Food and Wine Pairing
Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi (Sole Turbot) & Pinot Grigio
Marinade / Glaze
4 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoons fine grated fresh ginger root
1 large clove garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
Fish*
4 (6 ounce) Sole Turbot fillets
kosher salt and fine black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon coconut oil
In a glass dish, stir together the honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and olive oil, set aside.
Season fish fillets with kosher salt and pepper, and place into the marinade / glaze. Cover, and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from the marinade dish, and save the marinade for your glaze. Fry fish for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, flip then another 4-6 min, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.
Pour the leftover marinade into the skillet, and heat over medium heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze, about 5 min (this requires constant stiring). Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.
*Mahi Mahi is red taged because it is over fished and in danger of becoming extinct! Please use Sole Turbot instead, it tasts great!
This dish is served with wild rice and zucchini
Slice the zucchini long ways into halves, salt - pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 20 min @ 350
When done cut into 1 inch chunks.
Bison & Lamb Stuffed Bell Peppers
4 large or 6 medium green bell peppers
½ pound ground lamb
½ pound bison
1 cup cooked orzo
1 ½ cups crumbled feta cheese
~Veggies ingredients~
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 zucchini (grated)
1 tomato (chopped)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 clove garlic, minced
~Meat ingredients ~
2 tablespoons bacon bits (100% pure/ soft)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon Sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
~ Sauce ingredients ~
1 cup tomato sauce
¼ cup cold water
1 teaspoon raw sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon (juice)
½ cup Jamey Red wine reduction
~ Veggies preparation ~
Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat; add onion and garlic cook for 6 minutes until onions start to turn color. Stir in zucchini and tomatoes, cook 2 minutes.
~Meat preparation ~
Mix the Lamb & Bison together, blend well with hands as you add all the “meat ingredients”
Lightly brown the Lamb & Bison (very rare but crumbly) drain all fat except one tablespoon.
~Sauce preparation ~
Over medium heat add one cup Jamey red wine and reduce it to ½ cup, add the tomato sauce, water, lemon and sugar. Add 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (thyme, rosemary, sage, savory, oregano, basil) a Dash of cumin, dash salt, the sauce should be sweet with a hint of spice. “just a dash of cumin we’re not making enchilada sauce”
In large bowl; combine the Orzo, Feta Cheese, meat and veggie ingredients. Cut the tops off the peppers removing all seeds & stems, stuff peppers with mixture.
Pour all the sauce over peppers letting it spill over to the bottom of dish. Cover with foil.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Plate and top with sauce from bottom of pan and serve.
This paired really well with Van der Vijver Estate Reserve Zinfandel.
Joe's Zin-Chili paired with Cantiga Wineworks Zinfandel.
~Recipe can be cut in half~
Ingredients: Organic and free range if you can. All ingredients can be found at Whole Foods Market.
2 pounds beef chuck (cut in to sugar cube size chunks)
1 pound ground mild Italian sausage
1 (15 ounce) can spicy black beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 15 ounce) can regular black beans, drained
1 15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large tomato chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 med sized green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 tablespoon 100% real bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
2 cups Jammy Zinfandel Wine / Good ehough to drink while you make this ;o)
1/4 cup chili powder
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce
6 cloves of garlic minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon pure raw sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 package Shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese
Directions
Sear the Beef in a skillet but do not cook it. Brown the Sausage in a skillet, "I used a dash of Jalapeno olive oil" but it's not required... Drain off excess grease.
Pour the Beef , Sausage, chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste in to a Crock Pot. Add all the ingredeance while blending, then cover and set the time for 4 hrs. Stir every 30min.
Top with Sharp Cheddar cheese when serving.
Serve with Cantiga Wineworks Zinfandel.
Grilled Chicken & Pasta, Paired with a 2003 Chardonnay from Cantiga Wineworks.
Grilled Chicken ~ season one hour before grilling / rub into chicken. (1-Tbls sea salt, 1-Tbls fine black pepper, 1-tsp mustard powder, 1-tsp Pappys season, 1-tsp garlic powder, 1-tsp fresh ground pepper "large grinds")
Olive Oil & Garlic Pasta ~ (1/2 cup olive oil, 2-Tbls minced garlic , 1-tsp sea salt, 1-tsp parsley, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper & enough Vermicelli Pasta for two)
Greens of your choice
1- chilled bottle 2003 Chardonnay from Cantiga Wineworks. (decanted)
This week we decided to put a "Old European Style" food wine to the test… So why not go to one place where you can pair all kinds of dishes to one wine.
Last weekend we went to a great restaurant in South Lake Tahoe called “Fire+Ice”. Fire+Ice is an all you can eat grill, cooked & seasoned the way you want or you can use the tips they have posted. You can also have the Chefs do their special seasoning thing (They have really cool seasoning techniques they do for many different foods). Here is a small portion of their foods you put in a bowl and give to the Chef to cook for you. FYI 90% of all the food is uncooked.
They have three or four different kinds of Pastas, all kinds of greens, onions, roasted garlic cloves, tofo, eggplant, cilantro, peppers etc… The sea food is more than enough to choose from: Shrimp, Mussels, Salmon, Halibut, and Scallops. The meats: Sirloin, Pork, Pulled Pork, BBQ pork, Chicken, Cajun chicken, Lamb, Lamb meat balls, Sausage, Sausage meatballs etc... Then the sauces: 20+different sauces that are designed to go with anything you create, from spicy to mild to sweet.
BTW they cook it on a large round grill and do tricks as you watch. Pretty darn cool and the food is just amazing.
So now that you have an idea about the food, let’s talk about wine!
We took our 2007 Cantiga Wineworks Shiraz to Fire&Ice. We had them uncork it when we got their so it could breath during the 30min wait. Once we got our table we paired the Shiraz with our 1st course. Mussels, green & orange peppers, onions, roasted garlic cloves & spinach leafs topped with a Pomodoro Sauce. The Shiraz went really well with this dish.
For the 2nd course we grabbed a bowl of shrimp, a few garlic cloves and some Sweet Chili Sauce. We had the Chef do his special seasoning for this one. He added three different powdered seasonings, some Cajun and something in a bottle? This was just amazing!! And the Shiraz went extremely well with the spices.
At this point we are getting full (remember you build your own bowl, so I stuffed each one to the top) so with just enough room for a final meal, I went back for something hearty.
For the 3rd course I stuffed a bowl with strips of Sirloin, Potatoes, Onion, Mushrooms, green & red peppers, a few Roasted garlic Cloves & some roasted Eggplant with a Bourbon Peppercorn Sauce.
This is where the Cantiga Shiraz paired perfectly! It was so smooth and didn’t lose any flavors to the dish.
Now that you are hungry and thirsty, let’s wrap it up. The Cantiga Shiraz will not disappoint you with any of these dishes but it will amaze you with a well flavored and/or spiced Beef or Lamb dish.
Cantiga Wine Works + Fire+Ice = a wonderful food and wine pairing experience.
We have a date with a Van der Vijver Estate Cabernet, check back for our food pairing.
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