Opening Champagne Takes A Gentle Twist

With the New Year only hours away our Champagne and sparkling wine bottles are ready and waiting to be served up to TOAST the NEW YEAR.

Everyone loves to pop the cork out of the bottle but it can be hazardous to someone in it's path.

Follow these steps when opening a Champagne or sparkling wine bottle. You can save yourself the trouble of repairing a hole in the ceiling or hurting a loved one.

1. The bottle should be well chilled and should not be shaken before opening.
2. Remove the foil.
3. Make sure the bottle is pointing away from you and/or anyone else.
4. Place your thumb over the metal crown to prevent the cork from ejecting while loosening the wire with the other hand by turning the wire stem six times.
5. Without removing the wire, keep one hand on top of the cork and hold the bottle with the other hand just about half way down ensuring you have a good grip on the bottle.
6. Now slowly turn the bottle, not the cork, and the cork will gently release.   (If you are new to opening Champagne or Sparkling wine bottles it is a good idea to place a kitchen towel over the cork while twisting the bottle.) 

Happy New Year!

Salute!

Winelady Cooks

Muffin Pops For Brunch

Like many other food bloggers I am taken in by the cute and imaginative cake pops. They are so festive for holidays and fun for the kids celebrating birthdays.

However I have to say I'm not a huge fan of adding lots of sweet frosting to crumbled cake to make the cake pops. So I just admired from afar the cuteness and popularity of the various pop stars.

That was until my daughter gave me a babycakes cake pop maker. Well the wheels started turning and I knew that this would be one of the best gifts especially with winter on our heels.

I could make just one batch of cakes each week without packing in the calories. Oooh, and I can make lots of muffins, yes for New Year's Day Brunch. Now that's a good idea!

So of course I've been testing recipes I've already made a couple of batches of cake pops or really cake balls since I didn't put them on a stick. They are small bites and perfect for a snack.

Now for the muffins, yesterday in just 20 minutes I made 30 muffin pops using a basic breakfast muffin recipe. This is perfect for the family brunch.

I like to add chocolate chips to my muffins and then I decided to add blueberries too. I divided the batter for the add-in ingredients.

Basic Breakfast Muffin

Ingredients

• 2 cups All Purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 TBLS. baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 TBLS. canola oil
• 2 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven 400 degrees. Blend the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. I mix the wet ingredients in a 2 cup pyrex measuring cup. Measure the 1 cup of milk and add the eggs and oil and mix well with a fork. Then add it to the dry ingredients and mix well with a fork just until the flour is blended with the milk mixture - about 30 seconds. Don't over-mix or the muffins become tough.
3. Pour the mixture into each well in the babycakes pan following the instructions that came with the package.
4. Bake 4 minutes and you have a batch of the cutest and most delicious muffin pops.

Here are a few tips:

• Following the directions is key to not making a mess as I did. You can't overfill the cups -- not pretty -- but I was able to save the muffins and separate them so I didn't loose any.
• I thought I would add the chips and blueberries after I poured the batter, but they start baking immediately and that didn't work. The best approach was to separate the batter and put the chips in one half and the blueberries in the other half. This was the best approach.

The result was delicious muffin pops for snack, New Year's Day Family Brunch, or any day you like.


Mangia!
Winelady Cooks

Is There A Chocolate Wine?

I was asked if I ever tasted, or heard of a wine made with real chocolate. I have to admit that I never have, and I never even thought to ask if a winery made a red wine with real chocolate.

Since I'm always anxious to find new products and learn something new along the way I jumped at the chance to find a chocolate wine. Thank you to my blogging friend Tammy Jo, the Chocolate Priestess for planting the seed.

As a lifelong chocoholic I really prefer to enjoy my rich chocolate in it's true form and drink my red wine with a delicious meal.

But of course there is always that great dessert wine served after a fabulous meal that can't be denied, though I'm not sure one of these "chocolate" wines is IT.

• There are a couple of dessert wines made with various types of chocolate that is infused in the wine. I can't imagine how they taste but I read this description for one of the sweet wines:    the chocolate is said to "melt into liquid harmony with the wine" and becomes a rich, seductive wine to be served as the dessert.
• Another wine produced that is supposed to be a "chocolate wine" is a blend of cream with white grapes (Torrontes, Moscato & Pedro Ximenez which is the grape used to make sherry) to produce a 'wine' that tastes like a milk chocolate drink with hints of vanilla and caramel.
• There is a fortified wine made in a Tawny Port style. It is a red wine blend of very ripe zinfandel, syrah and touriga nacional grapes. The ripeness of the grapes adds flavors of red and black fruits which gives the wine a chocolate character with hints of cocoa.
• And last is a red wine blend of zinfandel and cabernet franc grapes infused with a little chocolate producing a sweet red wine with flavors of chocolate and black cherries.

If you like sweet wines with chocolate flavors then you might enjoy these dessert wines.  However I'm not sure I would enjoy a dessert wine that taste's like a 'milk chocolate drink'.   That said, remember "it's really a matter of taste" so enjoy your dessert as you wish.

With only a few more days before we begin a bright New Year, be safe, drink responsibly and

All the Best for a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Salute!

Winelady Cooks

Cookie Exchange

Baking cookies anytime of the year is one of my favorite activities. Christmas is my excuse to bake and taste. I think I like tasting the cookies more than anything else and sometimes I eat so many I have to make another batch :).

I found this recipe many years ago in my mom's old recipes and it caught my attention when  I saw cinnamon as an ingredient.  It's always a fan favorite whenever I make this delicious, crispy, chocolatey cookie with the unexpected hint of cinnamon which goes so well with the chocolate and makes this cookie awesome.

