I’ve been experimenting in the kitchen a lot in the last week. With the highly strung Curious Mike enjoying (or trying to enjoy) a well earned break with M’am and Dad in County Down, I’ve had to fend for myself in the Kane household. So I wouldn’t be surprised if I was Look and Taste’s most frequent visitor of late.

What I really love about Niall’s recipes is the simplicity of many of them. I get back to the house quite late and I’m always like a hungry bear, so to be able to throw something together that’s quick, healthy and absolutely delicous is paramount. And his chicken with garlic, rosemary and spaghetti ticks all the right boxes.

For this weeks wine match I’m reaching for Pinot Grigio, which is great with a variety of food because it doesn’t possess particularly prominent fruit flavours. The drier, more acidic versions are excellent with shellfish and other seafood, but for this dish we’ll go for the chubbier options for a fuller body.

The well structured and incredibly versatile Mirabello Pinot Grigio is the perfect option under €10. If you’re mad for the New World, check out the Tussock Pinot Gris, recently rated alongside the Waipara Springs Dry Riesling (a good match in itself), by our favourite mammy from England. And if you really want to spoil yourself, the best match possible comes from Alsace - Blanck Pinot Gris.

Simply - to - die - for.

Video recipe courtesy of Look & Taste.

There is something so simple about eating good noodles and they really are so simple to make.

Most people stay clear of trying to make them at home and prefer to rely on the local takeaway or eating them out in restaurants but with this simple video recipe you can now rustle up the classic dish of Pad Thai any time you want.

The key here is using really good big fresh prawns and you could of course swap them for chicken, some fish or beef and keep the recipe exactly as it is. The real beauty of this dish is that it can be made from start to finish in less than 20 minutes and involves very little washing up.

So go ahead and treat a loved one to some home cooked noodles this week and serve it up with the delicious bottle of wine the boys are about to recommend……..

Mike’s wine match:

This is a great summer dish as all the flavours are delicate and aromatic, and there’s nothing too heavy - even the noodles are quite light.

With Thai and other Pacific Rim cuisine, I always think of New Zealand wines first. And given the fact that this is a delicately flavoured dish, I’d stick with a relatively delicate Sauvignon Blanc or even a Pinot Gris.

This Mount Cass Sauvi from Waipara is an absolute gem - at the elegant, even restrained, end of the NZ Sauvignon spectrum, it’s got all the tropical fruit and gooseberry freshness you’d expect but with a lovely, soft, minerally texture and finish, and would be beautifully in tune with the prawns and aromatic Thai flavours in Niall’s dish.

For a Pinot Gris, try this first release from a winery scooping a lot of awards of late, Tussock from Nelson. Again, this is beautifully balanced, with soft apple, pear and spice nuances, to really accentuate those Thai flavours in your mouth. I’m literally salivating at the thought!

Enjoy.

Niall Harbison is Co-Founder and Master Chef at Look and Taste.

It always makes us feel that little bit better when enjoying a glass of red wine. It has been proven to lower the risk of heart attack, raise your HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) and lower LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), prevent blood clots and reduce blood vessel damage caused by fat deposits. Recent research even suggests that it protects against lung cancer, and protects men against prostate cancer.

So what’s the secret? Red wine is a particularly rich source of antioxidants flavonoid phenolics. Flavonoids exhibit antioxidant properties helping prevent blood clots and plaques formation in arteries. Resveratrol, found in grape skins and seeds, increases HDL cholesterol and also helps prevent blood clotting. OK, so if you’re still following, these things are good for your health.

It only gets more interesting when you hear that white wine is as cardioprotective as red wine. Polyphenolic antioxidants reside in the skin and seeds, so red wines will extract these properties easily because of contact with the skins during production. However, the flesh, or the pulp, of the grape is said to provide the same benefits, according to research done by the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 2006.

Indeed, studies have shown that people from the Mediterranean who regularly drink red wine have a lower risk of heart disease. Here’s another point. Ever wonder how Ireland has one of the highest cases of heart disease in Europe, while France has one of the lowest, despite a similarly high fat diet? Could it be something to do with wine?

