Fava Beans and a Nice Chianti

I am on a board of directors and this week we had the annual dinner. While the board meetings are usually held sitting on tiny child-sized chairs around a knee-high table, this dinner is held at one of the nicer local restaurants. It's a chance to applaud that we've survived another year, usher out the old and welcome in the new board members.

I am such a home body sometimes and I have to say that once I am home, I don't like to go back out. When I walk through the door I feel like taking off my bra and settling in. This night was no exception. I came home from work, took my daughter to evening swim lessons, ran through a drive-thru foraging for something quick for the troops, and helped the family settle down to dinner.

I had time to wash my face before driving back across town for the 7:15 dinner reservation. I left my husband to finish dinner and bathe and put down two children.

Since I had no parental duties, I was certainly going to partake in a little vino with dinner. I am a red wine drinker. The drier the better. I like my mouth to pucker with each sip. It was a no-brainer that I was going to order a glass of red.

For dinner I decided on a lemon risotto with fresh scallops, and a variety of vegetables including sun-dried tomatoes and fava beans. Looking back on the evening two things I said come to mind:

1. I am not a huge fan of fava beans, but this dish looks good.
2. I know they probably don't go well together, but I'm getting the Chianti.

I have been a wine drinker for quite some time. Blame my sophisticated palate (okay, in my own mind I am sophisticated) on years of working in finer restaurants, a trip to France, an ex-boyfriend who was a wine rep. I just know that I don't guzzle the white zin!

One of the highlights of my trip to New Jersey (compliments of Johnson's) was a wine seminar with Ted Allen. He walked us through pairing wine with a variety of foods. In front of us was a plate with an assortment of nibbles (plain grilled chicken, olive, cheese, lemon, sun-dried tomato, etc.) and six glasses of wine. He had everyone take a bite of chicken and then try a light white wine and a Chardonnay. The chicken paired best with the Chardonnay. Now he had everyone squeeze the lemon on the chicken and try each wine again. The acidity of the lemon contrasted with the Chardonnay. Lesson: it's not just the main food, but also the preparation that can make or break a wine pairing. Try this at home some time. (And no, I did not eat the chicken.)

Point is. I ordered a risotto dish with scallops. Risotto and scallops would normally go well with a Chardonnay. But it was a lemon risotto and the acidity demanded a different wine. What do you do? If you are like me, you order a Chianti because you could give a crap about the pairing and you just want to enjoy a good glass of wine while you talk with friends and wait for dinner to come.

And then it dawned on me this morning that my pairing was absolutely correct even if it broke the rules. My risotto had fava beans. And nothing goes better with fava beans than a nice Chianti!