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Armstrong Family Winery

It’s Super Bowl time – and while I do enjoy a great football game, I must admit I may love the food, wine and fanfare even more. With the Packer’s out of the game, I’m a bit less invested in the actual football part, so I asked our winery community to share their favorite, wine-friendly game day recipes. I’ll add them here as they come in.

#1 – Easy Sausage Dip, shared by Becky in NC

1 16 oz log of pork sasage
1 8 oz brick of cream cheese
1 10 oz can of Rotel (or other diced tomatoes with chilis)

Brown and drain the sausage. Add cream cheese and Rotel (drained). Mix and heat until combined. Serve hot with tortilla chips (Scoops).

Variations: For spicy, use hot sausage, hot Rotel and mix in fresh diced jalepenos. For cheesier, mix in 1 cup shredded cheese. For vegetarian, same recipe, but replace the sausage with 2 drained cans of corn.

My note: I love meat and cheese with wine, so this is a perfect start. While this would certainly go well with a wide range of wines, because this is pork sausage, my Armstrong pairing suggestion is our crisp Viognier. If you prefer red, I love Fronk with pork (and Four Birds is always a good choice). For the spicy version, try some Petit Verdot – either one of our 100% varietal PVs if you have it (we don’t have one currently), or the David’s Folly.

#2 – Fresh Marinated Corn Salad (served with tortilla chips), shared by Becky

5-6 cups of fresh cooked corn cut from the ear (cooled) – or 3-4 cans, drained
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 diced red/orange bell pepper
1 diced jalapeno (no seeds)
1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes – or diced tomatoes
1 large avacado cut into small chunks
1/3-1/2 cup choped fresh cilantro
the juice of 2 limes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
Optional: spice it up with a few squeezes of hot sauce. Becky likes Trader Joe’s dragon sauce

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and serve at room temperature with tortilla chips. (Becky likes Scoops)

*You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate overnight.

My note: It’s always so nice to have fresh veggie dishes on the aps table. This corn salad is simple, but an impressive and deliciuos alternative to salsa. And, it pairs beautifully with other meat and cheese dishes in the spread – not to mention a nice, crisp glass of Armstrong Viognier. Cheers!

#3 Chili Dip, shared by my cousin Megan in NJ

8 oz cream cheese
2 cups chili (homemade or canned)
4 oz chopped green chilis
shredded cheddar cheese

Layer ingredients in order in a baking pan, top with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min (until cheese is melted and bubbly). Serve with nachos.

My note: Um, yum. This sounded so good to me, I made it myself to take the pictures. It is delicious with our Viognier!

#4 Easy Pulled Pork, one of my favorite go-tos for meals or appetizers

pork tenderloin
16 oz BBQ sauce

Put the pork tenderloin in a slow cooker and cover with 16 oz of your favorite barbecue sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours.

When done, use two forks to pull the pork apart in the slow cooker and stir to absorb the extra sauce in the basin.

Serve on buns with coleslaw as a main course, slider buns as a hearty appetizer, or on think slices of toasted french bread for a delicious, 20-bite app.

My note: This is such an easy and delicious way to make pulled pork – nobody will ever guess you spent about 10 minutes preparing it! This one would be delicious with Viognier, but I prefer a red with this and my picks would be Fronk or Four Birds. Enjoy!

What did you think? Share your pairing and pictures in the comments below. If you have your own favorite wine-friendly ap, email me (Jen)!

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