The problem is, too many of us like to binge on alcohol. If we consume wine in moderation, say, a glass a day with our evening meal, all the research in the world would indicate that you’ll be doing your health a favour. We just need to ensure that it doesn’t turn into an unhealthy habit by consuming too much - easier said than done I hear you say.

The Harvard Men’s Health Watch notes that men who enjoy alcohol and can drink in moderation and responsibly may benefit from a lower risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and cardiac death.

Originally posted by the same author on Look and Taste.

This is a very simple recipe that you will be able to throw together, and for some reason it has turned out to be one of the most popular recipes on the whole site.

I actually made it for the first time on camera and had never tried it before but it is always a dish that I have seen on old Italian and American movies and was delighted when it turned out perfectly first time. The meatballs are cooked in the sauce which means that they turn out super tasty and really moist.

I often make this recipe now for myself at home and make about 4 portions, and then just keep them in the fridge to reheat over the next couple of nights, but the one thing that I am always missing is what red wine to pair with it so over to you boys…….

Mike’s wine match:

Easy one this week Niall. A classic Italian dish needs a classic Italian wine, so I’d go with a Sangiovese for the grape’s characteristic structure and acidity. Sangiovese’s the grape behind the famous reds of Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino - it is quintessentially Italian, and perfect with tomato-based dishes due to the rich flavours and complementary acidities.

Under the tenner mark, I’m open to any challenge that this Farnese isn’t the best Sangiovese in Ireland at the price. I’ve had it numerous times with traditional Spaghetti Bolognese and it’s a true synergistic food and wine match, the stuff you dream of when thinking what wine to bring home for dinner. You could easily trade-up to a good quality Tuscan or Chianti Classico but I think for the homely, everyday comfort of spaghetti and meatballs, you won’t go far wrong with the Farnese.

Niall Harbison is Co-Founder and Master Chef at Look and Taste and has a terrible taste in football teams.

One of the hardest desserts that you will ever have to make is a soufflé but we have cracked it and made a super simple recipe here. If you are panicking about making a soufflé and that you will see it collapse, don’t worry because you are not alone, as every chef in the world holds their breath as a soufflé comes out of the oven, even if they have made them 100 times before.

I am guessing that the Curious boys will be able to match this up with dessert wine perfectly as it is light and pretty neutral in flavour which should work with a sweet dessert wine. Over to you boys……

Mike’s wine match:

Classic dessert and spot on Niall in terms of made for a lovely dessert wine.

I still think dessert wines are one of the world’s best kept secrets. Yes, you generally pay a bit more in terms of cost per litre - many half bottles are considerably more expensive than a regular bottle of decent table wine - but the experience can be close to heavenly, and there’s no better way to cap off a fine meal.

There’s still a consideration to be made in terms of the dessert and the sweet wine to match it, mainly around the sweetness and flavours. Basically a super sweet dessert needs a super sweet dessert wine.

The sweetness and strength of flavours in Niall’s soufflé don’t demand a supercharged wine, rather something more subtle, so I’m immediately drawn to our Keith Tulloch Botrytis Semillon. Semillon’s not renowned for it’s expression but the effect of the noble rot on these Hunter Valley grapes produces the most incredible butterscotch and honey flavours, along with ripe apricot and orange peel. I’ve recommended it before with dessert pancakes and I think it’d just be superb with this.

This is one of the first video recipes I saw from Lookandtaste and it’s what excited me most about their concept. Classic dishes, superbly demonstrated by a top class chef, on demand.

It’s amazing how many people are quite comfortable cooking complex and intricate recipes from books, but hand them a lovely piece of prime steak and they panic. (Sorry, I’m talking third party but I’m one of those people!)

Niall’s demonstration shows how to cook the perfect steak in just a few minutes - this is fast food but with the right cut of meat the same fast food you’ll get in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

A big, juicy steak demands a big, juicy wine and your local wine merchant’s shelves will be packed with appropriate matches. You can get great value Malbecs from Argentina or Chile that are just made for steak - see how our Tesoro de los Andes Malbec-Shiraz performed on Robert Francis Wine - but my first choice will always be Australia and specifically Barossan Shiraz.

