Lets test your wine pairing skills with this weeks recipe.
Easy to follow Thai peanut chicken with great photos compliments of  Marla on February 3, 2011

Chicken with Coconut-Lime Peanut Sauce

 

The Super Bowl is this Sunday and I am finally diverting from my Valentine’s recipes and sharing a dish that would be great alongside all those mini bite appetizers. There have been so many awesome recipes passed around the internet the past few weeks in preparation for the game. Do I even know who is playing, no. Do I know what I will be eating, sure. This Chicken with Coconut-Lime Peanut Sauce is a fun alternative to chili. It is packed with flavor and protein. Great for game day or any time at all.

When it comes to spectator sports it is all about the food for me. Whoever wants to stand on the side lines to chat and eat can hang with me. In this chicken recipe creamy coconut pairs perfectly with peanuts and lime. This dish is filling, but not heavy. if you are a fan of peanuts, you will love this sauce!

I added some bright green asparagus. Not only does it add flavor and great texture, you get your veggies too. Serve with some brown, jasmine or basmati rice and you have a full meal. You can make a double batch of sauce if you wish. It would be awesome to dip freshly baked bread or naan in it.

This sauce tastes even better the next day after the flavors have a chance to combine.

I like to make a big batch of this chicken dish so we have enough for a few days. It is great for lunch, dinner and the lunch box.

What are you serving for the Super Bowl?

Chicken with Coconut-Lime Peanut Sauce
Makes 6-8 servings
NOTES
Instead of sweetening the sauce with Stevia, honey would be another great option
INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup light Coconut Milk
• 1/2 cup natural Peanut Butter (I like crunchy)
• 1 tablespoon Thai Red Curry Paste
• Juice from 1 Lime (about 1 tbs lime juice)
• 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce or Tamari
• 2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
• 2 teaspoons Toasted Sesame Oil
• Pinch of the following:
• Cracked Black Pepper
• Cinnamon
• Cayenne
• Stevia to taste, or your favorite natural sweetener

• 2 pounds Chicken Breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup diced Onion
• a few Garlic Cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon unrefined Coconut Oil
• 1 cup chopped Asparagus Spears, cut into 1 inch pieces

Optional garnishes - Chopped Cilantro (coriander), Peanuts, Green Onion, toasted unsweetened Coconut Flake

METHOD

Sauce: In a medium bowl whisk together the peanut butter, coconut milk, curry paste, lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, sweetener & seasonings to form a sauce. Taste and change anything if you want to. Set aside.
Chicken: Heat coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add onion & garlic cook until softened. Add chicken, cook until golden brown and cooked through about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally for even cooking. Stir sauce into chicken. Partially cover and simmer for about 5 minutes to let the flavors combine. Add asparagus during the last few minutes of cook time.

For more amazing recipes please visit this page:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/29vmYW/www.familyfreshcooking.com/2011/02/03/chicken-with-coconut-lime-peanut-sauce-recipe/

How to order wine with food

Is it red with chicken or white? If I’m having a nice lunch with friends and I have beef but they are ordering salad, what do we order for the entire table?  What are the rules for ordering and drinking wine?

Frankly, there are no hard and fast rules. My first reaction is to tell you to ORDER WHAT YOU ENJOY, because wine is to be enjoyed and savored, but there are times when you’re in the company of others (like business dinners) when you wish you knew the basics. So for those times….

RED WINE

Full bodied reds make a great accompaniment to heavier beef and pork dishes. These should be served room temperature.

• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Rhone (reds)
• Syrah
• French Bordeaux
• Zinfandel (great with pasta)

Medium bodied wines are those that you’d enjoy with lamb, veal, lighter pork meals (for example a pork tenderloin), pasta with a red sauce. Serve room temperature.

• Merlot
• Chianti
• Burgundy
• Rioja
• French Pinot Noir

Lighter reds can easily be enjoyed with the same foods as many white wines such as turkey, chicken, duck, and heavier fish (like a tuna steak or swordfish, salmon, etc. It is fine to serve these wines slightly chilled.

• Beaujolais
• California Pinot Noir

ROSE

Rosé or Blush wines. Chilling makes this wine taste much brighter, so go ahead and chill.

Rosé is available in both sparkling as well as still and can be enjoyed before dinner as an aperitif or with very light foods like eggs, foods that are spicy (Mexican), salad entreés, and light chicken dishes.

WHITE

White wines should be served either chilled or WELL chilled.

