Dessert Wine – Tasting Pour by Jade Helm

Apple Upside Down Cake

tastingpour@gmail.com — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 16:26:17 +0000

This Apple Upside Down Cake is a “go-to” dessert for us in the fall. With three apple trees if you invite us to a fall party, you are likely to see this easy, beautiful cake.

Apple Upside Down Cake

Save Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

1 hour

Author: Tasting Pour

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 8

Ingredients

Serves 8
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup packed light-brown sugar
3 apples, Empire or Gala (about 1½ pounds), each peeled, cored, and sliced into ¼ inch wedges
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1½ scant cups all-purpose flour (cake can be dry, err on the scant side)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup whole milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat bottom and side of a 9-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons
butter; sprinkle bottom with brown sugar. In a medium bowl, toss apples with lemon juice; arrange
in prepared pan in concentric circles, overlapping slices
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
With an electric mixer, beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter with granulated sugar until light and
fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until incorporated. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the
flour mixture in three parts and the milk in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Spoon batter over apples in pan and smooth to make level ( it will be thick). Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 -45 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack, at least 30 minutes
Once cool invert cake onto a plate, slice and serve.
Best day prepared. Can store one additional day.

As part of a #winepw group post, we recently paired it with a 2016 BOLLIG-LEHNERT RIESLING SPATLESE FROM PIESPORTER GOLDTROPHFCHEN and 2016 GEORG ALBRECHT SCNEIDER NIERSTEINER HIPPING RIESLING SPATLESE with great success (sponsored). See Coq Au Riesling for more about this wine, other German Riesling pairings, and of course the recipe for Coq Au Riesling.

The post Apple Upside Down Cake appeared first on Tasting Pour by Jade Helm.

Winter Squash Risotto with Tawny Port

tastingpour@gmail.com — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 22:38:47 +0000

Okay one more winter squash recipe before we switch gears to sparkling wine for the holidays. Julie, this one is for you. Thanks for commenting.

Roasted Winter Squash Risotto

" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/tastingpour.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Roasted-Winter-Squash-Risotto-e1513373037939.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/tastingpour.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Roasted-Winter-Squash-Risotto-e1513373037939.jpg?fit=684%2C1024&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2211" src="https://i0.wp.com/tastingpour.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Roasted-Winter-Squash-Risotto-e1513373037939.jpg?resize=680%2C1019" alt="Roasted Winter Squash Risotto" width="680" height="1019" data-recalc-dims="1">

I have made this winter squash risotto many times – with all different kinds of winter squash. But I have always used dry white wine as an ingredient. This time the winter squash was so naturally sweet, so perfectly caramelized and roasty, I thought why not throw in a sweet wine! I know not everyone hosts wine tastings and has a handful of open dessert wines in the fridge. But I bet most of you have something – marsala, a sweet sherry, maybe a liqueur from the cocktail cabinet ? And if you don’t you can get sweeter Rieslings pretty cheap from Chateau St. Michelle at most any grocery. Just don’t use “cooking wine” or “sherry vinegar”. Not the same.

So I substituted the dry wine for a sweet tawny port and the result was decadent. We served it with our Cauliflower Soup with Fennel Croutons .

Mark was “feeding a cold” and went back for seconds. It was pure comfort food but chockfull of veggies. Think more satisfying than mac – n – cheese plus healthier.

Winter Squash Risotto

Save Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour 30 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

Author: Tasting Pour

Recipe type: Entree

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 winter squash (approx 2 lbs)
4-5 cups chicken or veggie stock
2 Tbs butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 small garlics, finely chopped
1½ cups Arborio rice
½ cup tawny port or other dessert wine
3 Tbs chopped fresh sage
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to garnish (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450. Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds and pulp, line a cooking sheet with foil and bake squash cut side down. 45 minutes or until soft and roasted. Set aside to cool slightly
About 15 minute before squash is done heat the stock in a saucepan. Keep it at a low simmer.
In a large saucepan on medium to low heat melt butter. Add onions and cook 3 or 4 minutes until they begin to soften. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add rice and toss in the butter 1- 2 minutes.
Add tawny port and cook until it is absorbed. Add ½ cup simmering stock. Stir until absorbed. Repeat. Risotto mixture should remain at a simmer. Continue to add stock until the rice is cooked and creamy but a little al dente. About 20 minutes Turn off heat. Scoop roasted squash into rice, add chopped sage, stir to incorporate. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

* To be honest my port to stock liquid ratio leaned portside. Get a little crazy if you want. It's delicious.

The post Winter Squash Risotto with Tawny Port appeared first on Tasting Pour by Jade Helm.

