Food Pairings
Apple Bacon Tomato Soup
Recipe from Sharon Anway, made with our Noiret.
5 Apple Bacon Tomato Soupslices bacon
½ white onion, chopped
2 tsp. garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium apple, peeled and chopped
1 cup red wine
2 cups beef stock
1 (15.5-oz) can pinto beans (drained)
1 (14.5-oz) can Italian style diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir the apples in the red wine until soft, don’t overcook.
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove bacon from pan, coarsely chop, and set aside.
In same pan, sauté white onion, garlic and celery in the bacon grease over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in beef stock, pinto beans, tomatoes and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat.
Add the bacon, apples and red wine into the soup mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until well blended.
Can be topped with cheese if desired. Serve with Italian or French bread.
It says it serves 8, but I’d say 4 is more realistic.
Apple/Pear Slaw
½ head of large cabbage
1 large apple
1 large Danjou pear
1 c. mayonnaise
¼ – ½ t. salt
½ t. splenda or sugar
dash of cinnamon
Slice cabbage very thinly. Shred apple and pear. I use a food processor for the first two steps, but you can do it by hand. Add remaining ingredients and toss to cover. This should be served relatively soon (same day) after it is mixed.
Artichoke Dip
Goes well with Flying Otter Riesling.
1 can artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mayonaise
1/2 cup shredded swiss sheese
3 green onions sliced, or 2 slices onion, chopped
1/2 small can diced green chiles
1 pickled jalapeno (optional) chopped
Mix all; Heat in microwave until cheese melts, stir.
(can be baked in 350 oven till bubbly)
Chicken and Bean Soup
Pairs well with our Flying Otter Sunshine.
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into small chunks
2-3 cups chicken broth
1 green bell pepper
1 large onion
1 large jar great northern beans drained and rinsed
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
½ tsp oregano
1 small can of green chili peppers
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese
Cut up the chicken, bell pepper and onion into small chunks. In dutch oven first cook the chicken, then add the onions and cook until tender. Drain and rinse the beans. Combine the chicken broth, bell pepper, beans, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, and chili peppers with the cooked chicken and onions in the dutch oven. Let simmer 1 hr. Serve garnished with a little monterey jack cheese.
Chicken Enchiladas
Pairs well with Flying Otter Sunshine.
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large onion
1 jar salsa 16 oz
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cups shredded cheese
8-10 tortillas
Cook chicken breast and onion. Once cooked shred the chicken with forks. Stir into the shredded chicken the salsa, sour cream, cumin and ½ cup cheese. Heat through. Spoon this mix into a tortilla, roll up and place in a baking dish. I recommend spraying baking dish with pam, to avoid sticking. Once all tortillas are filled and placed in the dish sprinkle remaining cheese over the top of them. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 min or until cheese melts and are heated though.
Chicken Shawarma over Hummus
2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts (or thighs if you prefer)
1-2 cups prepared hummus
Marinade:
1/2 c. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 T. lemon juice
3 T. cider vinegar
2 t. cumin, ground
2 t. smoked paprika
1 t. allspice
1/2 t. turmreic
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 t. coriander
1/2 t. cardamom
1/2 t. black pepper
1 t. salt
Mix all ingredients for marinade. Dip each chicken piece in marinade and place in a bag or covered bowl overnight or for at least 6 hours. (Can be frozen in marinade, then thaw and grill)
Grill till cooked through.
Relish: dice tomatoes and onions in about 1/4″ dice, enough for a couple of cups. Add chopped parsley, a splash of balsamic vinegar, 2-3 T.olive oil, and salt to taste.
Creamy sauce: Shred one fresh cucumber. Mix with 1/2 c. greek yogurt, 1/2 c. sour cream, and salt to taste.
To serve spoon a dollop of hummus onto a plate. Top with grilled shawarma, a spoonful o fhte tomato relish, and finish with the cream sauce.
Cucumber Canape Diablo w/Shrimp
Recipe by Chef Rick of Hooligans in Adrian, MI for
Flying Otter Winery’s Summer Solstice Release Party 2013
Recipe was designed to be paired with Flying Otter’s Sexy Devil.
