Pairing wine with the right food is a skill. You have to learn from trial and error what wine tastes best with what food. You will be able to eventually know right away what wine works with your menu. In the meantime, you can use the following 5 tips that experts use to know what direction to go with your wine and food pairing.
These tips give you some basic facts about pairing food and wine that can help you to understand more about why some wine and some foods do not mix well or why some wines work perfect with certain foods. Having this basic knowledge will help you out tremendously in your effort to learn how to pair wine and food.
1. Avoid food that damages the taste of the wine. There are certain foods that will alter the taste of wine or make it so you can not taste the wine properly. You want to avoid foods that will not allow you to enjoy the full flavor of the wine. Such foods include – red meats with white wines; fish, vegetables and goat cheese with red wine; spice, garlic, vinegar and raw fruit with most wines.
2. Match old wines with delicate flavors. Older wines tend to have a mellower flavor that needs to be paired carefully. You can not use bold flavored foods or it will overpower the wine, perhaps even completely wipe out the subtle flavors of the wine.
3. Sweet or bitter foods accentuate the dryness of wine. You want to avoid pairing foods with a bitter taste, bitter aftertaste, or a sweet taste or aftertaste with any wine that tends to be dry. Instead you can pair these foods with a wine that is not dry.
4. Salty and acid flavors of food accentuate the sweetness of wine. As with bitter or sweet foods, with salty and acid foods you want to be careful paring it with wine that is sweet. You could end up with an overwhelming sweetness that prevents anyone from enjoying the wine. Try dry wines or those with a bitter taste with sweet foods.
5. More complex wines need less complex food flavors. Simple food with complex wine and complex food with simple wine is the general rule. This allows for the wine to stand out and to blend with the food.
Just remember, the most important thing is that you enjoy your wine and your meal.
There are no hard and fast rules to pairing food and wine. These general rules can assist you, but there are always exceptions to the rules. You just have to trust your own palette.
Be willing to sample and to try things out to see if they will work or not. Eventually you will know what goes good with your favorite wines. When trying new wines, though, it will usually be trial and error to find the perfect match. Pairing food and wine is not something that you ever master because there are so many variables that makes it a never ending lesson.
For more information on wine accessories and stemless wine glasses. Also see vacuum wine stoppers.
Author: Caroline Silverstone
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Sat, January 14 2012 » Cooking » No Comments
As the mother of six, the oldest four of whom are now adults, I have learned many lessons over the past almost quarter of a century about parenting. As I watch my youngest daughter sleep, I am amazed at the new lessons she teaches me each and every day. I suppose part of it is that for the much greater part it is just the two of us each day. Part of it too may be the maturity brought by my age. I am much less worried about how my child’s behaviour reflects on me and more concerned about her well-being. I admit too that her health issues make me thankful every day for her.
Last week, when we visited her doctor yet again was a prime example. She had a seizure the night before and after a fit she is always hyperexcitable for about a week. This day was no exception. In the play area as we waited for the doctors I was constantly watching over her lest she through a temper tantrum simply because she can not manage her little brain at those times. I got tired of explaining to other parents about her situation…how she cannot control herself right after a seizure. I know that had she been my first child I would have been horribly embarrassed by something that was a medical condition beyond both our controls.
This is what I mean by our children teaching us lessons. It isn’t that I’m the perfect mother. It is that I listen to my heart and my gut about what this particular child needs to give them the best start in life. In our expert ridden society, we forget that WE are the experts on OUR child, if we will only listen to our hearts and them.
Below are my three top picks: common sense things that have proven invaluable to me over the past twenty-three years as a mother.
1) Explore away. We have all heard the expression…kids will be kids. Children learn through all their senses…touch, taste, smell, see and hear. So whether it is grass, dirt or bugs, the risks posed are probably far less than the benefit of exploration and discovery. Stains can usually be washed out…and if not then add those items to the growing collection of play things.
2) Try new things. It is natural to want to protect your children (actually that was the advice I heard from the doctor that day too), but sometimes by watchful waiting we can allow them to develop a sense of accomplishment. My daughter loves to play on the jungle gym meant for her seven year old brother. It is terrifying for me as her mother (especially since I never know when she could have a seizure), but when she succeeds her little face lights up so bright. Hmmm…sometimes parents need to try new things too. When was the last time you did?
3) Listen with your heart. As I said I might perhaps be a tad more aware of just how precious they really are; illness will teach you that lesson very quickly. But these little treasures have so mush to teach us if we will just stop and listen.
Being a parent has never been easy and in these fast-paced, challenging times it is more trying. Yet each day, our children offer us their love, their lives and priceless lessons into their hearts and minds. We have only to slow down long enough to listen and learn.
Terri is the mother of six; 3 caesareans, 2 VBACs and an adoption. She has over fifteen years breastfeeding experience as well as peer supporter training with two organisations. Terri has completed the Childbirth Educator, Birth & Post-partum Doula certificates with Childbirth International. In addition, she also holds a BS in health education from Texas A&M University.
To sign-up for her monthly e-newsletter featuring her latest articles on pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and parenting; visit her webiste: Special Start Birth [http://www.specialstartbirth.com/Enquiry_form.html].
Author: Terri O’Neale
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Tue, January 10 2012 » Random » No Comments
Most parents, when it comes to kids and cooking, cringe with dreadful anticipation at the thought of their progeny creating anything but a mess in the kitchen. However, it doesn’t have to be that way, when it comes to slow cookers, kids and delicious meals.
