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Southwestern Frittata - Sausage and Peaches - White Chocolate Raspberry Muffins - Wine Choice 2 cups peeled, diced potatoes 2 Tbsp. oil 1 red pepper, diced 8 eggs 1 medium onion, diced 1 cup corn 2 cloves garlic, minced ½ tsp. black pepper 2 Tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese In a large non-stick skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion, pepper and garlic. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until potatoes are almost cooked, stirring occasionally. Stir in corn. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, shredded cheese, cilantro and pepper. Pour over the potatoes in the skillet. Lower heat and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes or until egg mixture is almost set. Pre-heat broiler. Place skillet under broiler, about 6 to 8 inches from the heat source. Cook for 2 minutes or until eggs are set on top. Goes well with corn bread. Makes 4-6 servings. SAUSAGE AND PEACHES1 lb. mild bulk pork sausage 1 can (16 oz. ) peach halves 1/4 cup brown sugar ½ Tsp. ground cinnamon ½ Tsp. ground cloves Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large pan, cook sausage until brown, stirring until it starts to crumble. Drain off fat and set aside. Drain peaches, keeping ¾ cup of the juice. Place peaches, cut side up, in a greased baking dish and add peach juice. Combine brown sugar and spices, stirring well. Sprinkle over peach halves. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle cooked sausage evenly over top. Return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes. WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY MUFFINS1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries. If raspberries are frozen, do not thaw. 3-4 oz. coarsely chopped white chocolate baking bar. 1 cup milk ½ cup melted butter 1 egg, slightly beaten 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup sugar 1 Tbsp. baking powder
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl combine milk, butter and egg. Stir in
all remaining ingredients except raspberries and chocolate until flour is
moistened. Gently stir in raspberries and chocolate.
This meal is intended as a Mother's Day Brunch, and so presents a few special considerations on the wine choice.
My first thought, looking at the Frittata ingredients and the sausage was to choose a standard red table wine. A few minutes thought gave me misgivings about that idea as I tried to imagine a dry red wine measured against the varied ingredients in this meal.
What would go with all those eggs, I wondered, and how about the peaches? One taste seemed to clash with another, and my thoughts meandered through the whole gamut of wines, from very dry reds to crisp whites and even a little Asti Spumante to bring bubbles to the affair.
After that, I began to narrow it down. The Spumante might work well in a brunch like this, where you would not really want a heavier, "serious" wine, and seemed to go with the spirit of a celebration. My personal preference was towards a lighter, fruitier red, maybe with some spice to it: a Valpolicella, a Spanish Rioja Crianza, or an Australian Shiraz.
Having decided that much, I cheated. I went out to the Internet and looked to see what others might like with their frittatas. An hour or so later, I had decided there were more types of fritatta that I could ever eat, and that people seemed to recommend everything from Cabernet Sauvignon to champagne with the meal.
That was both good and bad. While I found no overwhelming support for my own choice, I found so much diversity that I decided my idea was just as good as the next fellow's, and went downstairs to see what we had.
Under the stairs, we had some Rosemount Shiraz from Australia, which we like and which tends to work well with foods and gatherings. I also found some Di Majo Norante Sangiovese, a very nice, reasonably priced Italian table wine that I could see with this meal.
But I like to recommend American wines in these postings, so I looked further. I found we still had some Lambert's Shiraz, from a winery in West Virginia we wish was a day's drive closer to home. The wine's time has come.
If you prefer white with this meal, I'd suggest a Soave. If you like the idea of bubbles, I would pick the Asti Spumante, maybe a Spanish Cava, perhaps a California champagne. One thing my surfing of the internet showed is that there are many choices to be made.
What about the muffins, you ask? Those are for desert, and we will be having them with coffee, not wine. If I were to pick a wine to go with them, I would think of a dessert wine, a rich port, perhaps the Alba Vintage Port I have downstairs. Just remember those wines they always let you taste last at the winery and often give you a small chocolate to enjoy as you sip. This is what those wines are for.
Southwestern Frittata - Sausage and Peaches - White Chocolate Raspberry Muffins - Wine Choice |
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Last modified: August 07, 2007 |
