Book Recomendation: What to Drink with What you Eat

A year or so ago, some dear friends of ours presented me with this wonderful book. It is a practical guide that teaches you about pairing foods with drink. When I say drink I am not just referring to the alcoholic drinks, but also things like coffee, tea, milk, flavored waters...etc. It also then goes into detail of food classes and how they pair with these drinks. This is a fairly cheap book(20(ish) dollars) and well worth it, if you are serious about entertaining and pairing great food with great drink!

http://www.amazon.com/What-Drink-You-Eat-Definitive/dp/0821257188

F.Y.I.

Just to let you all know, my intention here is not to be an online cookbook. Sure there will be some recipes and such added. We will talk about certain kinds of dishes and drink. Mainly my focus is to start some discussion about what makes your inner-chef tick. I write about what I like. I would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations as well. I would love to hear your stories. I hope to also review some different restaurants as well as local shops that line up with the aims of the blog. So with all of that being said...good morning and let the blogging begin!

Bentoni Pan-Seared White Wine Chicken

So the scenario is this: You get a call from a friend, they have the evening off. They want to come and see the family and have a meal. Automatically you shift into chef mode. The problem is...its the middle of the month and the funds are a bit low. Never fear, don't let a lack of funds keep a brotha down. All this takes is a little chicken (boneless breast or quarter), a little white wine, some shallots, garlic, & mushrooms, and a few spices that anyone should have lying around the cupboard.

This thing is easy! Just salt and pepper the chicken, get a large saucepan and coat the bottom with some olive oil. Get that kickin around a medium heat. Once that is getting to temp throw the chicken on each side for about 5 minutes a side. Again, don't fear the Chicken does not have to be done at this point. What will be happening here is that the fats and juices in the chicken will be rendering on the bottom of the pan. When you pull that chicken off you will have some excellent scrapings on the bottom of the pan. at this point, you thrown in a finely chopped shallot and about two chopped cloves of garlic. Add a little oil back to the situation and sautee that mixture down until the house smells like something that should easily be in a 5-star restaurant. This is where the beauty of reduction happens. You get about a cup and a half of white wine (something you would drink, but who are we kidding, we drink it all!) Pour the lovely vino in the pan and scrape all the chickonigarli scrapings from the bottom as the wine sizzles in the pan...yes I just made up that word...call me Suess, Dr. Suess! I digress!

You let this delicious mixture keep on piping until the liquid is almost gone from the pan. At this point add another cup and a half of wine and a cup of chicken broth to the mix. bring this to a medium temp. Once its there add your mushrooms, about a half cup of half and half and your chicken back to the saucepan. At this point you have two options. Option 1: pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and toss the whole pan with a lid in there for about 15 minutes or so. The chicken will come out tender and it will be a bit more infused with the flavor. Option 2: put a lid on the pan and keep it on the stove top. This will keep the chicken from drying out, but will not be quite as inundated with the flavor of the sauce. Both ways are great! Try em both.

I find that this is best served over some farfale (bowtie) pasta, but any pasta will do. Toss together a delicious Caesar or vinagarette spinich salad and you, my friend, are now the champion of the evening...your guest is impressed at such an elaborate meal, your kids sing your praises, and your significant other finds you 10 lbs skinnier and with an angelic glow about you (when is that guest leaving anyway!!!).

Ingredients:
2 to 4 lbs of chicken (boneless breast or bone in quarters)
1 finely chopped shallot
2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
Sliced fresh mushrooms (your choice on type and quantity, just don't overrun it with shrooms)
Salt Pepper
Bottle of White Wine (chardonnay)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil



Some great Pairings for this meal are:

Wine: Penfold's Bin 311 Chardonnay
This is a nice a crips chardonnay with a light finish. It is corked in Austrailia. If you can find it, pick this up to have on hand. It goes great with any light colored meat.

http://www.penfolds.com/wines/bin/bin-311-chardonnay.asp












Beer: New Belguim Mighty Arrow Pale Ale
This is a pale ale that is in my estimation a smoother less amped version of a pale. But please understand my session beer is generally a Dogfish head 90 minute IPA...that being said taste with that in mind. Many will say that pale ales work best with fatty meats, but I think this amped down version of the pale compliments this dish excellently. give it a try and see what you think...don't waste your life on budweiser!

http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/mighty-arrow

Welcome

Welcome to Cork & Fire! First things first...My name is Andy and I have always had a passion for great food and drink. Food is great, but that is not at the essence of why I love it so much. Really it comes down to the fact that a good meal has the ability to open conversation. The right atmosphere can incite feelings or nostalgia, or romance, or even downright silliness. It is more than the sum of its parts. But yet the parts do set the stage for what can be an epic collision of culinary delight and memories that make life happen. I hope that you will visit often and get ideas about your next party, or even your evening meal with the family. I will show you some practical ways to pick a menu that will be easy to make as well as make some suggestions as to what soda, tea, beer, or wine would go well with your meal. Stick around feel free to share your ideas...I'll keep it fresh if you will attend this party!


Andy