September 16, 2013 | Posted in:Cooking, Wine Tasting
Tim Varan, owner of Tim’s Wine Market Orlando, enjoys cooking. Happily, and to the benefit of his wine shop customers, Tim understands that you may be eating when enjoying your wine. New to the downtown Orlando shop- the “What’s for Dinner?” display.
The large table features 4 place settings with hand painted wine bottles from artist Anna Hinkleday, which beautifully illustrate the dishes feature ingredient.
The painted vegetable wine bottle signals the vegetable main course recipe, which currently is Tagliatelle with Portobello Ragu. Let’s get to cooking!
Each place setting features a different theme- on my visit the choices were fish, pork, lamb and vegetable main dish recipe with several different wine pairings for each dish.
The pork main dish recipe and wine pairing. Cheers, little piggie!
I asked Tim what brought about the idea to fully explore food and wine pairings for the home cook. “What’s For Dinner is a way to spotlight some of the really cool, unique wines that we tell customers, “work best with food.” By giving them a recipe, or at least a concept for a dish, they can taste for themselves what this means and allow the wine to show it’s stuff in the best possible circumstance.” The Tim’s Wine Club newsletters have grown to feature food pairings and recipes over the years with certain wine selections.
Varan, an avid food and cooking enthusiast, went on to explain how he came about researching and developing these recipes. “I use my archive of recipes from our various wine clubs because I have tested them, know they work and with which wines they will show best. It’s also a great way to go back and remember all the great wines and recipes of the past.”
Varan shared this weeks featured recipe, which can be found by this bottle at the table:
Braised Lamb Shanks, Greek Style by Tim Varan
Current wine pairings for September 2013:
2010 Fiesta y Azul Garnacha/Tempranillo – $13
2011 Clos Robert Cabernet Sauvignon – $17
This recipe is a more savory version than many of the French recipes I find. It’s perfect to serve with Greek red wines made from Agiorgitiko, French Cotes du Rhones or American Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington.
6 lamb shanks , 3/4 to 1 pound each, trimmed of excess fat and fell (thin, white papery covering)
salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 medium onions , sliced thick
3 medium carrots , peeled and cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces
2 medium ribs celery , cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces
4 medium cloves garlic , minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 medium lemon , zested (reserved), and quartered
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
2 cups dry white wine
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Ground black pepper
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle shanks with salt. Heat oil in a large, nonreactive sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add shanks to pan in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding. Sauté until browned on all sides, 5-7 minutes. Using tongs, transfer shanks to a plate as they brown.
Drain all but 2 tablespoons fat from the sauté pan; add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, the quartered lemon, a light sprinkling of salt, and 1 tablespoon of the mint; sauté to soften vegetables slightly, 3 to 4 minutes. Add wine, then chicken stock to the skillet, stirring with a wooden spoons to loosen browned bits from skillet bottom. Bring liquid to simmer; transfer vegetables and liquid into a deep braising pan, large enough to hold the shanks in a single layer. Add shanks and season with salt and pepper.
Cover pan (with foil if pan has no lid) and transfer it to the oven; braise shanks for 1 1/2 hours. Uncover and continue braising until shank tops are browned, about 30 minutes. Turn shanks and continue braising until remaining side has browned and shanks are fall-off-the-bone tender.
Remove pan from oven; let shanks rest for at least 15 minutes. Carefully transfer shanks with tongs to each of 6 plates. Arrange a portion of vegetables around each shank. Skim excess fat from braising liquid, add reserved lemon zest, remaining tablespoon of mint and adjust seasoning. Spoon a portion of braising liquid over each shank and serve.
The featured recipe will switch out every Thursday along with the wine pairings at the table. Tim’s Wine Market has several locations in Orlando, with the Ivanhoe Row in downtown Orlando being the original location. Join the Tim’s Wine Market email list for weekly wine features, upcoming event schedules and shop news. The hand painted wine bottles from artist Anna Hinkleday are available for purchase, based on availability, at the downtown Tim’s Wine Market.
Tim’s Wine Market, Orlando
1223 North Orange Ave
Orlando, FL 32804
Phone: 407-895-9463
STORE HOURS
MON: 10 am to 7 pm
TUE: 10 am – 7 pm
WED: 10 am – 7 pm
THU: 10 am – 7 pm
FRI: 10 am – 7 pm
SAT: 10 am – 5 pm
SUN: 12 pm – 5 pm
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Lisa Wilk
Hello, I'm Lisa Wilk! I'm a freelance food, wine and travel writer, photographer and presenter based out of Orlando, FL. While covering local restaurants and food events in the #1 tourist destination in the US, I find endless cooking inspiration when dining out. You'll often find me in the kitchen putting my own spin on those elevated chef creations to enjoy at home and when entertaining. I have a love and enthusiasm for wine, wine education and wine pairing. Find me about town teaching and demystifying wine as part of the popular @TheTastyTrio in the popular Wine, Cheese and Chocolate Perfectly Paired program series I've co-developed. Taste, Cook and Sip along with me on Twitter and Instagram at @TasteCookSip and @WineChix! Cheers!
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