A Little Teaser...

Wine & Dine members, get excited!  Bryann and I stopped at a tasting room in Sonora and discovered some completely amazing and utterly delicious Italian wines.

Gianelli Vineyards is a fairly new winery.  They planted their first vineyard in 2003 in the Sierea Foothills, just a few miles from where Bryann grew up.  They specialize in Italian varietals and are gaining some awesome recognition in the wine world.

Bryann and I walked out of there with an entire case of wine (we're keeping 5 bottles all to ourselves) so you KNOW it's gonna be good!  For our April party, we're taking inspiration from Annie and Aaron's December party and are going to put on an Italian themed dinner and slow down the wine tasting experience a bit.  This will also be the first party to feature only one winery.

Here's a little teaser of what we'll be featuring.

2009 Vermentino
2009 Fiano
2009 Nino (a blend of Grenache, Primitivo, and Petit Syrah)
2009 Petit Syrah
2008 Sangiovese
2009 Barbara
2009 Aglianico
2010 Malvasia "La Dolce Vita" (desert wine)

OMG I'm soooooo excited to share these with everyone!!

Wine Win Wednesday: Hanna Vinyards 2002 "Jasmine" Syrah

Wine:  2002 "Jasmine" Syrah produced by Hanna Vineyards

My dad always pops open a nice bottle of wine when I come home to visit.  When I say "nice", I mean it didn't come from Grocery Outlet or a box.  The "nice" bottles have traditionally been saved for special dinners and events, but its becoming more and more common for my dad to open a nice bottle whenever I come to town.

I don't complain.  :-)

Tonight we drank a 2002 "Jasmine" Syrah produced by Hanna Vineyards in the Sonoma Valley.  It was completely delicious.  It drank smoothly right away and my dad didn't even want to use his decanter.  The label boasts aromas of lavender, rosemary, and white pepper, and I found it to be velvety, and full of chocolate and berries.

I doubt one could find another bottle - I looked online and didn't see anything - but I have it on good authority that Hanna Winery makes good wines, so if I ever see another label, I would feel confident in buying it.

 My parents picked this up on one of their frequent wine-tasting trips to Sonoma and Napa valley.  They are not fancy, snobby wine drinkers.  The way my dad tells it, this was one of the cheapest bottles!  They go tasting, buy the cheapest (yet tasty) bottle they can find, put it in the cellar - I mean a closet in the basement - and forget about it until a reason pops up to grab a "nice" bottle of wine.  It must be a legitimate method because most of the "nice" wines my dad opens are pretty amazing.

December 10th Wine & Dine Wrap-up

December's wine and dine featured a food and wine pairing. The group sampled a flight of eight of the worlds most famous wines, four reds and four whites. Each wine was paired with a portion of the meal that would best bring out the flavors of the wines. Each guest was asked to bring a rather specific food to pair with a particular wine. The pairings were:

• A dry Riesling paired with a shrimp seafood appetizer
• Sauvignon Blanc paired with artichoke dip
• Chardonnay paired with clam chowder
• Pinot Gris paired with a salad containing apples
• Syrah with a salad with cheese
• Pinot Noir paired with pork
• Merlot paired with pork
• Cabernet Sauvignon paired with salted carmel brownies

Pairings at the beginning of the evening were most favorably received, eliciting such comments as "wow, this wine really does taste better after having some of the dip" and "I cant believe how much the food actually helps the wine." Such comments were fewer as the night wore on, due as much to the consumption of wine as the copious amounts of food. The evening's favorite seemed to be King Estates's Next (the Riesling). Other wines, such as Bearboats Pinot Noir, were enjoyed more for their label (really, you should check it out.)

Overall it was a great night of fun and friendship and learning about different types of wine.

Mini Italian Flags

Quite possibly the laziest yet most delicious little appetizer ever thrown together.

Mini Italian Flags:

Ingredients:

• 1 thin baguette
• 1 jar of sun dried tomatoes
• 1 jar of pesto
• 8 oz. of reduced fat cream cheese

Instructions:

1. Slice the baguette into thin rounds. Toast lightly. I'd guess about 2 minutes on broil.
2. Top with cream cheese. Toast lightly again- this time baking at 375 for 4-5 minutes.
3. Finish with a spread of pesto and top with 1/2 of a sun dried tomato

 They look festive, taste delicious and take minutes to assemble.

Roasted Banana Pudding

Ingredients

• 5 ripe, unpeeled bananas
• 2 cups milk
• 2/3 cup sugar, divided
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 T butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 (12oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
• 45 vanilla wafers, divided

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Place bananas on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Remove 3 bananas; Peel and cut into 1/2 inch slices.  Bake the remaining 2 bananas at 350 for an additional 20 minutes.  Carefully peel and place the 2 bananas in a small bowl, and mash until smooth.
3. Combine milk and 1/3 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a simmer (do not boil).
4. Combine remaining 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, salt, and eggs in a medium bowl; stir well with a whisk.  Gradually add hot milk mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Return milk to pan.  Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 3 minutes), stirring constantly.  Remove from head.  Add mashed bananas, butter, and vanilla, stirring until butter melts.  Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl for 15 minutes or until mixture comes to room temperature, stirring occasionally.  Fold half of whipped topping into pudding.
5. Spread 1 cup custard evenly over the bottom of an 11 x 7" baking dish.  Top with 20 vanilla wafers and half of the banana slices.  Spoon half of remaining custard over banana.  Repeat procedure with 20 wafers, banana slices, and custard.  Spread remaining half of whipped topping evenly over top.  Crush remaining 5 wafers; spring over top, Refrigerate 1 hour or until chilled.  

