One of the great things about Beaujolais is that because of its light tannin and body, it’s a very food friendly wine. I’ve got a couple of “catch-ups” with friends this weekend, so I’ve got a couple of times to try some different stuff out with the wines.
Menu 1: Red Chicken Curry
A while back I had a Pakistani mate of mine come over to the flat and he cooked us an absolute fire-breather of a curry. I was pretty happy about it because I was trying to work out the best thing to have with spicy food. I had a big red from Barossa (not doing that again with curry!), an off dry white from Bordeaux (not bad), and the hands down winner, which was a Beaujolais-Villages from the local shop.
So spicy food and Beaujolais seems to work. What better time to try out my new Thermomix and make Red Chicken Curry from scratch.
For the paste:
8 tsp Coriander Seeds (toasted then ground)
8 fresh red chillies
fresh ginger
2 tbsp of ground paprika
10 cloves of garlic
4 limes
4 lemon grass stalks
100ml of vegetable oil
Basically blend everything together except the oil, and then drip in the oil slowly til you’ve got the consistency you’re after.
After that chop up some onions and chicken. Sweat the onions in a pan of vegetable oil, then add your curry paste. 3 minutes of cooking together on a low heat, add a tin of coconut milk, simmer for 10 minutes, then add the chicken pieces and a couple of drops of fish sauce. Basically you just simmer that through til the chicken’s cooked. Job done!
Menu 2: Roast Ham
It’s written on the back of most bottles of Beaujolais that it goes great with charcuterie and roast ham. Well my second dinner of the weekend is Sunday afternoon, so roast ham it is.
Preheat the oven at 160 degrees, and sear the ham in butter in a frying pan on all sides whilst the oven is heating up. Oven cook for an hour or so depending on the size of the ham, and make sure YOU LEAVE IT TO REST for 5 minutes or so after you’ve taken it out.
I’ll serve it up with some buttered cabbage and carrots.
God help my cholesterol, but it’ll be a fun weekend!
Cheers
Other posts in NWTW Week 11:
#NWTW Week 11: Beaujolais from, well…Beaujolais! (includes voting poll)
#NWTW Week 11: Gamay, the grape that goes into Beaujolais
