Spiraly goodness from Korea

Immediate disclaimer: I have never eaten this snack and can make no claims about its deliciousness. But damn, it just looks delicious. From the blog, Super Local:

totally forgot i had this until i was reminded by the lovely shezz. what a crazily amazing way to present (& cook) a potato!

came dusted with a fine cheese powder, a bit like the stuff you find on Twisties. quite yum, like a one super long deep fried crisp!

have seen it in Hongdae & Myeongdong but am it’s in loads of other places.

more food theatrics, please! ^^

Some people might be a bit concerned with the healthiness of the snack (Cory Doctorow, of Boing Boing fame). But I'm heartened. It's a whole potato, spiral cut and fried. My guess would be that it's dusted in front of you, and if you picked salt and pepper, you wouldn't get the weird hydrogenated oils that are in cheesey sprinklings. Whole, fresh food simply prepared can't be beat. Sure, you might be better off with a carrot, but you'd be worse off with McDonald's fries. And I'd guess the tornado potato gives fries a solid run for their money in the taste department.

Simple tips for healthier food shopping

Allrecipes.com (via LifeHacker) provides a list of tips and tricks to buying healthier food in the grocery store. The most helpful?

7. Buy in season. Sure, it’s tempting to buy strawberries in December, and once in a while that’s fine. But fresh fruit and vegetables are best when purchased in season, meaning they’ve come from relatively close to home. They often cost less, are tastier, and have less risk of pathogens such as E. coli.

It takes care of tips number 1 and number 2 in one fell swoop (and prevents E. coli). Though the easiest is probably 2. Shop the perimeter of the store.

Link: Ten tips for your grocery list.

The perfect grilled cheese sandwich

Many people are troubled by grilled cheese. Such a simple sandwich, yet the complaints are myriad: my cheese didn't melt. The bread burned. It doesn't taste as good as mom used to make. The simplest fix for grilled cheese woes? Lower the temperature and use butter. Lots and lots of delicious butter.

• Set a pan over medium heat
• Give it plenty of time to heat up
  • Meanwhile, get two thick slices of bread and your favorite cheese--rye and cheddar works well as does whole wheat bread, a slice of tomato and meunster cheese. For this particular sandwich, I used pumpernickle and swiss on my wife's recommendation. She was born in Wisconsin and knows a thing or two about cheese.
  • Slice your cheese thin and make the sandwich
• Add a tablespoon of butter to the pan, and spread butter across the outside of one side of the sandwich
• Lay the sandwich butter-side down in the pan, and butter up the other side (It's ok, you won't get burned. A good technique is to soften the butter in the microwave--15 seconds ought to do it)
• After a couple minutes (your cheese won't yet be melted, but should just be turning translucent on the edges) flip the sandiwch and let it go for a few minutes more.
• Serve with a small salad or tomato soup

Simply French

Many people say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Those people are right. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Unfortunately, we're lucky if we have time to toss a handful of granola into a tub of vanilla yogurt during the week, and on weekends, no one wants to spend all morning in the kitchen. We have to do things, see people, or crawl back into bed.

French toast is a simple, delicious breakfast that can be decadent enough for weekend lounging but fast and easy enough for weekday mornings. Total prep and cooking time for recipe is about 15 minutes.

• 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, separated
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
• small pinch of kosher salt

----------

• Day old French bread baguette, cut on a diagonal to 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 handful of blueberries (any berries will do. I like blue berries because they don't need to be sliced)
• Syrup (corn, maple, or fruit), or honey

Set a pan on the stove over medium heat, and butter the pan with 1 tablespoon butter. You want just enough to coat the pan. While the pan is heating and the butter melting, mix the buttermilk, egg, salt and brown sugar in a shallow dish--a pie plate works perfectly. Pace the sliced the French bread into the buttermilk mixture and let it sit for 30 seconds on each side.

Buttermilk is important for this recipe. You could easily substitute whole or 2% milk, but the buttermilk provides a tangy contrast to the upcoming sweetness provided by the syrup.

