W I N E P A I R I N G S
I’ve been interested in food and wine pairings almost as long as I’ve been cooking. Well-paired food can “fix” missing elements in a wine blend. It can hide when a wine is thin or tamp down a wine that’s too sweet. And wine can accentuate subtle notes in a complex dish. Ideally they work symbiotically to create a cohesive experience and heighten the other. When I was 26, my sister moved in with my partner and I for a few months. She had just graduated from college and was job searching in California. I was in law school and she was unemployed. We would cook together most nights and at that point in time, I was teaching her about wine. That’s definitely not true anymore. Now my sister is the head winemaker at MacRostie Winery and Vineyards in California. We decided to team up to bring you a recipe and wine pairing now and again. She presents me with tasting notes and a bottle of wine. I write a preliminary menu. Heidi and I cook and wine taste together in person when we can, or via video chat when we can’t. We adjust and alter the menu as we go to complement the wine. Then I write the recipe and she writes the wine notes. It’s almost as symbiotic as food and wine.
Pairing Archives:
Deep Caramel Truffles with Sea Salt
Exciting news for Dirty Laundry Kitchen, aside from this fabulous recipe for Deep Caramel Truffles with Sea Salt! My sister is the head winemaker at…
Lamb and Eggplant Shepherd’s Pie
This is one recipe that I tend to make at some point every winter. It’s that good. And I’ve tinkered a little, but in general, I make it almost…
Clementine Pork with Rapini
This playful dish is a nod to the classic Orange Peel Beef. Lighten up! it extolls. And that’s what makes pairing it with MacRostie’s most…
Red Potato Salad & Whole-grain Mustard
Red Potato Salad & Whole-grain Mustard is the side for a wine pairing I just completed for MacRostie winery's May release. I'm posting it here,…
Kale Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts and Caraway Seeds
Sometimes, I find kale salad boring, there, I said it, but this Kale Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts and Caraway Seeds is anything but boring. I really…
Salmon with Lingonberry BBQ Butter
Once upon a wine pairing, my sister Heidi challenged me to make one dish to pair with both a chardonnay and a pinot noir; this Salmon with…
Two Bottle Boeuf Bourguinon
Want to hear a Dirty Laundry Kitchen dirty secret? I’ve been struggling to cook and write the past couple of weeks. The oscillating temperatures,…
Blue Ridge Mountain Benedicts
This Spring, one of our mini adventures was a weekend trip to Charlottesville, VA. It’s a gorgeous town, situated at the base of the Blue Ridge…
Canlis Parsnip Soup Hazelnut Gremolata
This lovely Canlis Parsnip Soup Hazelnut Gremolata came from, you guessed it, Canlis Restaurant in Seattle. It also came with a lovely story. I was…
Lavender Rosemary Goat Cheesecakes
I perfected these Lavender Rosemary Goat Cheesecakes some time ago (read: a really long time ago) for a fabulous dinner party but for some reason,…
