The Other Big Dinner Next Week

According to the folks over at pizza.com, the night before Thanksgiving is one of the top 5 days for pizza sales. The others are, in no particular order, Super Bowl Sunday, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day and Halloween. We thought we'd take a quick survey of our staffers, to see what recommendations they had for a pizza pairing. Please note that every product mentioned is linked to the Joe Canal's website page for that item. This will allow you to learn more about that product, and see the pricing as well.


Here are their suggestions:

Toni Carver

Toni Carver, Lawrenceville Store Manager: "I love an imperial IPA with an extra cheese and garlic pie!! In general, an IPA will pair very well with cheese. The crispness of the IPA cuts the pizza grease and heightens all of the flavors."

Her recommendations:
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA
Elysian Space Dust IPA
Victory Vital IPA
Sam Adams Rebel Rider

Tom Broderick

Tom Broderick, Woodbridge Store Manager: "I'm a big fan of Margharita pizza and the perfect pairing is a funky, crisp Belgian saison, such as Saison Dupont or De Proef Saison Imperiale. The mellow, fresh qualities of the beer complement the earthiness of the basil and oregano while the hops cut the acidity of the pizza."

Brandon Bartfalvi, Lawrenceville Senior Wine Manager: "No question, it's Poggio Anima Samael Montepulciano D'Abbruzzo. Ripe, flavorful and generous with ample spice notes. This is my comfort wine and it is awesome with a good tomato pie. Delish!!!"

David Rudd, Woodbridge Assistant Store Manager: "I love a Zinfandel with meatsapizza! The spicy, jammy character absolutely compliment the seasonings used in cured Italian meats and sausages. Like a party in your mouth, gotta gotta get up to get down."

"Try the Carol Shelton Wild Thing or the St. Francis Old Vine Zinfandel."

Kevin Saunders, Lawrenceville Wine Manager: "I am a firm believer in the idea of 'what grows together, goes together.' When I'm eating Italian food, I'm drinking Italian wine. One of my go to wines is the Cerro Manero Rosso di Toscana 2013. It's only $9.96 in the Bottle Club® and it's rated 93 points. How could you not?"

Dave Glaubinger, Woodbridge Wine Supervisor: "I always seem to go back to Italian reds with pizza and pasta. They just have a certain texture that compliments the red sauce, cheese and various toppings. Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is a really good example of an easy-drinking and affordable red from central Italy. Of course, that small grapevine they have tied to the bottle is one of the greatest marketing tools ever created !!! People come back looking for a delicious, nameless Italian wine 'with the stick'. Just to give representation to other worthy pizza pairings from elsewhere in Italy, Mastroberardino Aglianico - from the home of 'Napolitano' - is a mouthful of fruity, soft velvet, . . . . .and Altesino Rosso di Altesino, from the master Brunello maker, with it's typical Tuscan 'bite' also hits the spot with any pizza and pasta meal (spaghetti is often on my table, next to the pizza)."

Stephen Kubowitz, Lawrenceville Floor Manager/Beer Purchaser: "A bock will pair nicely with a sausage and mushroom pie.  The spice of the sausage and the earthy mushroom flavor enhances the maltiness of a bock. And my preference is Shiner Bock."

So your blogger is about ready to grab a quick slice of pizza right now. Buon appetito!

Sweet Spot for Pairings

Few snack foods are as All-American as Girl Scout cookies. Since we've talked recently about dessert wines for Valentine's Day, we thought this would be a good time to discuss Girl Scout cookie pairings. These will be in no particular order.

Caramel de-Lites /Samoas: Schlafly's Bière de Garde has toffee notes and a subtle spice from the farmhouse ale yeast that pairs nicely with the caramel and chocolate in the Samoas. The rich maltiness and aromas of oak and vanilla from many barleywines complements the toasted coconut of these cookies wonderfully. Make sure to let these beers warm up a little for maximum intensity. Another great choice: Founders Dirty Bastard. If you prefer a wine, look for a Port, like Fonseca Bin No. 27.

Tagalongs/Peanut Butter Patties: Try a big, fruit-forward beer such as Big Lushious from Founders Brewing Company. When the cookie has chocolate, grab a bottle of red wine. Tagalongs are no different – find a fruity red wine such as Georges Dubouef Beaujolais or Gnarly Head Zinfandel.

Lemonades: The shortbread texture of the cookies and lemon flavors in the icing make an excellent contrasting duo for a citrusy IPA such as Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA. An unfiltered wheat beer can add depth and balance to the flavors of the cookie with its citric zing.

Shortbread/Trefoil Cookies: Stick with tradition by pairing these classic cookies with traditional beer styles such as the cheek-warming Baltic Porter from Smuttynose Brewing Company with notes of dark fruits and coffee or a Scottish ale such as Oskar Blues Old Chub with notes of cocoa and coffee and a dash of smoke. Alternative pairing: Choose your favorite IPA to contrast with the buttery biscuit-y goodness of these cookies. Alternatively, try Pinot Project Pinot Noir or Gruet Brut.

Thin Mints: Great Divide's Yeti Imperial Stout. Dark coffee and chocolate on the nose with caramel toastiness from the malts deliver a mouth-feel that pairs well with the crisp, minty crunch of the wafer cookie (especially if you keep your Thin Mints in the freezer).

H/T VA Viper blog and Beerandbrewing.com

Holiday Review

It's your last couple of shopping days, but you already knew that. Today. we're going to wrap up all of our discussions on what to drink, and add a few more suggestions. Click on the links below for the full blog post. Please note that our store hours on December 24 are 8am to 7pm, and we are closed on Christmas Day.