Once you've soaked the pieces, they're ready to put in the pan. Gently set the bread pieces in your skillet and listen to the satisfying sizzle for 2 - 3 minutes. You want the custard mixture you've created to caramelize, but not burn. So check after 2 minutes. If it's not yet a golden brown, let it set a while longer, and then flip them, letting them sizzle away again for the same amount of time.

When they're done, pull the slices from the pan and set them in a flower pattern on a plate. Butter the pieces (you've got up to a tablespoon you can use, remember?), drizzle with syrup, and toss on a few of the berries.

What to pair it with?
Milk, fruit juice or coffee. (Whether or not the coffee has bourbon in it is entirely up to you)

Simple snacks for afternoon grazing

I love snacks. They're usually delicious and make for perfect grazing on a long, hot Sunday afternoon. One of my favorite snacks is chips and salsa. It's easy, can be wonderfully healthy, and is just the kind of refreshing snack to help stave off the crushing Florida heat. The other snack I decided try is fried shrimp (fried shrimp!). Not first on my list of snack foods, but surprisingly simple and definitely delicious.

Chips and Salsa
Something you should know going in: when I make chips and salsa I use store-bought corn chips and canned tomatoes. You can make your own corn chips if you want, but why bother? Next time you go to your local grocer's, check the corn chips. Chances are they'll have one of the shortest ingredient lists of any processed food: corn, salt, canola oil. Simple. And simple's always good, and even better when it's coupled with convenient.

As for the tomatoes, the only time to use fresh tomatoes is when they're in season. Canned tomatoes are perfectly good--and out of season are way better than what the stores pass off as fresh tomatoes. Do check the ingredients list, though. Some canners will add salt, and you'll need to be mindful of it for most recipes. Over salting a dish is one of those things that just can't be fixed.

Ingredients:

• 1 28oz. can of diced tomatoes, mostly drained
• 1 jalapeño pepper seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium lime
• Approx. 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Salsa's maybe one of the easiest thing on earth to make. Just dump the tomatoes in a bowl, add the jalapeño and onions, oil and lime juice. Then start adding a little salt and a little pepper until you find the taste you enjoy.

But also consider this as a base. You could begin adding various ingredients to change the flavor profile, either subtly or radically. Think about using red onions instead of green. Or halving the amount of jalapeño pepper and adding green bell pepper. Or chipotles. You could a dash of white wine to coax more flavor from the tomatoes (they are flavor molecules in tomatoes that are only soluble in alcohol). Whatever you do, make sure you save some of the next day. Salsa is a dish that's definitely better after the flavors have had a chance to mingle and come together.

Fried shrimp
For some reason, I always considered shrimp one of those temperamental foods that's easy to destroy. I haven't really cooked with it at all except to make paella, and even then I usually just pick up some from the store already cooked and peeled, ready to eat (yes, sometimes I'm incredibly lazy when it comes to food). But a recent evening at Bonefish restaurant--and more notably their Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer--was enough to make a person reconsider. So reconsider I did.

• 12 medium or jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs (you could use normal breadcrumbs, but I love cooking with panko--wonderfully light and always fries up very crispy)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder (or to your taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 - 3 vigorous grinds of the pepper mill
• 1/2" vegetable oil in your favorite pan

Heat the oil over medium-high to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. While you're waiting, you can peel the shrimp and pat them dry with a paper towel or cloth. This step is crucial. They need to be dry for the buttermilk to coat them well, and the buttermilk needs to coat them well so the breadcrumbs will stick, and the breadcrumbs need to stick if you're going to achieve a wonderful, crispy, golden-brown...well, you get the idea.

Mix the panko and other dry ingredients: paprika, garlic powder, ginger, salt and pepper. Working in batches, dip the shrimp into the buttermilk and then dredge them through the panko mixture, getting a good coating on all sides (use the tail as a handle). Carefully lower the shrimp into the oil and cook for about 1 minute on each side. Remove and drain on paper towels or a cooling rack.

You're done! It really is that easy, and the fried shrimp will be crispy and delicious.

