A long weekend, another one during a full-blown lockdown here in Nova Scotia. So let’s face it, it’s more important than ever to have something to look forward to this weekend, so why not enjoy some great wines and delicious cocktails.
Last year during the first lockdown, my work colleagues and I would end the week by having a virtual happy hour. We have started doing that again this year. This was my cocktail of choice to kick off the long weekend yesterday.
I stopped drinking coolers many many years ago because I couldn’t handle the sweetness. Sorry Bacardi Breezers, loved you but could only drink one at a time. I think that’s why I started drinking wine. Manufacturers have acknowledged this, and now there is a wide variety of flavored coolers at your favorite liquor store that are not sweet. This is one of them. The Georgian Bay cranberry Gin Smash was refreshing and delightful, and will be making another appearance in my refrigerator. And you can buy them separately!! I love that. I like being able to mix and match cocktails at the liquor store.
This long weekend, unofficially the kick off to Summer, is also a great time to enjoy a Rose wine.
As most of you know, I am planning to do a trip to the Niagara Wine region with Atlantic Tours this year, and in Ontario, there is a company called Long Weekend Wines. They make a white wine, a red wine and also this Rose, which I have to get my hands on when I can finally travel to Ontario. It’s under $14 a bottle and its a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Two hardy red wine grapes, but of course with limited skin contact to make it a rose.
Ok, so we’ve covered a gin cocktail, a rose wine, and before I tell you about a fantastic find I discovered this past week, I’ve been experimenting with new recipes. I watch a lot of Food Network, and the chefs are always doing their take on a fried chicken sandwich. So I decided to give it a try.
I have to say it turned out pretty good. It was tasty, but it was so messy to make, or maybe I’m a messy cook. So I took a chicken breast, sliced it in half, and then pounded it to even thickness. (That was fun!!) Then I made an easy batter of flour, corn starch, salt & pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and cayenne pepper. Then I added enough water to make the batter the same consistency of pancake batter. Keep in mind most recipes I find are made for 4 – 6 people, and because I live alone I cut all these recipes down. I’ve even seen where chefs have used beer instead of water, to give it a unique flavor. This is what my batter looked like.
The batter was easy to make, I just kept adding water till it was like pancake batter. And then I dunked in my 2 pieces of chicken breast, and fried them in oil in a frying pan.
It made for a delicious sandwich, I cooked it 3 minutes per side, and added ham, lettuce and cheese to make it kind of a BLT. Like I said, delicious, but messy. There was a lot of spatter of oil from the frying pan, so I’m not sure if I was doing something wrong there. Any tips out there would be greatly appreciated.
Now I have to share the fantastic find I discovered this week.
Whenever I’m at the liquor store and I see a red sale sign, I tend to check out the wine. We are, after all, in the middle of a pandemic that has lasted for over a year. I picked this up and Oh My God! It was delicious and had great body, and the 3 grape blend provided a nice complexity. Sit down, because this wine is on sale right now here in Nova Scotia for $12.49 a bottle. From the Mendoza region in Argentina, it’s definitely worth checking out this long weekend.
Stay safe everyone, and till next week Cheers
Wine-It’s Just My Opinion 