What to Drink for Christmas, Part 1: Wines to pair with ham or lamb.

What to Drink for Christmas, Part 2: Wines to pair with the Feast of the Seven Fishes, Roasts or Pasta dishes.

Champagne and Sparkling Wine: Because you should have at least one bottle on hand at this time of year.

Gift Sets: A packaged Gift Set is usually at the same price as the bottle itself. And they're easy to wrap.

Holiday Cocktails: Simple recipes for tasty treats.

Pair Beer with Turkey.

Pair White Wine with Turkey.

Pair Red Wine with Turkey.

Pairing wine with Goose for Christmas: Francis Ford Coppola Director's Cut Zinfandel. This is a Zinfandel that pushes the envelope of decadence with voluptuous, concentrated flavors of fruit jam, chocolate and vanilla. Petite Sirah is added to the blend to create a sturdier structure and more complexity.

Made with fruit grown entirely in the Dry Creek Valley appellation, where the combination of climate and location produces excellent Zinfandel fruit with intensely concentrated flavor. Half of the fruit was crushed whole, and the must (seeds and skins) was fermented in open-top fermentors for maximum color extraction and flavor enhancement.

One of the things that make this Zinfandel unique is the liberal amount of Petite Sirah added to the blend to enhance structure and complexity. The winemakers used a combination of French and American oak, favoring an American cooper that imparts a nice mocha-espresso nuance that blends well with our wine. The Director’s Cut Zinfandel delivers ample body and a velvety palate with a bouquet of blackberries, raspberries, clove and pepper followed by succulent flavors of cherries, mixed berries and mocha.

The winery price is $27.00. Our regular price is $19.99. You'll have to stop in to see the Bottle Club® price on the Coppola Director's Cut Zinfandel.

Joseph Phelps Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2011. The 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon has beautiful aromatics of plum, cherry, currants, coffee, cocoa and hints of allspice, fresh thyme, tobacco and forest floor. The body is laced with integrated tannins, great freshness and red fruit characteristics.

92 points from Antonio Galloni’s Vinous. This special occasion wine is in the Bottle Club® for $59.99.

The Odd Couple

When we think of pairings, our thoughts typically turn to wine. Whether you're pairing wine and cheese or finding the perfect Thanksgiving wine (it's barely 7 weeks away; early planning is good!), we've had countless conversations and recommendations that involve wine pairings.

Spirits like Scotch, Irish whiskey and Bourbon are less often thought of as good partners for food. That's an oversight that we hope to help correct. Appetizers, entrees or desserts, it doesn't matter. We'll introduce you today to some excellent pairings.

Smoked salmon pairs quite nicely with Scotch whisky, particularly Auchentoshan 12-year-old and Glengoyne 10-year-old. Both of these are light whiskies with a slightly sweet, citrusy edge which cut through the oily richness of the fish, lifting the flavor. To best compliment strong-tasting smoked salmon, avoid whisky that is heavily sweet, spicy, or smoky itself.

Raw oysters? Consider the light smokiness and maritime character of Talisker 10-year. The whisky complements the mollusk, and it finishes with a peppery kick.

We know that our area has many wonderful Indian restaurants. For spicy fish dishes with a big chili hit - prawn tokri and a masala-coated tilapia, go with Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or, a Highland Single Malt finished in Sauternes casks. The touch of sweetness from the Sauternes casks plays well with the spicy food.

For an Indian meal that's more mainstream, like lamb rogan josh, chicken biryani, aloo Katliyan, or paratha and yogurt, think a little differently. Look for the Tullamore D.E.W. as a sublime partner to those dishes. Tullamore's early fresh fruit leads to a definite light spice followed by some toasted wood which evolves into a delicious vanilla sweetness, which balances the spiciness of those Indian dishes. 

If your preference runs to the smokier side of Islay (Ardbeg, Lagavulin, Laphroaig), click here for some additional thoughts on food pairings.

Babyback ribs are a favorite on the grill or at a local BYO. The tangy-sweet flavors of the ribs and sauce meet their match with the Four Roses Single Barrel, Canal's Family Selection. It's a Bourbon that rewards you with a mellow symphony of rich, spicy flavors along with sweet, fruity aromas and hints of sweet oak and caramel. Finishes soft, smooth and pleasantly long. And if you're tailgating with ribs, pulled pork or chicken in a barbecue sauce, don't forget this bourbon!

Thin-sliced country ham matches with the notes of cinnamon and walnut in Woodford Reserve Bourbon.

Another slightly out-of-the-box pairing is Ardbeg 10-year with sushi. The briny, smoky notes of the Ardbeg compliment the range of flavors on a sushi plate.

Don't miss dessert. Being mindful of Thanksgiving, as we were earlier, consider Glenrothes, a Scotch that is loaded with vanilla and hints of spice. It's an ideal counterpart to a luscious pumpkin pie.

Summer Cookin'

With grilling season here, we consulted our industry partners for some recipes. Our industry does have some delicious research projects, and we like to share the results.

Grilled Tuscan Rib Steak with Heirloom Tomato, Gorgonzola & Arugula Salad

Recipe and image courtesy of Chateau Ste. Michelle

The steak:

2 12-oz. boneless rib steaks about 1 inch thick
1½ tsp. dry thyme
1 tsp. dry oregano
2 tsp. smoked paprika
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
1 tsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. salt
olive oil
Instructions:

Mix the spices together in a small bowl. Rub the steaks lightly with olive oil and sprinkle both sides with the spice rub. Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Place the steaks on the grill and cook about 5-7 minutes per side, depending on how well done you like your steak. Let the steak rest for at least 15 minutes, the slice across grain into thick slices. Put on the serving plate and top with the salad to serve.

