This Throwback Thursday photo comes from a trip we took to Italy for our second wedding anniversary. We spent two weeks traveling through some of Italy’s beloved, historical regions and sampled alot of great wine along the way. One morning in Florence I woke up early, a factor of the time change definitely NOT my normal inclination, and was rewarded with this view... Read More
The post Throwback Thursday: Sunrise in Florence! appeared first on The Glamorous Gourmet.
For the next installment in our frozen Summertime Sweets series, which has included a mouth-watering Mango & Rose Water Sorbet and a delightful Strawberry & Pistachio Semifreddo, I'm happy to share a cocktail recipe with you for the Hop, Skip & Go Naked. Like the other recipes, this drink is perfect for beating the Summer heat and in case you haven't created any lasting Summer memories, this drink is sure to help. Just a warning though, it may not be the wholesome, family memories you were hoping for!
Kidding aside, this cocktail is imminently icy, refreshing and the most beautiful bubble gum pink. But don't be fooled by the innocuous color - it did get it's name for a reason! The combination of vodka, light beer and pink lemonade goes down remarkably easy and while the flavor combination may sound strange, the citrusy flavor of the pink lemonade masks the beer and vodka and the delightfully frosty texture makes it almost impossible to put down. While there are many different versions of this cocktail, I love the one from Susan Branch's "The Summer Book," one of my favorite cookbooks ever! All of Susan's cookbooks are works of art in and of themselves, featuring her watercolor drawings and beautiful, hand-written script throughout and her recipes are always fabulous.
This drink is perfect for a Summer soirée by the pool with friends. Just find some whimsical glasses (preferably clear so you can see the color of the drink), whip up a batch of Hop Skips and serve your guests and/or family on a tray decorated with flowers from your own backyard - it's really that easy!
In case you're still dubious about the idea of mixing beer with lemonade and vodka, you can substitute 1/3 cup Moscato d'Asti (we like these) for the 2/3 cup light beer and use a vanilla vodka instead of regular. This version is slightly sweeter but it is still "can't-put-it-down" delicious. Why not try both versions and YOU be the judge? No matter which version you try, I hope you enjoy the Hop, Skip & Go Naked as much as we do and have fun creating your own fun Summer memories!Cheers,
Cocktail Couture: Hop, Skip & Go Naked!
Recipe Type: Cocktail
Author:
Serves: Approx. 4 drinks
Adapted from Susan Branch's "The Summer Book"
Ingredients
For the next installment in our frozen Summertime Sweets series, which has included a mouth-watering Mango & Rose Water Sorbet and a delightful Strawberry & Pistachio Semifreddo, I’m happy to share a cocktail recipe with you for the Hop, Skip & Go Naked. Like the other recipes, this drink is perfect for beating the Summer heat and in case you haven’t created any lasting Summer memories, this drink is... Read More
The post Cocktail Couture: Hop, Skip & Go Naked! appeared first on The Glamorous Gourmet.
In the blazing heat of Summer, there's something sacrilegious about cranking up a hot oven. No, my friend, Summers are for cooking over an open flame and there's a LOT of delicious fun to be had with a cast iron pan and/or grill. And while I love me some juicy steaks and burgers, one of my favorite things to cook during the Summer is fruit.This recipe for Seared Halloumi, Caramelized Peach and Cherry Salad incorporates some of my favorite flavors of Summer and, in keeping with my "Fast & Fabulous" series, it can easily be prepared in about thirty minutes. As always, I have a delicious wine pairing to enjoy with this salad, a delightful Chardonnay from California's Sonoma Coast.
Hands down, two of my favorite Summer ingredients are peaches and cherries. There's nothing like the fragrant aroma of a perfectly ripe peach, not to mention the delightful, cutting board-staining red cherry juice, the inevitable byproduct of pitting.I'm also just a little infatuated with halloumi cheese, a Greek, semi-soft, brined cheese made from a mixture of goat and sheep's milk. In this salad, the arugula provides a lovely, peppery contrast to the sweetness of the caramelized fruit while the salty tang of the halloumi cheese rounds out the flavors and textures nicely.When it comes to a wine pairing, there's just something about the way Chardonnay pairs with arugula that I adore and the Failla Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a wonderful wine to illustrate this combination. Unlike many overly oaked Chardonnays, this wine has just a kiss of oak that synergizes beautifully with the spice of the greens, and its fruit harmonizes perfectly with the flavors of the cheese, peaches and cherries.
