#WinePW~~Creative Thanksgiving Food and Wine Pairings

This month's Food and Wine Pairing Weekend is hosted by Sarah of Curious Cuisiniere,  and this being the beginning of November she very cleverly chose Creative Thanksgiving Food and Wine Pairing, so that all of you can find some great ideas for your Holiday Table.

Last month we did a Fall Fruit and Wine pairing and I created a post using all local ingredients because buying and eating local is very important to me.  But it is not a rule written in stone because I love Avocados, Bananas, Pineapple, Coffee...the list goes on an on....but I love some things that cannot be gotten locally.

The Pears are tossed in an emulsion of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and fresh Lemon Juice seasoned with salt and pepper.  The Pears are then placed on a bed of Baby Arugula and further seasoned with freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.

For this month's challenge I decided to focus on a wonderful Fall salad that is a perfect start for your Thanksgiving dinner.  It is easy to throw together.  It is light and full of flavor.  It combines the spiciness of baby arugula, the sweetness of fall pears and the saltiness of parmesan cheese.  It is a big order to find a wine that will complement all of those flavors but think I found it in the 2011 Torrontes from Diseno Winery in Salta Argentina.

The crispness and lightness of this wine perfectly complemented the salad.

Salad of Arugula and Pears

1 oz Baby Arugula per person 

1 pear per every 2 persons, cored and thinly sliced

Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil per pear

Juice of 1/4 lemon per pear

salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper until emulsified.  Place Pear slices in the bowl and toss to coat.  Place a handful of Baby Arugula on each salad plate.  Place dressed pairs on top of the Arugula. Top with Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese. Print Recipe

More Creative Thanksgiving-Inspired Dishes and Wine Pairings

Mains

• Turkey, Tempranillo and Sweet Potatoes by Cooking Chat 
• Thanksgiving from the Veneto: Turkey, Pomegranate Sauce & Valpolicella by foodwineclick 
• Norwegian Meatballs by Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Shepherds Pie Casserole with Barnard Griffin Syrah Port by Wild 4 Washington Wine 
• Butternut Squash and Cheddar Bread Pudding and Donkey & Goat Stone Crusher by ENOFYLZ Wine Blog

Sides

• Purple Sweet Potato Soup with Roasted Lobster + Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare by Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
•  Layered Sweet Potato and Apple Bake with Cranberry Blush by Curious Cuisiniere

Desserts

• Walnut Tart with Sparkling Brachetto d'Acqui by Vino Travels -- An Italian Wine Blog 
• Can we skip to dessert? by Pull That Cork 

Don't Forget Leftovers!

•  Day After Turkey and Seafood Gumbo by It's Ok To Eat The Cupcake 
• Turkey Pot Pie and Boedecker Cellars Chardonnay by Tasting Pour 

Don't forget to come to our Twitter chat today, November 8th at 11 a.m. Eastern Time! We'll be talking about our tips and tricks for the best Thanksgiving wine pairings. We'd love to have you join us! And, be sure to mark your calendars for December's Wine Pairing Weekend, hosted by Jeff of foodwineclick. Just in time for Holiday parties, we'll be sharing sparkling wine and hors d'oeuvre pairings. Join in the #WinePW 7 conversation on Saturday Dec. 13!   

One year ago--Misty Water Colored Memories and Scrapbooking