Layers
Sourdough Toast Points
Sliced Hot House Cucumber
Diablo Cream Cheese (1 oz. for each serving)
Sautéed Shrimp
113 Hooligan’s Sauce
Radish Sticks
Mint Leaf
Preparation
Cut sourdough bread into 2×2 squares, toast on griddle. Sautee shrimp and season with paprika, salt, & pepper, set aside. Bring cream cheese to room temperature; add dash of Sriracha or to taste. For Hooligans sauce mix 1 oz. mayonnaise (per serving) and sweet chili sauce to taste and dash of Sriracha for extra spice. Slice tiny radish sticks.
Assembly
Top toast point with cucumber slice, cream cheese, 113 Hooligans sauce, and shrimp on top. Place radish stick in center of shrimp and garnish with mint leaf.
Curried Butternut Squash Soup
A savory soup perfect for a fall festival. Adjust the spiciness to suit your tastes.
¼ c butter (1/2 stick)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 large butternut squash (~ 3 #), peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks about an inch cubed
2-3 apples, peeled, cored, and diced about ¼”
1-2 T. curry powder
5-6 cups chicken stock
salt to taste – depends on how salty your stock is
black pepper to taste
1 cup Flying Otter Riesling ( or another good semi-sweet wine)
Heat oil over medium heat in a large stockpot. Add onions and saute until tender. Add squash chunks, apples, curry powder, stock, and salt and bring to a boil. Simmer until squash and apples are tender, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender or process in batches in a blender or food processor. Add wine and mix well. Adjust curry powder, salt, & pepper to taste, and simmer to desired serving temperature.
Gingerbread Cookies
Goes well with Flying Otter Riesling.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together
3 cups flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ginger
1teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
In another bowl cream the following:
1 ½ (12 tablespoons) sticks butter
¾ cup brown sugar
1 egg
Stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.
Then add:
½ cup molasses
1 tablespoon vanilla
Let dough rest for 2 hrs, in covered container in refrigerator. Roll dough to ¼ inch thick and cut with a cutter. For crunchy cookies roll slightly thinner. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. Makes 2 dozen cookies. Tip: When rolling out dough, to avoid dough sticking to surface, lightly grease the surface your rolling on.
Herbed Chicken Pasta Salad
This is the salad we served for the 2015 Summer Solstice event on the Pioneer Wine Trail.
Mayonnaise 1/2 c (plus extra for finishing if you aren’t serving right away)
dried basil 1 t.
dried parsley 1 t.
pesto 1 T.
onion, chopped finely 1/2 c
salt to taste
Mix the above ingredients together in a bowl.
Add 3 cups of cooked and cooled pasta. I used farfala. Add 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken. I used Costco’s rotisserie chicken. Mix thoroughly.
If you are serving it later you will want to mix in some extra mayo just before serving as it tends to soak in and dry out.
This will make about 5 cups.
Honey Gorgonzola Bruschetta with Prosciutto or Granny Smith garnish and Starboard Balsamic Reduction
This is a recipe developed for us by Chef Rick Trevino at Hooligans in downtown Adrian. It was paired with our Frontenac for the April Pioneer Wine Trail Michigan Wine Celebration Event.
Honey Gorgonzola Bruschetta with Prosciutto or Granny Smith garnish and Starboard Balsamic Reduction
Slice a baguette (crosswise) into 1/2 inch rounds and toast.
Top with a generous crumble of gorgonzola cheese, and drizzle with a bit of warm honey.
Top with a sliver of prosciutto or a thin slice of granny smith apple. (We were surprised to find we actually preferred the apple topping, it just seemed to pop)
Drizzle with the Starboard Balsamic Reduction
Starboard Balsamic Reduction
Saute some shallots (or onions) and thyme in a little butter till softened. Add 2 parts Starboard and 1 part balsamic vinegar and simmer, low and slow, until reduced to 1/3 original volume and it is lightly thickened. It will thicken a bit more as it cools. This may easily take 60-90 minutes. Stir often to be sure it doesn’t burn. Strain through a strainer to remove the onion and thyme lumps. For easy dispensing put it in a squeeze bottle to drizzle over the bruschetta.
Loaded Baked Potato Salad
4 lg baked potatoes (or enough to make ~8 cups diced potato)
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
½ sweet onion (~ 1 cup) finely diced
1 ½ c. mayonnaise
½ c. sour cream
1 T. salt
2 t. sugar or splenda
2 T. mustard
Toppings
8 slices bacon, fried crisply and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 c shredded cheddar
½ c chopped chives
optional: fresh tomatoes
Bake potatoes. We coated ours with oil, wrapped them in foil and baked them on a grill. Cool and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks. Chop eggs and onions. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix all.
