Paired Up: Syrah and Chicken Cordon Bleu

In our Paired Up posts, we review a wine and the food we wisely (or foolishly) paired it with. 

The Wine

2007 Walter Dacon C'est Syrah Beaux (Columbia Valley)

When we cook, we usually set the menu and then try to pick out a wine to complement it. This time, we flipped it around, picking out this Syrah from Walter Dacon Wines in Shelton, WA. We happened upon Walter Dacon on our way home from the coast last summer, and spent a lovely afternoon on their patio sipping on a couple of their Syrahs after tasting through their lineup of mostly Rhône-intensive wines.

The wines that we purchased at the winery that day, along with a bottle we picked up at a wine shop on the coast, inspired us to get a little serious about it and order a wine fridge. After a few days, we got the wine fridge in and running, so this bottle has been resting there for a little over half a year. In a nice change from our norm, we got a proper 2-hour decant in before tasting this one. 

The Food

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of our successful-though-somewhat-unexpected pairing of pork and Cabernet Franc, we bypassed the surefire dishes of lamb or beef and made Chicken Cordon Bleu with green beans on the side. Katy handled the main course while Hunter prepared the beans.

Katy on the chicken:

Show-stopper. This is the one dish that I make to make my friends say, "Well, you fancy, huh?" But seriously, this is a super simple stuffed chicken that can be used in so many different ways. For this tasting, I wanted to allow the wine room to shine, so I decided to go a little more neutral. I prefer to use thin-sliced chicken breasts, as they are easier to tenderize evenly. The important part about this dish is to flatten the chicken. To do this, a little trick that I have discovered over time is to place one slice between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, then begin pounding the meat (flat side of the tenderizer), from the center out. You want the meat to be able to roll up easily, with your stuffings inside.

I always find that the key to cooking things well is all in the prep work. So I try to get as many things chopped up, tossed up, etc. before I get really in to it. For this dish, it means laying out the thin slices of deli sliced French Ham and the slices of low-moisture mozzarella cheese. In 1 bowl I scramble one egg per 2 flattened chicken slices, and in another I pour Italian bread crumbs mixed with grated Parmesan.

To assemble: place your chicken breast down flat, sprinkle with salt (and garlic salt) and pepper. Tear 2 pieces of moz. cheese into shapes that cover just inside the perimeter of the chicken, then do the same thing with 2 slices of the ham. One last sprinkle with the seasonings. Now you're going to roll it up like a sleeping bag- as tight as possible, trying to tuck in the open sides as you go. Secure with as many toothpicks as you may need. Next you dunk your bundle into the egg bath, and then straight into the bread crumbs, rolling it around until everything is covered. Place it on a cookie sheet, top with some fresh grated parm, and place in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. When it comes out, carefully remove all the toothpicks (so your friends/lovers will be left in awe of your culinary mastery), top with freshly grated parm, plate it up and serve!

Hunter on the beans:

I kind of made this one up as I went along. After snapping the ends off and rinsing the beans, I threw them in a colander, sprinkled on some pepper and garlic salt, and steamed them while I worked on the jazzing-up touches. I first put some slices of bacon in a pan and started them cooking, but, alas, the bacon was not in its prime, so I had to audible to some EVOO (in a new pan!). I sliced up about a third of a yellow onion and sautéed it with some garlic that Katy had left over from the chicken. There was half of a red pepper left over from something else we made at some point in the past, so I sliced that up and sautéed it with the onions after they had gone transparent. When the beans were fork-tender, I dumped them into the pan and mixed everything together.

Hunter's Gatherings

The wine is a dark, nearly impenetrable purple-red. Holding it up to light shows that it's not haze, but just depth that makes dark. The aromas are strong - detectable long before I stick my nose in the glass. Dark fruits, cherries, pepper and tobacco dominate with red meat and mocha coming through upon further inspection. The wine comes on with juicy dark fruits throughout, while a playful black pepper dances and comes out through the nose. There is a very long, slightly chewy, sweet tobacco finish. After a glass or so, I got a little apple and butter in the mix. The flavors are very balanced from attack to finish and made for a refreshing, juicy wine. 92

The meal was nicely complementary between the chicken and the beans. The wine was very good with the green beans, due in large part to the red pepper that was mixed in. With the chicken, there wasn't really a clash or a case of one overpowering the other - they just kind of ignored each other. 

Katy's Take

Its darkly alluring color beckoned to me from the decanter. The aromas of dark fruits, plum, chocolate and butter cream, laced with a meaty caramel leather scent sent a rush of masculinity coursing through my olefactory. The taste did not surprise, with all of these flavors being more than evident throughout the entire taste. The initial attack was a burst of flavor and dark juice that very subtly softened out to a dry, peppery, toothy finish. It thoroughly coats the entire pallet, in a very subtly pleasing manner. Overall, I was impressed with the balance from sweet to spice of the pour. 93

Together:

Hmm... not too great; not too bad. Any other day of the week, I think this would have been a very pleasant coupling, but on PAIRING night... meh. The salt and garlic of the dish did nothing for the sweet and meatiness of the wine, which overall left everything seeming a little bland. Perhaps a stronger cheese in the wrap would have made all the difference. Again, not terrible, but a tad on the conflicting side.  It did however, pair quite well with the slightly sweet green beans and pepper side. 

The Conclusion

What we found here is a great meal and a great wine that just didn't really want much to do with one another. While the doctored-up beans were able to find a way to play with the wine, the flavors of the main course didn't mesh with this juicy Syrah. We both came to the conclusion that the ham could be replaced by a spicier meat (mole salami was our thought) or the cheese could be upped to something stronger to make this a more interesting, interactive pairing.

Oh, and if you have a bit of the Syrah left to drink after a meal and think it might go well with some sugar-free Jell-O pudding, think again. Blech! Best to just go one at a time with those.