Recipes

Monda’s menu: Easter celebration feast

Set your table with the perfect springtime meal

by
• Spinach-and-smoked salmon rolled soufflé
• Lemony asparagus bundles
• Fresh herb-and-feta-stuffed leg of lamb
• Lemon meringue trifle

* Make this meal a Cook for the cure event.

Wine match

• Certain elements in this delicious meal, such as the asparagus and black olives, are a challenge for wine matching. So too is spinach, which can make an inexpensive tannic red taste like rust. Lamb, on the other hand, is a great match with a good Cabernet Sauvignon. One solution is to find a red that’s both ripe in fruit and soft in tannin. Canyon Road Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 ($14) from California has a soft elegance and ripe, rich chocolatey-berry flavour with hints of mint that will pick up some of the flavouring in the lamb stuffing. Also from California, Wente Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 ($14) has spiced berry with herbs and mint in the taste and nose. From Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula, Peller Estates Heritage Series Cabernet 2000 ($11) has a forward berry bouquet with some herbs and bell pepper in its otherwise sweet, soft fruity taste. From B.C.’s Okanagan Valley, Mission Hill Private Reserve Cabernet Merlot ($13) is built for lamb, with herby fruit and ripe plum, blackcurrant and vanilla flavours.
• Another possibility is to focus on matching the flavours of the soufflé, asparagus, feta stuffing and white wine used to baste the lamb. In this case, a dry unoaked Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc would be the answer. From France, Mâcon-Lugny Saint Pierre 1999 ($13) is pleasant and fruity with a refreshing apple flavour and supple texture. The Okanagan’s Mission Hill Private Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 1999 ($12) has purity and lots of grapefruit, herbs and citrus zing in a silky body.

* Prices are approximate and depend on the level of taxation in your province. Some of the wines we’ve listed may be out of stock at your local liquor store–ask an employee to suggest the same type of wine by another producer.

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