Food and Wine Pairing Ideas for Your Holiday Party

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The holidays are the perfect time to indulge in delicious traditional or seasonal food and wine pairings. To guide you through the planning of your festivities, here is some expert advice on how to alleviate the potential stress of being a host.

“Holiday menus can be a challenge. Knowing the flavor profile of each course, salty, sweet, sour or savory, will help you pair wines with your meal,” said Dean Busquaert, senior wine educator at Napa Valley’s Sequoia Grove Winery.

With more than 30 years of experience in Napa Valley, the team at Sequoia Grove Winery have become specialists in not only producing delicious wine but also educating their customers on wine and food pairings.

“If your meal is mainly savory dishes, the Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 (SRP: $39.99) would be a terrific choice. It is elegant, with concentrated dark fruit flavors and wonderful structure. Cabernet Sauvignons do not live up to their full potential in the presence of sugar, but become soft, almost velvet-like with a sauce that has a good acidic backbone.”

With this tip in mind, work past the traditional thought process that ‘red wine only pairs with red meat’ and remember that the key to a successful meal is thoughtful preparation.

The winery recommends a recipe for Sliced Chicken with Lemon Butter Sauce.

Ingredients

Four 6 ounce boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons butter

Lemon Butter Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium/fat-free chicken broth
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 tablespoon chives
1 teaspoon thyme, de-stemmed
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions:

food
A photo of Sliced Chicken with Lemon Butter Sauce.

Preparing the Chicken

Slice chicken horizontally into three or four thin pieces, then pound flat using a meat mallet. Dredge the chicken in the flour until coated. Heat oil and butter in a large non-stick sauté pan and add the chicken. Brown and cook on each side; approximately 3-5 minutes per side depending on its thickness. Place each piece in an oven safe dish until all of the pieces have been cooked.

Preparing the Sauce

Melt butter in a medium saucepan and add the garlic. Sauté for 1 minute, then whisk in the flour forming a roux. Gradually add in the chicken broth, whisking as you pour to create a smooth sauce. Add the lemon zest, juice, chives and thyme. Bring to a boil then allow to simmer for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Top chicken with the sauce, then bake in a 350-degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Serves six (approximately 12-14 pieces of chicken)

The recipe pairs nicely with the complexity of a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Busquaert, added, “The secret is to eliminate sweetness and embrace tart flavors.”

Use these helpful hints this holiday season to create a meal with the perfect wine pairings.

For more information about Sequoia Grove winery and its educational food and wine tasting seminars, visit sequoiagrove.com.

(StatePoint)

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Megan Whitworth
Megan Whitworth is the former creative director of Texas Forest Country Living. Growing up in East Texas, Megan discovered her love of writing at the age of 11, writing song lyrics and poetry, which turned into essays and articles for publications around East Texas. She later added photography into the mix capturing Friday night football games, the latest fashion looks, and portraits of people around the nation. Megan enjoys karaoke, blogging, reading, and road trips. She resides in Lufkin with her husband, Ryan, and two cats, Felix and Lucy.

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