- Solo Style Bean
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Happy New Year! I want to start off 2009 with the first of hopefully many posts that highlight wine and dining. As an avid fan of Kami no Shizuku, Addicted to Curry, and other similar types of manga, I hope that I can share with you an interest that is not limited to just Japanese entertainment. In no way am I a connoisseur of anything, so feel free to add your own comments and advice =). Alright, here it goes.
Tagliatelle with Short Rib Ragu
(by Giada de Laurentiis)
So I made this recipe for New Year's Eve dinner along with another of my favorite dishes, asian style steamed sea bass, but I can leave that for another time. What I like about Giada's recipe is that it's simple, requires very little preparation (relatively), and is absolutely delicious. There's two parts that I'd like to highlight: the food and the wine.
The recipe can be found here: Recipe. I won't go into too many details about making this dish, but one key thing for any (amateur) chef to remember is that cooking is all about experimentation. Yes, it can be an art or a science, but if you don't take a risk to find out what you find is delicious, you'll never be able to keep on tasting it.
As for the dish, several tips and/or suggestions:
- the food processor will definitely save you time (I spent ~10 minutes dicing/mincing the ingredients)
- short ribs generally produce more grease when slow cooked (the fat brings out the flavor), so if you really mind then you can skim off the top layer when finished.
- the chocolate. WOW! the shaved chocolate is a definite must have. It deepens and completes the flavor, which is already really rich. (can be substituted with cheese)
My impressions: It was extremely delicious and my whole family enjoyed it. The aroma filled the entire kitchen while simmering and the meat was extremely tender (very easy to shred). The pasta felt lighter going down that almost any other meat sauce that I have tried, but I still ended up being full. It's definitely a recipe I will make again and again on a cold night.
Now for the wine. This recipe requires 3/4 cup of red wine. Giada recommends that a good wine can be paired with almost any Italian dish, and I wholeheartedly agree. If you've never used wine while cooking, let me tell you that wine adds a whole new dimension to foods.
For celebrating New Year's Eve one can typically celebrate with friends or family. I skipped my chance of getting absolutely smashed at my friend's annual New Year's Eve party, but I was able to spend some time with family showing off my amateur culinary skills. On the other hand, I was able to experience Kami no Shizuku in a unique way. As my parents were finishing off their Sutter Home's Cabernet Sauvignon (from Napa Valley, California), they found sediments at the bottom of their glass (see chapter 5 of KnS for reference)!
Now to tie in the wine with the Ragu. I used a low-mid tier red wine for this dish, but really this dish is flexible as Giada leaves it up to us only with a recommendation of an Italian wine. The key thing yet again is to find a wine that you enjoy because why else would you drink wine? It was a 2006 Merlot from Firefly Ridge. Sampled before adding it to the dish, it went down smooth, but had a nice complex aftertaste a bit fruity, but not as much as some other Californian wines. It paired extremely well with the Ragu as none of the bitterness could be tasted, but the acidity helped to tenderize the short ribs. Overall, my family's palette actually preferred the Firefly Ridge red wine, which was less dry to complement the meal for New Year's.
So, I'd like to encourage you to try your hand at this dish and try a nice wine on a special occaision. Always ask for help, if you're in the wine aisle and can't decide. I'll probably post something about pairing wine with cooking, but really it's up to you and your taste buds!
Best wishes and a happy new year,
Hei
No comments:
Post a Comment