Monday, December 12, 2011

Wine & Dinner of the Month Club -- December 2011


This month’s wine is a nice Italian white that goes well with seafood and creamy dishes.  I had to make some alterations to the recipe and the dessert wasn’t as big a hit as I thought it would be, but it all turned out well.  Enjoy.

Menu
Wine
  • 2008 Bisci Verdicchio Di Matelica
We didn’t have an appetizer this month so I started right on the main course.  When I was searching for a pairing for this wine, I kept coming up with seafood risotto so it seemed a simple enough decision.  The only problem is Christine isn’t a huge seafood fan, so I altered the recipe to only include shrimp, adding extra to replace the now missing scallops, and exchanged the clam juice with an extra cup of chicken broth.  The risotto was creamy with a slight briny taste from the shrimp and a subtle yellow color from the saffron.  Risotto can be a side dish, but is so rich that it also works as a nice main course.  The wine was a perfect pairing with nice acidity that helped cut through the creaminess of the risotto.  I steamed some asparagus as a side dish, but let the asparagus steam a little too long.  It tasted okay but was a little mushy and everyone knows you don’t want to have a limp spear.



After the main course, I served a green salad using the last of the lettuce that Christine grew this year in the local community garden.  I garnished that with grape tomatoes and sliced dates.  Then it was time for dessert.  I was looking for something simple and what could be simpler than Jello (our neighbor Marlane, a native Minnesotan, would be so proud!) Who doesn’t love Jello?  But instead of just Jello, I souped it up with some white chocolate and condensed milk.  I was able to make it ahead of time and just had to garnish the individual servings with strawberries before serving.  Okay, it was alright, but not great.  The texture was a little odd.  I think Christine likened it to strawberry Play-Doh.  We finished the dessert, but I don’t it will be repeated…ever.



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