Jill Silverman Hough is a food writer and recipe developer whose work has appeared in Bon Appetit , Cooking Light , Fine Cooking , Clean Eating , and U.S. Airways’ Attache , among other publications. She also developed the recipes for the New York Times bestseller Skinny Bitch in the Kitch . Jill regularly teaches at Ramekins Sonoma Valley Culinary School, as well as at other locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She lives in Napa, California. Visit her Web site at JillHough.com, read her blog at JillHough.com/blog, follow her on Twitter @JillSHough, and become a “100 Perfect Pairings” Facebook fan.

100 Perfect Pairings

Small Plates to Enjoy with Wines You LoveBy Jill Silverman Hough

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-44631-7

Chapter One

sauvignon blanc

One of the things that inspired me to write this book is that so many wines just don’t taste good on their own-they need food to really help them sing.

To me, Sauvignon Blanc is one of those wines. I don’t like it for sipping-it’s just too acidic for me. But when you pair Sauvignon Blanc with food, especially food with a good amount of brightness, the wine gets softened and becomes a crisp, refreshing indulgence.

sauvignon blanc by another name

Bordeaux, White Bordeaux. As with other French wines, these French Sauvignon Blancs are labeled with the name or area they’re from. They might have the general area name Bordeaux, or names of subregions within Bordeaux (Graves, for example). Basically, any white wine from Bordeaux will be made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes, typically blended with some Smillion. Sancerre, Pouilly-Fum. These names come from areas in France’s Loire Valley, known for Sauvignon Blanc. Fum Blanc. Robert Mondavi is credited with coining this term, combining Sauvignon Blanc with Pouilly-Fum. His winery still uses the name, and others have adopted it, too. Fum Blancs often have some oak aging-that is, they’re aged in contact with some form of oak-which can impart a lightly smoky quality.

pairing with sauvignon blanc

Although there are, of course, nuances to Sauvignon Blanc, the most important factors in food and wine pairing aren’t a wine’s nuances, but its broad strokes. If you learn a wine’s overall characteristics and combine that information with the General Pairing Tips (page 6), you’ll have a near-perfect pairing every time.

Broad characteristics:

dry (not sweet)

high in acidity, crispness, or brightness

little or no tannins

light to medium weight

medium intensity

Pairs well with dishes that are:

not sweet

high in acidity, crispness, or brightness

light to medium weight

medium intensity

(Because the wine has little or no tannins, they’re not a factor.)

For example, salad with vinaigrette dressing, sole with lemon-caper sauce, or vegetable soup with a splash of buttermilk.

fine-tuning

It’s absolutely amazing how adding acidity will almost always help a Sauvignon Blanc pairing. Salt, too.

It’s simply because the most dominant characteristic of Sauvignon Blanc is the acid. And so when pairing with this wine, per Fine-Tuning Tip 1 (page 8), you need to add generous amounts of salt and/or acid to stand up to that brightness. Since Sauvignon Blanc is a light white wine, lighter, whiter acids like lemon juice, white wine or champagne vinegar, white or golden balsamic vinegar, buttermilk, and even sour cream work best. Very mild and refreshing spiciness can help add brightness as well, like the light tickle of a fresh radish, or a dash of hot sauce or horseradish.

Completely, and admittedly maddeningly, contrary to General Pairing Tip 4 (page 7), you can also sometimes use Sauvignon Blanc’s high acidity to cut through bright but richer foods.

other nuances

Once you have a pairing that’s working on the basis of sweetness, acidity, weight, and intensity, you can start playing with subtler nuances.

Some of the subtle flavors that you might find in a Sauvignon Blanc include grassiness, herbs, citrus (especially grapefruit), green apple, asparagus, bell pepper, a touch of smokiness (especially with Pouilly-Fum and Fum Blanc), and minerality. So it works to add those flavors, or foods that complement them, to your dishes.

other thoughts

Some foods that are considered classic pairings with Sauvignon Blanc are goat cheeses, fish and shellfish, chicken, salad with vinaigrette dressing, asparagus, tomatoes, and green vegetables.

minted pea bruschetta

This is a super-simple and really pretty dish, with a vivid green pea puree, rich brown walnut bread, and a white sour cream garnish.

If you want to make the presentation a little more restaurant-like, put the sour cream in a squeeze bottle and drizzle it over the toasts, Jackson Pollock-esque. MAKES 16 TOASTS

1 cup fresh peas, blanched (see below), or frozen peas, thawed 24 fresh mint leaves 11/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil 3/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt, or more to taste Freshly ground black pepper to taste 16 small, thin slices walnut bread, or other dark or whole wheat artisan bread, toasted (see below) 1/3 cup sour cream

* In the bowl of a food processor, combine the peas, mint, olive oil, and salt and process to form a coarse puree, scraping down the bowl as necessary. (You can prepare the minted pea puree up to a day in advance, storing it covered in the refrigerator. If necessary, restir before proceeding.)

