Shrimp Rice Dish with Fennel Salad

[Jackie]

I'm having 8 people for dinner Wednesday. I'm planning to make a simple rice dish with shallot, mushrooms, red bell pepper, white wine (probably chardonnay) and shrimp. I'm also serving a yummy Fennel and Mushroom Salad that I recently discovered on the Cooking Channel, which contains fennel, mushrooms, parmesan curls, parsley and fresh lemon vinaigrette. (It's delicious.)

Should I stick with Chardonnay for the dinner?

Brownies and ice cream for dessert. What's nice with brownies?

Jackie

[hotwine]

Chardonnay sounds good to me.
As for he brownies, I'd choose a Port.

[TheEngineer]

Jackie,

I would agree with the Chard, maybe even something a bit more austere, say Chablis.

Can't go wrong with the Port

In line with HW tonight

Mike

[Kcwhippet]

I would probably go with a Brachetto d'Acqui for the dessert.

[Thomas]

Let me see if I can be the contrarian:

It's my taste that shrimp has a touch of sweetness, and that makes it a good foil for fruity whites--not sweet, but fruity. Chenin Blanc-based wine.

As for brownies: Madeira, especially with the ice cream. Pour the Madeira over the ice cream (Malmsey or Bual).

[Jackie]

Thank you for all the great suggestions. They all sound good.

What is Brachetto d'Acqui? That's a new one for me.

Decisions, decisions...

J.

[Kcwhippet]

Brachetto d'Acqui is an Italian wine made from the red grape Brachetto from Acqui - near Asti. It's a slightly sparkling (frizzante in Italian), slightly sweet, lower alcohol wine. It pairs wonderfully with any chocolate dessert.

[Jackie]

Yum! Turns out my dinner is only NEXT wednesday, so I have a whole week to decide on this. I'll check out the Brachetto d'Acqui. It's fun to discover new grapes... thank you.

J.