sundays are a perfect way to enjoy lots of delicious dishes with a group of friends. It won’t make Monday go away, but it certainly helps you to stretch the weekend fun until the very end!

Tags: Boston, Dining out, events, Food, nights out, wine, wine and food pairing

Grilling under blue skies for the first time in a season calls for a special wine that pairs perfectly with the simple, flavorful ingredients showing up on the table. While it’s still nowhere near warm enough for me (C’mon 85 degrees!), it has been warm enough for outdoor dining a couple of times, and this past Sunday we had a leisurely and simple dinner, paired with a bottle of wine from our recent North Fork trip.

Bedell Viognier

Our time at Bedell Cellars was simply incredible; I have a full blog post coming, but I took so many pictures and took in so much information that it is taking its time coming together. We picked up quite a bit of wine while visiting Bedell, and well, you know I love my Viognier.

This Viognier embodies some of the greatest characteristics brought to wine by the North Fork terroir, mineral notes and salinity, along with up front notes of peach and pear.

I think this wine is absolutely perfect with grilled fish and vegetables. It is fresh and bright enough to bring out the flavors of the food without overwhelming them.

grilling

We paired the Bedell Viognier with a simple dinner of grilled salmon, zucchini, and asparagus, all sprinkled lightly with olive oil and lemon pepper. The wine and dinner were easy like Sunday evening.

grilled salmon and asparagus

I love sampling Viognier from different wine regions and comparing the taste and texture. It’s a grape I love to explore and one that I think is ideal for summer.

Tags: Long Island wine, North Fork, Viognier, wine, wine and food pairing, wine of the week, wine tasting

It’s wine snack Wednesday, and this is a simple, must-share little treat that went perfectly with our dry Riesling tasting. I know it’s fall and all, but heirloom tomatoes might be around a tiny bit longer; if you find some good ones, you will want to make this compote.

heirloom tomatoes

hungarian paprika

apple cider vinegar

It’s an incredibly easy “recipe” that starts by roasting tomatoes until wrinkly and fragrant. You’ll know when they are done, just by looking at them. Once your tomatoes are ready, use a food mill or even scissors to really pulverize them into a puree. Take your tomato blend and put it in a sauce pan on low, and while stirring, add in a couple of teaspoons of sugar. This recipe is not exact; it’s all about your taste. A lot of the recipes I perused prior to cooking called for SO much sugar, which I just didn’t want to use. Instead, I stirred in about three teaspoons while the tomato puree was slowly simmering on the stove. To that, I added a teaspoon of Hungarian paprika, a pinch of cinnamon and about 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar. I stirred it all together and let it simmer until it cooked down a bit.

roasted heirloom tomatoes

Once cool, I put in little jars to store. I didn’t jar these for long-term storage, but that is definitely something I would like to learn.

spiced tomato compote

This spicy sweet, and savory compote was nice with a little Saint Andre triple crème cheese and a couple of pours of Riesling. The spice of the compote was delightful with the fruit flavors in the wine, and the creaminess of the cheese went well with the acidity of the wine; the fat was cut a little by some of those zippy Riesling flavors.

Saint Andre cheese

I love cooking for wine pairing, and I especially love when I find something super simple that we can enjoy on a weeknight. We’re learning more and more to savor each and every day of our lives, and mid-week mini celebrations are a great way to do it.

How do you savor the everyday moments, especially those draining weekdays?

Tags: cheese, heirloom tomatoes, recipe, tomatoes, wine, wine and food, wine and food pairing

« Older entries § Newer entries »

new restaurant
WordPress SEO fine-tune by Meta SEO Pack from Poradnik Webmastera