Failla Winery is one of our favorites and a labor of love for its owners, husband and wife team, Ehren Jordan and Anne-Marie Failla. While there first vintage debuted in 1998 as Failla-Jordan (they had to drop the "Jordan" over a legal dispute), their first estate release was still years away. Jordan's passion for winemaking led him to an internship in France's Rhône Valley and then back to California where he worked with the legendary Helen Turley at Marcassin and then Turley Wine Cellars before starting Failla.Today, the couple's fourteen acres of estate vineyards are largely dedicated to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah that capture the essence of California's coolest wine making regions. This small production winery produces beautifully balanced, food friendly wines that are definitely worth seeking out, however, in the event you're unable to find this particular wine, ask your local wine shop for a food-friendly, California Chardonnay from a cooler region with a nice balance of fruit and oak.I hope you enjoy this recipe for Seared Halloumi, Caramelized Peach and Cherry Salad as much as we do! Please scroll for the recipe and for more installments of my "Fast & Fabulous" series that features thirty minute recipes complete with wine pairings, please click here. Thanks so much for stopping by and Happy Summer!Cheers,
"Fast & Fabulous: Seared Halloumi, Caramelized Peach & Cherry Salad"
Author:
Serves: 4
Serve with a Sonoma Coast Chardonnay like the one from Failla featured in this post!
Ingredients
One of the things I love most about what I do is discovering the blogs of other passionate foodies and I’m happy to share a new found favorite! This delicious recipe for Seared Halloumi, Caramelized Peach & Cherry Salad is from Heather of the Flourishing Foodie. In this recipe Heather beautifully incorporates some of my favorite flavors of Summer and, in keeping with our “Fast & Fabulous” series, this dish can easily... Read More
The post Fast & Fabulous: Seared Halloumi, Caramelized Peach & Cherry Salad & a Sonoma Coast Chardonnay! appeared first on The Glamorous Gourmet.
Our latest Wine Word of the Week is solera which refers to a system of fractional blending and aging associated primarily with fortified wines (i.e. Sherry, Madeira, Port) and non-vintage sparkling wine (i.e. Champagne). The purpose of the solera is to produce wines with a consistent "house style" rather than exhibiting the nuances of vintage variation which is most commonly seen in the majority of wines sold in the US today.A solera system is comprised of a set of casks or barrels arranged in tiers which contain different vintages of the same type of wine. The word "solera," taken from the Latin "solum" meaning "floor," literally refers to the lowest level of casks which contains the oldest wine, while the youngest wine is located in the top tier. In this dynamic system, older vintages of wine are partially removed (5-30%) for bottling and the casks are then "topped off" with wine from the cask above it which contains a younger wine. Over time the wines assimilate in the cask and the younger wine takes on the desirable characteristics of the older one. This barrel replenishment occurs all the way up until the first tier of barrels is topped up with the current vintage's wine.Today the use of the solera is quite rare, occurring almost exclusively in the traditional regions mentioned above. This is likely due to the method's cost and time intensive nature, since a large portion of wine remains in the solera system for years before making its way into the market, not to mention the actual cost and number of casks required.Thanks for checking out our latest Wine Word of the Week and to see previous “words,” please click here. If there’s a wine word you’d like to learn more about, please leave it in the comment section below – we’d love to hear from you.Cheers,d956b5eb81359cf3a5075344f1333b6b28f4b4e8a72586a373
Our latest Wine Word of the Week is solera which refers to a system of fractional blending and aging associated primarily with fortified wines (i.e. Sherry, Madeira, Port) and non-vintage sparkling wine (i.e. Champagne). The purpose of the solera is to produce wines with a consistent “house style” rather than exhibiting the nuances of vintage variation which is most commonly seen in the majority of wines sold in the US... Read More
The post Wine Word of the Week: “Solera” appeared first on The Glamorous Gourmet.
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