But if let's say you had your heart set on something spicier--something a little dangerous, and probably a little bad for you. These fried shrimp provide a perfect base for buffalo shrimp, a tangy, spicy bar stand-by that's the perfect thing to accompany a couple ice cold lagers. And it really is ridiculously easy.

Put about 1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce in a large plastic bag, toss in the shrimp, capture some air and seal the thing. Shake vigorously to coat the shrimp and plate. Ta da! Bar food without the smoke, bad beer or obnoxious guy who can't stop talking about his feet!

What to pair it with?
Beer. Don't be silly.

Recipe for disaster

From The Ninja (capital "T", capital "N")

I'll be back with new recipes soon; I swear

KFC's Famous Bowls, Patton Oswalt style

In November, KFC introduced it's now-famous Famous Bowls. I wrote up a quick post outlining my thoughts on the novelty food item. Now Patton Oswalt's weighed in on the matter, and he's funnier and more pointed than I could ever be. Worth watching:

Farm Fresh Recipes

This post originally appeared in Satellite Magazine

Fresh matters. You can ask any cook worth her salt and she’ll tell you the same thing. Fresh, whole ingredients impart even the simplest dishes with deep, rich flavor. However, since most grocery store produce travels an average of 1,500 miles to get from the farm to your plate, getting fresh produce can sometimes be a challenge. Lucky for all of us, Gainesville is full of farmer’s markets. The Union Street Farmer’s Market in the Sun Center is open every Wednesday, rain or shine, and features fresh, seasonal ingredients grown by local farmers.

While buying locally will give you the freshest food, it can also limit your choices. You won’t get oranges in summer and you won’t get asparagus in fall. But then, eating seasonally is a wonderful exercise in menu planning and can connect you to the local land and community.

Lucky for us, summer is here, which means many produce items such as cantaloupes, blueberries, chicory, tomatoes, swamp cabbage (water spinach) and leeks are at the height of freshness and are readily available:

With just a few other ingredients, these items can be cobbled together to make for some wonderful dishes, from refreshing fruit salads to delicious savory entrees:

Grilled cantaloupe with chicory and blueberry vinaigrette

Ingredients:
For the dressing:

• 1 4.4oz container of blueberries, mixed variety (approx. two large handfuls) – most juicy berries will work with this recipe: raspberries, blackberries, and others. Avoid cranberries as they’re probably too tart, and strawberries won’t provide enough juice
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (you can substitute honey, also available at the farmer’s market)
• A pinch of salt

For the salad:

• 1 large cantaloupe, seeded, cut into wedges and peeled
• 1 bunch chicory, stems removed, rough cut

Dressing:
Begin by pureeing the blueberries. You can use a food processor, blender or hand blender. If pressed, you can juice them in a bowl by grinding them to a pulp with the back of a large, heavy spoon. A slow process, but infinitely gratifying.

Once the blueberries have given up their juice, whisk in the vinegar (for brightness) and add the water. Toss in the salt, and slowly add the sugar, tasting and whisking as you go. Don’t be afraid to stick your fingers in the dressing and taste it! Some people like sweeter dressings while others like their dressings more sour or bitter. Don’t be afraid to experiment and feel free to alter the ingredients’ ratios to get it to your liking.

Salad:
This is a rustic dish, which is a fancy way of saying you don’t have to be too careful with the cutting.

Begin by heating a large skillet over medium-high heat. While the pan heats, sprinkle the cantaloupe wedges with just a bit of Kosher salt (optional) Once the pan achieves temperature—it should feel hot when you’ve got your hand about two inches above the pan—place the cantaloupe wedges in the pan, cut side down. Let them sear about 45 seconds on each side. When it’s done, set the cantaloupe aside to cool.

*The salt will draw out some of the melon’s moisture and help concentrate the sugars in the cantaloupe. Searing the cantaloupe will caramelize some of the sugars that have been brought to the surface and will give it a deeper, richer sweetness.

Once the melon has cooled, cut it into bite-sized pieces and mix it with the chicory in a large bowl. Store in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When you’re ready to serve, plate the cantaloupe salad and drizzle liberally with the blueberry dressing.

Alternative: Once the cantaloupe has chilled, mix with fresh, whole berries and sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle with honey for a deliciously sweet, healthy dessert.

