Appetizers - Impromptu Friday Nights

Grilling is a great theme for a wine group gathering. There are a lot of wines that pare well with grilled food. There are lots of great appetizers benefit from the flavor kick that grilling adds. In a previous life, I ran a flavor business for Kraft Food Ingredients and our lead tag line was:

Nothing influences that flavor of food more than how it is cooked

Our biggest selling flavor was, you guessed it…Grill Flavor. The truth is that many of the grilled foods that you have bought in a supermarket or enjoyed at a fast-food establishment were not cooked on a grill. Rather, they benefited from a flavor system that was developed by Kraft foods that we sold to food manufacturers in the United States and around the world. Of course we made a full line of cooking flavors like: Fried, Smoked, Roast and Sauté, but nothing sold as well as Grill.

It is no surprise to me that my appetizers that benefit from a grilling step are the most popular things I make. The best examples are:

Grilled Gorgonzola Stuffed Shrimp

Grilled Pizzas

Grilled Flank Steak with Goat Cheese on Toast

It has gotten to the point that if I don’t bring one of these apps to our wine group gatherings, I get complaints. Our friends just love them.

Above Grilled Pizza, Bottom left Grilled Flank Steak Tapas. Bottom right Gorgonzola Stuffed Shrimp

Some might ask why I am writing this piece in the middle of winter? Actually, we are currently in the midst of the biggest snowstorm we have seen in Memphis in 30 years. And, we are still grilling. When we bought our house 30 years ago, the house had a covered back porch. The realtor suggested we could add value to the house by closing in the porch. That never happened as we have kept it open for the grill and a fry station that we use rain, shine, or snow.

Above left daughter Jenn and Ethan’s grill in Ottawa, Bottom left my grill on covered porch in Memphis. Right, internet parody on grilling in Canada

No matter the time of year, the theme of grilling is a great one for a wine group. You could start with a chardonnay pared with the shrimp. Move on to a Rioja with the Grilled Flank Steak Tapas and finish with a Cabernet Sauvignon for the Grilled Pizza. You can’t go wrong with the food and you would be sure to have a good time.

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Some times even your wine group needs a little comfort food. It doesn’t need to be a cold snowy day to have comfort food theme for your wine group gathering. There are not many foods that are more comforting than French Onion Soup.

French Onion Soup Recipe

Why not kick off your wine group by greeting your guest with a small ramekin of french onion soup and a nice glass of chardonnay? For me, the challenge with French Onion Soup is that I love it, but a bowl can be too filling. Hence, the idea of starting out your guests with a small ramekin works pretty well. My bet is that even when you encourage friends that they don’t need to finish it, by the end of the evening, everyone will have slurped the last drop and scraped the caramelized cheese.

Another favorite of mine is a dish I call Bistro Clams. It combines some of my favorite food groups, seafood, garlic/herb butter and bacon. You might need a piece of baguette to sponge up the last drops of butter and a glass of cabernet, but you can’t go wrong with this appetizer

Bistro Clams Recipe

Enjoy the comfort.

Category Archives: Appetizers

Grill It!