Need some advice on grilling and wine.

[Gaidin]

Money is tight this year so I am doing some thing different for our 15th anniversary.  We normally rent a cabin somewhere and fish and hike and just spend time to ourselves, but cant do that this year.

I am going to take a little cash, buy just some small helpings of various seafood and other meats.  Setup the patio with candle light and make my wife small samplings of all this stuff on the grill.  as she finishes one, I will have another waiting.  This will give us some time to ourselves, and we can just enjoy our own company with no kids or animals around.

What I need help with is 2 things!

1. Wine.  We have never been wine drinkers and I don't know much about wine.  What kind of wine goes well with seafood and steaks?  Looking for something fairly priced, cant afford to spend and 100 dollars on a bottle or anything.


2.  Seafood on the grill.  Never really cooked anything but some fresh salmon on the grill.  Any tips or seasonings that would be good to use?



Thanks

[Dragon]

Serving seafood and red meat together pretty much leaves the choice of wine to your preference. 

Any tips or seasonings that would be good to use?

Again, it depends on what you get from the store.  Tuna or shark steak, white fish, salmon, etc. are all seasoned differently as well as having different grilling times.

[Babalonian]

Since you're not familiar wine drinkers, try some white zinfadel or some light, smooth and sweet white (be careful not too sweet if you don't like sweet as some can get pretty sweet).  Another benefit about white zins is their a popular wine type, so a visit to the supermarket before they restock the shelves will reveal popular and reasonabley priced labels available.  Serve cold.   Reds are awesome too, not my personal favorites, but more difficult to select a "good" drinkable one per inidividual tastes and budget as seems to be your direction right now... honestly, sounds like a couple quality/favorite cold beers wouldn't go too bad with your awesome dinner plan either, I wouldn't fret too much.

[morfiend]

  Gadin,

  longtime bud!  Congrats


  Try some lemon grass to season the fish,some ground peppercorns and seasalt. Get some wood,I like to use apple but it's your choice.

   Soak the wood so it smokes more than burns and us the smoke to flavour the fish.  as for wine,ABC anything but Chardonnay..

  Really with wine,pick a country and try something fro there,wine is like cars everyone has an opinion and a favourite. Napa,BC and Aussie wines are all good,or you can splurge and just get a nice bottle of Champain and drink a good beer with dinner!


  

 PS:  my 32nd is comming up soon!

[Reschke]

Gaidin...forget the wine make Beergaritas and you will be golden!


Ingredients for a six-person recipe:

- 3 beers  (We recommend a Mexican one like Corona or Presidente)
- 1 12 ounce can of Limeade (frozen)
- 12 ounces of tequila. Use the empty Limeade container for measuring.
- A couple cut-up limes (up to your personal preference)...I use three real persian limes myself.
- Lots of ice
- Margarita salt (optional)

Easy steps to make your beer-garita:

1. In a large pitcher, mix the beer, limeade and tequila enough to combine the liquids together.
2. Next either add the ice or pour over a pitcher which contains ice.
3. If you want to add margarita salt, do this now. Grab a lime-wedge and rub it along the lip of the glass in order. Then dip the lip of the glass into the margarita salt.
4. Lastly pour mixture and garnish with a lime.



I have made these for several parties for friends and my wife and I but then I use a three gallon drink dispenser and just up the quantities to fill up the dispenser. Usually these are completely gone before the party is over and then well usually like the country song says...."Tequila makes her clothes fall off!"

[Melvin]

I say forget the dinner.

Get yerself a couple gallons of this stuff and proceed to get weird.




EDIT: Of course if you must eat, this goes with just about anything.

[Babalonian]

Gaidin...forget the wine make Beergaritas and you will be golden!


Ingredients for a six-person recipe:

- 3 beers  (We recommend a Mexican one like Corona or Presidente)
- 1 12 ounce can of Limeade (frozen)
- 12 ounces of tequila. Use the empty Limeade container for measuring.
- A couple cut-up limes (up to your personal preference)...I use three real persian limes myself.
- Lots of ice
- Margarita salt (optional)

Easy steps to make your beer-garita:

1. In a large pitcher, mix the beer, limeade and tequila enough to combine the liquids together.
2. Next either add the ice or pour over a pitcher which contains ice.
3. If you want to add margarita salt, do this now. Grab a lime-wedge and rub it along the lip of the glass in order. Then dip the lip of the glass into the margarita salt.
4. Lastly pour mixture and garnish with a lime.

(Image removed from quote.)

I have made these for several parties for friends and my wife and I but then I use a three gallon drink dispenser and just up the quantities to fill up the dispenser. Usually these are completely gone before the party is over and then well usually like the country song says...."Tequila makes her clothes fall off!"

Hmm.....  I gotta try that, sounds interesting.

[Shuffler]

I think your plan will surprise your wife. I see this being one of your best Anniversaries. You don't have to spend lots of money... just spend lots of time. I think your wife is going to really enjoy this.

[rpm]

For seafood you want a white wine. My normal choice would be Chardonnay. Since you're not big wine drinkers I'd suggest Reisling. It's sweet and easy to drink.

For red meat normally I'd go with a Cabernet Sauvignon. But again since you're not big wine drinkers I'd suggest Pinot Noir. Light bodied red with a smooth finish. Goes GREAT with steak.

The White Zinfandel is a good "best of both worlds" compromise. Sweet, lots of fruit and easy to drink. It just won't compliment either of the foods you are serving.

[JimmyC]

I`ll throw a sparkling rose in the mix
bit of red bit of white, works well with both and gives a good buzz if its good stuff
squids good & prawns,chilli and lemon salt & pepper ,splog of oil..easy and fast and doooolicious

<S> Have a great one

[ozrocker]

Zack'll be here any time to tell you a pie recipe
Can't give you advice on wine. Not much of a drinker now.
My wines were: Mad Dog 2020, Ripple, Annie Green Springs,
Malt Duck, etc
Etiquette? Used to drive my 73 cougar XR7 through Mickey D's and get a large
cup of ice for aforementioned drink
                                                                                                                                              Oz

[4Prop]

whatcha do is get you some corn meal, sugar, water, yeast, and malt. find a good creek in a well hidden hollow up in the sticks. set up a still (google a diagram) but you'll need some copper line,a barrel,and a pot. find some Tennesee red mud to seal the cracks from the pot and thump barrel. light a small fire under the pot and keep it at a low boil. when it starts comin out the other end jug it and enjoy.

[Treize69]

If you are looking to save money by grilling, you might wanna look cheaper than things like shark and swordfish. Plenty of much more affordable options are out there than can be downright delicious, from store bought things like scallops and clams to stuff you can catch yourself. My wife and I are particularly fond of things we catch and grill right at the lake, like perch, bass, and walleye. Panfish are also mindlessly simple to come by and quite tasty as well.

Recipes for any of them are readily available online, or drop me a line for some of the ones we use- all quick, easy, and very tasty.

[Gaidin]

thank you all for the advice. 

We eat fish we catch all the time so I am trying to go a little higher end for this date.  Have some fresh salmon on order, some scallops, crab, and a medium sized lobster tail.

Going to pick up a couple of decent sized t-bone or ribeyes to round it out.  Making some steamed veggies to top it all off.

Going less expensive than a cabin in the mountains or lake.  Not going totally cheap on it though.

[Treize69]

I'm sure you know how to grill all that, but if you want some recipes or maybe a couple of different ideas for stuff, lemme know. Grillin' is how I spend my summer- cook out on the grill (both gas and charcoal) at least four days a week.