White Wine With That Jambalaya

Now here is a wine label that is "out there"! And of course, I could not resist. But on opening Joe Blow, a pleasant surprise popped out! Lots of ripe fruit aromas and nice floral notes. Usually I am sceptical about wines with all these crazy labels, but I have not come across one that is really terrible. There have been a few that I will not purchase again and I tell you that when I post them. One thing I found, which most wine lovers cringe when they hear this, if I am not totally satisfied with the wine I just fill up the glass with ice and enjoy the rest of the bottle. Not bad if it is 100 degrees outside! OK, let me tell you a little bit about my experience with Joe Blow.

2005 Joe Blow Wine Cellars White Wine from Manteca, California is a fun tropical blast of ripe fruit, nectarines is what I tasted, and crisp citrus. This wine is a blend of Chardonnay from their San Bernabe vineyard in Monterey and an addition of Viognier and Chenin Blanc from their vineyards located in Lodi. The Viognier added the floral touch and the Chenin Blanc added a bit of sweetness to it, although I do not like to use the word sweet, so lets say very ripe fruit! For under $10.00 is was a great summer sipper that went very well with my Shrimp Jambalaya.

Yep, being back south again, I had an urge for the lovely shrimp that is available here. Being tired of grilling the shrimp, although I really enjoy a good piece of grilled shrimp on a skewer with some fresh pineapple, I decided to use it in my Shrimp Jambalaya. Do you ever get that craving for tomatoes in a dish? Well, I was craving shrimp and tomatoes and figured this dish would satisfy both cravings! It did!

Shrimp Jambalaya

2 tablespoons of canola oil

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 jalapeno chopped

4 cloves of garlic chopped - I love garlic!

1 sweet onion chopped

About 1/4 cup of chopped parsley

1 tablespoon dried thyme or you could use fresh

1 Large Bay Leaf

1-3/4 cups of veggie broth or chicken broth

1 14 oz. can chopped tomatoes with their juice

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup raw white rice

1-2 teaspoons of hot pepper sauce - or more if you like it spicy

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 lbs. medium size shrimp shelled and devained

Saute the celery, onions, peppers, garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes. Add the parsley, bay leaf, thyme and stir for about a minute. Stir in broth and tomatoes, sugar, hot sauce and rice. Heat to boiling, then cut heat to simmer and cook covered for about 15 minutes. Add shrimp and cook till shrimp is pink. Salt and pepper to taste.

This dish is really easy and that kind of comfort food that you need during the summer months once in awhile. Corn bread would be good with it, but I save that for a cooler month. I try not to use the oven too much during these hot days.

One note to you - if you need to hold this dish, say you are having company but you want to get things prepared before hand so you can enjoy a glass of wine with them as they arrive, I would omit the rice and cook it separately. Otherwise the rice will absorb all of your juice while you are waiting to serve. Then you can just put the rice in the bowl and top with the Jambalaya sauce with shrimp.

Sounds good ? You bet ya it is!

Cheers!