22 Nov Thanksgiving Wines & Cooking Tips Part 2
Sips of the Week
This week we continue our discussion about making this the most delicious Thanksgiving ever! My friends Rachel Heron and Michael Cullison from Wine World join me again in studio and we’ll introduce you to some great wines that are sure to make your whole family happy while not breaking the bank. DFJ Vinhos Portada Winemaker’s Selection Red Blend, Portugal Winery Tasting Notes: This deep ruby red, medium-bodied wine has berry fruit flavours and a beautiful balance. Its fruity, tasty, and very pleasant and elegant. PORTADA means in the Portuguese language the outside or inside doors of the windows. Its the perfect happy hour red wine, a great day by day wine. Its excellent with food or by itself. Excellent complement of white and red meat dishes, roasts, barbecue, pasta, pizzas, vegetarian, Mexican, India, Thai and Chinese gastronomies, cheese dishes. Prisma Pinot Noir, Casablanca Valley, Chile Winery Tasting Notes: This hand-harvested, 100% Pinot Noir is blend of three clones produced from a single vineyard located in the Casablanca Valley. The granite soils and cool, coastal climate produce a fresh, vibrant and aromatic wine. It shows bright red fruit notes of strawberry and cherry, with an underlying hint of oak, that leads to a lifted mid-palate and smooth, velvety finish
All Wines are available at Wine World in Abingdon, MD or a fine wine retailer near you…find a retailer here: www.WineSearcher.com
Wine Sandwich
Laurie Talked to Peggy Woodward, food editor at Taste of Home magazine to get some great tips below on reducing your work in the kitchen and adding a little more spice to this year’s Thanksgiving feast. Crank up the Cranberry: Make whole berry cranberry sauce according to the directions on the bag of fresh cranberries—it’s just berries, sugar and water. Whomp up the flavor when you take it off heat by stirring in a little orange marmalade or jalapeño jelly. Make the Fluffiest Potatoes: The key to super-fluffy mashed potatoes is to make sure they’re dry before mashing. Once the potatoes are cooked and drained, put them back in the pot, cover it up, and let them dry for 1 to 2 minutes. The drier the potato, the fluffier the mash. Spice it Up: Make a homemade spice bag with cloves, cinnamon sticks and citrus peel for mulling cider or wine. Wrap double thickness of cheesecloth around your spices; bring up the edges and tie with kitchen string. A loose leaf tea filter, or even a coffee filter, works in a pinch. You can also try recipes for Hot Mulled Wine and Warm Pomegranate Punch (which is slow-cooker friendly too!). Put your Slow Cooker to Work: As soon as sides like mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes or stuffing are hot, plunk them in a slow cooker on the lowest setting while you finish up the rest of the meal. This frees up space galore! You can even put gravy in a smaller, 2-quart slow cooker. It holds beautifully for up to an hour on the warm setting. No Shame in Shortcuts: Who says Thanksgiving dessert has to be totally from scratch? There’s plenty of modern twists on traditional family recipes, take this Caramel Apple Strudel as an example – puff pastry can replace getting dough all over the kitchen counters!