The salad:

3 large Heirloom tomatoes, assorted colors
½ c. crumbled gorgonzola
¼ medium red onions, thinly julienned
1 clove garlic, minced
2 c. arugula leaves
3 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:

Wash and core the tomatoes, then cut into thin wedges. Put the tomatoes, onions and garlic in a small bowl. Add the olive oil and vinegar, toss gently to coat well.Season with salt and pepper, let marinate for about 30 minutes. Just before serving, add the gorgonzola and arugula and mix gently to just to combine.

Serve with Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Cabernet Sauvignon

Blue Cheese Burger with Chive Aioli

Recipe and image courtesy of St. Francis Winery

It seems like everyone has their own favorite burger recipe. If you haven't yet sampled a recipe from Sonoma's St. Francis Winery, you are missing something special.

Ingredients:

1½ pounds ground beef
1 large red onion, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
½ cup mayonnaise
1 bunch chives, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, finely minced
6 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
Salt and black pepper
Sliced tomatoes and baby spinach for garnish
4 Hamburger buns

Preparation:

Coat the sliced red onion with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and marinate for about 1 hour.

Mix the chives, garlic and mayonnaise together and reserve for later use.

Preheat a grill or cast iron griddle pan over medium high heat.

Form the ground beef into 4 to 6-ounce patties about 5 inches in diameter.

Grill the onion slices on the preheated grill for 2-3 minutes per side or until well marked and just tender. Remove onions from the grill and reserve someplace warm.

Season both sides of the hamburger patties with salt and black pepper and lightly coat with olive oil. Place the patties on the preheated grill and cook about 3 minutes per side for medium or until desired temperature. When the burgers are nearly done, distribute the crumbled blue cheese evenly over the 4 patties so the cheese begins to melt. Remove the patties and reserve.

To assemble; spread a liberal amount of the chive aioli over the bottom piece of each bun and add the finished burgers. Garnish with grilled onions, tomatoes and baby spinach as desired.

Serve immediately.

Pair with either the St. Francis Sonoma Merlot or the St. Francis Old Vine Zinfandel.

Grilled Shrimp with Balsamic Aioli

Recipe courtesy of Allagash Brewing Company

Ingredients

6 shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 leaves of radicchio, blanched and chilled
6 thin sliced pancetta
4 oz olive oil
½ tb balsamic vinegar
1 egg yolk
1 clove garlic smashed with knife
½ lemon
1 tb chopped herbs- chive, rosemary, basil, parsley, any or all
½ tsp mustard

Method:

Pre heat grill to high for 15 minutes
Season shrimp with ½ herbs, 1 tb olive oil, salt and pepper
Next, wrap shrimp with radicchio and then wrap in pancetta
Set in fridge until ready to grill

Balsamic aioli

Wisk egg yolk, mustard, herbs, vinegar together
Add olive oil very slowly, drop by drop to start and whisking all the time until it's emulsified together
Add remaining garlic, salt, pepper and 3 drops hot sauce

Brush shrimp with olive oil and season again with pepper only
Place on grill and turn down heat to med/high and turn with tongs as Pancetta crisps and renders
Place on a platter with mixed greens and lemon
Spoon sauce over shrimp and serve

Enjoy with Allagash White or Allagash Saison

Maker's Mark® Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe and image courtesy of Maker's Mark

We can't have a nice weekend dinner without some dessert, right? Fortunately, bourbon lends itself very nicely to a variety of desserts.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Level: Easy
Makes 12 cupcakes

The Maker's Mark® Cupcakes

1/4 cup Maker's Mark Bourbon®
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Sift all dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Put aside for later use.
Cream the butter and brown sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition and beating well.
Add the molasses and mix well.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk to the batter.
Add the Maker's Mark® Bourbon, stirring well with a spoon/spatula. The batter will look thin and slightly broken. Fill the cupcake liners almost to the top and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out cleanly when tested.
Allow the cupcakes to cool completely, about 20 minutes, before frosting.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes 2 cups

1-1/2 cups cream cheese (12 ounces), softened to room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the softened cream cheese well, using a wooden spoon or paddle attachment.
Add the softened butter. Continue to beat until well mixed in with the cream cheese.
Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon and salt. Beat until well incorporated. Refrigerate until needed and allow to soften at room temperature before using.

Wine 101: Barbecue

While this weekend may be a bust as Tropical Storm Andrea hits us with heavy rains, the summer weather is fast-approaching! Grills are being scraped for 2102 -- it's barbeque season! What's for dinner?

Barbeque is quick and easy. It's so simple to pull some meat out of the freezer and throw it on the grill. It's a fast and easy way to cook, it doesn't heat up the house, and the best thing about grilled food? It pairs beautifully with wine!

Burger: Burgers pair well with Zinfandel, an "All-American combo." The spiciness and fruitiness of the wine plays well off of a juicy grilled burger.

Chicken: Since most barbecue sauces are on the sweeter side, and a basic rule of pairings is that wines should be sweeter than the sauces on the foods you're eating them with, try an unctuous Vouvray.

Ribs: Ribs pair well with a nice Rioja, the smokiness and acidity of the tempranillo grape complements the smoky flavor of the ribs, as well as their fatty content.

Steak: When Cabernet Sauvignon is paired with steak, the tannins are neutralized, allowing the fruits of the wine to be more noticeable.

Kabobs or Vegetables: When you've got vegetarians in your family or are just in the mood for a light, refreshing meal, choose either a Barbera, or a dry Rose when grilling up veggies or kabobs!