* Taste, ideally with your wine, and add pepper and/or more salt if you like. Spread each of the toasts with about 2 teaspoons of the puree. Top each with a 1-teaspoon dollop of sour cream and serve.

To blanch fresh peas: Cook the shelled fresh peas in boiling well-salted water (1 tablespoon of coarse kosher salt per quart) until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain, then rinse in cold water until cool. (You can blanch the peas up to 2 days in advance, storing them covered in the refrigerator.)

To toast bread: Preheat the oven to 400F. Place the bread slices on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 10 minutes, turning halfway through. (You can prepare the toasts up to a day in advance, storing them in an airtight container at room temperature.)

FOOD & WINE TIP The bruschetta might feel fancier garnished with crme frache, which is a type of sour cream. But besides being less expensive, regular sour cream is actually more sour, which helps marry it to the brightness of Sauvignon Blanc.

cheese puddle with orange olive oil and crushed red pepper

Bellwether Farms’ Crescenza is a soft-ripened cheese that, at room temperature, becomes a buttery puddle, like the oozy insides of the triple-creamiest Brie you ever ate. You can buy Crescenza at better cheese shops or from www.bellwethercheese.com, or substitute a good triple-crme Brie, halved horizontally and splayed open.

I’ve riffed on this dish, using other, similarly oozy, creamy cheeses-and all were good. But Crescenza and Brie both have bright, almost sour notes that are best complemented by Sauvignon Blanc. I’ve also used herb-infused olive oil, and while that’s good, too, the orange oil makes the sometimes tropical flavors of the wine pop. SERVES 2 TO 4

One 6-ounce package Bellwether Farms Crescenza cheese (see above) 2 teaspoons orange olive oil, homemade (recipe follows) or store-bought 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes 1 baguette, cut on a diagonal into 1/2-inch slices

* Remove the cheese from its packaging and place it in the center of a platter or large plate. Set it aside for about an hour to come to room temperature.

* Just before serving, drizzle the orange olive oil over the cheese and sprinkle with the red pepper. Serve the baguette on the side for swiping up the cheese.

homemade orange olive oil Makes about 1/3 cup

You can buy orange-infused olive oil at better supermarkets and specialty food stores. But it’s easy and inexpensive to make, and a delicious ingredient to have on hand. Besides using it in this recipe, you can use it in salad dressings and drizzle it on grilled and roasted meats, poultry, and seafood.

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil Finely grated zest of 2 oranges (about 2 tablespoons packed)

In a small bowl, combine the olive oil and orange zest. Let the mixture stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, for 2 hours. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing the solids. Discard the solids. (You can keep the orange olive oil for about a week, storing it covered in the refrigerator.)

prosciutto-wrapped asparagus with tarragon aoli

Asparagus is said to be one of the hardest foods to pair with wine. That may be so, but the preparation and accessorizing of a dish are always more important in food and wine pairing than a single ingredient.

This dish is a perfect example. Because while the vegetal, green flavors of the asparagus might lean toward Sauvignon Blanc, the herbs and lemon in the aoli seal the deal.

By the way, you can substitute other herbs for the tarragon, but keep them in the light, bright, springtime vein-like mint, cilantro, chives, or parsley-to keep them in sync with the wine. MAKES 16 SPEARS

16 asparagus spears 1/3 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon 2 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press or minced 6 thin slices prosciutto (about 3 ounces), cut crosswise in thirds 16 chives, 5 to 6 inches long

* Snap off the tough stem ends of the asparagus. In a large saucepan of boiling well-salted water (1 tablespoon of coarse kosher salt per quart), cook the asparagus until crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the asparagus. Drain, then rinse under cold water until cool. Transfer the asparagus to a paper towel-lined platter or plate and pat the spears dry.

* In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, tarragon, and garlic. Set aside. (You can prepare the asparagus and aoli up to a day in advance, storing them covered in the refrigerator.)

* Wrap a piece of prosciutto around each asparagus spear. Tie the chives around the prosciutto. (You can prepare the wrapped asparagus up to 4 hours in advance, storing it covered in the refrigerator.)

* Arrange the asparagus on a platter or individual plates. Serve with the tarragon aoli on the side for dipping.

FOOD & WINE TIP The tarragon aoli would also be great alongside pan-fried petrale sole or poached salmon, and would also help marry those dishes to Sauvignon Blanc.

smoked trout salad with pumpernickel toasts

The hardest thing about making this dish is finding smoked trout, which should be pretty easy if you have a decent specialty food store in your midst. If not, you can substitute smoked salmon, but be sure it’s smoked, not cured-in other words, use a dry, flaky, smoked fish, not a moist, thinly sliced fish like lox or gravlax.

