Everyday Dining with Wine

As a beginner learning about wine and food, this book has been invaluable. I highly recommend it.

I received this cookbook as a present at Christmas this year. One of my New Year's resolutions was to take a cookbook, use it for a week, then try the next one. Andrea Immer's cookbook has lasted for several weeks, due to popular (okay, my husband's) demand. The recipes are mostly on target, although I think I must have a hotter oven than Andrea's. Her use of herbs and wine reduction sauces are superb. I like that most recipes use just a few ingredients. The roasted Brussels sprouts (with balsamic vinegar and sage) are the best treatment of this difficult veggie I've ever had. The Chicken with Mojo, the shrimp ceviche, the short ribs ragu, oh, I do go on. They are all great. Really. And when you pair the food with Andrea's choice of wine, the experience is sublime. Buy this cookbook for yourself and for your best friends. It is worth it. Any quibbles I have would be in the lack of photographs, and the management of the oven temperature. Some things seem to cook faster than the cookbook states.

My husband and I are very much enjoying Andrea's recipes. They are tasty by themselves...fresh and flavorful. However, with the right wine it can truly be an experience. And, matching wine and food doesn't have to be expensive. Andrea recommends affordable and easy to find wines. The ingredients in her recipes are not exotic so they are also easy to find in the grocery. I would highly recommend this book if you are looking to learn how to match wines with good food. Cheers.

If you often enjoy a glass of wine with your dinner and want some simple and healthy meals perfectly matched with your wine, this book is for you. Everyday Dining isn't touted as a "healthy" or "diet" cookbook, yet Andrea's recipes are often low-fat or slimmed down versions of classic foods. Lowering the calories and keeping it simple both translate to dishes that are realistic for weekday dining. Another feature is that she gives several alternative wines for pairing with the dish, so you don't feel locked down to wines you don't have or can't find. The wines are also fairly common so if you want to match her suggestions verbatim, you can. The book is full of interesting wine tidbits as well as full wine-themed menus when you really want to impress your guests. All-in-all, there is a lot going on in this book.

Immer is truly becoming a resource for wine & food combinations! This is her fourth venture into publishing books on this, and each is just outstanding, fun, practical, and interactive. Here she goes where not many venture, into inexpensive but good wines for everyday, home dining. She offers recipes paired with selections that one would not normally think of. Here she introduces us to what she learned in Spain --- having wine with our dinner, and not just our ordinay routine of trying to enjoy our favorite with everything, but reaching out to try Reisling with "Plank Cooked Salmon". I was not into this at first sight, but first bite changed it all. She is right on that the combo of the Indonesian Five Spice BBQ sauce lights up with a great WashState or Aussie or NewZealand Riesling. There are more great things like this to try out, all lined up by grape type, i.e. Chardonnay, Dessert Wines, etc. This is nice way to venture out, e.g. try type normally wouldn't or go the other way and line up a recipe like "Turkey Quesadillas with Sesame-Sweet Potato Mole Sauce" and she what she pairs it with: in this case "Barrel Fermented Chard." She writes with spice and it is just plain fun to treat your taste buds to new delights with the likes of "Chicken Legs Braised in Pinot Grigio Mojo" paired with a Pinot Grigio. Or for finale, how about "Ice Wine" with "Tropical Fruits on the half-shell with Banana Crunch Topping". Truly Yum! Finally, couldn't resist letting you into some combos here that knocked me out: Spanish wines with Spanish Stype Scrambled Eggs with Chorizo and Manchego Fricos, and Cheese Grits with Shrimp and Chorizo. Great brunch or weeknight supper with an attitude! There are some good color photos, source suggestions along with technique advice. This lady can cook, pair wine and entertain all the while. This is certainly a volume to put in your collection and give away to those friends who need this jumpstart in their wine/dining life.