Sankt Anna - Riesling Kabinett $17.99 #bittencookiechallenge #TwistedBaking

I love the men over at #TheBittenWord! This is the third year that I have participated in one of their challenges, and each year the biggest challenges are deciding what wine to pair with the recipe result, and how I want to stage my photos. It's been a busy year, and I didn't even dust off the Nikon for this challenge, but this is the start of many good things (and blog posts) to come. 

The staging was important to me.  This is my first year in a new place, and my first year with a kitchen Christmas Tree - Rosemary is the herb sacred to remembrance and friendship, I have a lot to remember, and great friends to share those memories with.

I was lucky enough to be assigned Martha Stewart Living's Gingered Sugar Cookies. (In years past I have been assigned gluten free cookies and Lamb Tartare - both were labor intensive and not all that satisfying - this year, I caught a break!) These were a fun, easy cookie to make and I upped the ante by using fresh and candied ginger - so there is a really spicy snap in these twisted canes.

What wine works with ginger?  Sankt Anna - Riesling Kabinett from the Mosel.  I bought this bottle on a buying spree at my favorite wine shop The Village Wine Merchant in Seacliff, NY. Riesling Kabinett is a versatile wine that is Germany's driest Riesling.  It's light, bright low alcohol (9% ETOH) makes it a great compliment to seafood, Asian, Thai, sushi, veggies, garlic and lighter poultry or pork; and now I can say that it pairs well with buttery ginger cookies!

These are basic butter sugar cookies with a twist of candied and fresh ginger (I substituted fresh ginger  for ground ginger - it added a real brightness) It's also a really sweet cookie with both white sugar in the base and after dividing in half, adding molasses in half, and honey on the other.  The citrus and acid in the wine worked well against the sweetness.

It was a fun afternoon of baking cookies, and getting into the holiday spirit.

Happy Holidays to all!

Here is a shot of the fantasy land/eco-earrior's nightmare that is in my new home town Wonderland at Roseville I bet it can be seen from space! (or at least planes flying in to Bradley International Airport)

Graff Riesling Kabinett Mosel `07 (Not TJ's) $12.99 ***(* )

I took a wine tasting class. This wine was my favorite of the night and it was the cheapest! (I am weirdly thrilled by having cheap taste - hmmmm)

One thing I learned, was that this sweetish wine pairs well with spicy food (like Thai) - I am always wondering when I go out to eat, what wine should I pair with ethnic foods - especially Thai - we usually cop out and order Thai beer, next time I'll be daring.

For today -  a cool, rainy November Saturday, I am making:
Grilled chicken thighs in Stubbs chicken marinade;
Rice-a-Roni Rice Pilaf (gotta love the San Francisco Treat!);
and Broccoli.
No dessert...well, maybe a glass of Broadbent Madeira.

In the class, we talked a lot about this wine, the paleness in the glass, the initial bouquet, a subtle smell of gasoline!?! Still with a distinct pear smell. Then came the initial taste - which in a class you spent a lot of time looking smelling and anticipating.  I guess that would be called savoring... but for me at home, I swish the glass, take a deep breath, then dive right in... the wine class was a lesson in restraint.  I will show very little restraint today.

HAH - it's a screw top.  I like screw tops - very efficient - yes, it detracts form the "Experience" but practical trumps.  First smell - mmm pears.  I get it.  hmmm gasoline.  Yeah, a subtle petroleum scent - not gross, but weird - that isn't a good descriptor, because it is so off-putting.  The wine is good, my vocabulary is bad.

Taste - well chilled, YUMMY.  I like it.  Crisp, pear like, subtle sharpness (that would be the ah hem gasoline? - how can such an unappetizing smell actually taste good? I was so off put by writing the word gasoline, I googled wine smells and got this:  How to Taste Wine - Smelling the wine.  I have to work at learning to properly describe what I am smelling....

Now back to the Graff:

This is a good, slightly acidic yet sweet fruity wine.  It goes GREAT with the slight spice of the marinated chicken thighs, the salty creaminess of the rice (I used home made chicken stock, butter and deglazed w/ the Riesling) and the broccoli.

Good, it would have been four stars if it were a bit cheaper - it is expensive for me $11.69 (I got a 10% discount off the $12.99 price @ Bacchus).