Parties and Pairings with Quady: Unique pairings for your holiday party

Tis’ the season for Holiday parties! While we love the traditional dishes served during this time of year, it’s fun to switch things up by offering some creative small bites and wine pairings to your party guests.

Here at Quady winery we like to add a little bit of sweetness to every occasion, so we’ve come up with three easy yet delicious pairings that feature a sweet component while capturing the holiday spirit and inspiring your guests to eat, drink, and be merry.

 

Sweet and savory pairing: Vya Sweet and Spiced Cranberry Cauliflower Fritters

 

This pairing is packed full of holidays flavors and different textures! Vya Sweet Vermouths base wine is a blend of white, orange muscat, and port wine; giving it a subtle hint of orange flavor and a velvety robust texture. It is then hand infused with ginger, cardamom, clove, and other herbs to give it depth and a Christmas cooking-like essence, making it a delicious complement to the zesty sweetness of the spiced cranberry jam and smokiness of the crispy bacon. The richness of the goat cheese and fritter add a creamy dimension of texture that is well met by the velvety characteristics in Vya Sweet’s base wine.

 

 

Ingredients

3 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

smoked bacon, for garnish

spiced cranberry jam

goat cheese

3.5 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth

1/2 large head of cauliflower, florets finely chopped (2 cups)

1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for frying

1. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the cauliflower and cook for 2 minutes. Drain well, then spread the cauliflower on a paper towel–lined baking sheet to cool.
2. In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 teaspoon of salt with the baking powder, pepper and Vya Sweet Vermouth. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt at high speed. Fold in the cauliflower and the Vya Sweet Vermouth mixture.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet. Very lightly oil the skillet. Drop tablespoons of the fritter batter into the skillet and cook over moderately high heat until browned on the bottom(approximately 2 minutes). Reduce the heat to moderate and cook until browned on the other side(approximately two minutes). Transfer the fritters to a drying rack lined with paper towel. Repeat with the remaining batter. Coat the skillet with oil as needed.
4. Garnish each fritter with 1/2 teaspoon of goat’s cheese, a dab of spiced cranberry jam, and a small piece of bacon

Party planning tip: Make the fritters earlier in the day and kept at room temperature. Pre-heat oven to 350. Place in oven for two minutes, garnish and serve.

Sweet and Salty pairing: Red Electra and Smoked Trout and Chive Cream Cheese Toasts

 

This pairing marries sweet and salty well and is perfect if you are looking for a light yet flavorful appetizer offering.

Red Electra Moscato features a blend of both orange and black muscat wine, both rare varietals. It has a punchy cherry, berry flavor and little bit of sparkle.   These flavors brighten the pallet and soften the salt edge of smoked trout. The sparkles in Red Electra elevate the creaminess of the chive and shallot cream cheese, making this pairing divine.

Ingredients

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 small shallot, minced

1 tablespoon chopped chives, plus 1-inch lengths, for garnish

1-tablespoon fresh lemon juice

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 large baguette, cut into thin slices

1/2 pound skinless smoked trout fillet, coarsely chopped

1. In a bowl, combine the cream cheese, shallot, chopped chives, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Spread the baguette with the caper cream cheese. Top with the smoked trout, garnish with the chive pieces and serve.

 

Sweet and floral pairing: Deviation and English Toffee

This decadent pairing will tantalize your taste buds and put you and your guests in a jolly mood. Deviation is a delicious wine that was inspired by a dream Andy Quady had, in which he created a love potion. The wine’s base is Orange Muscat, which gives it a lovely burst of orange blossom flavors, and is steeped with rose geranium and damiana, which gives it a tea-like floral quality. When paired together, Deviation and the English toffee create a symphony of delightful flavor that is truly meant to be experienced rather than described. Trust us… it’s  good!

Ingredients

1 lb. butter

1 lb. sugar = 2 ¼ c. sugar

2 ½ c. chopped almonds (1 cup for topping)

1 bag chocolate chips

 

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy kettle, cook over medium heat. Cook to “hard crack” (300ﹾ), using a candy thermometer stirring constantly. When done pour on a large cookie sheet – jelly roll type, spread to edges. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips about 8 to 12 oz. spread to cover and sprinkle top with finely ground almonds. Press lightly with hand. When cool and chocolate is set (2 – 3 hours) break into pieces.

 

Fun fact: This English toffee recipe is from Terri Prosperi. Terri and Denis Prosperi are our primary grape growers for our Orange Muscat.

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