Wine Friendly Recipes Perfect For The Big Game! - The Williamsburg Winery

Wine Friendly Recipes Perfect For The Big Game!


If you haven’t heard, there’s a rather important football game down in Atlanta this Sunday! To celebrate this special, American tradition, Chef David has created two wine-friendly dishes inspired by the hometowns of each team playing in the Big Game. For the LA fans, you’ll love his Pork Belly Tostadas, and for the New England fans, make sure to scroll down for his Crispy Cod Sliders. If you’re indifferent and just want to have a deliciously good time, watch an entertaining game, eat great food and drink great wines, check out both recipes 🙂 Our team has paired up each dish with a Williamsburg Winery wine as well as another wine from around the world. Cheers!

Pork Belly Tostadas

For Pork Belly: 3lbs pork belly 24 ounces local IPA (Chef David suggests Virginia Beer Company’s Free Verse IPA) 5 shallots 1 cup garlic cloves, crushed 3 rosemary sprigs 2 quarts filtered water 2 tsp paprika 2 tsp cumin 2 tsp kosher salt 2 tsp black pepper

To make pickled onions: 1 red onion 2 cups filtered water 2 cups white balsamic vinegar (rice wine vinegar can be substituted) ½ cup local honey 2 tsp sugar 2 tsp juniper 2 tsp mustard seed 2 tsp black peppercorn 

Toppings:

corn tortillas

arugula

goat feta

2 tsp cumin

1 cup sour cream

To make pork belly:

Place all ingredients in a medium roasting pan. Wrap with food safe plastic wrap and then foil. Place in a 375-degree oven for 2 hours. Take pork belly out and let cook and dice.

To make pickled onions: Julienne red onion thinly. Set aside in a mixing bowl. Place all other ingredients in a medium size sauce pan, bring to a boil then cut off. Pour over onions and wrap, poking 5 to 6 small holes on top. Let sit for 30 minutes, then leave in refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours. 

In a separate small bowl, add cumin and sour cream, mix until thoroughly combined.

To assemble: Lay out tortillas, layer diced pork belly. Top with arugula, pickled onions, goat feta, and sour cream. Chef David likes garnishing with smoked sea salt and pink or green peppercorns. 

Suggested Wine Paring:

We would recommend a Beaujolais of village quality or better as it would really bring out some awesome flavors with the pork and natural spices with the refreshing herbaciousness of the rosemary. Since we have a sharper onion as a secondary element on the dish, we really want to capitalize on high acid as well. Alternatively, a off-dry Riesling, such as our Governor’s White, would work well to provide some great acidity needed to match the dish, and the elements of the pork could work to contrast the flavors of in the wine.

Crispy Cod Sliders

3lbs cod filets 1 quart buttermilk For breading: 1 quart flour 1/2 cup cornstarch 1 tbl kosher salt 1 tbl black pepper

16 small slider rolls

White Truffle Tartar: 3 cups Dukes Mayo 1/2 cup favorite pickles (chopped in small pieces) 1/2 cup white truffle oil Salt to taste 1 tbl black pepper

CUCUMBER SLAW

1 cucumber 1/2 red onion 1 cup chiffonade basil 1 tsp crushed red pepper flake 1 tbl salt 2 tbl olive oil

For Cod: Cut cod in small bit size pieces. Let soak in buttermilk for 30 minutes. Then mix your breading ingredients together. Drain cod fish from buttermilk. Place codfish one at a time into flour mix, lightly pressing down gently. Let cod sit in flour for 5 to 10 minutes. Heat a pan with olive oil and heat on medium. Once hot lightly fry codfish. Place on a paper towel once done to absorb excess oil, set aside. 

For White Truffle Tartar: Place mayo, pickles, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Mix with hand blender, slowly pour white truffle oil into mayo until fully incorporated. Set aside.

For Cucumber Slaw: First cut the cucumber into 3 cylindrical pieces, then place standing up cutting thin planks. Know you can julienne thin as possible. If you have a mandolin that works best. Now cut ends off onion and follow natural lines on onion, julienne thin as possible. Once done place all ingredients into mixing bowl and toss until mixed. 

To assemble:

Slice buns in half. Set oven to low broil, place slider buns flat side up directly onto oven rack for 1 minute. Allow to cool before assembling slidersPlace cod onto roll, top with white truffle tartar and cucumber slaw. If desired, use small wood skewers or toothpicks to keep from sliding in the big game excitement. Serves 8. 

Suggested Wine Paring:

Sauvignon Blanc all day long – our 2017 Virginia Sauvignon Blanc would be great with this dish… just sayin’! For a more daring pairing try a Marsanne Roussane blend. It’s another acidic wine for sure, but one that tones it down some and brings different flavors to the table meant to accentuate the flavor profile of the white truffle and buttercream. Should you choose this as a pairing, we would recommend focusing on the blend of flavors rather than using the wine as a sharp contrast.  This wine is built to hit that acidity on the head, which is just what the dish deserves. Citrus and green fruit would do well to match the slaw as well complimenting the overall flavor profile of the fish and the breading very well.


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