Another Friday, another delicious dilemma: what wine pairs best with homemade pizza?
Our tradition is simple — pizza night every Friday. It’s easy to make, satisfying to eat, and always open to improvisation.
The Pie. – Photo by myself
Ingredients
1 store-bought pizza shell
1 can of Western Family Original pizza sauce
Mushrooms, green pepper, and onion (rescued from the fridge)
Leftover mild Italian sausage (from the freezer)
Shredded pizza mozzarella
🔥 Assembly & Bake
No instructions needed — just layer, bake, and enjoy.
🍷 Wine Pairing
Wine: 2019 Garnacha Tinta — Las Moradas de San Martin Initio ReservaRegion: Madrid, Spain Vivino Rating: 3.9
Pizza is naturally wine-friendly, especially when topped with savoury sausage and roasted vegetables. This Garnacha was fruity, bold, and balanced — perfect for the cheese’s richness and the sausage’s spice.
Photo – by myself
📝 Final Thoughts
A simple meal elevated by a thoughtful pairing. Whether it’s a weeknight ritual or a weekend treat, pizza and wine never disappoint.
We went all out tonight. Hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, real salad and leftover pasta. Of course you’re wondering what wine would go with that. The winner, completely by fluke!
We have been liking Spanish wines lately,especially Rioja. This one is reasonably priced, a nice wine that Vivino rates as a 3.7. It fits our profile perfectly. Recommended as a decent wine to sit and eat hotdogs with.
Have a great evening. Will be a much better recipe on Sunday.
These one-pan Caprese chicken thighs incorporate all the flavors from a Caprese salad. They are turned into a main dish skillet meal with chicken. Why, yes, please! We like this dish with a green vegetable or salad, with warm crusty bread. As usual, I forgot to take a shot of my dish. I even forgot to note the wine we paired with it. No matter, it was very good and will make it again, and again.
Here we go.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 lemon, zested and juiced, divided
1 teaspoon honey
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 pinch salt
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
torn fresh basil leaves for garnish
Directions
As always, pat the thighs dry and then season with salt and pepper.
Grab a large mixing bowl. Combine the balsamic, broth, tomato paste, and lemon juice. Do not add the zest yet. Add the honey, 1 TBSP of minced basil, and the garlic.
Throw in (gently) the chicken thighs and mix until coated. At this point, you have two options. You can cover the result and refrigerate it for up to 4 hours. Alternatively, you can carry on to the next step. Up to you, either way the next step is the same.
Gently place the chicken and mixture into 12 inch skillet over medium heat. When the liquid boils, cover and reduce heat to med/low. Simmer for 7 minutes or so, turn the chicken and increase to medium, uncovered. This should take 7 minutes or less for them to no longer be pink in the middle.
Remove the chicken and juices to a serving dish. Tent to keep warm. Wipe the skillet and add the oil. Add the tomatoes once the oil is hot. Watch for splatter. Let them sit for a few minutes until they blister. Stir then allow them another couple of minutes. Add a pinch of salt if desired.
Once the tomatoes are done, pour them over the chicken, top with mozzarella, lemon zest and basil. Serve promptly.
Since retiring, I have indulged myself in a wide variety of projects, basically all the stuff I’ve wanted to do since, like, forever. One that I am having some fun with is cooking. It is easy to combine with one of my other loves, wine. As my co-conspirator in life has similar tastes, this was a no-brainer to move forward. So, I have put writing a book, learning to speak Spanish and becoming a guitar hero on the back burner while concentrating on this one. Unfortunately, I returned to work and have had to cut back on some indulgences.
Our Saturday night dinner on this occasion was Tuscan Pork Tenderloin. A very simple recipe, quick to prepare with very little fuss or muss. Here’s the recipe. Note it is for 4 servings, but we find far too often that 4 equals 2.5.
Ingredients
Ingredient Checklist
4 servings
1 ⅓ teaspoons garlic, minced
⅘ teaspoon dried rosemary
⅘ teaspoon dried oregano
⅓ teaspoon salt
⅓ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 ⅓ pounds pork tenderloin
Directions
Step 1 Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Step 2 Combine garlic, rosemary, oregano, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Rub spice mixture all over the pork tenderloin. Place in a baking dish.
Step 3 Bake in the preheated oven until pork is slightly pink in the center, 20 to 25 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.
Like I said, it’s very simple. We would suggest upping the time to 30 to 35 minutes. That was the only issue we had. The clean-up was super easy as well. We used Jasmine rice for a base, mixed with frozen broccoli and butternut squash. The vegetables were cooked in a bit of olive oil and spiced with salt and pepper to taste.
We paired the dish with one of our go-to wines, Meiomi Pinot Noir. The two went together very nicely. The wine is a typical California Pinot, although it has more of a vanilla taste than most. A popular brand, it goes in the $20.00 range.
Overall the supper was a success and one we will repeat in future. The tenderloin was excellent. The minimal spice only accented the overall taste and melded with the wine. I’d rate it a 9 of 10, very subtle, very good.