In either case, the smoke is the complement to the wine, as is the slightly spicy watercress. Also, the crispness of the wine cuts through the richness of the fish. MAKES 16 TOASTS

11/2 cups loosely packed watercress leaves (about 1 ounce) 1 lemon 4 ounces smoked trout, skin removed, flaked One 3-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature, cut into 3 or 4 chunks 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon prepared horseradish 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste 16 small, thin slices pumpernickel or dark rye bread, toasted (see page 13)

* Chop about half of the watercress and place in a medium bowl. Set the remaining whole leaves aside.

* Finely grate the zest from the lemon to yield 1 teaspoon packed. Juice the lemon to yield 2 tablespoons of juice. Add the zest and juice to the bowl with the watercress, along with the trout, cream cheese, horseradish, and pepper, stirring to make a spreadable paste. (You can prepare the trout salad up to 4 hours in advance, storing it covered in the refrigerator.)

* Taste, ideally with your wine, and add more lemon juice and/or pepper if you like. Spread about 1 tablespoon of the trout mixture on each of the toasts. Garnish with the reserved watercress and serve.

FOOD & WINE TIP Lighter smoky foods-like veggies or fish-go particularly well with Fum Blanc, a kind of Sauvignon Blanc that often has a little oak aging, giving it a similarly woody, smoky quality.

spinach salad with edamame and pecorino

Sauvignon Blanc will always be a natural to pair with salads dressed with vinaigrette, the acidity of the dressing complementing the acidity of the wine. This recipe, especially nice in the winter or springtime, gets extra help with wine in the dressing and light, bright, springtime ingredients. SERVES 4

2 tablespoons Sauvignon Blanc, or other dry white wine 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar 1/2 small shallot, minced 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt Pinch freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 ounce pecorino cheese 9 cups loosely packed spinach (about 6 ounces), larger leaves torn into bite-sized pieces 1/2 cup shelled edamame (green soybeans), thawed if frozen 3 radishes, thinly sliced

* In a small bowl, combine the wine, vinegar, shallot, salt, and pepper, whisking until the salt dissolves. Whisk in the olive oil. Set aside. (You can prepare the dressing up to 3 days in advance, storing it covered in the refrigerator. Return to room temperature before serving.)

* Use a vegetable peeler to cut the cheese into thick shaves (you should have about 1/3 cup). Set aside. (You can shave the cheese up to a day in advance, storing it covered in the refrigerator.)

* In a large bowl, combine the spinach, edamame, radishes, and dressing to taste. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl or to individual plates, top with the cheese, and serve.

acidity: it’s a good thing

You might think of acidity in food or wine as something unpleasant, like the mouth-puckering tartness you get if you bite into a lemon. But in moderation, acidity adds bright, high notes to foods and drinks. And it balances sweetness and richness to make both food and wine less cloying and more interesting.

Acidity also helps give a wine ageability, or the ability to improve with age. Another way to say that is, since acidity diminishes over time, a wine has to start with a good amount of it to maintain complexity and interest years later.

So don’t think of acidity as a negative. Used appropriately, it can take foods and wines from blah to beee-youtiful.

celery root and scallion soup with croutons

Light and bright in taste and texture-and dead simple to make-this soup, along with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, would be a perfect starter to a meal of broiled halibut or a big seafood salad.

Use smaller celery roots, also known as celeriac, because they’ll be less woody than larger ones, and trim off all the dark brown spots. SERVES 6

2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 4 small celery roots (celeriac) (about 2 pounds), well trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch dice (you should have about 3 cups) 1 russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (you should have about 2 cups) 21/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, or more to taste Pinch white pepper, or more to taste 31/2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth 10 scallions, white and light green parts only 11/2 cups buttermilk 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or more to taste About 1/2 cup croutons, homemade or store-bought

* In a medium stockpot over medium heat, warm the butter and olive oil until the butter is melted. Add the celery root and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown, about 6 minutes. Stir in the potato, salt, and pepper and cook until the mixture is brown, about 4 minutes. Add the broth, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are very soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the liquid cool slightly.

* Meanwhile, slice 2 of the scallions very thin and set aside. Cut the remaining 8 scallions into rough 1/2-inch pieces.

* Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender or food processor, add the 1/2-inch cut scallions, and puree, scraping down the jar or bowl as necessary. Return the mixture to the pot and stir in the buttermilk and lemon juice. (You can prepare the soup up to 3 days in advance. Cool it, then store it covered in the refrigerator.)

* If necessary, gently reheat the soup. Taste, ideally with your wine, and add more salt, pepper, and/or lemon juice if you like. Serve hot, garnished with the sliced scallions and croutons.

(Continues…)

Excerpted from 100 Perfect Pairingsby Jill Silverman Hough Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.