Gimme a Man with Mussels: Romantic Pairings from Eola Hills and Oregon’s Coast #winepw

tastingpour@gmail.com — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 08:02:00 +0000

Take the beautiful coastal views of Oregon, Classic Chardonnay and dessert Vin d’ Or from Eola Hills Winery, plus a free food foraging adventure and you have a recipe for romance.

This all started when we spent New Years at the Oregon coast (near Seal Rock). If you haven’t been then tack a trek onto your next Oregon wine adventure. The coastline is about an hour from wine country and all of the beaches are public access so there is plenty of room to spread out and enjoy nature. Think rocky terrain and peace, not bikinis and high rises. Anyway there was a guy on the beach with a cooler and I don’t meet strangers. A nosy inquiry revealed he was picking mussels. Like off of rocks. Rocks you could just walk up to and pick musses. For free. A plan began to form.

One month later we had done a little research and were on our way to get dinner Shellfish license ($7), rain boots ($15), picking free seafood from beach rocks with my husband of 15 years – priceless.

Here is what we learned about picking mussels:

1. You need a license.

2. Pick mussels the size of your thumb.

3. Don’t pick mussels in a cluster. They attach to the rocks and to each other. Picking in a cluster weakens the colony and puts them at risk of being washed away by a big wave.

4. Put your mussels on a bag of ice in a cooler and don’t close the cooler. They need air and cool but will die if they sit in fresh water.

5. Dislodging them with a dishwashing gloved hand was easier than a screwdriver.

6. You can remove beards (the brown hairy things that attach them to rocks) on the beach or at home.

7. Once home pull off the beards if you haven’t already. We used tweezers and pliers. Scrape off any barnacles. We used the knife on our corkscrew.

8. We placed our mussels in the fridge in a single layer on a cookie sheet and covered with a damp dishcloth.

9. Mussels are supposed to keep about 4 days. If they open, tap them on the counter to trigger them to close. If they won’t close they are dead. Don’t eat them. Once cooked all of the mussels should open. The rule is uncooked won’t close – discard, cooked won’t open- discard.

10. Prepare with your favorite recipe like the one we tried from Eola Hills Winery (see end of post).

Here is the biggest thing we learned… Much of the coastline is protected area and you cannot harvest mussels. You get a book with your license and the info is online here. This was news to us so we found ourselves wandering down the coastline looking for vulnerable mussel rocks. By the time we found a spot we were quickly losing light and it was misting. While balancing on a rock, picking mussels as fast as possible, and getting a bit damp Mark calls, “You know this is a quintessential Oregon experience.” “Really?” I responded looking around at the empty beach. “I don’t see any Oregonians out picking mussels in the rain!” Half an hour later we had a cooler full of dinner and huge grins.

Coincidentally the folks at Eola Hills Winery had been enjoying our recipes and wine pairings and had sent us samples plus favorite recipes from their team. Time could not have been better.

There are many Oregon wines only available in Oregon. Eola Hills was one of the few wineries that we had tried before we moved. I remember ten years ago Mark coming home from a meeting in Seattle talking about an Eola Hills Reserve Pinot Noir. For us Eola Hills and Pinot Noir were synonymous. When we made a quick 5 day house buying trip, Eola Hills was the winery we visited and found some familiarity and welcome during a stressful time.

The samples gave us the opportunity to try wines from Eola Hills we had yet to experience. Classic Chardonnay was a study in oak, good oak. The Eola-Amity Hills AVA is not known for aromatic, fruity Chardonnay so most winemakers use oak influence to add interesting textures. This wine was full, viscous and a bity oily. It could easily be substituted for red wines for anyone who doesn’t like red or for a pairing that needs weight without tannin. Probably not the perfect pairing for plain steamed mussels but when we added Eola’s sauce of onions and mushrooms reduced in wine – yum. The label reads “everyday extraordinary.” It also comes with an everyday price – $11 at Safeway. Seems like everyday could be a extraordinary..

We also enjoyed a sample of the very decadent Vin d’ Or. This dessert wine is pressed from late-harvest, frozen Sauvignon Blanc grape and barrel fermented in new French Oak. It was kind of awesome and divine. Honey, floral and tropical fruits – pineapple, mango. Sweet but acid prevented a syrupy result.

Both of these wines were used in Eola Hills Sautéed Mushrooms and their Poached Pears. It really hurt to pour some of that Vin d’ Or in a pot to make the poached pears. It was worth it though because the flavors in the wine really shone through in the sauce. Scroll down for recipes.

