Chardonnay and TV Dreams Revisited

My last post reminded me of another meal that was thrown together out of slight desperation. When I had planned to make lamb to go with the Twisted Oak Spaniard–to no avail–I had to regroup and rethink. Without much else in the fridge, I opted to grill up some chicken and apple sausages. With an unmarked Chardonnay (courtesy of the cellar rat, from the Santa Cruz Mountains) already chilled, I decided to highlight the slightly creamy flavor of the wine with the sides. Therefore, two dipping sauces for the sausage. 1) Honey mustard 2) A quick mix of apples heated with cream cheese and lemon juice The first one highlighted the minerality and cream, and the second picked up on the apple and citrus flavors. I also made a potato salad using dijon mustard, olives, green onions, and lots of lemon juice (from my Meyer lemon tree). What started out as a disaster really turned into a great pairing. I’ve actually been finding that to be the case lately. When I’m forced to come up with a meal on the fly, I pay more attention to the flavors in the wine, trying to compensate for the lack of planning. Success in a pinch.

Which brings me back to my dreams of a television show based on cooking and wine….