Pan seared tuna with balsamic glaze and crispy leeks

The real star of this dish is the sauce, which can be used to top any number of proteins, from tuna or chicken breast to extra firm tofu or tempeh.

Ingredients:
Sauce

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 medium fresh tomatoes* @3/4 of a pound, diced
• @1 cup water spinach leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
• 1 table spoon olive oil
• 1 table spoon brown sugar

Remaining ingredients

• 2 large leeks cut to matchsticks (pieces 1/4 inch wide, 2 inches long)
• Peanut, canola or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 Tuna steaks
• Salt
• Pepper

The sauce:
Begin by heating a skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, wait for it to heat and then add the garlic cloves. Let them cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. While those cook, you can whisk together the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar (the sugar will provide a sweet counterpoint to the vinegar’s acidity and will also help the sauce come together as more of a glaze). You could also add extra ingredients to enhance the sauce, such as lemon or lime juice, white wine, or sherry. After the garlic’s cooked, add the spinach and tomatoes--holding some of the diced tomatoes in reserve for a garnish. Let them cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, and then add the vinegar mixture. Increase the heat to medium-high and let the sauce cook until it begins to bubble. Then reduce the heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes.

When you’ve got about 10 minutes left you can start on the final pieces of your dish. For the leeks, you need to put about a half-inch of peanut oil in a sauce pan and bring it up to 350 degrees. One it reaches that temperature, drop in the leeks in small batches and let them cook until they’re golden brown (about 30 - 45 seconds, probably). Use a slotted spoon or a fork to transfer them to paper towels to drain.

For the tuna, rub the tuna steaks with garlic (one clove each) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a hot pan with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, sear the tuna on each side--about two minutes. To plate, put down a bed of the fried leeks, top with the tuna steak, and then spoon on some of the sauce. Finally, top with some of the reserved tomato pieces for a dash of color.

This dish is deceptively easy and mighty impressive when plated.

While you could make any of these dishes with ingredients that have traveled half-way across the country (or farther), why would you? Fresh ingredients taste better, and you get the satisfaction of supporting your local growers and being a part of local community. Plus, everyone I spoke to at the farmer’s market was knowledgeable, friendly, and even had a cooking tip or two.

*Fresh tomatoes far outshine grocery store tomatoes in taste and versatility. If you’re not buying fresh tomatoes, you might as well be buying them canned.

A summertime twist on steak and potatoes

Summertime in America: a time when people turn off their televisions and head to the beach, backyard pool, or roof-top lawn chair. It's a time when attention turns to swimsuits and suntans, and families across the nation fire up their grills for the most primal of cooking methods: open flame.

But how many burgers can one person eat? How many times can we turn to hot dogs, potato salad and roasted corn? What does a person do when he can't look at another French fry? Why, fry something else of course:

Beer-battered yucca, grilled rib eye and spring salad greens

First the steak: spend; seriously. There are all kinds of ways you can doctor an inexpensive cut of beef, but sometimes you want the meat to stand (or lay) on its own merit. And if you're going to do that, you're going to have to get as far away from the hoof and the horn as possible (Thanks, Alton). Of course, the fillet is the best, but at $10354839w9.99 per pound it can get a little pricey. NY strip is excellent, too, but bang-for-your-buck wonderful is the rib eye, also known as the Delmonico in some parts. And according to my sources, Australians call it the Scotch fillet.

Preparation is simple:

• Crush a few cloves of garlic and use them to rub each steak
• Season with salt and pepper
• Wrap in foil and set it aside until you're about half-way through frying the yucca (we'll get to that in a moment)

When your grill is ready, cook the steak over high heat, about four minutes on each side (if you want to be extra fancy, rotate the steak 90 degrees--don't flip it!--after two minutes. This will give you those snazzy rhomboids of charred goodness). Because the rib eye has excellent marbling, it's going to end up tender and juicy. However, you'll have to watch out for flare-ups, as all that delicious fat has a tendency to render and drip onto the coals. Keep a spray bottle on hand to help quell some of the fire. And don't be afraid to move your steaks away from the coals for a bit to let things die down.

