Posted on: Wednesday, December 26, 2007
TASTE
Celebration!
|
|
|
Rose champagne is in vogue, especially paired with similar-colored foods.
SETH WENIG | Associated Press
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Serve up shaken cranberry margaritas in sugar-rimmed canning jars full of ice, topped off with a lime wedge. Delicious, and pretty.
LARRY CROWE | Associated Press
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Whether you're hosting or bringing, keep it stylishly simple. Here's a few pointers and recipes for a delicious night.
JUICY COCKTAILS
Pomegranates in the Sun (with apologies to the beloved shop): Equal parts pomegranate juice and 7UP (or other lime-flavored soda) with squeeze of lime and lime wedge garnish or splash of orange juice and orange wedge garnish.
Cranberry margarita: In a cocktail shaker full of ice, combine and shake well 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/4 cup orange liqueur (e.g. triple sec), 1/2 cup 100-percent agave tequila, 1/2 cup cranberry juice cocktail. Pour into ice-filled glasses or canning jars. Garnish with thin slice of lime. (Rebecca Rather's "The Pastry Queen Christmas," Ten Speed Press, $32.50)
— Associated Press
POP THE BUBBLY
There's growing interest in dry rose champagnes, which offer not only blushing beauty but pair well with pink foods, says Karen Page co-author of "What to Drink With What You Eat": "salmon, tuna even things like lobster, bouillabaisse, pork."
Remove wire, wrap champagne cork in cloth napkin and twist to open very, very gently and slowly. "All you should hear is a little ffft," says Maximilian Riedel, the 11th-generation descendant of the Austrian wine glass company Riedel.
Some champagne food matches suggested by Herve Rousseau, owner of New York's Flute champagne bar: Smoked salmon and rose champagne; Parmesan cheese with blanc de blanc; dark, semi-sweet chocolate with demi-sec (semi-sweet) champagne.
Try a champagne-tini, suggests Rousseau: Make a cosmo or apple martini, leaving room at the top for an inch of bubbly. Works well with sweet cocktails of all kinds.
— Associated Press
AND FOR DESSERT
Arrange bits of sweet this and that — chunks of dried and fresh fruits, squares of pound cake or angel food cake, sugar cookies, rum balls, shortbread, gingerbread, molasses cookies, cream puffs or squares of baked puff pastry, tiny tarts or cupcakes (homemade or store-bought) — on a decorative platter. Serve with a gravy boat of warm chocolate sauce and mini-scoops of vanilla or other ice cream. Make the sauce ahead of time (refrigerate in air-tight container) and reheat in a double boiler. Transfer ice cream to refrigerator to ripen (soften) a half-hour before serving.
Chocolate sauce: In a medium-sized, heavy-bottom saucepan over high heat, bring 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup water and a pinch of sea salt to a simmer. Just before it starts to boil, turn off heat and remove pan to heat-proof surface. Stir in 8 ounces chopped 70 percent cocoa-fat dark chocolate and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, stirring with wooden spoon. Stir until smooth. Store or serve. Makes 1 1/2 cups. Each tablespoon: 74 calories; 1 gram protein; 3 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 7 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 9 milligrams cholesterol; 8 milligrams sodium.Total time: 10 minutes.
For a different approach: Stir minced preserved fruit — crystallized ginger or fruitcake-type fruit — into softened ice cream. Enliven sauce with flavorings (extracts, liqueurs, spices — try cinnamon and cayenne!)
Top with "sprinkles": Crumbled baklava, crushed gingerbread cookies and smashed hard mint candies or candy canes.
— Los Angeles Times
EASY NIBBLES
Appetizing ideas from December's Southern Living magazine:
Simmer small red potatoes until fork-tender and with the bottom of a glass, mash to the thickness of a potato pancake. Brush with olive oil, salt, pepper and any herbs desired. Bake at 350 degrees for a few minutes and serve warm, topped with sour cream and chives, crumbled cooked bacon or pancetta, smoked salmon, tobiko or caviar.
Flatten a block of chilled cream cheese between sheets of foil or plastic wrap. Remove top sheet and spread cheese with mango chutney or pepper jelly or cranberry preserves; roll up and decorate the top with fruit or nuts. Serve with crackers or crispbreads.
Cut sausage — Portuguese, kielbasa, chicken-apple or chicken-mango, or other — into bite-size chunks. Broil or fry briefly. Arrange on a platter lined with shredded cabbage and drizzle with thinned flavored mustard or Jezebel Sauce (a jar each of pineapple and apricot preserves, 1/3 cup horseradish, 1/4 cup dry mustard, 2 teaspoons black pepper). Provide toothpicks.
Buy or make biscuit dough, roll out and cut into mini-rounds. Bake and fill with thin-sliced ham or other meats with a dollop of relish, or with chutney and white cheddar cheese or shaved Parmesan and olive tapenade.
Make a triple batch of cheese fondue and place it in a chafing dish. Surround with dippables — hunks of bread, squares of roasted meats and blanched vegetables, apple and pear wedges. Provide fondue forks or long bamboo skewers. Keep flame low; use a little lemon juice (for acidity) along with wine, and a little cornstarch or potato flour; the former breaks up the cheese, the latter gives it body.
— Southern Living magazine
WINE WITH CHEESSE
Some ideas for pairing:
Chevre and Sancerre — acidic goat cheese with high-acid Sancere or crisp sauvignon blanc.
Camembert and champagne — buttery cheese, dry sparkler.
Muenster and gewurztraminer — creamy cheese with fruit-forward wine. Try the 2005 Marc Kreydenweiss Kritt Gewurztraminer ($32), elegant with offdry apple fruitiness and delicate floral notes.
Stilton and port — or Roquefort and Sauternes. Aged blue cheese with rich, sweet wine. other sweet wines included some rieslings, botrytized wines.
Cheddar and chardonnay. Aged cow's milk cheese with cream, buttery, nutty chardonnays.
— Washington Post
Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.
| | |
|
|
