Food & Wine Chickie Insider

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Voga Sparkling

This wine shows tiny bubbles that are mousse-like in the mouth.  Ultra light with fresh and bright flavors that would be great with a light fish or seafood and also as an aperitif.  Real crowd-pleaser at a recent dinner party and the neat packaging is certain to be a conversation-starter.

Priced right at around $12.

Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label

The following is my January 2010 entry into Wine Whore Wednesday.  On Twitter?  Be sure to follow Randy @thewinewhore

Question: What’s that one bottle of wine that changed your life? Explain how!

I’m Canadian, so beer drinking is sort of second nature to me, and what I’ve done since my teen years (yes, you can legally drink at 18 in Canada).  Wine was never really my thing until my 21st birthday.

For my 21st birthday, I had a huge South Florida pool party with tons of food, friends and adult beverages.  A friend of mine brought a case of Veuve Clicquot to pop for the occasion.  Not sure if it was the wine itself or the fun of celebrating with some bubbly, but I was hooked.  From that day forward, I’ve wanted to experience all sorts of wine and to learn as much about pairing it with food (my other passion) as possible.

Wine rocks.

They say a banana is the world’s most perfect food, but a soft-boiled egg with the right seasoning and a dollop of mayo might just be ‘it’ for me.

Perfect Egg

Directions:

1. Place room-temperature egg in a small saucepan. Cover with cold water so there’s about 1-inch of water above the egg.
2. Put saucepan over high heat.  Allow to come to a boil, then immediately remove from heat.  Allow eggs to stand in hot water for 5 minutes.
3. Drain hot water and place the egg on an egg cup or small saucer.
4. Cut a small ‘cap’ off the top of the egg, exposing some of the soft yolk.
5. Season with sea salt, cracked pepper and a small dollop of mayonnaise.

This is THE Chardonnay for folks who don’t enjoy big, buttery California Chardonnays.  It’s not heavy on the oak, but has enough of it to make it…interesting.  This New Zealand wine is similar to a French Chardonnay and is dry with a fresh, complex taste.

Around $30.

PS: Good call pairing this wine with smoked salmon Jean-Guy

Maple Taffee on Snow 2

As my family began getting ready for the food frenzy my visit to Quebec would bring on, one thing that my oldest niece, Maude, wanted to be sure my sister would fix for us is Tire sur la Neige, or Maple Taffee on Snow.  This treat is one most popular at sugar shacks during maple syrup season, but great anytime there’s snow outside.

Ingredients:

• 2 – 3 cups maple syrup
• Freshly gathered snow packed tightly into a wide, low container

Directions:

1. 

   Maple Taffee on Snow

   Pour the maple syrup into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil on high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until it reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer, approximately 4-5 minutes.

2. Using a ladle,  drizzle some of the hot syrup onto the snow, making certain not to cover the entire surface (you can re-pour additional syrup after the first round of taffee is gone).
3. Let the taffee set for a minute then pick up by rolling on a fork or wooden chopstick.

Notes:  Don’t have snow where you live?  Finely-crushed ice from a blender would work!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Treats

These treats come straight from my childhood as my Grandma made them for the holidays as far back as I can remember.  She’d make a double batch and freeze the finished treats so we’d have them well into the new year.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup grated paraffin wax
• 8 ounces milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 cups puffed rice cereal

Directions:

1. Melt paraffin and chocolate in a glass or metal bowl placed over a pot of simmering water over medium-low heat.  Don’t allow the bowl to touch the simmering water.
2. Add peanut butter to the melted chocolate and blend well until fully incorporated.
3. Stir the powdered sugar into the mixture.  Remove from heat and add the puffed rice cereal, making certain that the cereal is fully coated with the chocolate mixture.
4. Drop spoonful of the mixture on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet and cool.  Refrigerate cooled treats.

Makes approximately 24 treats.

Notes: Paraffin wax can be found at most grocery stores in the canning section where Mason Jars are found.  Only use consumable wax such as Gulf Paraffin Wax.  Grate the paraffin using a box grater or microplane.

Pop Chips

Got home to an empty pantry and fridge after being away for a week only to find this super neat present from the fine folks at @PopChips on my front door!

Haven’t tried Pop Chips yet? They are great and only 100 calories per bag!

On this Christmas Eve, I want to take a moment to wish everyone a happy holidy season and a prosperous, healthy 2010.

I`m visiting family in Canada and baking traditional Quebec treats, cooking old favorites and drinking some pretty neat wines that I can`t wait to share with you in the new year.

All the best for all of you and please share some of your family holiday traditions.

Best,

Veronique

I’m Canadian and one of the candy bars I loved as a kid was the Cherry Blossom.  This treat features a thick chocolate, peanut butter and coconut shell with a tasty cherry syrup and maraschino cherry center.  The Cherry Blossom is a treat I always look forward to having when I go visit my folks in Quebec, and my mother shared the recipe we’d made when I was a kid.

Cherry Blossom

For the chocolate treat:

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup grated paraffin wax
• 1 cup confectioner sugar
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1/3 cup grated coconut
• 12 whole, red maraschino cherries

Chocolate treat directions:

Combine all the chocolate treat ingredients in a microwaveable dish and microwave in 1 minute increments, stirring after each minute, until the mixture is nearly completely melted, 2-4 minutes.  Stir mixture thoroughly to ensure any un-melted bits are completely melted.

Cherry syrup:

• 1/2 cup cherry liquid from a red maraschino cherry jar
• 1 cup confectioner sugar

Cherry syrup directions:

In a small bowl, combine the liquid and the confectioner sugar, stirring until a thick syrup is created.

Assembly directions:

1. Wash and dry a Styrofoam egg container, cut off the lid with scissors then oil each egg compartment well.
2. Take melted chocolate mixture and cover each egg compartment with a thick coating using a spoon.  Work fast as the mixture will harden quickly.  If the mixture gets too hard, microwave it for 30 seconds.
3. Add a cherry and about 1 tablespoon of cherry syrup to each egg compartment, then use additional chocolate to create a ‘lid’ for each treat.  Ensure the chocolate ‘lids’ seal in the syrup completely to avoid leaks.  Cover the egg container with cling wrap.
4. Refrigerate overnight or at least 12 hours.  Unmold each treat carefully, then wrap each treat with aluminum foil.  Keep refrigerated.

Yields 12 treats.

Notes: You could use a cardboard egg container, but you’d need to line it with cling wrap that you’d then oil thoroughly.  Paraffin wax can be found at most grocery stores in the canning section where Mason Jars are found.  Only use consumable wax such as Gulf Paraffin Wax.  Instead of using oil on the egg container, you could also use cooking spray.