Hosting a wine tasting of cabernets Wednesday night for a small party of 4-6. Need some menu ideas/inspiration.

Protein options are pork loin chops, ribeye steaks, New York strip steaks, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, venison tenderloins, 4 whole quail, lots of quail legs.

Vegetable options are sweet potatoes, onions, red potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, cucumbers, baby spring mix, and tons of jalapenos.

Go.

Are you looking for dishes that will pair well with the wines, or make the best dish out of what I have?

Either. Can be apps or composed dish.

I love cabs and jalapeños. But I don't see how eating a bunch of peppers isn't gonna wreck your wine tasting.

What cabs?

Quote:

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2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
All fruit from both the Texas High Plains and the Texas Hill Country
Typically found only in distribution in retail stores throughout the state of Texas

2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Wilmeth Vineyards
DOUBLE GOLD Medal - 2019 San Francisco Int'l Wine Competition
Gold Medal - 2020 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
Canada Family Vineyards
DOUBLE GOLD Medal / Reserve Class Champion / Texas Class Champion - 2021 HLSR Int't Wine Competition
Silver Medal - 2021 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

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Husband requested home made pizza, so pizza it is.

eat what you want, but for my palate pizza with tannic red wine can be pretty awful if you use tomato sauce on the pizza due to the acidity in the tomato sauce

I'm sure that's just me, but thought I'd throw it out there.

the quail and steaks makes the most sense to my palate

no seafood at all?

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I'm sure that's just me, but thought I'd throw it out there.

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Nope, not just you. But it can work, e.g. take a sip of water after pizza a bites. Not so much about the wine complementing the food, but just enjoying each for what they are.

just saw the 180 from meat to pizza.

And honestly for wine evaluation (as opposed to just enjoying) I prefer no food at all.

i'm still not sure I even understand what the original question was. Since "chopped" was thrown in the topic, i initially thought they were cooking with with wines, but i guess it was supposed to be pick ingredients from a list to make a dish and then pair with the wines? That just sounds like dinner and a wine tasting to me.

I've done a chopped party before, but each person was given their specific ingredients and their meal course (app, main, dessert). All options drawn from a hat. You got your info the afternoon of, and had to bring your dish that evening. Then we all voted on the best dish(es).

either way, hard to have a bad time with food, friends, and wine.

I did one of those at my BIL's and SIL's place one evening. Showed up for a game night, and they told me I had 30 minutes to make a dinner with what they had on hand. If I could do it, I got $100. I had five extra minutes to go through everything and come up with a plate. I was literally finished wiping the edge of the plate when the time ran out.

HTownAg98 said:

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I did one of those at my BIL's and SIL's place one evening. Showed up for a game night, and they told me I had 30 minutes to make a dinner with what they had on hand. If I could do it, I got $100. I had five extra minutes to go through everything and come up with a plate. I was literally finished wiping the edge of the plate when the time ran out.

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that sounds pretty effed to do to family.

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that sounds pretty effed to do to family.

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Yeah. Well... You don't know HTownAg98.

touche

It was all in fun, and I had nothing to lose.