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hcbass · 08-20-2002, 01:20 PM,

I am going to be cooking a "romantic" dinner for an awesome girl I met this weekend, and need some help selecting a good wine. I'll fill in on her background and the meal that I'll be preparing, and hopefully all of you on this board can make a good suggestion.

I am a Californian cheeseburger eater, and just met a girl from new york who is here in California working on her masters in college. Her family background is Sicilian, and she is used to grandma's home cooking. I actually am a pretty good cook, but have a feeling that I will have quite a hard time matching grandma. Being that I am going to be cooking at her place, I picked something simple being that I am not aquainted with her kitchen.

Here's the recipie that I'll be using:
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Ingredients

8 small red-skinned potatoes, sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
4 ounces green beans, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), sliced
3 green onions, sliced
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill or 2 teaspoons dried dillweed
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried
nonstick vegetable oil spray
Four 6-ounce salmon fillets
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Fill large pot with water to depth of 1 inch. Place steamer rack in pot and bring water to boil. Place potatoes and carrot slices on steamer rack. Cover pot and steam 5 minutes. Add green beans and steam 5 minutes longer. Transfer vegetable to large bowl. Add olive oil, soy sauce, leeks, green onions, dill and basil and toss well. Season to taste with pepper.

Place 4 large foil sheets on baking sheets. Spray foil with vegetable oil spray. Place 1 salmon fillet on each foil sheet. Season with pepper. Spoon vegetable mixture evenly over salmon. Top each with 1 Tablespoon butter. Wrap foil around salmon and vegetables and seal.

Bake until fish is opaque, about 13 minutes. Transfer salmon and vegetables to plates, discard foil.
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I need to find something that is somewhat easy to find in the southern california area, preferably in the <$50 price range, and would be a good compliment to the meal that I am preparing. A wine with a bit of a gentle taste would be good because I would like to play it safe(I'm not sure if she would like the taste of some of the stronger wines). If possible, several suggestions would be great, in case I can't find the first pick. Thanks for the help, wish me luck [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

Innkeeper · 08-20-2002, 01:42 PM,

Hi HC, and welcome to the Wine Board. Sounds good. A pinot noir would be the best foil. Look for Logan, Sleepy Hallow Vineyard at around $18. There are other Santa Lucia Highland (not only good, but trendy) Pinots available at mostly higher prices, but most not exceeding $50. Amost all of them including the Logan are ready to go on release.

hcbass · 08-20-2002, 02:47 PM,

Excuse my rookieness, but what would be the proper temperature to serve those wines at?

Innkeeper · 08-20-2002, 08:43 PM,

Between 60 & 65 degrees F.

wondersofwine · 08-21-2002, 08:14 AM,

You just met her and you're already fixing her dinner and selecting a nice wine--we should all be so fortunate with our social contacts!

hcbass · 08-21-2002, 05:10 PM,

Thanks for the help. BTW, I knew she was the one when she started popping out Monty Python quotes on our first date. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]

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