The Barossans have almost cornered the market for that big, bold, fruit-burst expression of Shiraz, and their heritage and vines pre-date many of Europe’s most prestigious regions.

Try this (nearly!) organic Earthworks from the Langmeil Winery for bursting black fruit and hints of peppery spice. Or for a bit more complexity and spice treat yourself to the very classy Shiraz/Grenache Wallace from our favourite winemaker Ben Glaetzer. Then get onto Michelin for a star of your own.

When I was first coming up with recipes for Lookandtaste, this Frittata video was one of the first to be included as it is a recipe that I actually cook for myself when I have no idea what to make for dinner, am short of time and only have a handful of veggies and some eggs in the fridge. It is one of those classics that you just need to have in your repertoire and is a meal that will fill you up with very little work involved.

When myself and Pieter (the other chef in Lookandtaste) were on the set cooking this recipe, we argued long and hard as to where Frittata was from. In the end we agreed to disagree but I am sure that I was right when I said Spain and he was way of the mark with Italy.

I would imagine that pairing a wine with eggs is quick tricky but that is exactly the reason I choose this recipe as I would hate to think that the boys over at Curious Wines were getting an easy ride on the pairing front…….

Mike’s wine match:

Ha, this is an easy one! And bad news Niall, Pieter was right - a quick check on Wikipedia confirms Frittata is very much of Italian origin!

The dish is another of those classic left-over dishes, where whatever vegetables or meats you’ve got to hand can be thrown into the mix, the staples being the egg, potato, herbs and maybe some cheese. So you could justifiably choose different wines depending on what’s in there, but I’m going to recommend a couple of great all-rounders, perfect with not only Italian food but anything with a bit of richness or variety in flavour.

My preference would be red for frittata, and I’m going to plump for a Bardolino from Verona, up in the north-east corner of Italy. Bardolino’s typically light and easy-drinking but with that trademark Italian ‘bite’ that’s great for food.

If your preference was white, you could do a lot worse than staying close to Verona with a lovely Soave, again typically fresh and easy-drinking, and there shouldn’t be anything in the frittata that will overpower the delicious flavours in the wine.

Check out our own Bardolino and Soave from the 100 year old Farina winery from Verona, and ‘buon appetito’ Niall

Niall Harbison is Co-Founder and Master Chef at Look and Taste.

People often eat out when on holiday in Spain and love Paella but would be horrified about the thought of trying to re-create it when they get home but this simple video shows you that it is actually a great dish that can actually be put together in one pan and requires minimum washing up which is always a winner. What I also love about a dish like this is that it encourages the family or your group of friends to come together as you plonk (nice wine pun for good measure) the dish into the center of the table and everybody just gets stuck in and helps themselves. So all the great dish really needs is a lovely bottle of wine to compliment it and you will be able to transport yourself mentally back to that holiday in Spain…..

Mike’s wine match:

Well this has topped it for me, Niall’s most enticing dish so far on the Curious Blog!

To be honest, there’s any number of white wines would go beautifully with this dish, all you want to avoid is something too strong that could overpower the delicate flavours in the shellfish. So, you want something crisp and dry, preferably with a bit of acidic bite to it, and maybe a nice touch of fruit.

Anyone following this series, or other wine-with-food posts I’ve written, will know that my first rule of wine-matching is to take the country and preferably region of origin of the food, and start with wines from there. Now paella originates from the Valencia region of south-east Spain, and whilst white wine production does exceed red, there’s not that many make the export market. So, I’m going to stay Spanish but move up to Rueda in the north-west of the country, partly because it was the subject of my article for Look and Taste last week but mainly because I think their whites are outstanding and perfectly suited to paella.

In the Curious stable, try this Sauvignon from Castello de Medina - prominent confectioned apple with nettle and gooseberry, and great fruit/acidity balance - or this classy Verdejo/Sauvignon blend from Mantel Blanco, with ripe peach/passion fruit and silky texture.

