2/17/11: Louis Jadot Pouilly Fuisse with Pesto Pasta and Garlic Shrimp

Happy Thursday!


Today was a lazy day at home for both Sarah and I, so for dinner we went with something simple and easy.  The meal was a simple pasta dish served with shrimp and vegetables.  We first cooked some peppers, zucchini, squash, and mushrooms in olive oil and set aside.  The pasta we chose was rotini, perfect for holding onto some good store bought pesto sauce.  Keeping with the easy meal theme we bought a pound of cooked shrimp and simply flavored it in the pan with minced garlic and butter.  Toss it all together and you've got a meal.


The wine we chose tonight was one of our favorites, Louis Jadot Pouilly Fuisse.  As always, the Pouilly Fuisse went down smooth and light with a clean consistent taste throughout.  The wine is excellent by itself but even better with the rich garlic flavor of the meal.  If not this wine, try a light pinot grigio.  With the intense flavors of the meal a smooth and light wine would be preferred.


All in all the dinner took us about 25 minutes to make with minimal work.  Here's the recipe:

• 1 pound rotini pasta
• 1 pound cooked shrimp
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 small jar (about a cup) store bought pesto
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 yellow squash
• 2 large bell peppers
• 1 cup of white mushrooms (sliced)

1.) Cut up the veggies in any manner you feel like.  Sautee in a frying pan with olive oil; season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside and keep warm.


2.) Cook pasta according to box directions.


3.) While the pasta is cooking, add garlic, butter, and shrimp to a medium heat frying pan.  Sautee until well heated, but do not overcook. 


4.) Drain pasta, mix in pesto and shrimp, and serve with the vegetables.

 Enjoy!

-Chris and Sarah

2/10/11: Alsace ONE with Tortellini, spinach, pine nuts, and prosciutto

Tonight we felt like going Italian. The main course was a pasta dish, of course; yet again another recipe borrowed from cookinglight.com. The dish consisted of cheese tortellini, spinach wilted in minced garlic, prosciutto, parmesan cheese, and toasted pine nuts. The whole thing took us maybe 10 minutes to throw together. We would highly recommend this dinner if your looking for a simple, delicious meal, with the added bonus of low fat content and lots of healthy greens! We chose to pair this dish with a dry white, assuming the flavors of the garlic, spinach, and cheese would be relatively strong. A nice mild, dry wine seemed like a logical choice. The wine, “Alsace ONE”, came recommended from the manager of a local liquor store, a new wine to us. I was definitely surprised. I was expecting something similar to a pinot, but was met with a floral aroma and a slightly fruity flavor that lingers on the back of your tongue. I can’t say the wine is a new favorite… or even in my top ten. In all honesty the after taste makes me feel like I just drank from a bottle of floral perfume. Chris says he was able to finish the wine without choking, but needless to say, I don’t think we’ll be duplicating this experiment again. Our final assessment is that a better pair would have been something light and sweet to counterbalance the strong flavors of the meal, perhaps a Riesling.

We started our meal with an appetizer of melon wrapped prosciutto. Yum! The sweet and salty flavors were (kiss) Bellissimo! Also a delicious way to enjoy prosciutto if you happened to buy more than the recipe calls for.

Here's the link to the recipe: Click me!

-Sarah and Chris

2/3/11: Louis Jadot Chardonnay with Spiced Pork and a Bourbon Reduction Sauce

Hi everyone,


Tonight we enjoyed, yet again, a Cooking Light recipe: Spiced Pork with a Bourbon Reduction Sauce.  It is a very simple to make recipe that took us about 20 minutes from start to finish and came out delicious.  The pork tenderloin is dry rubbed with a blend of spices that gives it a spicy-sweet-salty taste all at once.  The sauce was probably the most difficult part of the meal, though that's not saying much as everything was quite easy.  The overwhelming flavors that the bourbon sauce added were that of sugar and garlic with a nice oaky undertone from the bourbon.  On the side we had a simple side dish of rice (boxed), and a nice salad with walnuts and feta.


The wine for the evening was a Louis Jadot Chardonnay.  I have had numerous bottles of Louis Jadot Poulet Foussie and their Merlot which have always been excellent.  Sarah and I are not the biggest of Chardonnay fans to start with, but we put our faith in the brand name.  The wine had a very light fruity nose to it.  This lightly sweet smell and taste continued throughout the drink and finished cleanly.  Many Chardonnays tend to be a bit on the oaky side for my tastes, but the Louis Jadot was a winner.  While I enjoyed the wine stand alone, Sarah remarked that it was best served with the meal.  The dish was an assault on the taste buds with the saltiness, sweetness, tanginess, and spiciness.  Having the consistent and light wine mellowed the whole meal out and made it very enjoyable over all.

Spiced Pork with Bourbon Reduction Sauce

Link to Recipe

Pair pork tenderloin with sweet 'n' tangy bourbon sauce for a delicious 20-minute dinner. Substitute chicken broth for bourbon (if you prefer), and serve with couscous or rice.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 pork slices and 2 tablespoons sauce)

Ingredients

• Sauce:
• 1/2  cup  bourbon
• 1/4  cup  packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4  cup  low-sodium soy sauce
• 3  tablespoons  cider vinegar
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  bottled minced garlic
• 1/2  teaspoon  black pepper
• Pork:
• 1/2  teaspoon  chili powder
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground allspice
• 1/8  teaspoon  salt
• 1  (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
• Cooking spray

Preparation

To prepare sauce, combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 11 minutes), stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

To prepare pork, combine chili powder, cinnamon, allspice, and salt, stirring well; rub evenly over pork. Cut pork crosswise into 12 slices.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with sauce.

-Chris and Sarah