Dessert Wine Pairings

Ahh, the holidays. A time when we're not afraid to loosen our belts a couple notches and allow ourselves to indulge a little more than we normally would the rest of the year. With all the tempting cookies, cakes and other sweet desserts filling our tables, how could we not? Here's a guide to what wines to serve with the desserts on your holiday table.

A couple basic rules on dessert pairings: You should never serve a dessert food that's sweeter than the wine you plan to serve it with. For example, don't serve a light Riesling with a rich, dark chocolate lava cake - much like a Chardonnay with a barbecued steak, the flavors will clash. Also, if you're serving a large, lavish dinner, and the meal with a lighter wine, as opposed to a heavy, super-sweet full-bodied wine.

A good rule of thumb according to some wine experts is that as the color of the desserts get darker, so do the wines.

Rieslings and Sparkling Wines: Work well with vanilla flavors, and custard-filled pastries. The wine will play off the buttery flavors in the pastry.

Sauternes: Tend to go well with light fruity desserts that include peaches or apples. Also, if you're serving a sauterne you may want to skip the sweets entirely and choose instead to lay out some cheese. Sauternes and Roquefort cheese are a match made in heaven. Try other blue-veined cheese like Stilton or Gorgonzola.

Moscato or Muscat: Wines are made to be drank with fruity desserts. Also pair them with a sweet Mascarpone Cheese.

Madeira: Is another wine that would be well-suited to a nice plate of cheese. Also working with the blue-veined cheeses, Gruyere's nutty characteristics will work wonderfully with Madeira. You may also try serving Madeira with a nut-based dessert.

Ports: A classic pair, a nice port compliments chocolate fantastically. Both sweet and rich, they'll dance in your mouth. Any dessert with nuts will also go great with port, which tends to have a has a nutty flavor on its own. Walnuts work especially well because they are tannic, and the sweetness of the port will counteract that.

Ice Wine: I've read Ice Wine referred to as "a dessert in itself," so pour a glass of this and enjoy it for the rich treat it is!

Craft Beer and Cheese Pairings

There's no easier start to a meal than a brew and a cheese plate, so find out which styles of beer go best with your cheese!

We know that in the chaos of the holidays and entertaining, it can be overwhelming to plan a full menu — much less a menu that pairs well with your drink of choice. Let us do the explaining, and share with you the easiest way to start a meal: beer and cheese.

Hear us out: Beer is quickly becoming the drink of choice when pairing foods, because it's just as versatile as wine. As Julia Herz, a certified cicerone from Craftbeer.com (and the Brewer's Assocation) explained to us, beer is a more sessionable drink of choice (5 percent ABV compared to 12 percent ABV), and has the magic of wine when paired with food — it complements, contrasts, and cuts the taste of the food you're eating. Take a spicy food, Herz says: beer easily tames the capsaicin heat because of its lower ABV, while wine can actually clash with that same heat.

Herz and Craftbeer.com gave us loads of suggestion for foods that can easily be paired with beer, and that includes lots of our favorite cheeses. So instead of stressing over making apps for the hungry army about to attack your Thanksgiving dinner, cut up a hunk of cheese and call it a day. Here, the best craft beers for your cheeses:

If you are drinking: IPA
Pair with: Blue cheeses, gorgonzola, or cambozola. An IPA, the top selling type of craft beer, needs a cheese to pair with the umami flavors of the beer. The hops complement, and calm, the richness of a blue cheese.

If you are drinking: Porter
Pair with: Cow milks, like Gruyère and tilsit. A porter can stand up to heavier foods, like roasted and smoked meats, but can be easily tamed with a Gruyère.

If you are drinking: Pilsener
Pair with: A mild white Cheddar from Vermont, or feta. You get the creamy and salty flavors together, while the bitterness of the beer calms the richness in a fattier cheese like feta.

If you are drinking: Hefeweizen
Pair with: Chèvre goat cheese. Hefeweizens are meant to be paired with lighter foods, which makes goat cheese a no-brianer pairing.

If you are drinking: Brown Ale
Pair with: A mild Cheddar; the flavors of the Cheddar will go nicely with the dark fruit and malt flavors of the beer.

This article was written by Marcy Franklin and originally published on thedailymeal.com.

Thanksgiving Turkey and Wine

Len Santamaria, Wine Sales Associate at our Lawrenceville store, share his thoughts on which wines pair well with Thanksgiving dinner. Feel free to ask any of our knowledgeable staff members for ideas for this, or any other special occasion!

I knew it would happen. I knew someday someone would come into the store and ask the question, and that question would open the flood gates. However I never thought it would happen so soon. What's the question you wonder? Simply, this one: What wine do I serve with turkey? To answer this question, first ask yourself what is it that you and those eating with you usually prefer.

If you prefer a white wine a nice Chardonnay will be a good selection to go with your Thanksgiving bird. Don't go crazy trying to pick the prefect wine here, simply pick a Chardonnay you already know and like, and enjoy your meal. Choose a wine in your price range and because there are so many good ones available it's hard to make a poor choice.

If you prefer red wine by all means select a Pinot Noir for Thanksgiving. Pinot Noir will be fuller than a white wine but will have very few tannins. Because of the tannins, or lack thereof, this wine will not overpower your meal. Incidentally, Pinot Noir will match very well with the turkey's dark meat.

Finally, should you enjoy wine with a small level of sweetness, Vouvray or White Zinfandel would be good choices. I might even suggest a Gewurztraminer or Riesling. All of these wines will pair nicely with your Thanksgiving dinner and the turkey will not take offense.