For our main dish, we rolled out homemade fettuccini noodles and topped with the Sautéed Mushrooms and steamed mussels. You will need to reduce these recipes to make romantic servings for two.

Sponsored post – samples were provided by the winery and enjoyed by the wine writer but remember good reviews are a gift not an obligation.

Check out these romantic pairings and recipes from my #winepw friends.

#WinePW Clear to See by Dancing Veggies
Bubbles & Boulud by Confessions of a Culinary Diva
Champagne and Oysters for Valentines’ Day by Enoflyz Wine Blog
Chocolate Pots de Creme paired with Port Wine by Curious Cuisiniere
Fettuccine Primavera Avec Mon Coeur by Cooking Chat
Fizzy Fun at Your Romantic Brunch by Food Wine Click
Gimme a Man With Mussels: Romantic Pairings from Eola Hills & Oregon’s Coast by TastingPour
Hungarian Romance for #WinePW 9: Chicken Paprikas and Hungarian Furmint by Pull That Cork
Italian Valentine sweets: Sprisolana & Recioto della Valpolicella by Vino Travels
Let’s talk Romance by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Peaches and Cream Tarts with Rosemary Glaze and SparklingWhite Wine by Famished Fish, Finicky Shark
Recipe for Refueling Romance, Salmon Frittata and Michelle Sparkling Brut Rose by Wild 4 Washington Wine
Risotto all’Amarone + Masi Campofiorin 2009 by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Romancing the Jura: Vin Jaune & Roast Chicken by GirlsGottaDrink
Wine, Food and Love with #WinePW by Rockin Red Blog

The post Gimme a Man with Mussels: Romantic Pairings from Eola Hills and Oregon’s Coast #winepw appeared first on Tasting Pour by Jade Helm.

Pairing Sweet Wine and Food

tastingpour@gmail.com — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 14:41:00 +0000

It is time for our second installment on Tasting Pour’s series “Pairing Wine and Food.” If you missed the first article, click here. Now to learn about pairing sweet wine and food.

Sweet foods and sweet wines can be particularly troublesome. Since we drink less dessert wine, we tend to have less experience with the flavors and relative sweetness of different styles. If a separate wine is not planned for the dessert course, the main course wine may continue to be consumed with less than satisfactory result.

Dry wines just are not meant to go with dessert. The sweetness in the dessert makes wine taste less sweet, therefore the wine needs to be sweeter than the dessert. Having an even sweeter dessert does not balance the equation. We do not know why. It is science and it is true. This can be a dilemma for the US dessert connoisseur who likes a layer cake stacked high with sugary buttercream frosting. To find a sweeter wine may be expensive (quality dessert wines are often pricey) or may result in a sugar induced coma.

There are some solutions . . .

Pair sweet wines with desserts that are naturally less sweet such as stone fruits and berries, shortbread, pound cake, and gingerbread. Late Harvest Rieslings, Muscats, and sweet sparkling wines are appropriate pairings.

Consider really sweet wines such as Pedro Ximenez or sweeter styles of Tokay for very rich desserts. Think outside the box and opt for a liqueur. Most are sweet enough to pair with your sweetest desserts, vary in price, and keep a long time once opened. Pair sweet wines with savory foods. Classic and delightful pairings include Port and blue cheese or Sauterne and foie gras.

If sugar plus even more sugar is just too much, coffee or tea is a viable alternative.

People really don’t like the rules of pairing wine with sweet foods. They see it as a barrier to eat and drink what they want. Remember, we at Tasting Pour firmly believe you should drink what you like. Folks seem most upset because they really enjoy red wine (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc.) with chocolate. We would wager that the reason people like this combination is because the chocolate in question is probably dark. This means there is a certain degree of bitterness depending on the percentage of cacao. We also bet the red wine is a new world style – very fruity, high in alcohol, low in tannin, with a little bit of sweetness. So go ahead and enjoy your dark chocolate truffle and glass of new world Merlot. We would just not recommend a milk chocolate candy bar with a glass of Nebbiolo or Chianti. Click here for another wine option for chocolate.

Sweet foods do not occur only in the dessert course. Keep in mind that sugar in food doesn’t just mask the sugar in wine. It also makes the tannins and acid in wines more pronounced and causes the wine to seem thinner. A sweet bbq sauce will make a very dry wine taste thin, astringent and bitter. Consider a young fruity new world wine like Australian Shiraz or Zinfandel

Look for upcoming Tasting Pour articles to learn more about the different styles and flavors of dessert wines.

The post Pairing Sweet Wine and Food appeared first on Tasting Pour by Jade Helm.