Risotto, the preeminent comfort dish of the Milanese, gets rich red-wine depth.
Traditionally a very simple Italian dish, when risotto is coupled with top-notch red wine and beef broth, it becomes something quite dignified. Parmesan adds a delightfully salty tang to the finished product.
Despite its reputation as a "restaurant dish," it's not difficult to make a good risotto. You do have to give it constant attention -- risotto is an act of love. When cooking for one, it's calming, even therapeutic after a long day of work, to stand over the stove and stir. And the idea of enjoying a glass of the leftover wine while tending to the risotto on a cool autumn night is a way to schedule some "me time" into a busy week.
According to industry research, the majority (58 percent) of grill owners use them year-round (I'm one of them, and have been known to dust a foot or so of snow off the barbie in the middle of January), but summer is really when grilling gets smokin' hot. With Father's Day and the whole "let's grill a big juicy steak for dad and buy him a tie" cliché less than a week away, let's talk a bitmore about barbecue-friendly wines. (And be sure to check out our expert grilling tips here).
Wine and grill pairing basics and four recommended vinos after the jump.
One of the most delicious ways to serve shrimp is to lather it in garlic butter. I learned this at a very young age, when my grandfather taught me the beauty of shrimp scampi and medium rare prime rib. The moment I had both, I became a gluttonous pig, making many servers double-take with my dinner orders. (And I never had to use a "doggie bag!")
Anyhow, most classic scampi recipes ask for some sauteed garlic that gets white wine and butter added to it. But have no fear -- if you have no white wines open or available, just use red. The flavor will, of course, be a little different, but it will still be darned good -- the wine flavor just works beautifully with the sinfully perfect melted garlic butter.
Well, what do you suppose popped up at the liquor store next to the Recession Red?
Recession White!
Ladies and gentlemen, it's $3.99, it has a plastic cork, and it's totally decent. It's a mild, dry California chardonnay; gentle oak without too much vanilla (why do all the chardonnays I'm tasting lately have so much vanilla?). I would recommend pairing Recession White with bold, stinky cheeses or, you know, ramen noodles if you're in this for the price tag.
Between Recession Red and Recession White, I'd say the red is the better value. I'd pay more for that wine -- but I don't have to. This chardonnay is definitely acceptable, though, and mild enough to please a crowd. So bring it to a dinner party. I did on Monday and was met with smiles all around.
I've had a number of inquiries about where in New York I've found this delightful duo of Recession wines for $3.99 so I'm gonna go ahead and say it: Adel Wines & Liquors on Columbus Avenue between 105th and 106th Street.
I recently tried this bread recipe from Young Mo Kim I found while perusing a magazine called Pastry and Baking North America. Bread and red wine just go so well together that I had to see what a bread made with red wine would taste like. It was good if I do say so myself.
The recipe is called red wine walnut bread, but I had some dried currants which I thought would be so much better with the red wine. There's no specific red wine mentioned, and I just used a Cabernet Sauvignon. I made two more deviations from the recipe. Since I didn't have any rye meal, I used the same amount of wheat bran instead. Also, I forgot the softened butter, so I'm not sure how the bread would have turned out with it.
Even with all of the changes I ended up making, the red wine bread was very good. It was a little dry, which I'm sure would have been taken care of had I not forgotten the butter (or added a little more hydration), but the red wine taste really came through. The taste of the red wine was strongest when I first took a bite, and mellowed after that to a sweet, wheat-y taste. The dried currants were also really nice in this bread, and they added to the sweetness. For more of a crunch and less fruity-ness, go with the walnuts. Recipe after the jump.
Over the past few years, as wine has undergone repeated studies, it has started to seem like the modern-day fountain of youth. According to its various supporters, it can fight off streptococcus bacteria, reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, and flush one's system with antioxidants. Still, all of these pale beside wine's greatest claim to fame: the so-called French paradox.
For years, scientists have wondered how the French, who have one of the most saturated-fat rich diets in the world, manage to have such a low incidence of heart disease. While they haven't been able to scientifically determine the mechanism at work, anecdotal evidence has suggested that France's impressive wine consumption might have something to do with the paradox. Recently, scientists at Hebrew University in Jerusalem have confirmed the link and have even determined part of its mechanism.
According to the researchers, when the body digests meat, particularly turkey and red meat, it produces two toxic chemicals, malondialdehyde and hydroperoxide. These compounds can cause cancer, inflammation, and heart disease. However, red wine contains polyphenols, a particular kind of antioxidant, that neutralizes the toxins and prevents their absorbtion into the bloodstream.
The first thing I thought when I read about the new project from British designer Kacper Hamilton was, "How many times has this guy seen the movie Se7en?" The second thing I thought was, "How the hell do you drink out of such funky glasses?"
Hamilton's "7 Deadly Glasses" is a set of bizarre red wine glasses based on the 7 Deadly Sins. The one representing sloth, the fourth sin, is pictured here. It's an especially apt design since someone has to turn the the valve at the bottom so the sinner can drink. The glasses representing the other sins seem much more difficult to drink from. I'm not sure if it's because these sins are considered deadlier or what. Take wrath; it's a glass that has a teardrop shape hollow cut out of the top. It looks impossible to drink out of without cutting one's face.