Moreover, don't feel limited by what you see here. A dry Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc or White Burgundy would all do well as wine to pair with your Thanksgiving feast. Simply, drink what you like and what you think your quests will enjoy. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Real Reason Wine Goes with Cheese Revealed

While most of us don't think twice while we sip wine and nibble on cheese, there actually is a real, chemical, biological reason as to why it tastes so good!

Wine goes with cheese. Meat sandwiches go with a pickle. Green tea goes with Asian food. Sushi goes with pickled ginger. Oil goes with vinegar. Soda goes with chips. Many of the world's most beloved food combinations pair an astringent food, which causes the mouth to pucker up, with a fatty food, which makes the mouth feel slippery.

But why? "The kernel of this idea of pairing astringents with fats is found in gastronomies all over the planet, but it's never been clear how or why these pairings work," said Paul Breslin, an experimental psychologist at Rutgers University and Monell Chemical Senses Center who studies taste perception.

In a new paper published online Oct. 8 in the journal Cell, Breslin and colleagues propose a theory of food pairings that explains for the first time how astringent and fatty foods oppose one another to create a balanced "mouthfeel."

Because fat is oily, eating it lubricates the mouth, making it feel slick or even slimy, Breslin said. Meanwhile, astringents, chemical compounds such as the tannins in wine and green tea, make the mouth feel dry and rough. They do this by chemically binding with lubricant proteins present in saliva, causing the proteins to clump together and solidify, and leaving the surface of the tongue and gums without their usual coating of lubrication.

We don't like slimy, but we don't like puckered up, either. "We want our mouth to be lubricated but not overly lubricated," Breslin told LiveScience. "In our study, we show that astringents reduce the lubricants in the mouth during a fatty meal and return balance."

Although this food-pairing idea had been proposed before, it was a mystery how that balance might actually be struck, because wine, green tea and the other widely consumed astringents are only mildly astringent. No one knew how they managed to cut the fat as well as they do.

The researchers discovered that astringents have a stronger effect each time the mouth is exposed to them. Every time study participants took a sip of green tea, for example, they perceived it to be more astringent than during the previous sip, indicating that the astringents were reacting more strongly with the lubricating proteins in their mouths upon each exposure. This growth in astringency is why, even though tea and wine have only a weak effect at first, sipping them throughout a fatty meal eventually enables the astringents to counterbalance the strong lubricating effect of the fat.

A second experiment supported this conclusion. When the study participants alternated their sips of tea with bites of salami, the perceived slipperiness of their mouths (caused by the fatty salami) gradually decreased as they took more sips. When they sipped water, by contrast, the slimy feeling in their mouths continued to build.

The importance of repeated exposure explains why we don't tend to gulp down an entire glass of wine then eat our entire steak. Nor do we polish off our whole pickle before setting into our sandwich. The new research justifies the widespread use of astringent foods as "palate cleansers" that people sample throughout a meal.

This general principle of yin and yang food pairings goes part of the way in explaining gastronomy, but what about the specifics? Why do we pair sushi with pickled ginger rather than with a soda, despite the fact that they're both astringents? And why does cheese seem to taste better with red wine than with green tea? As Breslin put it, "Is there something to the idea that a particular astringent and a particular fatty food go together?"

The famous pairings could simply be cultural accidents — a matter of which foods were available in which regions. But Breslin said it's also possible that cultures have unknowingly worked out the most balanced pairings based on the chemical properties of the foods.

"Different kinds of astringents give rise to different rates of growth of astringency. As you repeatedly sample them, one will have a steep rise and the other a shallow rise," he said. "It could be that there's a particular mixing of an astringent and a fatty food that determines how strong the astringent is going to be and how quickly it gets there. This is a mystery of gastronomy."

This article was originally written by Natalie Wolchover and published on livescience.com

Why red wine and red meat pair so well

It's always interesting to explore the science behind why some things are so darn delicious!

For any gourmand who has ever wondered why certain wines pair so well with a hearty steak, or how a palate-cleansing sorbet works its magic between courses, science has an answer now.

Oral astringents -- substances that elicit a "rough" or "dry" taste, such as high-tannin wines -- occupy the exact opposite end of a taste spectrum relative to substances with fatty, or "slippery" qualities, such as steak, according to a study published Monday in the journal Current Biology.

Because the dry wine and slippery beef tastes are opposites, they are constantly working to undercut, or reduce, the opposing sensation during the course of a meal, the study said. If diners sipped only water with their steak, they would perceive much more quickly the sensation that their mouths had become coated with fatty, or slippery, substances, it said.

"The opposition between fatty and astringent sensations allows us to eat fatty foods more easily if we also ingest astringents with them," said study author Paul Breslin of Rutgers University and the Monell Chemical Senses Center.

The researchers found that astringent sustances such as wine, tea, sorbets and pickles need not be strong to oppose fatty sensations. That's because the overall sensation of dryness or roughness builds with each bite or sip.

The affinity that people have for oppositely paired tastes may be due to the body's need for a diverse diet, according to Breslin.

"The mouth is a magnificently sensitive somatosensory organ, arguably the most sensitive in the body," he said. "The way foods make our mouths feel has a great deal to do with what foods we eat."

This article was written by Monte Morin and originally published on latimes.com.

Wine and Cheese: Stilton Edition

This stunning blue cheese is known as "The King of English Cheese" with its deep, rich flavor steeped in history. The first references to the cheese show up in the 1720s first in a newsletter and then by reference in Daniel Dafoe's (author of Robinson Crusoe) Tour through the villages of England & Wales where he referred to it as the "English Parmesan." Stilton is an EU Protected Food Name ensuring that the cheese conforms to certain unique characteristics including place of origin (the English counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire or Leicestershire), shape (cylindrical) and bluing in veins.

