Monday, May 04, 2009

Wine and Dine.....at Home!

Higher priced wines continue to suffer a slump in sales. This seems particularly true in restaurants. Restaurants need to be imaginative during the current economic downturn. One of my favorite local restaurants is doing just that.
They feature a different theme for every day of the week.Thursday is their Thirty for Thirty with 30 bottles of wine each selling for $30.
An annual state of the wine industry report just released by the Silicon Valley Bank forecasts that economic conditions will have a lasting impact on the fine wine business.
Is this perhaps a time where dining at home will become increasingly popular? Dine out by all means but share that expensive bottle of wine with family and friends.
When visiting friends in California last summer they did just that. Click on the pic and you will see what I mean.
You have heard this one before, but I love cooking with wine and sometimes I even put some in the food.
With the excellent help and encouragement of Katherine Andes, I have been making some changes to this blog and my email newsletter. Sign up for her very timely and topical newsletter.
As you can see I have Nat's Wine & Food Matcher. But I have just added a great source for recipes. In Recipes Looking for Wine you will find some taste tempting menus. But I always check out two of my favorite sources for recipes when I want something unique and tasty.
When you visit my British Bordeaux friend on my link list, Nick Stephens, and click on recipes you will find the Angels on Horseback recipe.
I just love that one. Nick's blog is always very informative and a pleasure to read. And I can hardly wait to try out David Crowley's latest,Tortellini with Garlic Spinach Sauce. You will find him at my link to "Cooking Chat"
So now the question remains, do you pick your recipe and then find a wine to match or do you choose your wine and and then search for that great recipe?
Have fun always and enjoy this precious gift of the fruit of the vine!




3 comments:

David said...

Thanks for the mention. Like the updates here. I go either way on that food or wine first question, both are fun! Having a special bottle of wine to find a food to enjoy with it is a challenge I enjoy.

Nick said...

Hello Wilf,

Glad you like the Angels on Horseback recipe. In answer to your question I normally try to find a wine to go with the recipe rather than the other way round!

Cheers

Nick

Wilf G.K said...

You bet, Nick, I do too.I get hungry,
conjure up what I want to eat and then think of a wine to go with it. But sometime you can caught in the middle. Someone gives you a bottle of wine. You have never had it before. Your meal is planned and you think, OK I am going to try that wine tonight. And if it works, its a real joy.
Cheers my friend!