Awesome Crispy Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 2 tsps. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar in the raw for coating

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven 375 degrees.
2. In small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and set aside.
3. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture at a time to the wet ingredients and using a wooden spoon mix well after each addition.
4. Use a small cookie scoop to form a ball and then roll each ball into into the raw sugar.  Then   place 1" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and flatten a little. The cookies will spread.
5. Bake for 11-13 minutes - do not over bake as they continue to cook a little more after they are removed from the oven and when they cool they become very crispy.

You can drizzle a glaze or melted white chocolate over each cookie for a more festive look.


I've shared this recipe with:






Mangia!
Winelady Cooks

Think Pink for Paella

Paella is a great dish to prepare when you are busy with holiday preparations. Make it in one pot, prepare it earlier in the day and set it aside until you are ready to serve.

Here is my easy and quick paella recipe that takes almost no time at all. All you need is 15 minutes for prep and about 15 minutes to cook. Doesn't sound right - but it really is that fast if you use the boil-in-bag rice (it's ok to cheat when the holidays are stressing us out).

If you make this in advance prepare the dish up through Step #3.  Leave Step #4 for 5-10 minutes just before you are ready to serve.

Easy Paella
(Adapted from a recipe I found in Cooking Light a few years ago)
(Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 TBLS. olive oil
• 1/2 lb. Spanish chorizo, sliced thin
• 2 packages Uncle Ben's boil-in-bag brown rice
• 1/2 tsp. hot smoked paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 can (14 oz.)diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cup peas
• 1-2 dozen mussels and/or clams scrubbed and debearded
• 8 large shrimp cleaned

Directions:

1. Heat a dutch oven over medium/high heat and add the oil. When oil is hot add the chorizo and saute 1 minute until lightly browned stirring occasionally.
2. Add the rice to the pan and saute 1 minute stirring frequently then add the paprika and stir to blend with the rice for about 30 seconds.
3. Add the water and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
4. Add the peas and the seafood to the rice mixture. Cover and cook about 5 minutes until the mussels/clams open. (discard any unopened mussels/clams).

Enjoy this delicious and easy to prepare recipe this week with a loaf of crusty bread and a chilled Grenache Rose. The Grenache rose has vibrant red fruit flavors and a hint of spice which will go well with the smoky paprika and chorizo in this dish.



Salute!
Winelady Cooks

Lots of Chocolate and Maybe Some Wine

There's always a lot of chocolate on the table with all the holiday cookies and cake. Both chocolate and wine are complex on their own so we should keep it simple when pairing them together.

A basic rule for wine and chocolate is that the wine should be as sweet, or sweeter than the chocolate.

Some of us enjoy sweet wines and always have a bottle in our wine rack, but some of us never even thought about drinking or serving sweet wine. Here are a couple of tips that can help.

If you would like to choose a sweet wine for the holidays ask the salesperson in your wine store for a port wine or sherry. These wines are typically served with dessert or as an after dinner drink.

Most of us will only be serving the sweet wine for the one 'big' holiday celebration. Keeping this in mind I've noted only 3 styles to start since there is a wide variety of sweet and dessert wines from which to choose and some can be quite pricey.

Let's keep it real and begin with these very affordable sweet styles:

• a lightly sweet sparkling wine labeled 'extra dry'
• an off-dry Riesling
• a Moscato d'Asti or an Italian sparking wine that is labeled "Asti"

These wines can be served as an aperitif; served with spicy foods; and also served after dinner with some desserts.

For chocolates here are some tips:
White Chocolate: does not contain cocoa but has a buttery flavor -- pair with Sherry or Champagne.

Milk Chocolate: has a small amount of cocoa and is sweeter than dark chocolate -- pair with a port wine or off-dry Riesling.

Dark Chocolate: has the least amount of sugar and the highest amount of cocoa. Pair this with a Cabernet. The higher cocoa content in the dark chocolate will soften the tannins in the richer wines.

For more information on pairing wines with chocolate go to Chocolate and Dessert pairing.

Holiday Cheese Platters

When I plan appetizers for the holidays I always include a cheese plate.   I never really thought about how cheese should be plated and served.  Cut some cheese in cubes, poke in a few toothpicks and it's ready.

That's easy enough, but when planning a holiday menu it's worth the time and effort to make it special. Cheese needs to be the star and each style of cheese has a special place on the plate.  

Sounds odd but here's the scoop for preparing a specialty cheese platter. 

Cheeses are soft, semi-soft and hard and are made from cow's milk, sheep's milk and goat milk.   You will need about 2 ounces of cheese per person so keep this in mind when shopping.  You will want to have enough and yet you don't want to over-buy.

To prepare the platter the cheese should be placed clockwise from the mildest to the strongest with a serving knife placed next to each cheese selection. 

You can prepare this in advance and keep it refrigerated.  Remove the plate about 30 minutes before serving to bring the cheese to room temperature.
 
To accompany the cheese serve small rounds of artisanal bread, olives, honey and fruit preserves.  Also serve with fresh sliced apples, pears and figs.

The wines to serve with cheese is varied.   For milder, less sharp Gouda and Cheddar and soft Brie and Camembert serve a Chardonnay from a cooler climate, Cabernet Sauvignon or a sparkling wine such as a Spanish Cava.

For an assorted goat cheese platter choose a wine that can match the tanginess of the goat cheese.  Try an Albarino from Spain;  a Malbec; or choose a dry spicy rose.

Happy Holiday!

Salute!

Winelady Cooks