Food & Wine Pairing Recipes

Few things are greater than a bowl of French Onion Soup. With its bubbly melted cheese on crisp bread over a rich broth of chicken, beef and wine, onions sauteed at length to truly bring out their sweetness, the complexity of this soup is utterly delicious. Whether served before the main course or as the main course itself, french onion soup is a Winter dinner essential.

Recipe:

6 large sweet onions, peeled and thinly sliced.
Olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups each of beef stock and chicken stock
1/2 cup of dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon of dry thyme
Salt and pepper
8 slices of toasted French bread
1 1/2 cups of grated Swiss Gruyere with a little grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil on medium high heat until well browned, but not burned, about 30 minutes. Add the sugar about 10 minutes into the process to help with the caramelization.

2. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the stock, wine, bay leaf, and thyme. Cover partially and simmer until the flavors are well blended, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf. 

3. To serve you can either use individual oven-proof soup bowls or one large casserole dish. Ladle the soup into the bowls or casserole dish. Cover with the toast and sprinkle with cheese. Put into the broiler for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the cheese bubbles and is slightly browned. Serve immediately.

(Recipe & Photo from Simply Recipes.)

Flank steak is an excellent choice when looking to cook beef for a couple of reasons; It’s very economical and extremely flavourful. The only thing to note when cooking flank steak is that it can be a tough cut of meat but that’s where marinating comes into play. Marinating is used to break down some of the fibers of the meat and in order to achieve this, some sort of acidic base is required such as citrus juice, vinegar or wine. Marinating with wine imparts exceptional flavour and ensures a tender succulent outcome to this wonderful cut of meat.

Recipe:

1 flank steak, about 1 1/2 lbs

1 cup red wine

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

Directions:

1. Whisk all of the marinade ingredients together. Score the flank steak in a crisscross pattern on both sides.

2. Place the steak in the marinade, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

3. Remove the steak from the marinade, pat dry and season with salt and pepper.

4. Preheat grill to high heat. Alternately, you can use an indoor grill pan or cast iron skillet. Lightly oil your grill. Place the steak onto the hot grill and cook for 4-5 minutes. Flip the steak and cook another 2-3 minutes.

5. Remove from the grill, cover the steak loosely with foil and allow to rest for about 6-8 minutes.

6. Cut the steak against the grain of the meat. Meaning that you’ll see the grains of the meat running horizontally across the meat. Cut in the opposite direction of those grains. 

Serves 4.

Poaching salmon is an excellent way of not only cooking salmon but any fish really. It is very easy to overcook fish when pan frying or baking, as fish dries out very easily. While it is possible to overcook fish in a poaching liquid, it is much more difficult to achieve and for this reason, poaching fish is a relatively fail safe, quick and delicious way of preparation. 

Recipe:

1-1 1/2 lbs salmon fillets

1/2 cup dry white wine such as a Sauvignon Blanc

1/2 cup water

A few slices of yellow onion or 1 shallot peeled and thinly sliced

Several sprigs fresh dill

A sprig of fresh parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine wine, water, dill, parsley, and onions (or shallots) in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium heat. 

2. Place salmon fillets skin side down in the pan. Cover and cook about 5 minutes or until desired doneness making sure not to over cook the fish. 

3. Remove from the pan, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and serve with lemon wedges and an extra sprinkle of finely chopped fresh dill and parsley.

Serves 2-4.

Spring may be on its way but Mother Nature has her way of letting us know that Winter is still upon us. And while BBQ season is so very close, we have a little time left to sneak in that last minute cool weather Sunday Pot Roast.

A perfectly cooked roast is classic comfort food but it just may be the side dishes that accompany the meal that really do the trick. Mashed Potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy are all delicious but for a real crowd pleaser, you may want to consider Red Wine and Thyme Mushrooms. The earthiness of the mushrooms cooked with butter and wine make for a fantastically rich and wonderful side dish that truly compliments the roast amazingly well.

Recipe:

2 lbs white button mushrooms, brushed clean but kept whole

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups red wine

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil and butter over low-medium heat in a large saucepan or dutch oven.

2. Add the garlic to the pan and saute about 5 minutes making sure the garlic doesn’t brown. Add the mushrooms to the pan and saute another 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the thyme, wine and worcestershire sauce to the pan, bring to a high simmer, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and simmer the mushrooms until the wine has reduced by half and the mushrooms are tender, about 30 minutes. Uncover the pan and simmer another 10-15 minutes to slightly reduce the sauce further.

4. Season to your taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Serves 6.

Salads are one of the first meals people turn to when eating healthy but you can often end up feeling a bit cheated in the flavour department. There is no reason why healthy and flavorful can’t exist in the same sentence. A good place to start is with salads but not just any plain old salad. With a little creativity and preparation, a hearty salad is fulfilling, delicious and satisfying which is a sure fire way to sticking to those healthy intentions.

Here are some great ideas:

1. Crisp Escarole Salad with Garlicky Anchovy Dressing

    (pair with Sauvignon Blanc or Nebbiolo aka Barolo)

2. Bitter Greens with Almonds and Goat Cheese

    (pair with Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio)

3. Butternut Squash Salad with Hazelnuts

    (pair with a Gewurztraminer)

4. Warm Duck and Cabbage Salad

     (pair with a Pinot Noir)

 
 5. Tofu Watercress Salad with Thai Dressing

     (pair with a Riesling)

 
 6. Spinach and Shrimp Salad with Chili Dressing

    (pair with a Pinot Grigio)

(Recipes from Melissa Rubel Jacobson of Food and Wine)

Have friends over for a game night! All that’s required is some pretzels and potato chips and pair them with our Reserve Gewurztraminer.