For group serving put all in a fairly shallow serving bowl, top with bacon, cheese and chives. For individual servings use plates or bowls and top each portion. For the wine trail I put each portion over a fresh sliced tomato which adds color, and if you can get real fresh tomatoes they can’t be beat. For my money, if it’s winter store tomatoes you might as well leave it off.
Michigan Chicken Salad
2 cups cooked diced (~1/2 inch) chicken
¼ c. celery, small diced
¼ c. dried cherries, diced
½ c. mayonnaise
¼ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
1-2 T fresh finely diced basil
Mix all together and allow to meld for at least an hour to soften cherries. We serve as a wrap, as a slider, in a croissant, or as a sandwich.
Muffaletta Stuffed Baguette with Herb Aoili
This is the food pairing that we served for the 2015 Michigan Wine Celebration Pioneer Wine Trail Event.
1 Baguette (~16inches)
2 oz. hard salami chopped into 1/4inch pieces or strips
8 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. shredded or finely chopped provolone
1/2 c. olive muffaletta salad mix (or 1/2c chopped green and black olives with 1 t. olive oil)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. roasted red peppers
1 t. dried parsley (or 1 T. fresh, chopped)
Chop ends off the baguette and cut into chunks that are easy to reach from each end with a long, sharp, filet type knife. I used three pieces per baguette. Hollow out the inside of each chunk, working from each side, leaving about 1/2 inch baguette around the outside.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Take a spoon and, working from each end, stuff the cream cheese mix into the hollowed baguette. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill at least to hours and up to 2 days.
For serving, slice each piece into ~1/2inch slices. Makes 12-15 servings.
I serve it with an herb aoili spread, which is 1 cup mayonnaise mixed with ~1T pesto.
We paired it with our Chancellor, but several wines would work as well.
Pumpkin Fondue
I found this recipe at Erika Aylward’s blog.
Erika runs the Boulevard Market and her husband John is owner and cheesemaker at Four Corners Creamery. Erika’s blog is a mixture of recipes, decorating, cheese, reminiscence, travel, and puppies. In short, a good life.
I only changed this recipe of hers from 1 ½ c. stock to half wine and half stock, the rest is pure plagiarism.
Pumpkin Fondue
1 5lb-ish PIE pumpkin (do not use jack o lantern type pumpkin)
1 lb. Cheese- 1/2 lb. Gruyere and 1/2 lb. Emmentaler (other cheeses work well too, so experiment. Erika mentioned making it with cheddar, bleu and beer…although why anyone wouldn’t want wine is beyond me)
1 cup heavy cream
¾ c. chicken stock
¾ c. white wine
a generous pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
10 1/4 inch thick baguette slices, toasted until dry and crispy
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
a pinch of Salt
Remainder of Baguette sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices for eating
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut top off pumpkin and clean out seeds. Sprinkle salt onto inside flesh of pumpkin.
Chop or grate cheeses and set aside. Bake baguette slices until crunchy and golden brown. Mix heavy cream, wine, stock and nutmeg together.
Place pumpkin into shallow roasting dish and layer baguette slices, then cheese, then cream mixture into 2 layers inside pumpkin. You may have baguette left over.
Put pumpkin top back on. Rub exterior of pumpkin with olive oil. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and pumpkin is golden brown. Using 2 spatulas, remove from baking dish carefully and place on platter. Serve with additional baguette slices or as a side dish. You’ll want to scoop up the roasted pumpkin flesh with all the cheese as you are serving or eating!
Smoked Fish Spread
This is Bob’s fish spread recipe, developed in The Keys (and rigorously tested), then adapted to the type of fish more available in Michigan.
1 pkg cream cheese (8 oz) softened
1 c. mayonaise
1/2 T. smoked paprika
1/4 t. sugar
Blend the above ingredients together, an electric mixer works best.
Stir in
1 c. onion, finely minced
1/2 c green bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 c red bell pepper, finely chopped
1# smoked fish, we use smoked salmon or smoked whitefish, boned out and shredded
Let it meld for a few hours. Serve with crackers or bread.