Now Niall, next week I want you to put on a Rafa Benitez goatee and say “pae-eya” for us again

I always talk a lot about certain dishes being ones that I love or could not live without but if you had to ask me for one last meal before I died this would have to be it. The film crew on lookandtaste still talk about this as one of their all time favourite dishes out of the 300 or so we have cooked and if it was slightly healthier I would happily eat it every single night of the week.

I would serve it with some simple mashed potatoes and if you cook it correctly and keep it moist you really won’t need a sauce and I guess the only thing that remains to compliment it perfectly is a great bottle of red. As I always say I would go with my old reliable Chateauneuf du Pape but I am fairly sure the boys in Curious Wines will have better ideas than that, over to you boys to match it up…..

Mike’s wine match:

Niall’s gone the complete opposite this week in giving us something that can be matched with a hugely broad spectrum of wines. The basic advice here is, pick a favourite red wine, and provided it’s got a bit of body and preferably a bit of spice, you really can’t go far wrong on this one.

I was drawn initially to France because of the similarity with the French dish filet de bœuf en croût, believed by some to have been the original Beef Wellington before a patriotic British chef renamed it. The beef needs a bit of body and tannin, so Bordeaux’s always a safe bet, or Niall’s suggestion of the Rhône (home of Chateauneuf) could be equally good. Interestingly the mushrooms could even have you looking to Burgundy for those earthy flavours of a Pinot Noir, the lighter body being compensated by concentration of flavour in the good stuff.

My two suggestions however are a long way from France. It tends to be barbeque season before I jump to Australia for food matches, but a bold and spicy Aussie Shiraz would go fabulously well with this dish - they’re easily understood, available everywhere, and everyone has a favourite. For under a tenner, try the “scrumptious” Last Stand Shiraz reviewed by the lovely Elf in Amsterdam, or if you can stretch to the €15 to €20 bracket this is your chance to try the stellar Glaetzer range with the Wallace, with the classic Shiraz/Grenache blend of the Rhône.

Niall Harbison is Co-Founder and Master Chef at Look and Taste.

In our second contribution to the Look and Taste wine blog this week, we took a step back from our five wine tips to enhance your dining forever to assess the fundamental taste components of both food and wine.

Classic teachings describe four basic taste sensations:

1. Sweetness: Generally the first thing you taste as there are sweetness receptors on the tip of your tongue. Sweetness balances acidity in food and wine.
2. Sourness: The taste that detects acidity, hence the balance to sweetness. Acidity provides refreshment or crispness, and causes the mouth-watering sensation you’ll get from citrus fruit and many white wines.
3. Saltiness: A vital component as a flavour enhancer in food and, although rarely detectable in wine, an important influence in complimenting the two.
4. Bitterness: Often unpleasant if unbalanced – think of bitter coffee, unripe olives or raw broccoli – but rarely attributed to wine. Related and often confused with bitterness is astringency, defined as dryness or roughness, and attributed to tannins in wine.

How these different senses interact is vital to how we experience and enjoy, or dislike, food. So, food that is too sweet or too bitter will taste overpowering and unpleasant, whereas food that triggers multiple senses in harmony will be balanced and more interesting.

This to me is the essence of how wine can accentuate food, and vice versa.

I commented last week that barring disastrous pairings, most wines won’t spoil most meals. However, get a wine-match right and you can experience true gastronomic heaven.

I noted with interest how, in the last week, Lar Veale of Sourgrapes.ie and Frank O’Brien of Robertfranciswine.ie took different attributes from similarly styled Rieslings to increase the enjoyment markedly different foods. Lar described the cutting acidity of New Zealand Riesling being “perfect for slicing right through the creaminess of goat’s cheese”, whereas Frank matched the delicate fruit of Australian Riesling with fish skewers.

As one of the truly great food wines - one that can compliment and accentuate all of the taste senses - there’s more to come on the greatest white grape of them all from this fan.