Suggested Wine For A Sweet Tagine

You need a wine that is not quite completely dry, otherwise it would be like having champagne with dessert ;-)

And you need a wine with plenty of acidity to cut through, yes.

My choice would be a Loire white near dry with lots of warmth, a Chateau Pierre Bise for example, very aromatic with almost botrytis character, huge alcohol and acidity and sugar at the very limit of dry.

A spatlese Riesling from Germany with very ripe, rich fruit and good acidity.

"Ken Sternberg" skrev i melding news:2005120823294758696-ksternberg@acmorg...

My thought went to a bottle of Bacharacher Post Riesling Spätlese halbtrocken 2003 that I'm having in the cellar. A ripe rich year, a somewhat more weighty wine than a Mosel (this is Mittelrhein), some sweetness but not too much and plenty fruit and minerals, and for the year a surprisingly lively acidity. (Ratzenberger - 87 points, a very good one) Anders

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful and helpful suggestions!!

Rand

A moscato d'asti with single digit alcohol. (peachy) Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco or Malvasia Di Casorzo d'Asti(berries)

similarly a spatlese from Germany or Austria would work as well a vouvray from the Loire.

I was hoping to read about some of the suggestions but haven't seen any posted. Is it just me?

And Rand... could you share your recipe with us?

Thanks,

Monika

Monika;

Your wish is my command. Below is my version of the Tagine Chicken with Apricots and the accompanying rice. As a side note, a couscous should be the accompanying starch but I had a guest who is wheat intolerant. I chose arborio rice since it has a higher starch content than say, basmati. The results were spectacular!

Rand

Tagine Chicken with Apricots

-about 6 lbs of chicken pieces

-2 large yellow onions

-2 sticks of butter

-1/2 tsp turmeric

-1 tsp black pepper

-2 cinnamon sticks

-1 lb dried apricots (I used unsulphured apricots....browner and not as pretty but substantially healthier with no worry of allergies)

-8 tbsp honey (I use much more, for a sweeter and less liquid sauce)

-2 tsp ground cinnamon

-1/2 tbsp slivered almonds

-1 tbsp sesame seeds

-oil

In a large pot, melt the butter. Fry the chopped onions until soft, and add the chicken, salt, pepper, turmeric and cinnamon sticks. Add enough water to cover the chicken, about two cups. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until the chicken is done, adding water if necessary. Remove the chicken pieces.

Add the apricots and simmer for about fifteen minutes. Add the ground cinnamon and the honey, stir and cook until the sauce has a honey-like consistency. Add more honey if necessary.

When the sauce is almost ready, sautee the almonds in oil. Drain most of the oil from the pan, and toast the sesame seeds.

Return the chicken to the pot and re-heat. Place chicken in a serving sheet, pour sauce on top of it and top with almonds and sesame seeds.

Instead of returning the chicken to the pot, I spread it on a cookie sheet and put it in the over at about 200F drizzling the sauce over the chicken. The results were deliciously sticky.

Arborio Rice with Toasted Almonds and Sesame Seeds

Makes 4 servings

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

- 1 small sweet onion, finely chopped

- 1 1/3 cups arborio rice

- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 2 teaspoons tomato paste

- 2 2/3 cups vegetable broth

- ½ teaspoon salt

- 3 tablespoons slivered almonds

-1 tablespoon sesame seeds

- 1 teaspoon rose water (available at any Middle East, Indian store or gourmet grocery stores

- Freshly ground black pepper

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté 5 minutes or until translucent. Add rice and stir until the rice begins to turn golden. Add cinnamon and stir for 30 seconds.
2. Whisk together tomato paste and broth. Pour over the rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, toast almonds in a small skillet with a spash of olive oil over medium heat about 4 minutes or until fragrant and lightly browned. Add sesame seeds about a minute before the almonds are done. Immediately remove from heat.
4. Remove rice from heat. Stir nuts, rose water and pepper into rice, cover and set aside 5 minutes

Thank you!