Cooking Chat

This Salmon with Pesto and Orzo is a good recipe for when the weather gets warm and the fresh basil rolls into the local markets. We've enjoyed it with a variety of white Italian wine pairings.

https://cookingchatfood.com/orzo-salmon-and-pesto

Had to share some more of the photos from our visit to Banyuls-sur-Mer!

This small town on France's Côte Vermeille produces some distinctive wines, with views to match. Terracotta rooftops, a pebble beach, steep vineyard terraces, and tasting rooms where nobody pressures you to buy anything. Just great wine and genuine hospitality, along with rugged hills and a wonderful views of the Mediterranean. Get all the details in our new article:

https://cookingchatfood.com/banyuls-sur-mer-wine/

Banyuls-sur-Mer is a great under the radar French wine travel destination! Especially in the off season.

Very glad we added a side trip to this French coastal town to our Spain trip, when we realized it wasn't too far from the border. Just posted an article about our visit, including some fun winery discovery adventures, excellent food and great views.

https://cookingchatfood.com/banyuls-sur-mer-wine/

We did some tasty cooking last weekend, but the wine dinner we attended at The Inn at Hastings Park was definitely our foodie highlight of the week!

The theme was “North Meets South,” featuring Susana Balbo Wines from Argentina paired with a menu thoughtfully curated by Chef Cory Williams, showcasing locally sourced ingredients. The wines were presented by Ana Lovaglio Balbo, daughter of Susana Balbo, Argentina’s first female winemaker.

I especially enjoyed the bibb salad paired with a white blend of Torrontés, Sauvignon Blanc, and Sémillon. The wine’s complex layers of flavor complemented the variety of fresh produce in the dish—including pineberries, which were a first for me! Jodi notes the compressed melon amuse-bouche was pretty amazing, paired with a rosé.

My favorite wine of the evening was the Susana Balbo Signature Limited Edition Blanco de Gualtallary 2023, which demonstrated that Torrontés can produce outstanding, complex white wines when grown in the right conditions and crafted with care.

One surprise: we had to wait until dessert for our first Malbec at an Argentine wine dinner. But no one was complaining!

I almost missed the fact that Monday happened to be , until I noticed a post from .

We definitely enjoyed some good wine over the holiday weekend, including Monday. My favorite was the Grignolino, a light red wine from the Piedmont. Very good with our salmon & mushrooms! Another excellent Berman’s Wine Club selection.

Monday we opened a Chilean Sparkling Pais from , a very interesting and refreshing wine. More details on that to come.

Keeping with the Spanish theme I’ve been leaning into, we also enjoyed a glass of Rioja over at Matadora.

Jodi & I have been continuing our exploration of good wine bar options north of Boston, and I realized I never posted about our visit to Sogno earlier this month. Time to correct that!

Sogno is certainly a great spot for a full meal, but they also have a nice bar area with good apps and a solid selection of Italian wines by the glass.

At the recommendation of our friendly server, we went with the prosciutto bruschetta — definitely a good call. It paired nicely with the Hofstätter Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige. Next time, I might try a Prosecco pairing, which I suspect would work even better.

We also shared a glass of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Ever since visiting that wonderful region on a wine trip a few years ago, it’s become a red I tend to gravitate toward at Italian restaurants.

This was a fun wine 🍷 trip!

My Facebook memories that back on 2018 on this date, I was enjoying some great wine 🍷 in a beautiful setting - Abruzzo! On an informative press trip that helped me gain greater appreciation for this Italian wine region on the Adriatic coast.

Just posted our easy recipe for cooking Denver steak, a tender and delicious cut! Excellent topped with a simple BBQ sauce, and paired with a good red wine - such as the Dineen Vineyards Yakima Valley Syrah that we opened.

I first came across Denver steak via our Walden Local Meat Co. share. Definitely worth a try! Get all the details in our latest Cooking Chat post.

https://cookingchatfood.com/denver-steak-recipe/

This Leftover Steak Pasta recipe is a delicious way to use the leftovers from a bone-in steak meal using porterhouse or ribeye.

The dish is excellent paired with a Lagrein red wine from Italy’s Alto Adige – Südtirol region!

https://cookingchatfood.com/leftover-steak-pasta/