A good wine and food pairing will enhance our dining experience as well as our palates. Finding the right wine to accompany your dinner, taste buds, and price range can be a fun and rewarding hobby. There are so many to choose from and discovering a new favorite that you will savor for years to come is worth the effort!

Tuna and Salmon, for instance, typically work well with a Pino Noir, Merlot, or Zinfandel. The fruity and fresh taste of these wines tend to tone down the fishy taste of these types of fish.

Shellfish, such as crab and lobster, pairs well with a Sauvignon Blanc, or a Pinot Gris. These wines bring out the distinct nuttiness of the fish and will elevate the taste of your dish.

Many of us think of champagne as a drink to celebrate an occasion, but surprisingly, it pairs well with Fried Chicken, Scrambled Eggs, Nuts, and snacks such as Popcorn and Potato chips. Mushroom dishes, Risotto, Pasta, and Cheeseboards all work beautifully with a glass of bubbly.

Chicken and pork, “The other White Meat,” share many of the same wines that will enhance the poultry and pork flavors. Some you might like to try are; Chardonnay, Shiraz, and Merlot. Lighter red wines with good acidity can also make a delicious alternative for chicken dishes as well as for pork. The basic principle is you don’t want to overpower the meat.

Beef can be paired with a more robust wine such as Malbec, Shiraz, Merlot, Burgundy, and you can never go wrong with a Cabernet Sauvignon. A nice sweet Zinfandel also works well with many of the lighter beef dishes.

Pizza generally goes well with most reds. Some that come to mind are; Grenache, Chianti, Lambrusco, and of course, the always popular Pino Noir, which pairs well with most foods. A Dry Rose can also be an excellent choice for pizza that has a lighter crust and is topped with Seafood, Salad, or Vegetables. Chardonnay works well here too as it plays into the creaminess of your Pizza and enhances the flavor.

Pasta has a wide range of wines that pair well with it because of its versatility. Pasta dishes can be topped with just about anything. Some good wines to try with Pasta are; Riesling, Merlot, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, which again plays into the creaminess of your Pasta dish, and Sangiovese, which is highly tannic and very fruity, especially going well with a tomato-based pasta as well as a Pesto-based dish.

These are just a few of the many choices of wine out there for you to sample and savor. The most important rule of thumb in finding the right wine to pair with your meal is there are no rules at all! If you want to have a light and fruity Pino Grigio with your beef stew, well go right ahead and enjoy it! There are so many different types of wine out there to choose from that will fit every budget. Some of the best tasting wines I’ve discovered were well under twenty dollars.

Experiment and create your own flavor story. I must confess; I like Pino Noir and Champagne with just about everything! Until we meet again for my next Food and Wine Column and the story behind it, right here in the City Insight Magazine! Please visit me at Foodytv; for my new cooking show; Food for Thought; Cook for Home Cooks. Happy New Year!

Nancy DeRosa’s women’s fiction; “Food for Thought; First Course, Second Course, and Just Desserts, by Black Opal books are available wherever books are sold. Her cooking show, Food for Thought; “Home Cook for Home Cooks,” is premiering soon on Starbaby TV, and will be available on any Screen. You can check out a few of Nancy Dee’s cooking segments “Food for Thought”, on Foodytv, and Footprinttv. www.derosabooks.com

None of us really know what even next week will bring. And although we may feel more isolated than ever, we are in this together. We will get through these difficult times and find ways to alleviate our anxiety and fear.. 

I alleviate stress by cooking. There’s something about following a recipe, slicing, and dicing, that gives my mind a brief respite from the uncertainty that’s in our world today. There’s also something comforting about delicious aromas wafting throughout your kitchen that soothes the soul and lifts your spirits.

“Chicken Annabella”,  is just the dish to fill you up in these anxious times. A great combination of flavors that’s both sweet and savory and is delicious served hot, or a room temperature. This recipe can be doubled and tripled to drop off to a neighbor that is ill or has difficulty getting to a food store.

Food is the common bond that binds us all, we all come to the table to share a meal and in these trying times of social isolation, a comforting meal eaten at home with your family along with an extra tray of “Chicken Annabella”, dropped off to someone who is alone, will feed more than their tummies, we are spreading the love. A meal dropped off to someone who is housebound is serving up more than a hot meal, it is conveying; we may be apart for now, but we are still sharing the same delicious meal together, you are not alone.

Chicken Annabella

• Preparation time: 20 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 8 to 10 servings

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place flour in plastic bag. Add chicken in 2 to 3 batches to coat pieces.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in large skillet and saute half of chicken until nicely browned. Remove with slotted spoon. Brown remaining chicken in additional 2 tablespoons of oil. 
4. Place browned chicken in oven proof pot of casserole. Mix in garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, Spanish olives, capers, bay leaves, brown sugar and white wine.
5. Bake covered for 1 hour and 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sauce will thicken. Add more wine, water or chicken broth, if necessary.