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A Guide to Wine and Dessert Pairings

So how to figure out what wine to pick with dessert? There are three factors to consider: acidity (an acidic wine may pair best with a fruit dish, which also has natural acidity), intensity (the more intense the flavors of a dessert, the more intense the wine), and sweetness (a dessert wine should be sweeter than the dessert itself).

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6 Comments | Posted by Kara Newman, April 23, 2010 at 3:15 PM
Tagged: caramel, chocolate, desserts, pies, Serious Grape, wine, wine pairings

Blogwatch: Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp (Tom Rim)

This Vietnamese caramel shrimp recipe from Closet Cooking is the perfect opportunity to try your hand at using caramel in a savory dish. "Simmering or braising in nuoc mau (Vietnamese caramel sauce) is fairly common in Vietnamese cuisine." Kevin, the blog's proprietor, uses a relatively simple recipe to make the caramel and sauté the shrimp. Once you make the caramel, the dish comes together in less than ten minutes. Follow Kevin's example and serve it over coconut jasmine rice so it soaks up all that salty-sweet saucy goodness....

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1 Comment | Posted by Grace Kang, February 10, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Tagged: Blogwatch, caramel, Closet Cooking, shrimp, Vietnamese

Blogwatch: Caramel Toffee Cheesecake

Hayley, of Buff Chickpea, sought to re-create a caramel cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory for her friend's birthday, but I think she one-upped them and made something that looks better than anything I've ever had from the place. Using a recipe from Genesis of a Cook, she succeeded in baking something that "stole the show." With pieces of toffee dotting the creamy interior and a layer of homemade caramel dripping down the sides, there's enough here for everyone....

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1 Comment | Posted by Grace Kang, January 26, 2009 at 8:00 AM
Tagged: Blogwatch, Buff Chickpea, caramel, cheesecakes, toffee

Nuoc Mao: The Essential Vietnamese Sauce

Barbara Fisher of Tigers and Strawberries on Nuoc Mau, the essential Vietnamese sauce: "It is what gives depth of flavor and color to kno dishes, which are earthy, homey braises of meats, tofu or seafood. Salty with fish sauce, these dishes are meant to be eaten with plenty of rice, but the salt flavor is balanced by the smoke-tinged sweetness of this home made, darkly browned caramel sauce." She provides both a recipe for Nuoc Mao and a step-by-step walkthrough with photos, to make preparation of this "simple, but not easy staple of the Vietnamese kitchen" as painless as possible....

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Post a Comment | Posted by Lia Bulaong, April 13, 2007 at 7:59 AM
Tagged: caramel, recipes, Vietnamese