wine and winter comfort foods

What is your favorite winter comfort food? Which wine makes it even better? Last night a local wine store, The Vintage Wine Shoppe, vintagewineshoppe hosted a Customer Cook-Off: “Winter Comfort Foods”, one of their annual food and wine pairing tasting events. They invited their customers to participate in a friendly competition. The  contestants presented favorite recipes to sample. The Vintage Wine Shoppe’s Staff expertly paired wines with each dish for tasting. Mardi Gras beads & Gold, purple, and green feathers decorated the cooks as well as the table serving Mardi Gras Crawfish paired with a 2009 Mohua Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand. A fragrant Butternut Squash & Apple Soup ladled into tiny tasting cups alongside a basket of crusty bread and a small fountain gently pouring a gruyere cheese fondue was paired with a 2009 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Voignier, 90 WA. An absolutely yummy Shepherd’s Pie was paired with a 2008 Chateau Briot, Bordeaux, and Paula Dean’s Creamy Mac & Cheese was enjoyed with a 2008 Lucky Star Chardonnay. You could choose either  a 2009 Les Garrigues Grenache Blanc or a 2009 La Vielle Ferme Rouge to compliment the White Chili. At the end of the tasting, the customers  had a chance to vote on the best food and wine pairing, and particularly  nice, a chance to to buy the featured wines at a “tonight only” price. Thanks TVWS!  The winner last night was the Sausage & Wild Rice paired with a 2007 Domaine Coudoulis Lirac. All in all, it was a delightful way to spend a Friday night, tasting some new wines at the local wine shop along with friends enjoying some classic southern winter foods. So be a yokel and buy your wine local.

Sausage & Wild Rice

1 lb sausage

1 cup chopped celery

1 med bell pepper  chopped

1 large onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

29 ounces organic light fat free chicken broth

1 can low salt & low fat cream of mushroom soup

1 can low salt & low fat cream of  chicken soup

1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts

8 oz fresh mushrooms sliced

1 box of long-grained and wild rice mix

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

2 oz sliced almonds

Garnish with fresh parsley

In a large skillet cook the sausage until browned and crumbled, drain. Add celery, bell pepper, onion and garlic and cook until tender. In a 9 x 13 casserole dish, stir together the chicken broth, soups, water chestnuts, mushrooms, whole box of rice mix, and thyme. Stir in the sausage and vegetables. Sprinkle the almonds on top. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 & 1/2 hours. Let sit five minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with your favorite salad, bread and wine.