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Wine doesn't have to break the bank

Photo by Lynn Kessel

This fast, surprisingly elegant salad is topped with sautéed vegetables and chicken strips coated with toasted sesame seeds.

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By LYNN KESSEL

Tribune correspondent

Published: September 23, 2009

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Lynn Kessel

What I know about wine wouldn't fill a Dixie cup.

But that's slowly changing, thanks to Randy Watson, a Tampa-area blogger known as The Wine Whore at www.wine whoreblog.com.

You gotta love the name.

I first "met" Randy when I added his site to my local food-blog roll last May, and now we're Facebook and Twitter buddies.

Every Thursday evening, Randy hosts an hourlong, live Webcast in which he sips and reviews wine as his audience sends instant messages.

The price and value of wines are on just about everyone's mind, including my own. So Randy recently discussed the qualities that make up a good bottle of $8 vino.

Does higher price mean better wine?

"Not necessarily," Randy said. He said it's easy to find decent bottles for $10 or less, many of which are good table wines he called "hidden gems."

His favorite? He likes Sterling Vintner's Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, available almost everywhere and costing about $10 a bottle.

"It has a lot of great character, and definitely tasty for its price point," Randy said.

Everyone has their own opinion, so the best way to find out is to try a bottle, he added. But there are some common things to look for: good color and aroma; no sediment, no metallic taste, and the wine holds its flavor after a sip or two.

As far as food pairing is concerned, Randy's philosophy is that all components of the dish and wine must harmonize, which means no taste, texture or smell should overpower another. He said he pairs wine with almost everything, from comfort food such as mac 'n' cheese to hot dogs.

"Should I be embarrassed to admit" that, he asked. "Maybe so, but for me, it's all part of the job of being the Wine Whore."

I immediately identified with Randy's passion and his avant-garde attitude about pairing food with wine. I savor a glass of wine at dinner with pretty much anything. Some people sip water, but who sits around having a charming meal conversing over a pitcher of H2O?

Apollo Beach resident Ruth Benoit sent me this week's recipe for sesame chicken strips with sauteed mushrooms and cucumbers, served on a bed of baby greens. Cooking cucumbers is hardly new, but it was a first for me. I substituted English cucumber for the Japanese cucumber.

Ruth said she likes to serve this light and low-calorie dinner with a glass of chilled pinot grigio.

SESAME CHICKEN STRIPS DINNER

2 boneless and skinless, chicken breast halves

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon butter

8 ounces medium black olives, pitted

5 large, fresh mushrooms, quartered

2 small Japanese cucumbers, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

3 cups baby spring mix

3 tablespoons blue cheese crumbs

Sea salt

Black pepper

Cut chicken crosswise into 1/2-inch strips. Set aside. Heat a large skillet to medium-high, sprinkle in sesame seeds and then toss and turn until seeds are very brown. Screen or cover the skillet to prevent the seeds from popping out of the pan.

Add olive oil and quickly lay chicken strips one at a time on top of the seeds. Sear each side for one to two minutes. Add butter, quartered mushrooms and black olives, setting aside six olives for garnish; salt and pepper to taste. Saute until mushrooms brown, turning as needed. Cook about 12 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Turn off burner and leave mixture in skillet to rest. Divide baby greens, sprinkled with blue cheese crumbles, onto two dinner plates and top with chicken strips. Garnish side of plate with strips of cucumber and olives.

Serves two.

Lynn Kessel can be reached at lkessel@mac.com. For more recipes, go to south shore.TBO.com and enter the search words Lynn Kessel or look for her blog at www .lynnkessel.blogspot.com.

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