Recipe from Cooking Light Magazine, August 2011

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-banana-pudding-50400000114472/

Shared by Kristi Turner

Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients

• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped
• 1/3 cup finely chopped roasted red bell pepper

Instructions

1. Head oven to 350F
2. Combine Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, cream cheese and garlic.  Mix until smooth
3. Add artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers; mix well.
4. Spread in an ungreased 9 inch oven-safe dish
5. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until thoroughly heated

Serve warm with crackers, cut-up fresh vegetables, or baguette bread slices.

Shared by Katee Horak

Creamy Tarragon Onion Dip

Ingredients

• 1 six ounce cup plain yogurt
• 1 Tbs mayonnaise/miracle whip
• 1/4 cup minced scallions or white onions
• 1 Tbs tarragon
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp hot pepper sauce

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Served especially well over Salmon.

Shared by Rachel Garrett

Raspberry Chipotle BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:  

• Chicken breasts
• Raspberry Chipotle Marinade
• McCormick's Chicken Seasoning

1. Place chicken in large casserole dish or baking pan.
2. Season to taste with McCormicks chicken seasoning, black pepper, seasoning salt, and chiptole seasoning.
3. Brush with favorite BBQ-ing sauce and let sit for half hour to an hour.
4. Place on pre-heated grill.  Make sure the heat is as low as possible in order to assure tender and juicy chicken.  Grill until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

Pair with a spicy Gewurztraminer, or dark Zinfandel

Shared by Bryann Turner

Spicy Lime Drum Sticks

Ingredients:

• 4 Qt water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup salt plus 1Tbs reserve
• 5.5-6 lbs chicken legs with skin and bones
• 1/4 cup lime juice plus 4 limes
• 2 Tbs fish sauce
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 Tbs finely chopped mint
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 tsp. dried red peppers
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Bring water, sugar, and salt to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 15 minutes.
2. Cool brine completely, then add chicken and soak covered and chilled for 6 hours.
3. Remove chicken and pat dry.
4. Whisk together lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, mint, cilantro, red pepper flakes, and remaining salt in a bowl.
5. Add oil in a stream, whisking until combined.
6. Separately, grill chicken until skin is brown and chicken is cooked through.
7. Transfer chicken to bowl with sauce and turn to coat.  Then transfer to platter to keep warm.
8. Serve with quarter slices of lime.

Shared by Annie Miller

Cajun Dill Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise/miracle whip
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 to 1 tsp Cajun seasoning (depending on taste)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbs chopped dill

Mix all ingredients and enjoy!  Served especially well over fish.

Shared by Rachel Garrett

October 29th Wine & Dine Wrap-Up

October's theme:  A Taste of Walla Walla

We are lucky enough to live in the middle of some amazing wine regions up here in the Northwest.  Our friend, Jeff, lives in Walla Walla and after planning a trip out to visit him, we decided that our next Wine & Dine party would feature Wines from Walla Walla.

We made it our mission to go wine tasting all weekend and bring back the creme de la creme of the Walla Walla Valley.  We didn't discover the creme de la creme until Sunday afternoon on the way out of town (although a lot of wineries were pretty full of themselves) but when we did, we were almost tempted enough to sign up for a wine club!

Our absolute favorite winery was Cougar Crest.  They had, hands down, the best wines.  We were so in love with their wines, we almost joined their wine club.  We splurged on the Syrah to keep for ourselves and bought two others for Wine & Dine.

Our other favorite was Three Rivers, where we found some more completely delicious wines.  We bought a bottle of Tempranillo for ourselves, a bottle of Riesling for ourselves and one for Wine & Dine, and a Malbec for Wine & Dine.  Then Bryann and Jeff played three holes of golf while Amber and I enjoyed a bottle of Riesling on the deck (what can I say?  It was completely delicious!)

It's a miracle at all that we actually brought any bottles home with us.

The line up for our "Taste of Walla Walla" party

At the end of October, we held a Masquerade party and featured the following wines:

Dusted Valley - 2010 Ramblin' Rose (a blend of a few grapes I've never heard of and Syrah)
Waterbrook - 2010 Melange Blanc (a blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Viognier, and Sauvignon Blanc)
Three Rivers -2010 Riesling
Cougar Crest - 2007 Dedication Four (a blend of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Frac, and Cabernet Sauvignon)
Tertulia - 2008 Syrah
Three Rivers - 2007 Malbec
Cougar Crest - Port

All of these wines are pretty amazing (otherwise we wouldn't have brought them back!)  The wines were held in such high regard by our guests that they inspired another couple of friends of ours to plan a visit of their own!  They also came back raving about the wines at Cougar Crest.