MetaChat - Halfway through my first glass of wine. I need help with a food pairing.

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12 August 2010

Halfway through my first glass of wine. I need help with a food pairing. →[More:] I have been simmering a modified version of this recipe all afternoon. Since it has been a stressful week, and I have to travel again tomorrow afternoon, once I got my work done today, I treated myself to a glass of wine. The wine is clearly going to my head, and will probably leave me in less than an ideal position to fix a nomnom veg to accompany this deliciousness. I have fresh green beans, fresh cauliflower and frozen spinach, as well as a wide assortment of cheeses, creams and spices at my disposal. I don't want to look up recipes of what to make, I want to drink wine and smoke a cigarette on my back porch. Mechazens, can you help me make dinner?

post by: msali at: 15:48 | 10 comments

I guess I also have almonds and walnuts, but no citrus fruit to speak of. I do have fresh chives, rosemary and mint at my disposal. I also have cold sauvignon blanc and half a pack of Parliament Lites (don't hate - I started smoking them in college 'cuz I thought George Clinton was the bomb). I only smoke when I drink, and that in itself is a rare occurrence.

posted by msali 12 August | 15:53

How difficult/inconvenient would it be for you to procure a lemon?

posted by mudpuppie 12 August | 16:07

(Because what you'd do is, you'd blanch the green beans until they're tender -- 5-8 minutes. Shock them in ice water and let them cool. Then you'd squeeze the juice of half a lemon over them. Add salt, pepper, and chopped chives. Dill would be great, but you don't have it. The mint is a possibility as well. Add olive oil to coat and toss. Done.)

posted by mudpuppie 12 August | 16:10

Fresh green beans, steamed, with a dollop of goat cheese. . .

posted by danf 12 August | 16:19

Or, if you have any nice vinegar around (rice wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, red wine vinegar, whatever) you could use a tiiiiiiiny splash of that instead of the lemon juice and otherwise do exactly as mudpuppie suggests. If it were me, I'd also scatter some toasted nuts over them. Mmm.

Or! You could reduce a splash of your wine in a pan with a pat of butter and some chives, toast the nuts in that, and sear the cooked beans for just a moment before plating it all. Super fast, incredibly delicious, and you know it pairs with your wine, because, y'know, it's your wine.

posted by Elsa 12 August | 16:20

Mudpuppie - getting a lemon right now is damn near impossible, given my level of absolute Ican'tbebotheredwithgoingtothestoreagaintoday. I think that Elsa has it, I can cook the beans, and then use sherry or a nice balsamic with some toasted nuts. That sounds yummy. Thanks for all the input. Danf, I WISH I had goat cheese, but I actually finished that off last night. I have some fresh mozz, but I dunno what I could do with THAT.
Plus, I am working on the second half of my second glass, so my skills have diminishing returns.

posted by msali 12 August | 16:34

Cheers, msali! You are due for a nice night.

posted by danf 12 August | 16:35

Yes, I think we all agree now that you should not attempt to get to the store! You're essentially making green beans almandine, which is a perfectly wonderful solution.

posted by mudpuppie 12 August | 16:41

Thanks all! I am on the tail (tale?) end of glass numero two. Feeling mighty fine. I just cleaned and trimmed the beans and put them in to blanch. Once they are ready, I will shock them cold, then cook them up almondine style, except with a red wine or sherry balsamic, as my mood dictates. Woooooo! Posting tipsy to metachat! Fun stuff, this.
Y'all are awesome. I LOOOOVEEEEE you SOOOOO MUUUUUUUUUCH.
(BTW, my husband finally joined the 'filter, go and enspouse him at 'unintelligently designed'). Hee.

posted by msali 12 August | 17:17

The beans were delicious, but the bolognese tasted a bit like sloppy joe's. Bummer.

posted by msali 12 August | 21:56

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