As the cheese ages, like wine, it grows more mellow while developing its crust and a certain buttery texture. It is a versatile cheese that goes particularly well with pears, celery, steak or green salads, and, of course, on its own with some wine.

What wine to have with Stilton? The classic pairing is port but the flavor profile of the cheese will be terrific with a full-bodied, robust Shiraz, a sweet Oloroso Sherry or other dessert wines such as Sauternes, Late Harvest Gewurztraminer or Muscat.

As an added bonus, enjoy this delicious soup using Stilton and pair with Champagne for an extra measure of luxury!

Roasted Pear-Butternut Soup with Crumbled Stilton

- 2 ripe pears, peeled, quartered and cored
- 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch chunks
- 2 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
- 1 large leek, pale green and white parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced and washed thoroughly
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 4 cups vegetable broth, or reduced-sodium chicken broth, divided
- 2/3 cup crumbled Stilton
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh chives, or scallion greens

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Combine pears, squash, tomatoes, leek, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper in a large bowl; toss to coat. Spread evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, 40 to 55 minutes. Let cool slightly.
3. Place half the vegetables and 2 cups broth in a blender; puree until smooth. Transfer to a large saucepan. Puree the remaining vegetables and 2 cups broth. Add to the pan and stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.
4. Cook the soup over medium-low heat, stirring, until hot, about 10 minutes. Divide among 6 bowls and garnish with cheese and chives (or scallion greens).

Serves 4

Pretty in Pink

Spring has sprung and summer isn't far behind. We're still enjoying our reds but have started feeling the itch for some nice, cool refreshing wines. If it's too hot for a Zin and you're not feeling in the mood for a white, why not go pink?

Rose wines are are made from red grapes and begin their transformation into wine like any other red wine would, with the skin intact and on the pulp of the grapes. They ferment with the skins for only a few days, just long enough to get a little color and retain some of the skin characteristics. The skins are then removed and fermentation is completed as if it were a white wine, most often in stainless steel. What you're left with is a delicate pink wine that can range from very dry, to very sweet, depending on the winemaker, region or amount of time the grapes were allowed to remain in contact with the skin.

Roses are very food-friendly wines, especially in the summertime, with some foods you may already be throwing on the grill. Pork or turkey burgers, salads, chicken, cheese and fish pair well.

Here are some roses to pick up to share with your friends and family!

Enanzo Rose Garnacha NV (Navarra, Spain)
"This Spanish rose has a light, pink color with a pungent nose of roses and strawberry. It is quite light with some crispness and displays flavors of bright red fruit. Throw some chicken on the grill with a side of potato salad and enjoy!" -Debbie Miller Nelson, Wine Manager, Woodbridge

Turkey Flat Rosé (South Australia)
Light, crisp, off-dry and, quite simply, delicious! Made from the unusual combination of Grenache, Shiraz, Cabernet and Dolcetto the light red berry profile is superb as an everyday quaff. Served slightly chilled with jerk pork, cayenne-dusted catfish, rhubarb crisps or as an aperitif.
Mulderbosch Rose (Stellenbosch, South Africa)
"A wonderful salmon color swirls round the glass and intriguing aromas of cherry, strawberry and anise waft from the glass. Yet, it has flavors of a full-bodied Cabernet showing blackberry, mocha and licorice with a long, mesmerizing finish. This would excel with crab cakes." -Debbie Miller Nelson, Wine Manager, Woodbridge

Mardi Gras Match-up

This Tuesday was Fat Tuesday, the culmination of the Carnival season of Mardi Gras. Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. If you're still celebrating, if you're still enjoying some leftover crawfish jambalaya, or if you're just in the mood for some great Cajun foods, you might be wondering what beverages would work well!

Cajun food is traditionally spicy. I've had the pleasure of attending Michael Arnone's Crawfish Fest in Augusta, NJ many times. It's a weekend full of zydeco music and great food, including freshly boiled crawfish that are purchased in large, overflowing styrofoam take-out containers. Like tiny lobsters, you crack and eat the tail and claws, and then suck out the spicy, salty juices and fat from the crawfish's head. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun, and very delicious. At the end, you're left with a full tummy and lips that burn for hours afterwards.

If you're looking for a wine to pair with such spicy foods, you want to stay away from high-alcohol wines with big tannins. Tannins accentuate spicy food and will make for a mouthful of fire. To combat the heat of Creole cooking, a white wine would be your best bet. German Rieslings, with their lower alcohol content and sweet touch are known to pair very well with Cajun food, as are Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Gewurztraminer or Gruner Veltliner. And without a doubt, any off-dry Champagne or sparkling wine would match excellently.

If you just have to have a red, go with those with very low tannin levels, such as a Beaujolais, South African Pinotage, or a Spanish Red.

Of course, one great way to soothe the flames would be to enjoy your Cajun food with a nice, refreshing beer. IPAs, Pilsners and Bocks would all make a good match, but if you want to go authentic, we carry a selection of brews from Abita Brewery. Founded in 1986, the Abita Brewing Company is nestled in the piney woods 30 miles north of New Orleans.

A Guide to BYOB

Buying wine at a restaurant can be ridiculously expensive. You could end up paying 3 times more than you would here at Joe Canal's at a nice restaurant. There's a way past that, however: BYOB. There are quite a few BYOB restaurants in our area that make delicious food and have lovely ambiance. Why not scope out a local BYOB restaurant, and stop here on the way! One of our knowledgeable Wine Managers will be happy to help you choose the perfect bottle for your dinner, but here is a general list to guide you, based on the cuisine you'll be eating.

