The glass of Big House White I am currently sipping.  It would be a wonderful accompaniment to seafood.  Able to cut through butter reasonably well, but not overpower delicate seafood flavors.  At first impression, this non-traditional blended white had a fresh clean nose, which held throughout drinking.   Sipping brought a buttery start on the tongue, but overall a fresh citrus/apricot flavor, enough acid to gently cut buttery seafood or cream sauces, but still fruity and fun.

Yesterday, I tried the Birdman Pinot Grigio, from Big House Wines.  I never put much thought into Pinot Grigio until the last two I’ve tried.  Most were disappointing.  This one welcomed me with a burst of fresh ripe pear … oh yeah (my daughter is addicted to Red Anjou pears, so I know the scent & flavor well).  I also picked up a bit of vanilla & faint flora.  With time, banana appeared in the nose, and citrus was prominent on the tongue… sort of grapefruit, but not quite as tart.  I enjoyed it with vegetable lo mein, last night and a few bites of my daughter’s ramen noodles tonight… so it certainly has the Asian noodle category covered.

At $10 a bottle, and $22 for a 3 liter box, these are great buy and will both be going on my short (but growing) “buy list”.

The Pinot Grigio had a fresh tropical fruit flavor, and was medium dry.  A great summer wine, that would go well with a wide array of foods, or refreshing on it’s own.   It’s flavor will not overpower or clash with more delicate fish, poultry or vegetable dishes.  It would also pair well with most Asian cuisine.

FishEye Shiraz is also a versatile wine.  It has a little spice on the nose, that remains through drinking.  The wine tastes of berries, most notably blackberry.  It is an easy drinker, and will appeal to a wide array of people, so as I have suggested above, will make an excellent choice when serving a group of people.  I had a chicken cutlet with tomato sauce while drinking this and they made from a great combo.  I would say this would go quite well with Mexican food, Italian, and BBQ,just to start.

Both wines are very reasonably priced, so no need to make the party BYOB

Media samples provided.  All opinions and experiences are my own.

Upon opening, the nose shows plum/cherry and subtle tobacco, all of which hold throughout drinking.

The strongest flavor in this wine is sweet black plum.  Overall wine is  mellowed with a  hint of buttery oak.  A light note of licorice is also present.  Smooth and gently dry.

This is a great wine to serve with a steak, game meat, Portabello mushroom or with spicy ethnic foods.

Price as purchased: $8.99

Well worth a try.  Would pair well with Mushroom Barley or Portuguese Blade Steak.

Confit Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken drumsticks

crushed garlic clove

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp thyme

tbs. balsamic vinegar

1/4 -1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken in the salt, balsamic, thyme & garlic. (1-2 hours)
2. Preheat oven to 300°
3. Poor oil in small dutch oven or other oven-safe pan with cover.
4. Add the chicken, and mix to make sure well coated.  The chicken will obviously not be covered, this is more like oil braising.
5. Cook until meat is falling off the bone (about an hour).
6. Remove from oil, and set aside to drain.
7. Confit is traditionally done at this point, but for this recipe, remove meat from bone, and add to finished glaze, then serve over rice.

Edamame Rice

Ingredients:

2 tbs. oil from chicken

1/2 sweet onion diced

2/3 cup edamame

1 cup jasmine rice

1 3/4 cup chicken stock

1/4 c saki

tbs. balsamic

tbs. low sodium soy sauce

Directions:

1. Saute the onions and rice in the chicken oil, on med-high heat.
2. Once the onions are slightly browned on edges add remaining ingredients, cover and reduce to simmer.
3. Cook until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

Glazing Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tbs. liquid from chicken pan skimmed

2 tbs. balsamic

2 tbs. low sodium soy sauce

1 tbs. orange juice

1 tbs. brown sugar.

1/2 tsp sriracha sauce

1. Place all ingredients in shallow pan and reduce on med-high heat until syrupy.  Keep in mind glaze will thicken a little as it cools.
2. Add chicken, and mix to coat.
3. Serve over rice.

A splash of Ponzu or soy sauce at serving time is a great finisher.

Lemon, Walnut and Blue Cheese Pizza Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb. pizza dough

Zest of one lemon

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tbs. olive oil

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1 large garlic clove (crushed & minced)

generous pinch of kosher or sea salt

handful (roughly 1/4 cup) shelled walnuts

1/4 to 1/3 cup crumbed blue cheese

Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425º
2. Stretch out dough & put on lightly oiled sheet pan.
3. Put zest, juice, oil, garlic, salt and thyme in sauce pan on med-high heat.
4. Reduce the liquid until glossy and spreadable.
5. Spread evenly over the dough.
6. Chop the walnuts.
7. Spread the nuts and blue cheese over the dough.  *optional grind black pepper over top
8. Bake until nice and crisp (approx. 25 minutes)

While this pizza is tasty hot, it is best at room temperature, so works well on buffet table.

Cupcake Vineyards

Red Velvet 2009

Price: $8.99

As soon as I poured this wine, the berry scent rose up.  A strong blackberry scent to be exact, as it opened a bit of vanilla-spice filled in.  So far so good.  The first sip explained the name “Red Velvet”, immediately.  It was rich and indeed quite velvetly in the mouth.  The overall taste was smooth, and a bit “jammy”.  After a few sips, the backdrop of chocolate filled in well.  The flavors of blackberry & cocoa linger.

