Welcoming Picnic and Pool Season
By Gail Gundersen, Resident of Woodbay, and Chris Baer |
For May we offer impressive yet casual fare to greet the beginning of
pool and picnic season. If you don’t think of sandwiches as gourmet
food, your mind will be changed after trying these recipes and their
scrumptious wine pairing.
Gourmet Pistachio-Crusted Chicken Sandwiches
This sandwich is an amazing feast and plenty for dinner. It is good
enough to serve to company, which Gail has done many times.
| 4 |
boneless chicken breasts, pounded ¼-inch thick |
| 1 |
quart buttermilk |
| 1 |
cup shelled pistachios |
| 1 |
cup grated Parmesan cheese |
| ¼ |
cup fresh thyme leaves |
| ⅓ |
cup fresh rosemary |
| ¼ |
cup fresh parsley |
| 2 |
cups flour |
| |
Salt and coarsely ground pepper to taste |
| |
Canola oil for frying |
| 1 |
large Haas avocado, pitted and sliced |
| 8 |
strips of bacon, cooked crisp |
| 4 |
ounces Bleu Cheese, crumbled |
| ½ |
cup sour cream |
|
Good quality artisan bread like chiabatta,
roasted garlic or sourdough |
Place the chicken in a glass or ceramic bowl (non-reactive) and cover
with the buttermilk. Let sit for at least one hour in the refrigerator.
In a food processor, place the next five ingredients. Pulse until the
mixture is finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and reserve.
Preheat the oven to 250° F.
Place the flour in a large bowl and season it with salt and pepper.
Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and remove it from the
buttermilk. Reserve the buttermilk. Preheat a large, non-stick,
oven-ready frying pan and add a small amount of canola oil to lightly
cover the bottom of the pan. Shake the buttermilk from the chicken
breasts. Dredge both sides in the flour and shake off the excess. Dip the
chicken back into the reserved buttermilk, then press it into the
pistachio mixture, covering both sides. Repeat with the remaining
breasts. Place the breasts into the frying pan and fry two to three
minutes on both sides until nicely browned. Place the frying pan in the
oven, covered, to finish cooking for eight to ten minutes. Remove from
the oven and keep warm while assembling.
Fry the bacon and keep warm. Mix the bleu cheese with the sour cream.
Remove the seed from the avocado and slice thinly.
To assemble the sandwich, slice the bread into ½-inch thick slices. Lay
one chicken breast on a bread slice and place two slices of bacon on it.
Top the bacon with a spoonful of the bleu cheese mixture, top with
avocado slices and another bread slice. Yields four large sandwiches.
Creamy Bleu Cheese Dill Slaw
| 4 |
green onions, sliced |
| 1 |
8-ounce container sour cream |
| 1 |
cup mayonnaise |
| 2 |
tablespoons sugar |
| 2 |
tablespoons chopped fresh dill or 1 tablespoon dried dill |
| 2 |
tablespoons white vinegar or cider vinegar |
| 1 |
teaspoon salt |
| ½ |
teaspoon pepper |
| 1 |
cup crumbled bleu cheese |
| 1 |
16-ounce package coleslaw mix |
Stir together the first nine ingredients in a large bowl until the
mixture is blended. Then stir in the coleslaw mix. Cover and chill
several hours. Garnish with a sprinkling of dill. Yields eight servings.
The wine for this month’s yummy recipes is as casual and easygoing as
the delicious chicken sandwich with which it’s paired. Lolonis Ladybug
Red Old Vines Redwood Valley Red Table Wine Cuvee VII is a great
drinking wine for an unbelievable low price of $12.99! It is smooth and
silky and has wonderful forward fruit from Zinfandel, Carignane, Merlot
and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. It’s a light-style red that pairs
beautifully with fish or chicken.
The fun part of this wine is talking about the polka-dotted warriors
that guard the half-century vines, devouring harmful pests, enabling the
grapes to be grown pesticide-free. And no ladybugs are harmed in the
making of this wine. Lovely!
Building a Cellar
Opulent: 2003 Nickel & Nickel Single Vineyard Wines Dragonfly
Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
The Dragonfly Cabernet Sauvignon is very stylish and rich, impressing us
with its ripe, jammy fruit and plush texture. Beautiful garnet color and
aromatic perfume reveal the ripeness of this fruit at harvest.
Concentrated flavors of strawberry jam, spice and vanilla, wrapped in
soft layers of toasty oak, are forward. The tannins are also supple and
long, adding to the warmth and elegance of the wine. This wine is a
cellar selection that runs around $93.
Accessible: 2005 J Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
Oh my gosh! This wine is so delicious, we may not be able to come up
with words to describe it!
One word is elegant. The 2005 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is a
composition of wines made from 100 percent Pinot Noir grapes. The grapes
are picked at night to preserve freshness and then the fruit is
carefully hand-sorted before de-stemming. Malolactic fermentation occurs
in 100 percent French oak barrels.
Yes, this is an elegant wine with a complex nose of fresh cherry,
raspberry and cranberry, followed by hints of white pepper, cola, and
spicy, earthy notes. Crisp acidity is offered with unfolding flavors of
black cherry, raspberry and hints of vanilla. Delicate and rich, the
mouthfeel is round, soft and intense, leading to a lingering finish of
bing cherries and notes of toast. This is a great buy at $32.99 and is
very limited.
Chris Baer is the owner of The Grapevine in Westchase Square and Gail
Gundersen is a resident of Woodbay. |
