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Raise a Glass to Flavor!
Entertain at home with food and wine pairings

Kicked Up Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Stuffed Mushrooms
Stuffed Seaside Shrimp

(Family Features) - When you want to kick your casual entertaining up a notch, try a new way to pair food and wine. Prepare dishes with varying flavors such as tart, spicy, savory or zesty herb. The bold and full-flavored dishes offered here provide an excellent palette with which to combine the intriguing tastes of gourmet sausage with the sheer elegance of wine.

Serve your guests different varieties of wines, from Chardonnay and Viognier to Syrah and Merlot. Serve small helpings of each dish on each guest's plate. Take a sip of the wine first, then tell the others what you taste. Then sample the first dish followed by that same wine and compare notes. Do the wine and food taste better alone or together?

Then do it all again with the next variety of wines. You'll soon find a great match — and have a memorable evening!

For more delicious gourmet sausage recipes, perfect for entertaining, visit www.emerilsgourmetmeats.com.

Kicked Up Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Serves: 12 to 15 generous portions

1 pound orzo pasta
1 (12.8-ounce) package Emeril's Sun-Dried Tomato
Gourmet Smoked Sausage (4 links), cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 (10-ounce)jar sun-dried tomatoes in herbed oil, drained (oil reserved) and sliced
1 (12-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1/2 large red onion, finely diced
1 (6-ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
1/2 pound feta cheese, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch Italian parsley, washed, dried and chopped 1 heaping tablespoon
Italian seasoning
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons dried red pepper flakes (optional)

Cook orzo al dente, drain and rinse in cold water; drain well and set aside.

In large bowl place sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes, onion, olives and feta. Add cooled orzo to mixture and pour in reserved oil from sun-dried tomatoes. Add olive oil. Mix gently. Fold in parsley. Add Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Add red pepper flakes. Serve well chilled.

Stuffed Mushrooms
Serves: 4

1 (12.8-ounce) package Emeril's Kicked Up Gourmet Smoked Sausage (4 links)
12 stuffing-size portobello mushrooms or approximately 15 button mushrooms
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup Smoking Loon Syrah, divided

Preheat oven to 325°F. Cook sausage in skillet and crumble with fork until evenly browned. Drain and set aside.

To prepare mushroom cups, remove and chop stems; set aside.

In medium bowl, mix chopped mushroom stems, cream cheese and bread crumbs. Stir in sausage and 1/4 cup wine. Spoon mixture into mushroom cups. Transfer to large baking dish and cover with the remaining wine. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Stuffed Seaside Shrimp
Serves: 8-10 appetizer portions

1 1/2 pounds (16 to 20) shrimp
1 (12.8-ounce) package Emeril's Habanero & Green Chili Gourmet Smoked Sausage (4 links)
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Emeril's Bam! Seasoning
1 1/2 cups minced fresh or canned pineapple
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
1/4 cup small diced red onion
1/4 cup small diced red pepper or pimentos
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh or powdered ginger 1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water Rice mix (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Boil shrimp 3 to 5 minutes. Rinse, peel, devein and split shrimp (butterfly). Cook sausage to package directions (reserve liquid). Place sausage in food processor and grind.

In bowl, combine bread crumbs, seasoning and sausage. Place 1 tablespoon sausage mixture on each butterflied shrimp. In small saucepan, add pineapple, reserved cooking liquid, green onion, red onion, red pepper and ginger. Bring ingredients to boil and add cornstarch/cold water and mix to thicken. Place each shrimp on baking pan, drizzle 1 teaspoon sauce over each individual shrimp and bake 3 to 5 minutes.

For additional flavor after baking, drizzle remaining sauce over shrimp and serve over favorite rice mix.

Finding a Great Match

Bend the rules a bit. You don't always have to pair a white wine with fish or chicken, red wine with meat. Sometimes opposite flavors attract. In other instances, similar flavors complement each other best. Let your palate be the judge. Start off by pairing the following:

Savory and sweet flavors, as in Chicken & Apple Gourmet Smoked Sausage, with a Viognier, an exotic wine with layers of ripe honeydew, vanilla and vanilla custard
Tart and tangy flavors, as in Sun-Dried Tomato Gourmet Smoked Sausage, with a Pinot Noir, a wine with balanced flavors of fruit and soft tannins
Herb flavors, as in Chicken Pesto Gourmet Smoked Sausage, with a deep and rich Merlot
Bacon, garlic, and red wine flavors, as in Old Fashioned French Style Gourmet Smoked Sausage, with a blackberry-like Cabernet Sauvignon
Spicy flavors, as in Emeril's Kicked Up Gourmet Smoked Sausage, with a similarly spicy Syrah
Hot and spicy flavors, as in the Habanero & Green Chile Gourmet Smoked Sausage, with a crisp, fruity Chardonnay

For more information on wines of character from Smoking Loon, visit www.donandsons.com. Don Sebastiani & Sons, maker of Smoking Loon wines, was voted the American Winery of the Year for 2005 in the Wine Enthusiast Magazine's Star Awards.

SOURCE: Don Sebastiani & Sons
Emeril's Smoked Sausage