Full bodied whites should be enjoyed with the same types of food as a light red – think chicken, veal, etc.

• White Burgundy
• California Chardonnay

Medium Whites should be your “go-to” for anything that swims. Great with poultry fish, shellfish and pastas that have a clear or white sauce (like a white clam sauce or an alfredo).

• Chardonnay
• Chablis
• White Bordeaux
• New Zealand whites
• Pinot Blanc
• Sauvignon Blanc

Light red wine is great for vegetarian or Asian inspired dinners

• Reisling
• White Zinfandel
• Pinot Grigio
• Gewurztraminer
• Spanish whites

Champagne and Sparkling Wines

Sparkling wines and champagnes are so versatile that you can drink them with anything. They’re wonderful for cleansing the palate, especially after eating any spicy, salty, or fried foods. The difference is in the sweetness rather than the body when choosing when to drink a champagne or sparkling wine.

Brut – very dry

• Great with appetizers, fish (perfect with lobster or shrimp) and chicken meals.

Extra dry – a little sweeter than brut, but still in the “dry” range.

• This is toasting champagne!!! Oh and it’s fabulous with that chocolate mousse cake (or any dessert) that you made for dinner.

Sec, Demi-Sec or Doux - this is the SWEET stuff

• Serve this with dessert or AS a dessert.

What do you do when you’re ordering a bottle for the table and everyone’s eating something different?

Beaujolais or any of the lighter reds is perfect, as it can accompany everything from meat to fish.

Of course, when all else fails – ORDER CHAMPAGNE

Recipe of the week - Baked Brie

Baked Brie is a crowd pleaser and anyone can make it.

There are various recipes but the basic concept is putting Brie on an oven safe dish and baking it!

Puff pastry is optional, but makes you look like a super chef.

Cut brie open right through the middle and add your favourite topping. Savoury or sweet, wrap with puff pastry and bake. Thats it!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 sheet(s) puff pastry
• 230 g Brie cheese
• 4 tbsp apple/pear filling, see database
• 60 g pecans, chopped
• 1 medium egg, white only, slighty beaten

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 200ºC. Bring refrigerated pastry sheet to room temperature but do not remove packaging.Place wheel of brie on a plate and cover with apple filling. Top with nuts.

When pastry sheet has reached room temperature, remove the packaging. Fold the brie into the pastry sheets and place onto a greased baking pan. Pinch pastry together to seal and trim off
excess pastry.
Brush pastry sheet with egg white.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until crust is light golden brown.The baked brie recipe with apples/pears and pecans is ready serve...enjoy it ! Delicious !

Wine of the week - Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc Noble Late Harvest

VITICULTURAL PRACTICES

Name of Wine                                             Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc Noble Late Harvest 2007

Varietal                     Sauvignon Blanc

Area                          Stellenbosch

Soil Type                         Various

Age of vines                    Various

Trellising                          Various

Vine Density               Various

Yield                                    Various

Irrigation                            Various

Picking date                    25 April 2007

Grape Sugar                   42 - 45 °B at harvest

Acidity                                7.58 g/l at harvest

pH at harvest                   3.79

Total production         4420 x 500ml bottles

WINEMAKING PRACTICES

Fermentation temperature                    18 – 30°C

Method

The grapes were hand picked and allowed skin contact with enzyme overnight before being pressed.  A very long press cycle was followed.  The juice was cold settled for two days and then racked to French oak barriques with three percent of the lees.  After four days the wine started spontaneous fermentation.  The wine underwent no malolactic fermentation and was left on the gross lees for six months.  After barrel maturation the wine was lightly fined, filtered and then bottled.

Wood ageing                            100% new French oak barrels (225ℓ) for six months.         

                                                     

WINE DETAILS

Residual Sugar            150.6 g/l           Extract             199.2 g/l           pH                    3.48

Alcohol                        12.97 %            Total Acid        8.8 g/l               Free SO2          21 mg/l

Total SO2                     213 mg/l

Maturation potential                 Although drinking superbly now, it will continue to develop further

in the bottle over the next 12 years.

TASTING NOTES

Glistening gold, gentle tropical honey and pineapple nose.  Flavoursome mouthful, ripe fruit and an orange zest.  Intense sweetness braced by zesty acid and low alcohol.  Hard to resist young, it gains complexity for up to twelve years.

SUGGESTED FOOD COMBINATIONS

Marry with mixed berries and cardamom cream; crème caramel;  peeled pear or petit fours.  Ideal with duck liver paté, fresh fruit or to linger after a meal.