The Wine Ladies

Orgasmic appetizers, tiny bites with the moan factor with Shari Darling

Valentine’s Day, the most romantic day of the year is here. A day filled with red roses, decadent chocolates, Champagne and lots and lots of amore! A very wise woman once said that, “the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. Well, who better to help us with that daunting task than Shari Darling, known as the Sophisticated Wino, best selling cookbook author, educator and creator of multiple specialty rubs?  Specialty rubs??? Ahhhhhhhhhhh cooking rubs with names such as the Cajun Quickie, French Kiss and Tickle my Ribs.

See Shari’s artisan food products that harmonize with wine for the MOAN Factor.


Above: Shari’s latest cookbook entitled “Orgasmic Appetizers & Matching Wines” and Tiny Bites with the MOAN FACTOR

We asked Shari, “How do you describe the ‘moan factor” when it comes to food and wine pairing? You say in your book that “sometimes the culinary orgasm is just a happy accident” but you can show us or teach us how to produce hedonistic recipes and matching wines with that result every time? According to Shari there are three building block principles for harmony between food and wine matching that will guarantee a great result every time. Follow these basic rules and the MOAN FACTOR will be yours.

THREE BUILDING BLOCK PRINCIPLES FOR HARMONY BETWEEN WINE AND FOOD ON A CONSISTENT AND DEPENDABLE BASIS

1.  Pair same with same
· Tangy food with tangy wine (goat cheese and crisp, dry white)
· Sweet food with sweet wine (dark chocolate with Port)
· Bitter food with bitter wine (pizza with a black olive tapenade base with Cabernet Sauvignon)
· Fatty food with fatty wine (shrimp in garlic butter with barrel fermented and aged Chardonnay)

2.  Only offset taste sensations (building blocks) when you have too.
· Salty foods with tangy wines (oysters on the half shell with brut Champagne
· Hot and spicy food with sweet wines (Thai coconut curry with semi-sweet Riesling

3.  Make sure the wine is equal too or greater in its building blocks than the food
· Make sure the Port is sweeter than the dark chocolate
· Make sure the wine is sweeter than the spiciness in the curry
· Make sure the wine’s tanginess is greater than the tanginess in the food

For some added fun we put Shari to the test and she applied these principles to matching our beast naughty food…..potato chips and wine with these awesome results.

PAIRING SNACK FOOD WITH WINE

CRISP, DRY WHITES (Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Vinho Verde)
PAIRED WITH
· Miss Vickie’s Lime and Black Pepper potato chips
· Terra Exotic Vegetable Chips
· Terra Mediterranean Vegetable Chips

OFF-DRY WHITES (Semi-Sweet Riesling, Semi-Sweet Gewurztraminer)
PAIRED WITH
· Lay’s Spicy Curry Chips
· Doritos Sweet Chilli Heat
· President’s Choice Kettle Cooked Chilli and Lime Chips
· Miss Vickie’s Jalapeno Chips
· Kettle Gourmet Potato Chips Spicy Thai

MEDIUM, WELL BALANCED WHITE (unoaked Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc)
· Our Compliments Roasted Garlic and Herb Chips
· Smart Food White Popcorn

REDS WITH FORWARD FRUIT (Shiraz, Merlot)
· President’s Choice Potato Chips with Rosemary
· President’s Choice Olive Oil Potato Chips with Parmesan


You have some great reasons for “why appetizers” care to share?  According to Shari, appetizers are indulgent and irresistible, risky and exciting, meant to wet your appetite before the main meal, appetizers appeal to all our senses ,finger foods offer an opportunity to sample international tastes and flavour to our guests and usually served on a communal platter creating feelings of sharing and oneness among guests. Sounds like the perfect food choice to us! Bravo.


Here are some recipes and excerpts from Shari’s cookbook.


Above: Virgin Cherries Stuffed with Goat Cheese (photo courtesy of Steve Livingston)

Virgin Cherries Stuffed with Goat Cheese
Serves Four to Six

24 large cherry tomatoes (wash and dried)
4 oz (125 g) fresh goat cheese
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Olive oil infused with truffle oil (as needed)
Tiny basil tops or fresh oregano leaves (for garnish)

Carefully cut a small portion from the top of each tomato.  Using a melon baller, scoop out the flesh, being careful not to break the skin.  Discard the flesh.  To make the filling, combine the goat cheese, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.  Mix them together with a fork until the mixture is smooth.  Fill each tomato shell with 1 tsp (5 ml) of the goat cheese mixture.  Set basil top or 3 tiny oregano leaves in the center of each tomato.  Drizzle each tomato with truffle olive oil.  Set the tomatoes on a plate.  Cover and chill until you’re ready to serve them.

WINE SUGGESTION: BRUT CHAMPAGNE OR SPARKLING WINE

BUILDING BLOCKS: The predominant building block is sourness from the fresh tomatoes and goat cheese.  A brut sparkling wine (dry) with sourness is a match.
FLAVORS: Choose a brut sparkling wine with some lemon flavour to match the sourness of this appetizer.


Above: Salt Lover’s Canapés (photo courtesy of Steve Livingston)

Salt Lover’s Canapés
Serves Four to Six

2 small red peppers
1 small yellow pepper
Vegetable oil (as needed)

Anchovy Butter:
1 tbsp (15 mL) sweet fennel seeds
½ cup (125 mL) unsalted butter, softened
6-9 flat anchovy fillets, patted dry and minced
1 tsp (5 mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
24 diagonal slices or rounds of whole wheat baguette, ¼ inch (5 mm) thick

Preheat the oven to 450 F (230 C).  Cut the peppers in half and place them on a well-oiled baking sheet.  Coat the peppers with oil.  Roast them for 25 to 30 minutes or until the peppers are blackened.  Remove them from the oven.  Place the peppers in a paper bag and let them stand for 20 minutes.  Peel and seed the peppers.  Cut the roasted peppers lengthwise, into 1/8th-inch-wide (3mm) strips.  Set them aside.

To make the anchovy butter, toast the fennel seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the skillet frequently, until the fennel is golden, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Transfer fennel to a bowl and let it cool.

Using a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle, grind the fennel seeds.  Place the butter in a bowl with the ground fennel.  Add the anchovies, lemon juice and pepper.  Combine the mixture well.

Preheat the broiler.  Broil the baguette slices until golden, about 1 to 2 minutes, on a rimmed baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Turn the slices over and spread them generously with the anchovy butter.  Broil the toasts until the butter is golden and bubbling, about 1 minute.  Transfer the toasts to a serving platter.  Top each toast wit a strip each of the yellow and red pepper.  Serve them warm or at room temperature.

WINE SUGGESTION:  Dry Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc

BUILDING BLOCKS: Thee predominant building block is saltiness from the anchovies.  The sourness of a crisp, dry white wine offsets the saltiness.
FLAVORS: Choose a dry, crisp white wine with citrus flavours to harmonize with the liquorice-like taste of sweet fennel.



Above: Shari Darling the Sophisticated Wino