Kids love to help in the kitchen, particularly teens and young teens. Finding foods they can prepare and cook can be a challenge but when a crock-pot is part of the equation, it’s not impossible. Given the versatility and relative ease of cooking with crock-pots, also called slow cookers, there are hundreds of ways to include the kids when planning your next meal.
When cooking with kids, the fewer ingredients the better, as their attention span is shorter than that of adults. In addition, if you have gadgets to help in the preparation, such as a vegetable chopper or slicer, kids will love getting involved in the process of cooking with crock-pots. Finally, since there are no flames involved, you can rest assured no one will be burned in the process.
Some suggestions for meals involving slow cookers and kids might be spaghetti and meatballs, Sloppy Joes, barbecue chicken wings, Shepherd Pie, Beanie Weenies, chili and the ever popular Macaroni and Cheese. Adding some ham chunks to the Mac and Cheese brings a little more flavor to an already delicious meal!
If the kids want to really impress their parents, toss together some hash browns, eggs, onions, bacon bits and seasonings and set the slow cooker on low before going to bed is a great way to wake up! Add a coffee pot with a timer and the most wonderful aromas will greet you the next morning; all that’s left to do for this breakfast is some toast and jam.
There truly is no easier way to cook than with a slow cooker. Whether it’s pork, chicken or beef, there’s a recipe the kids can make or help with that requires little in the way of preparation and cooking. When preparing one dish meals, as you would with a slow cooker, clean up is a breeze as well, whether you have a dishwasher or not. Hand the kids a scrubber and some dish soap and walk away, at least until you have the time to come behind them and finish cleaning the liner to your crock-pot.
Kids can gain a great sense of accomplishment when you include them in your meal planning, preparation and cooking. Sit down with the kids and let them pick some recipes they’d like to try and have them make a grocery list. When the time comes to go to the grocery store, use this trip as a lesson in frugal and careful shopping, having them check labels and prices when selecting ingredients for their meals.
Teaching your kids to follow recipes and use a crock-pot is a skill that will stay with them for the rest of their life whether it’s your daughter or your son. While cooking with a slow cooker might not be considered “real” cooking, it IS cooking and some extremely tasty meals can come from them. And remember, when you are touting to your friends the wonderful meal your kids made for you with the crock-pot, you are realizing every parents’ dream: you didn’t do the cooking.
The author loves cooking and spending time with the kids. For more ideas on how to spend time with the kids and educate them at the same time, take a look at this further article on Cooking for kids and this interesting one on kids table manners.
Author: Fran Sloan
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Tue, January 10 2012 » Cooking » No Comments
In just 200 years, Australia’s wine industry has grown from a few small plantings to an industry renowned throughout the world for quality, innovation and depth that produces every one of the major wine styles and grows vines in every State and Territory.
There are 74 wine regions in Australia and this number grows each year. New South Wales has 8 wine zones with 17 wine regions, South Australia has 7 wine zones with 20 wine regions, Victoria has 6 wine zones with 21 wine regions, Western Australia has 5 wine with 10 wine regions and Tasmania and Queensland each have one wine zone with three wine regions.
Australia is the world’s sixth largest wine producer according to the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE).
Australia has some of the oldest grape vines in the world. Many of Europe’s established vineyards were destroyed by disease (phylloxera) in the 1800s. The only survivors were the vines brought to Australia.
The inland irrigated regions of the Riverina (New South Wales), Murray Valley (Victoria) and Riverland (South Australia) account for approximately 55 per cent of total wine grape production.
In 2005-06 South Australia was responsible for just over 50% of total Australian wine production.
In 2005-06 more red wine than white wine was produced.
Australia is the world’s fourth largest wine exporter. Exports of Australian wine in 2005-06 were at a record volume of 732 million litres and value of A$2.79 billion.
Australian wines have consistently won medals at almost every major international wine competition and have set records for the price of a single bottle.
Over the past decade, the share of Australian wine exports shipped to the industry’s largest five export markets (the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany and New Zealand) has increased from 77 per cent to around 84 per cent in volume terms.
Australian wines are being sold in over 100 countries and can be found in the finest restaurants the world over.
The United Kingdom is now importing more wine from Australia than it does from France.
As recently as 1985-86, Australia imported more wine than it exported. Since then, the trade balance for wine has changed for both quantity and value; by 2002-03, exports exceeded imports by 379 million litres and A$2.3 billion.
Around 78% of the wineries in Australia have cellar doors. 29% also have restaurant dining, 11% offer accommodation and some even offer opera theatre and have festivals celebrating wine, food and music.
The wine cask or wine box, the forerunner to the modern day soft pack, was invented in Australia.
The 2008 edition of the Halliday Australian Wine Companion profiles 1740 Australian wineries, 218 new wineries and has tasting notes for 5836 wines.
Several Australian wineries have formed joint ventures with a number of the giants of the wine world. Yering Station is participating in a joint venture with Champagne Davaux, one of the leading champagne houses in France, while Domaine Chandon (now an international brand) located in the Yarra Valley has a joint venture with Moet Chandon.
Ian Love is the owner of Perth Restaurant group West Valley and also owns Australian Wine retailer – Liquor Merchants and runs a great Australian wine club.
Author: Ian Love
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Mon, January 9 2012 » Cooking » No Comments