Starboard Marinated Chicken
Recipe by Nick Noel
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
4 small red potatoes
1/2 pound of baby carrots
1 red onion
1 cup starboard
1 tbs spoon dried rosemary
1 1/4 tbs fennel seed
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
Directions
1. Clean the chicken breasts and then place in a bowl
2. crush the dried herbs with a mortar and pestal (skip this step if you want)
3. Pour the Starboard over the chicken.
4. Sprinkle the herbs and salt over the chicken and let it marinate in the fridge for several hours.
5. In a deep pan, heat the oil.
6. While the oil heats, chop the onions and dice the potatoes.
7. Place the chicken in the pan and brown it on both sides (keep the marinade)
8. Once the chicken has browned, add the vegetables and marinade to the pan, reduce the heat, and let simmer for an hour. (The times are kind of guesses, if you think the chicken should be in there longer feel free to change it.)
Food and Wine Pairing 101
Here at the Flying Otter Vineyard and Winery we are all about food and wine pairing. Our mantra is “Wine is sunshine in a bottle, meant to be enjoyed with family and friends, food and music”. So let’s talk a little about enjoying wine with food.
The vast majority of people who drink wine in the US are new wine drinkers, who prefer sweet, fruity wines. That’s OK. I’ll admit that boxed white zinfandel in the fridge is how I first started drinking wine with meals. It’s a style that’s more approachable than the dry, acidic, or tannic wines. However, it’s the dry, acidic, and tannic wines that make the best food wines, and this is a style that I would like to see more people learn to appreciate. Just as many people grow-out of drinking Light Beer and Kool-Aid, many wine drinkers start to move toward drier and more bitter-tasting (tannic) wines over time. So, many of those “new” wine drinkers who prefer sweet wines now, may prefer a drier style down the road.
The majority of Americans don’t sit down to dinner with a glass of wine (although, I do). Whether it’s sitting down to delivery pizza or a meal prepared with some love and effort, for most of us, eating is a time to relax. It’s the one time of day where we can be alone with our thoughts, or be joined by friends and family. When we have a good dining experience it tends to be a memorable experience – even if it’s simply pizza with friends. For many people, wine is associated with fancy dinners or special occasions (anniversaries, weddings, holidays…). Shouldn’t wine be a part of everyday occasions?
For many people, the idea of pairing food with wine is daunting. They think they need special training, or that they aren’t that sophisticated. The fact is, most people already have had experience with good food and beverage pairings their whole lives. It doesn’t take a sophisticated palate to experience the pleasure of warm cookies with a glass of cold milk, or perhaps the satisfaction of warm, salty pretzels and a cold beer. We all know that something tart and acidic like lemonade tastes awful with cookies, or that something syrupy sweet isn’t right alongside a grilled steak. If wine is thought of as more a condiment or seasoning, then it makes wine and food pairing less daunting. Imagine squeezing a lemon, or pouring vinegar over fried fish. Now think of drinking a nice dry, acidic white wine with that same piece of fish. See, easy!
That’s not to say that sweet wines don’t pair well with food. It’s just that it can be more difficult to find a wine with the right kind of sweetness to balance-out the meal. For example, if you’re serving something savory (like pork), apple sauce or a baked apple is a traditional accompaniment, i.e. a food pairing. A wine that has the same level of sweetness as the apples could be a good compliment (say, an off-dry St. Pepin, or why not an off-dry apple wine). If, however, you pair something that is much sweeter, the balance is thrown off. You have the wine competing with the food rather than complimenting it. Slightly sweet wines can also help tame the heat in spicy foods (like Thai or Indian dishes), but go too sweet and the wine will overpower the food. However, when serving a sweet wine with dessert, you want the wine to be as sweet or even sweeter than the dessert. For example, dark chocolate with a very sweet raspberry dessert wine, or cheese cake using a cherry dessert wine as the topping.
One of my very favorite food and wine pairings is a creamy Gorgonzola cheese with a nice dry red wine. Spread a little creamy Gorgonzola and a crisp, fresh baguette and try it combined with a French Cote Du Rhone or a Michigan Marquette. They taste great together, better than each tastes separately.
The best way to learn what works with a particular wine is to try a food and wine together, experiment. Remember that a great food and wine pairing makes the the whole greater than the sum of the parts. In other words, cheese cake tastes good, raspberry dessert wine tastes good, but together they taste great!. And another thing, your mother may have taught you to swallow your food before you take a drink. Unfortunately, this is not the optimum way to enjoy a wine and food pairing. Don’t be afraid to try a little of both at the same time. Let the food and wine mingle in your mouth. Are they better together than each alone? If so, you have a great wine and food pairing.