Hamilton says the glasses are "about celebrating passion and encouraging the user to be sinful in a theatrical passion." I can understand why he chose red over white to embody sinfulness. I suppose a set of white wine glasses would have revolved around a less punitive bit of Western culture, like the nine muses of Greek mythology.
Turkey is a very versatile meat that can go well with many different types of wine, but zinfandels may just be the perfect compliment to the bird for Thanksgiving. First, zinfandel is a very American wine, so it fits in well with the traditions of the holiday. They also offer a round and balanced flavor that anyone can enjoy, especially because zins often have a lot of berry flavor, which covers some of the acidity that occasional wine drinkers find slightly off-putting sometimes. This means that zin will be very drinkable for all your guests, no matter how experienced with wines they are. Business Week picked out some of the best zins to serve with any turkey-based holiday dinner, all fruity and most with interesting touches of oak or licorice that really make them unique: Ridge Vineyards Buchignani Ranch (91 pts, $24); Elyse Winery Korte Ranch Vineyard (94 pts, $30); Hartford Court Russian River (93 pts, $30); Robert Biale Black Chicken (93 pts, $34); Carlisle Tom Feeney Ranch (92 pts, $38); and Linne Calodo Problem Child (92 pts, $42).
I love it when someone puts "palooza" at the end of a word, to make the person, thing, or event seem big and grand. Has anyone used the term "Blogapalooza" yet? I think that pretty much describes what we do here every single day.
The Boston Globe's Stephen Meuse recently held his annual Plonkapalooza wine tasting. Plonk is a red or white that you can get for under $10. Meuse and several other wine lovers get together every year to find out what the best ones are in Massachusetts (but available beyond, of course). It's so popular that they're suggesting five bottles every month now, but still get together every year for the annual big event.
This year there was a new panel that included wine store owners and professors. Here's a list of the 50 wines nominated this year, and the above link will tell you which reds and which whites won. 24 of the 50 were in the top 5 of each taster, and many of the wines came from South Africa.
A recent MSNBC story by dietitian Karen Collins explains why berries have recently been given 'superfood' status. Collins outlines berries' richness in antioxidants like vitamin C--a cup of strawberries has at least a whole RDA. She also touches on other cancer-inhibiting phytochemicals such as the anthocyanins found in red berries and pterostilbine, found in blueberries. The latter is similar to the often-hyped phytochemical found in grapes and red wine. Like and level-headed dietitian, Collins is quick to stress the importance of eating not just lots of berries, but a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and grains, all of which can provide phytochemicals that may work together to your benefit.
The monkeys at Budapest Zoo must be some of the happiest in captivity! Their feeding times are enlivened with a quantity of red wine each day; although there have been no instances of drunken brawls or other lewd behaviour.
They are fed 55 liters of red wine each year as a health measure to boost their red blood cell count. It is mixed in with their tea, so as not to be served in one hit. Sadly for the chimps, the wine is not of any great quality, just "simple table wine" according to the report.
So images of fine Bordeaux or Burgundy being sloshed around a chimps tea party are rather far from the truth. Budapest Zoo, incidently, was founded in 1866 making it is one of the oldest zoos in the world.
What they don't rave over-- but should -- is Il Valore Primitivo, a wine from the Puglia region of Italy (the "heel "of the "boot," geographically speaking). It's made from red Zinfandel grapes, and it's perfect with Italian food (naturally) but would work well with any grilled red meats. And quite frankly, it has a depth and complexity that one expects from Zinfandels in the $10 to $15 range.
The price? That's the best part. At the TJ's in Northern Virginia where I make pilgrimages once every six weeks, it's selling for $4.99.
So why spend money on Charles Shaw when you could have a real wine for five dollars? I'll admit, Il Valore Primitivo doesn't have a catchy nickname ("Five Bill Il" was the best I could come up with), but dollar-for-dollar, it's more bang for the buck than Chuck.
Red wine still isn't the best drink for teeth because, like coffee, it can stain the enamel. But new studies show that it may help fight and
prevent gum disease, periodontitis. Canadian scientists say that the antioxidant properties of polyphenols in red wine
can fight the free radicals released by the bacteria that cause gum disease. This will reduce inflammation and decrease
the severity of the disease, though there has not been a conclusive link shown between wine drinkers and a reduced risk
of periodontitis yet. For non-drinkers, these same polyphenols have been found in cranberry juice, as well as red wine.
Well, what do you suppose popped up at the liquor store next to the 
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Over the past few years, as wine has undergone repeated studies, it has started to seem like the modern-day 
Add wine to your weeknight meals, including 
Turkey is a very versatile meat that can go well with many different types of wine, but zinfandels may just be the perfect compliment to the bird for Thanksgiving. First, zinfandel is a very 
I love it when someone puts "palooza" at the end of a word, to make the person, thing, or event seem big and grand. Has anyone used the term "Blogapalooza" yet? I think that pretty much describes what we do here every single day.
Squash has 
A recent MSNBC 
The monkeys at Budapest Zoo must be some of the happiest in captivity! Their feeding times are enlivened with a quantity of red wine each day; although there have been no instances of drunken brawls or other lewd behaviour.
Everybody raves over 
Red wine still isn't the best drink for teeth because, like coffee, it can stain the enamel. But 
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