Hi Everyone,

You’ll remember last time I provided you with some of my favorite books about pairing wines with food. Well, this week I wanted to share some of my favorite wine pairing websites. I think these are really useful in better understanding wine and food pairings, but also a lot of them offer free recipes as well. So here are Grace Lavinder’s top 5 wine pairing websites:

1.DrinkWine offers simple advice for succesfully pairing wine with food. Their take? There are no rules! It’s all about personal taste and preference. If it tastes good to you, that’s the important part. I love that.

2. This interactive food and wine pairing guide lets you pick your meat/seafood, seasonings and other ingredients, then provides suggestions. Pretty cool!

3. Lisa Shea over at Wine Intro.com has done a great job in creating easy to read wine and food pairing charts as well as provides menu suggestions. Thanks Lisa!

4. Pairing cheeses and wines can be complex, but really fun. The Gourmet Sleuth is very clear, easy to navigate and provides loads of info on pairing suggestions for over 60 different types of cheese.

5. Pairing wine with chocolate is still considered controversial in some wine circles. My take is that chocolate is great, wine is better, so why not combine two wonderful things? It’s all about pairing the right wine and chocolate, and you know what? Viridian Pinot Noir goes great with dark chocolate everything. This guide on chocolate and wine pairing is good for an in depth introduction.

So onto the recipe for today…

When I was telling a friend about my new wine pairing knowledge and how much fun I am having trying out new recipes, she said, “I have just the thing! My mother made this for us all the time when I was growing up and she in turn got the recipe from a Swedish woman she met while in college in the 1950s.” This recipe is super easy, comforting and can be made low fat by using low, or fat-free sour cream. Served with a salad and either some rice, plain buttered noodles or even bread, it is a simple meal but a terrific one for the fall and winter months. Made with Viridian Pinot Gris, believe it or not it also pairs well with Viridian’s Pinot Noir too. Enjoy!

Inga’s Swedish Chicken

3 CHICKEN BREAST, SPLIT OR 6 LARGE PIECES (skin on)
1/4 CUP CHOPPED SHALLOTS OR YELLOW ONION
1 CUP VIRIDIAN PINOT GRIS
4 OR MORE TABLESPOONS BUTTER or COOKING OIL (TO BROWN CHICKEN)
1/4 POUND FRESH MUSHROOMS, SLICED
1 CUP SOUR CREAM (CAN USE NON-FAT or LOW-FAT)
1-2 GREEN ONIONS, CHOPPED
SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE

DIRECTIONS:

Season and flour chicken. In a large frying pan, so the chicken isn’t too crowded, brown chicken in oil or butter over medium heat (Can also broil or grill chicken until golden if you like, turning so that it browns evenly).

Add onions or shallots to the pan and wine to the pan and let simmer. (If using broiled or grilled chicken, add chicken, onions or shallots and wine to a large skillet and bring to a simmer).

Lower flame and let barely simmer for 20 minutes. If too much wine evaporates, add more or add some stock or water.

Add sliced mushrooms and chopped green onions. Let simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until mushrooms are cooked through.

Add sour cream and stir to coat the chicken and mushrooms.

Transfer to a serving dish and serve sprinkled with parsley, if you like.

Serves 4.