Once you bring the meat off the grill, wrap it in foil and let it rest for a while. Just leave it alone. This will allow all cell structure to re-absorb all the juices and will give you a tender, tastier steak.

You could easily serve this with a fresh salad of spring greens, or even pan-wilted spinach with garlic and parmesan. Those would, in fact, be absolutely delicious. But we're talking summer here, and what's summer without a little starch? And what's starch without a little potato? Why, it's yucca!

The yucca is a starchy root used often in Latin American, Caribbean and African cuisines. It's starchier than most potatoes, but has a wonderful stratified structure that gives it a flaky texture. Preparation can be time consuming, but it's not difficult.

Beer Battered Yucca

First, you'll need to cook your yucca:

If you're cooking fresh-from-the-market yucca, you're going to invest about 50 minutes. I used frozen yucca I found in the Latin American section in the frozen food isle, and I just cooked it according to the directions on the package-bonus: no additives. At all.

But let's say you went with the root. You're going to cook it much like you would potatoes:

• Peel the yucca
• Cut into section about four inches long
• Place the sections into a large pot and cover with water (about 2 inches over the yucca)
• Bring water to a boil and let cook about 50 minutes, or until fork-tender
• Remove from heat, drain, and shock in ice water to prevent further cooking
• Cut the sections lengthwise into quarters
• Important: There's a cord of woody material that runs through the yucca root. Make sure you remove this from your quartered sections.
• Set all pieces aside and meditate briefly on their future deep-fried goodness

(light your coals-for the steaks, remember?)

Then you'll need a beer batter:

• 1.5 cups flour
• 12 oz. + 2 teaspoons Light beer (for the additional teaspoons, you're going to have to open a second bottle--pity, that)
• 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon additional flavoring agent(s), if desired

1. Put the flour in a big bowl
2. Open one beer and slowly whisk the fluid into the flour
3. Open the second beer, measure out your 2 teaspoons and whisk them in as well
4. Add the salt and then add your flavoring agent*

*One of the great things about batters is that you can give them whatever flavor you'd like. For fried yucca, I might recommend a teaspoon of garlic powder coupled with a squirt of lime. Or maybe if you enjoy a little spice, you could go with black pepper or paprika. Cayenne would provide a good bit of heat, and you could even bring in some Asian influence by adding ground ginger. Like I always say, don't be afraid to experiment. If the batter ends up being horrible, you'll just have to crack open another beer and make a second batch. And that's not so bad, is it?

(if you're following along at home, go ahead and get someone to put the steaks on the grill right now)

1. Heat two inches of oil in a pan to about 370 degrees
• It's best if you set this up as an assembly line. And work in batches. If you put too many yucca pieces into the oil at once, it'll lower your temperature and you won't get a crispy finish.
• I work left-to-right, so my set up consists of my yucca, batter, oil, draining plate. I have yet to buy a cooling rack and half-sheet pan (again, thanks Alton), so go with several paper towels sandwiched between a couple brown paper bags.
2. Dunk the yucca in the batter, shake off the excess, and carefully lower the pieces into the oil
3. Let them fry for about two to three minutes, or until golden brown
4. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain

To plate, put just a few of the fried yucca together with the steak and some of the field greens. If you'd like, you can make a garlic mayonnaise to dip the yucca in, though I'm sure ketchup would be fine, if you're into that sort of thing.

What to pair it with?
Few wines like to be paired with grilled meat like Australian Shiraz. Traditionally big, jammy wines with nice tannins, an Australian Shiraz will often give you enough structure to stand up to grilled meat but doesn't overpower as can sometimes happen with a European Cabernet. Plus, summertime grilling should be about fun and friends, an ostensibly Australian sensibility. For this dish I went with an exceptionally food-friendly wine, 2 Up Shiraz:

Color--Deep rich, inky red, lightening to a lush ruby at the edges.
Nose--A brash, fruit-forward nose with definite dark stone fruit and berry aromas. Plum, raspberry and blue berry are all found in the wine's complex aroma. There's also a hint of smoke, a breath of spice and a touch of leather.
Palate--A big, succulent, full-bodied wine with excellent fruit characteristics and nice tannins. The mouth feel is excellent and less overpowering than one might expect from such a big wine.
Finish--The finish is slightly warm and tannic with lingering fruits.