Good day! These are just a few notes that have been building up inside that need to be removed.
First off, returning to blogging and writing. My first impression is Holy Crap, the format here has changed radically. Going to take some time to relearn some things and become a proficient user once again. Similarly, the site’s look needs some updating, which is a second learning experience. I think I’m up for it.
Second is the format of the site itself. Lori and I have visited many places, but nothing recently other than Mexico. The travel side of things will consist mainly of recent reviews and photos in Mexico, mixed with some of our movements around our places in Alberta and British Columbia. I have a few items on Mazatlan that I am currently working on, which should drop over the next few weeks.
I will also review all the sites I have on all social media, delete some, and connect everything left to this brand. This is another goal that may take some time. It is amazing how these collect, almost like they self generate.
Another big part of our life is music. Posts will appear regularly and highlight new music, independent music, Canadian music and some top 10 list things. I did some interview work with a magazine I once affiliated with, mostly independent artists, and I will try to get back to that somehow. I have a couple of dormant X and Facebook sites with many artists that I follow and follow back, and I will work to revive them and renew some contacts.
A third set of topics will involve our journey to retirement. It is not so much an advice column but more of a journal of how we are moving to retirement and how our progress toward that goal is coming along.
Another feature that we will include is to share our favourite recipes and wines. Cooking is therapy, and wine augments the experience.
In closing, we look forward to touching base with everybody and will try to be a much more regular contributor, while learning to put forward a quality product. That will take some time.
Today’s adventure in Saturday night suppers is Chicken Thighs in Sun Dried Tomato Sauce. As a bonus we prepped a side dish, Roasted Asparagus in Lemon Vinaigrette. Both are reasonably simple recipes, however, we made a few changes due to a poor shopper, me. We used 18% cream instead of heavy cream, and dried basil instead of fresh basil leaves for the chicken. The asparagus did not have lemon zest because someone forgot to buy lemons and we did not have parsley either. Still, both turned out fine, and after the second bottle of wine, we didn’t care very much.
Today’s adventure in Saturday night suppers is Chicken Thighs in Sun Dried Tomato Sauce. As a bonus we prepped a side dish, Roasted Asparagus in Lemon Vinaigrette. Both are reasonably simple recipes, however, we made a few changes due to a poor shopper, me. We used 18% cream instead of heavy cream, and dried basil instead of fresh basil leaves for the chicken. The asparagus did not have lemon zest because someone forgot to buy lemons and we did not have parsley either. Still, both turned out fine, and after the second bottle of wine, we didn’t care very much.
Chicken Thighs in Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
These chicken thighs are quick and easy dinner. Eat them as is, or serve over pasta or rice.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 566kcal
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. chicken thighs skinless and boneless
Salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth/stock sodium free
1 cup cup heavy cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
1/2 cup parmesan grated
1 cup basil leaves
Instructions
1. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towel
2. Preheat a large skillet on medium high heat. Add olive oil and then add the chicken and cook until golden brown on both sides.About 6-8 minutes total. Remove onto a plate.
3. Chop your sun-dried tomatoes and add them to the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes.
4. Add white wine and simmer for 2 minutes to let the alcohol evaporate.
5. Now add chicken stock heavy cream, Dijon mustard, salt, Italian Seasoning, onion and garlic powders. Bring the mixture to a low simmering point and then add Parmesan cheese. Use a whisk or a wooden spoon and mix it in until you have a smooth mixture.
6. Add basil leaves and cook until wilted.
7. Return chicken to skillet and allow it to warm up for an additional 5 minutes.
8. Serve chicken with sauce on top.
Roasted Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette
Prep Time 10 mins
Total Time 22 mins
Cook Time 12 mins
Servings 4
Calories 91 kcal
INGREDIENTS
1 pound (450 g) asparagus
2 tablespoons (30 g) very finely chopped shallot
1 tablespoon (15 ml) red wine vinegar
Freshly grated zest from one lemon
1 tablespoon (25 ml) fresh lemon juice
½ – ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 green onion root end and one inch green top trimmed
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
Flaky sea salt optional
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 450 (225C) degrees.
2. Trim off the tough ends from the asparagus and place on a small rimmed baking sheet.
3. Whisk together shallot, vinegar, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Let it sit for 10 minutes, then whisk in the olive oil until the dressing is emulsified. Taste and season with additional salt, if needed.
4. Pour 2 tablespoon of the vinaigrette over the asparagus and season to taste with black pepper. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon water.
5. Slice the green onion into thin rings. Combine the green onion, parsley and remaining lemon zest in a small bowl.
6. Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast10 – 12 minutes, until the asparagus is beginning to brown at the tips.
7. Transfer asparagus to a serving plate. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette and sprinkle with the parsley mixture. Finish the dish with a pinch of flaky sea salt, if you like.
We served with a bed of white Basmati rice and paired with Chilean wine, one of our favourites, Coyam. It is a blend of a variety of organic grapes. A very good wine, in the $20.00 range and is great with food and and as a glass when the doctor orders it.