Chinese
Dominant flavors in Chinese food include ginger, garlic, sesame, soy sauce, chiles, and oyster, all of which fall into either the sweet or the salty taste group. This means that your best matches are going to be sweetish, spicy or fruity white wines. If you're going for reds, choose low-tannin, unoaked reds, because salty foods make a wine's tannins taste more bitter. Light, crisp roses or sparkling wines would also be a very good match, as their texture can either cut through any heaviness in a dish or underline the delicacy of more fragile ones, such as wontons or steamed dumplings.

Japanese
Overall flavors of Japanese cuisine are bitter and vinegary, with elements such as wasabi, vinegar, soy sauce, and onions. Therefore, you should avoid acidic wines and go for chilled, off-dry, fruity white wines and any sparkling wines with dishes like sushi or sashimi. For heavier dishes like tempura, choose fuller, fruitier styles like Champagne. Or, of course, you may opt for a bottle of traditional sake.

Thai Thai food has playful, contrasting tastes including lemongrass, citrus, chile, ginger, coriander and basil, and can often be difficult to match. Try a crisp, dry white like a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay. A fruity, robust Shiraz will also work well with this spicy chile or beef dishes.

Mexican
Very hot and spicy foods need equally spicy wines with a touch of residual sugar to counteract the spice. Try fruity whites and acidic roses to temper the heat. Low-tannin reds that are fruity and spicy like a Merlot or a Pinot Noir will also work.

Indian
What matches well with the Indian staple, curry? Stay away from the oak and stick to full-bodied wines. Possible matches include Merlots, Zinfandels, and Syrahs, a rose with samosas and pakoras, or a Gewurztraminer with tandoori.

Italian
While we could get into the specific flavors of Italian foods and pair precisely with the dishes (Riesling with gnocci, for example), why not do like the Romans do and drink Italian wines with your Italian dinner? Chianti is a traditional Italian staple and you can't go wrong with a bottle on your table. Other Italian wines that would be fantastic to grace your table with would be Barolos, Barbarescos or Barberas.

Fork and Gobble It: Winter Cotes

The wines of Southern France are some of my favorites in the world. If you are bitten by the wine bug, at some point you will recount the first time you tasted a Cotes du Rhone and liked it. I'll bet it was the product of E. Guigal who is to the Rhone Valley what the Gallo family is to Sonoma Valley. The wines are easy to like. They come from the southern portion of the Rhone Valley where Grenache is the dominant grape variety. They can be fruity without tasting like jam, and add in components like mineral notes, herbs, roasted meats, olive, and licorice. It sounds strange to describe a wine that way but if you close your eyes and smell and taste, all those suggestions and more can be found. If you continue to seek out the wines from the Cotes du Rhone appellation, you may come across a label that is a little bit different. It may have the additional word Villages on it. This means simply that the wine comes from the higher designation appellation, Cotes du Rhone Villages. There are 96 villages in the broad Cotes du Rhone appellation that are deemed worthy of labeling their wines Cotes du Rhone Villages. Of those, 16 (at last count) are allowed to name the village they come from on the wine label. They are perfect wines for this time of year as they pair so well with so many of the foods we crave for comfort when the wind howls and the temperature falls.

One of my more recent discoveries is a wine we just got into the store from Philippe Cambie. Halos of Jupiter is his label under which he makes several Southern Rhone wines including a Cotes du Rhone Villages Rasteau. Rasteau is one of the villages that is permitted to include it's name on the labels of it's Cotes du Rhones... or was. When these villages feel that their wine is of sufficient quality, they may apply for an upgrade in status. The village of Rasteau did just that and in 2010 they were granted their own AOC or Appellation Originale Controllee status. You see the Cotes du Rhone Villages label on this wine because it is a 2009 vintage.


Going forward the wines from there may simply be labeled Rasteau without needing the Cotes du Rhone Villages title.

Confused?? It does take a bit to understand the system and it is far easier to drink the wine. Some of the other villages of note in the Cotes du Rhone Villages AOC are Vinsobres, Cairanne, Sablet, and Seguret. Each of these villages has their own spin on how they produce their wines and by virtue of that, their own fingerprint of style. Grenache based wines like this usually drink well young and have the ability to age as well.

I like to pair these wines with among other things, lamb. One of my favorite preparations is the traditional French method of Leg of Lamb Roasted for Seven Hours. A partially boned leg of lamb is seasoned and flavored with garlic and rosemary and slowly roasted for seven hours in a slow oven until it becomes falling apart, tender and richly flavored.


It is a commitment of time, but the results are spectacular. The gamey flavors of the lamb, garlic and herbs are complimented and heightened by the wine. If you are a Cotes du Rhone fan, it is definitely worth the trouble to seek out the village wines of the region.

Fork and Gobble It: Comfort

The first real blast of winter arrived this week. Temperatures dove into the teens and the cold sank right into the bones. My first response to this assault is to move to the stove. It is natural to shift into a different gear in the kitchen when the elements get brutal. 14°F outside is pretty brutal. The perception that heartier foods warm not just the soul but the body as well, may not be founded on any scientific evidence, but it is a welcome illusion nonetheless. With the rush of holiday business in the store behind me, I find time to batch cook large quantities of foods I can freeze and draw upon throughout the winter. Soups, gravies, casseroles, and stocks are stored away for convenience, providing quick solutions when time is limited. Being the primary cook in the household, I get requests from my wife for her favorites. Last weekend it was spaghetti and meatballs. I decided to make enough meatballs to get several meals out of it so I started with 5lbs of ground beef.

