Jun 29th, 2010 by hotinlittlerock
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This weekend we’ll have family and friends at our “Summer Palace,” (we temporarily renamed our place in the country as a result of a recent visit to St. Petersburg). It can get pretty humid here on the river, but the sense of peace and freedom is worth it. This is the time every year when the youth gather at the fairgrounds to show off their livestock, something we want to share with the one-year-old. It promises to be a great weekend.
We’ll be grilling chicken breasts (bone in, skin on) that have been soaking in a marinade of fresh lime juice, honey, and Dijon mustard for about an hour. I’ll leave the grilling details to you, since you know your heat source and preferences. Just be sure to cook the chicken completely. When the chicken comes off the grill, place it on a platter and cover with foil, letting the meat rest for a good five minutes. We’ll be serving the chicken with a fruit salsa made from one mango, diced, one small onion, diced, about a cup of fresh pineapple, diced, and about ½ cup of chopped cilantro. In addition to the chicken and fruit salsa, we’ll have brown rice simmered in chicken stock and flavored with ¼ cup of honey and ¼ cup of orange juice.
This is one of those times when we reclaim some of our misspent youth and turn to Sangria as the beverage of choice. This year it will be a white sangria. Even though we will be adding several “foreign” ingredients to the wine, we still want a good wine that will hold its own. This being the 4th of July, we chose an American wine, a 2008 Gewurztraminer from Alexander Valley Vineyards. There are aromas of citrus and apple, and flavors of pear and pineapple, making it perfect for our white sangria.
Pour the wine into a large pitcher and add one each, thinly sliced, lemon, orange, and kiwi. (Just for the record, fresh peach is wonderful, as is raspberry and apple, or even fresh pineapple.) Many recipes call for the addition of simple syrup (about ¼ cup), but we prefer to let the fruit do all the sweetening. Cover and chill overnight. Just before serving, add a ½ liter of sparkling water (or for more sweetness, ginger ale).
Our party may well be on the porch, which is screened-in across the entire front of our little abode, weather and mosquitoes being the primary reasons. No matter, family, friends, good food, and a few pitchers of white sangria will surely ensure a good time. Afterward we will go to the fair and show our youngest what a real cow looks like.
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Posted in Wine