This would pair nicely with sweet glazed meats and chocolate desserts.  An incredible wine for the price point.  A must try.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Invino for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I recently had the opportunity to check out the Invino website. As a wine lover, I was like a kid in a candy store, investigating this website. The selections offered are from top of the line vineyards, and the discounts are rather impressive. Most of these are bottles not likely to be found at your corner wine shop.

Invino has reasonable flat rate shipping on orders over $50, and frequently run free shipping offers. There is no need to stress over whether you are paying too much, for the wines you select, since Invino uses a wine price aggregator, to ensure you are getting the best price currently available. Not only are sure to get the price, but wine quality is guaranteed, as well, through their “Palate Guarantee”. If the wine doesn’t please you, you get a credit for it.

Membership is free, and if you sign up soon use the code: HOLIDAYWINE for a Free Bottle of Wine with your first order.

What caught my eye the most while shopping the site, were the gift sets. The sets were quite impressive, and well worth the cost. One that really appealed to me personally was the The Girl, The Fig & The Rhone gift set, which featured a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, along with jar each of Red Onion Confit, Black Mission Fig Jam and Citrus Salt, all from The Girl & The Fig. A wonderful gift for the foodie in your life, and at over 50% off, it will make you happy too. I also found the Big, Bold & Beauty Reds Holiday Gift Trio to be an exciting offering. This collection includes these three top rated red wines: 2007 Chronicle Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (93pts – Pinot Report), 2005 Raymond Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon (91pts – Wine Enthusiast) and 2005 Frescobaldi Castel Giocondo Brunello- 92pts – Wine Enthusiast & Wine Advocate (90pts – Wine Spectator & Stephen Tanzer). This would make any wine aficionado have a very happy holiday.

Invite your wine loving friends to join Invino too. Not only will they also enjoy the same incredible savings on top wines, but you will receive a $20 credit when any referral makes their first purchase. There are new wines to choose from each day, and with discounts up to 80%, it is certainly something you will want to share with friends anyway.

Gorgonzola and Horseradish Potato Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

1 – 1 1/2 lbs. potatoes (all purpose or  red bliss)

1/3 c.  Mayonnaise

2 tbs. low-fat buttermilk

1 tbs. horseradish

1 tbs. chopped chives

1/2 c. crumbled  Gorgonzola (Roquefort or Blue Cheese are acceptable substitutes)

Directions:

1. Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces, and boil in lightly salted water, until cooked through.
2. Drain. and set aside to cool.
3. Whisk the mayonnaise ans buttermilk together, add horse radish and whisk again.
4. Add chives and cheese stir with a spoon to mix.  Avoid breaking up most of the Gorgonzola chunks.
5. Fold in the potatoes, mix thoroughly, and refrigerate.
6. Wait at least 3 hours to allow flavors to meld, before serving.

Optional: top with more cheese chives and bacon.

Stacked Vegetarian Antipasto Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Italian dressing

pint of grape tomatoes (or quarter sliced plum tomatoes)

2 yellow peppers

1 lg. Vidalia onion

1 md.-lg eggplant (sliced into planks)

8 0z mushrooms ( sliced  large)

baby spinach or fresh basil leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°
2. Pour dressing in large bowl.
3. Place least absorbent vegetables in first mix, one type at a time, mix, then scoop out, allow to drain, and place on sheet pan.
4. Eggplant then mushrooms will be the last, as they will soak up too much dressing otherwise.  Remove them quickly.
5. Place the sheet pans in the oven.
6. After 15 minutes the mushrooms and tomatoes should be removed, and put aside.
7. Turn the eggplant, roast for 5 more minutes, then remove.
8. The onions and peppers can cook for another 5-10 minutes, to carmelize.
9. Stack the vegetables in a loaf dish or spring form.  1/2 the eggplant, 1/2 the tomatoes & onions, layer of yellow pepers, the other 1/2  tomatoes, mushrooms and remaining onions, top with the rest of the eggplant.
10. Cover with plastic wrap and gently, but firmly press down on the vegetables, to compress out the air.
11. Refrigerate  a minimum of 4 hours.
12. Slice and serve over greens.

Vegetables arranged in pan for roasting.

Neatly layering the stacked antipasto.

Spicy  Calamari, Shrimp and Garbanzo Beans Recipe

Ingredients:

2-3 calamari (squid) tubes

6-8 large shrimp

1 cup canned garbanzo beans

1/3 cup diced fresh tomatoes

tbs. olive oil

1/2 vidalia onion (diced small)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 tsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cilantro

1/2 tsp chili powder

tsp crushed jarred red pepper

1/2 tsp minced garlic

pinch of white pepper

generous pinch of kosher salt

Directions:

1. Placed the Vidalia onions in a bowl with lemon, salt and vinegar.  Set aside.
2. Place oil in nonstick skillet or wok, over med-high heat.
3. Cut the squid into rings, and shrimp into bite size pieces.
4. Drop the spices and garlic into the hot pan, stir, then drop in the seafood.
5. Stir,  reduce heat to simmer and add the onion mixture and the tomatoes.
6. Simmer covered for approximately 15 minutes.
7. Serve over rice.

Makes two lunch size portions.