06/14/07 Food & Wine

Welcome to Vine to Wine, this is your host Linda Moran and today is food and wine pairing day. There is no dessert better than Mother Nature's, and right now one of her best efforts is in season. Stone fruit, you know peaches, apricots, plums, all of those fruits that have a pit or a stone in the center surrounded by sweet fruit. Let's explore some ways to serve them. Stone fruits are delicious alone or prepared simply and served with a sip of dessert wine. In the past I have exclaimed the virtues of sliced peaches marked the hot grill and served on a salad. This past weekend I attended a picnic in the vineyards. The chef created a skewer alternating apricots with shrimp and grilled it, I thought I was in heaven! For dessert grill half of that perfectly ripe peach for a few minutes to warm it. Present it on a lovely plate or in a shallow bowl and serve it with a Sauterne, a Muscat or a Late Harvest Riesling. If that's just too simple for you; add a drizzle of heavy cream or a very small scoop of high quality vanilla ice cream. Sliced ripe apricots are fabulous when served with a cheese course or as dessert with some toasted nuts, room temperature blue cheese and Muscat or Late Harvest Riesling. Grill some plums and try them tossed with nuts and topped with a daub of sweetened whipped cream. We like a little Asti Spumante with that dessert. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for listening to today's Vine to Wine.