In Praise of Leftovers

So you had your holiday bash. You cooked your steaks; you made your fancy desserts. You even shopped at the local farmer's market for fresh salad fixings. But now you're left with a few odds and ends, not a lot of time, and a stomach that's growling like nostalgia for that delicious New York Strip. Don't settle for a glass of ice water and a handful of Cheeto's. Relive the magic with leftovers. They won't ever take the place of the first time around, but done right, and with a little inventiveness, you might even pass them off as French.

Ingredients: leftovers and a reasonably well stocked pantry

• For example, a few hunks of grilled New York Strip
• six ounces of heavy cream
• half a large onion
• a big handful of leftover mushrooms
• 1 tbl flour
• about half a cup of beef broth (from the fridge) and.....
• a package of lo mein noodles

plus, salt, pepper and olive oil are always good to have around

Quick Hint: When reheating steak--when cooking steak, for that matter, but this is more important--make sure you let the steak come to room temperature first. You want to reheat the steak, not cook it further.

So what can be made with that hodgepodge of materials? A not-bad steak and pasta dish with mushroom cream sauce.

Observe:

Cook the lo mein noodles according to the directions on the package (make sure you get a solid pasta pot; it should hold a couple quarts of water at least)

While the water's coming to a boil....

• Set a good-sized skillet over medium-high heat
• Add a couple tablespoons of olive oil (you've got olive oil, right? Nothing fancy, just the regular stuff)
• Once it reaches temperature, add the onions and sweat them for about three minutes
• Then add the mushrooms and sauté them with the onions for about another three minutes

Quick hint: Storing mushrooms can be problematic. They contain a rainy season's worth of moisture and can turn on you without a moment's notice. I've found the best way to store mushrooms is to take them out of their container, wrap them loosely in paper towels and then stow them in a brown paper bag. On the counter is fine for a couple days at least. Probably.

• Once the mushrooms have given up some of their moisture, add the cream and some of the beef broth
• stir slowly and add in the flour (make sure to sprinkle it slowly, stirring the whole time. If you just dump in the lot, it'll clump on you. Essentially, you're making a gravy, and no one likes lumpy gravy)
• Use the remaining beef broth to get the sauce to a consistency you like and add salt and pepper to taste

About this time, the noodles should be done. Drain them, and go ahead and reduce the sauce's heat source to low. Slice the steak thin and go ahead and zap in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Again, we don't want to cook it further if we can at all avoid it. Plate along side the noodles and lightly drizzle (or drench) each with the mushroom sauce. Ta da! (nearly) Instant comfort food!

Don't be afraid to make additions. I think some diced roasted red peppers would have been a terrific complement, in both color and flavor, but I was dealing with pantry food. I had to settle for some olives and capers to give the dish a tepenadish zing.

What to pair it with?
Wine was made for this kind of meal. Seriously. Wine's tannins serve to cleanse the palate after each sumptuous mouthful, and each mouthful serves the prep the palate for wine's complex flavors. The dish I ended up with would stand up to all but the heaviest wines. But with leftovers, you don't often have the luxury of choosing what you'll end with, so you want versatility. Enter Rex Goliath's merlot.

I've talked on occasion about RG's pinot noir--arguably one of the best wine values on the shelf--and decided to give one of their other varietals a try. I wasn't disappointed.

From the wine maker:

We really love this wine. Soft, supple, and complex. There is a certain elegance to this wine that fits our vision of the perfect Merlot: Pretty and seductive with a decidedly spicy nose of black cherry, cassis and cedar. Very ripe and round, almost like a Jolly Rancher candy. Mouth-filling flavors of plums, cherries and wild red berries dominate from start to finish. Good seam of acidity paired with soft tannins make this a wonderful wine for game fowl such as pheasant or duck. Try a nicely roasted Rock Cornish Game Hen...yum!