My recipe is fairly simple:
-Ground Beef (I roll them big so 1# = 4 meatballs)
-2 cloves of garlic peeled and minced per lb. (of meat)
-1 cup of fresh breadcrumbs per lb.
-1 egg per lb.
-2 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce per lb.
-2 tsp of salt per lb.
-½ tsp of black pepper per lb.
-¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves chopped per lb.
-2 tsp dried oregano + 2 tsp dried basil per lb.
-2 ounces EVOO per lb.

I mix this well and fry the meatballs in olive oil.


I keep a marinara base sauce in the freezer in quart size containers to pull out as needed. I finished cooking the meatballs in the sauce which gave it a great meaty taste and I tossed the spaghetti in that. I actually yielded close to thirty meatballs so I put some in the deep freeze for a snowy day. We got a new Dolcetto in the store last week from Renatto Ratti. A very rustic style with bright acidity and tobacco notes, it worked well with the sauce.

My Mom's side of the family comes various place in Eastern Europe and the Polish influence was felt in the things my Great Grandmother used to cook for the kids. I was inspired to make egg noodles and cabbage with Kielbasa a few weeks ago. I sauteed cabbage in olive oil and butter.


I boiled my egg noodles and added them to the cabbage in the pot and let everything get lightly browned and crispy. Served up alongside the kielbasa it was the epitome of comfort food.


This is the kind of meal I typically think of drinking Alsatian whites wines with. A Gewurztraminer or Riesling from Zind-Humbrecht or Albert Mann would be awesome with this meal. These wines offer clean bright fruit and complex spiciness that works as a perfect foil for the rich and earthy flavors of the sausage and cabbage.

Pasta of any type is comfort food to me. I recently made something I'd seen on countless restaurant menus, but never tried in my own kitchen... Puttanesca. If you're the kind of person who hears anchovies and thinks “Yuck”, then this is a must try for you. It is the wonderful harmony of garlic, anchovies, tomatoes, olives, capers, crushed pepper, and olive oil and when executed properly with quality ingredients, it is divine.


The name, literally “whore sauce”, is thought to be derived from the meal an unfaithful woman would throw together quickly for dinner since her afternoon might be spent in other pursuits. Oh, those urban legends, so colorful! Anyway, bad behavior aside, this is a quick but very satisfying sauce whose chunky texture works well with a short tube type pasta such as penne.


The bright and briny flavors here are a good match for my new favorite Montepulciano D'Abruzzo Poggio Anima Samael. The label is a grabber but the wine is right up there.


Bright red fruits and subtle tannins make this medium body wine marry well with the Puttanesca.

Whores... comfort food... Really now people?!!

Fork and Gobble It: Go Big or Go Home

Christmas Day dinner and my first day off in twelve days. I wasn't about to skimp on what we would eat that night. Of all the things I could choose to cook I needed to go with the King of Christmas dinner food... a Prime Rib Roast. I ordered it from my favorite old school (who actually knows meat) butcher, John's in Scotch Plains. A two rib standing roast that weighed in somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 pounds, it was a dry aged beef beauty.


The even and well distributed marbling were evidence of the high quality of this piece of meat. I would roast it simply and serve it with a couple of our favorite sides; Pommes Paillason or Straw Mat Potatoes, and sauteed Broccoli Rabe.

Saturday night, Christmas Eve was a tough one in the store, and as a result I came home and popped a new discovery, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Bourbon. This fabled distillery is responsible for such legendary bourbons as George T. Stagg, an extremely limited and sought after whiskey, but the namesake spirit has not made its way into the NY/Metro market until now. I am happy to report that is both delicious and very inexpensive compared with it's peers.


Of course I was feeling a little blurry the next morning so I had to create a breakfast cure. Rummaging through the fridge I found the remnants of an oversized corned beef sandwich from Harold's Deli. The meat to bread ratio was about 52 : 1. Corned beef hash and eggs was definitely in order. I went to work right away sauteing onion, adding in the corned beef, and then shredded potatoes. A couple of eggs over easy and the work was done. This would be the fuel that would get me through dinner preparations.


That might be a glass of beer in the background, I don't remember.

So I knew I wanted to put an herb crust on the beef, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to bind it to the meat. I didn't want to use mustard because I didn't want the competition between the strong flavor of mustard and the roast. Then I remembered an essay by the chef/owner of Prune in Manhattan, Gabriel Hamilton where she speaks of the virtues of Hellman's Mayonnaise as the quintessential cooking medium for grilled cheese. It seemed to make perfect sense. A couple of tablespoons of Hellman's, some fresh rosemary and thyme, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper coated this thing of beauty and worked as a wet rub to season the beast a couple of hours before cooking.


When at 5pm I decided to cook this monster, I started it in a hot oven at 450°F. I roasted for 30 minutes at that temperature, then lowered the heat to 300°F for another 35 or so minutes until we hit about 127°F internal, or just medium rare once the meat rested. While this was going on I shredded potatoes for Pommes Paillason and proceeded to saute them in duck fat.


I asked Elvis the Wonder Dog to pick out a Cabernet Sauvignon to go with the meal and in keeping with the theme of Big Dogs/Big Bottles, he chose a 2007 Ramey Cellars Napa Cabernet 1.5L. Can't say as I blame him. The wine is awesome now, it will age very well, and it is a big bottle.


I took the roast out of the oven and turned it off. Then I popped the potatoes in there to finish them and keep them warm. I quickly sauteed the Broccoli Rabe, and we proceeded to the dinner table. After a long week of work, we celebrated the holiday in style.


Here's hoping you and yours have a wonderful holiday and great New Year. 2012 will bring many new food and wine adventures.