Chinese Chicken Salad with Spicy Ginger Dressing by Giao Trac
Spring is in full swing—the perfect time to share some simple and delicious recipes, paired with some of our favorite Montesquieu wines. We hope you enjoy these spring-inspired delights, enjoy!
Chinese Chicken Salad with Spicy Ginger Dressing Recipe adapted from original by Giao Trac of Kiss My Spatula
Serves 2
You may also substitute the chicken with grilled tofu, shrimp or any protein of your liking.
Chinese Chicken Salad
Ingredients
1 boneless chicken breast, skin removed
1 medium-sized Napa (or Savoy) cabbage, thinly sliced
2 carrots, shredded
1 small tomato, thinly sliced
1 mango, thinly sliced
4 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 tbsp. roasted sesame seeds
handful of fresh mint, chopped
handful of cilantro, chopped
handful of roasted peanuts
Preparation
To poach chicken, place the breast in a small saucepan and add water, about 1 inch above the chicken. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiled, immediately lower heat to a very slow simmer and partly cover for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the chicken to cook in hot water for another 15 minutes. Once cooled, shred chicken and set aside.
If you prefer grilling or barbecue, use boneless and skinless chicken thighs instead, lightly brushed with vegetable oil.
In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the spicy ginger dressing.
Add the cabbage, chicken, carrots, tomato, mint and cilantro to the large bowl and toss gently. Top with mango slices and roasted peanuts. Garnish with scallions and roasted sesame seeds, and serve immediately.
As we celebrate this year, we’d like to share some delicious pairings for some of our favorite Montesquieu Wines—we raise a glass to love, romance and delectable wines!
In water one sees one’s own face. But in wine, one beholds the heart of another…French proverb
In this spirit we share our winemaker Hélène Mingot‘s idea of the ideal romantic pairing:
“For me the perfect tête-à-tête wine is our Moulin du Paradis paired with a beef stew if it is raining, or paired with duck breast or beef entrecôte grilled outside on a vine-wood fire. We gather the canes from pruning and burn them in our outdoor barbecue, pruning is always in season for Valentine’s Day. Start with our Gabriel Simon Grand Cru Champagne and a duo of fresh and smoked salmon. French wines are the best to celebrate love! But I am French, so I’m not very objective!” View Full Post
It has been said that there is hardly an inch of Italy that isn’t suitable for growing grapes for wine production. As a result, Italy has the most diverse array of individual wine styles, micro-climates and indigenous grape varieties in the wine world!
One of the most distinctive and treasured of all Italian wines—and one that we at Montesquieu Winery believe has a particularly interesting history—is the Amarone della Valpolicella from the Veneto region in the province of Verona. Valpolicella has been producing wines since ancient times, and even its name reflects a longstanding relationship with wine— “Val polis cellae” means “the valley of many cellars”. View Full Post
2005 Hospices de Beaune, Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru Cuvee Boillot
With Thanksgiving just a week away, we would like to share some traditions and recipes from past Thanksgivings with some of our favorite Montesquieu Wines, plus a few tips for including wines in some of your cooking. Wines as well as spirits make a wonderful layering component for flavor when added to various dishes! And of course, as W.C. Fields said best, “ I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.” So open a bottle of one of your favorites, and enjoy these recommendations and this delectable holiday! View Full Post
Last week the Today Show featured a delightful food pairing segment presented by Jessica Harnois, President of the Canadian Sommeliers Association. Today Show co-host Hoda Kotb and guest Nick Lachey (Newlyweds, The Sing-Off) enjoyed various wines chosen by Jessica featuring recommended pairings.
Of the myriad wines from all over the world Jessica could have chosen, she selected only six wines to pair with various dishes. These wines included one wine by Stéphane Derenoncourt and one by Michel Rolland—both world-renowned winemakers that Montesquieu Winery has the privilege to work very closely with. View Full Post
Whether you have an almost endless summer climate or the full swing of four seasons, summer is here! With Father’s Day approaching and the 4th of July shortly after, it seems the perfect time to share some of our favorite recipes and wines that we particularly enjoy this time of year.
We love hearing from our community of wine lovers, which of course includes our Montesquieu Wine Brokers who are well-versed in all things food and wine. A natural occupational passion is the discovery of meals that work particularly well with our diverse selection of Montesquieu wines. Join us as we kick off summer in search of the perfect pairing….. View Full Post
We at Montesquieu Winery are very passionate about finding and making the very best wines possible—wines we are inspired by and know our clients will love. It is natural that when we discover particularly delicious pairings that we would want to share them with you!
With the recent spring holidays and warmer weather now upon us, several delightful dishes jump to the forefront that are especially fabulous this time of year. The recipes are straightforward, yet elegant, and include recommendations for pairings from our eclectic portfolio of international Montesquieu Wines.
What could be more enjoyable than sharing a lovely meal and wines with friends and family? Not much in our book! As you all juggle busy lives, we hope that you find these recipes to be a helpful part of your food and wine repertoire. View Full Post
The good life? Definition: savoring delicious food and wines among friends and family. We at Montesquieu Winery would love to share 5 simple and fun recipes to pair with some of our favorite wines in order to help make enjoying the good life just a little easier.
The recipes were chosen and adapted by Paige Richards of Kiss’d Cuisine, San Diego for their convenience of procuring ingredients and ease of preparation. The Montesquieu Wines were chosen by Missy Carpenter of our Orange County division, specially selected to accompany the meal. The meal was executed as a Kiss’d Cooking class which was a hit—an evening full of smiles and fun—and everyone came away with an approachable menu to pair with a lovely variety of our wines.
We wanted to share these with everyone as the recipes can be done with ease even on a busy weeknight. Some of you may have these wines in your cellar. For those that don’t, we have included general varietal recommendations. Enjoy! View Full Post
Love and wine is a timeless pairing. As Valentine’s day is upon us, we feel inspired to share some ideas to celebrate. After all, it turns out that given a choice, almost 60% would prefer to receive a bottle of wine over a box of chocolate. Imagine if the survey was given to just wine lovers—it is safe to say the response would have likely been 100%.
In our opinion every conceivable Valentine’s Day idea will be enhanced by a special bottle of wine. Here are some ideas that are on deck with some of us here at Montesquieu:
“Nothing says love like Eiswein-filled strawberries dipped in chocolate.” View Full Post
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday—it encompasses tradition, gratitude, family, friends, quality time with people that matter. But what would Thanksgiving be without that seemingly endless meal, paired with a collection of your favorite wines?
We at Montesquieu Winery are reflecting back on this year’s Thanksgiving feasts, reliving our favorite wines and some of our more successful pairings as we prepare for the next round of holiday parties and dinners. Although certain wines have developed a reputation for pairing particularly well with a Thanksgiving meal — Riesling, Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, just to name a few — the truth is that any wine that was a hit at Thanksgiving will likely play beautifully through the rest of the holiday season and beyond!
Helpful Hints
But before remembering some of our Thanksgiving favorites, let’s highlight a few tips we’ve learned over the years that apply to serving wine at any festive occasion.
Feel free to take some license to experiment and enjoy. We believe there are no strict hard-and-fast rules. After all, everyone is different, with different tastes. Pairing food and wine should not require a PhD or cause anxiety. Here are some basic guidelines that are helpful, but more importantly, drink what you enjoy, and serve a variety that you think others will enjoy too!
At Montesquieu, we bring you the finest hand-crafted wines from the best boutique vineyards in the world. We believe that winemaking is an art. Through every wine we source for our clients, we celebrate the diversity, character and tradition encompassed within each bottle - the true spirit of wine.
