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

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!

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/