I picked up some scallops last weekend from the fabulous Glenmar Fish Shop in Union Hall, West Cork, and reminded myself just how easy they are to cook and so utterly divine to taste. I hadn’t tried this wine in a while so I opened a bottle of Orballo Albarino and a match made in West Cork heaven was made.

Here, Niall shows how to cook scallops in just a little bit of oil and some salt, and I did something similar. The Orballo worked a treat, with crisp, tangy apple fruit and a minerally, spicy finish giving my scallops all the complementary flavours they needed.

Try this at home and you’ll have a treat to rival anything you’d get in a top restaurant.

Ingredients (could it be any easier?):

• Scallops
• Oil
• Salt.

Recipe:

1. Season your scallops on both sides with the salt.
2. Heat your oil in a non stick frying pan over a high heat.
3. Place the scallops into the hot pan and caramelize for 1 minute without moving around or touching them.
4. Turn the scallops over and cook for a another 30 seconds.
5. Take off the heat and serve immediately.

Recipe and video courtesy of Look and Taste.

With the kids out in the garden at every opportunity this time of year, the last thing I want to be doing is spending a lot of time cooking. Even picking up the ingredients for this beautifully simple appetiser from Niall couldn’t be easier, as there’s only three. And cooking could just as easily be done on the barbeque, although a griddle pan is a lot less weather-dependent!

This is summer’s evening, canape-style snacking, so what better way to wash it down than a refreshingly inexpensive glass of fizz, ideally something crisp and lemony to lift the prawn over the delicious salty ham.

We’ve just got in this critically acclaimed Prosecco Spago from the Montresor family winery in Verona and at €12 is a bit of an ‘an bord snip’, even if we do say so ourselves.

Mille gracie to Niall and co. at Look and Taste.

This week we asked Sean Fee, CEO of Look and Taste, for his favourite recipe from the ever-expanding Look and Taste video library:

I’ve had a good couple of years to try out a few of the video recipes we have on lookandtaste and there’s a few that have become part of my limited repertoire, one of which is the Cod with Panko and Wasabi Crust.

I’m into food with a bit of a kick and the wasabi in this dish definitely delivers that. I first cooked it for my folks when I was trying to convince them that video recipes online could work and since then I’ve been making it whenever I’m trying to impress.

Now all I need is the perfect wine to accompany it and that’s where the lads come in!

Mike’s wine match:

As ever with food and wine matching, I look to the country of origin first followed by the ingredients in the dish. The panko and wasabi crust obviously moves the dish towards a Japanese origin, but the tomatoes, paprika and fresh fish made me think of the Mediterranean, in particular Spain.

Matt wrote a piece on Duncan Ferguson and Susana Fernandez‘s experimental approach to wine-making at the Cascabel winery in Australia’s Eden Valley, where a Spanish influence has produced some stunning results.

I think Duncan and Susana’s Eden Valley Riesling would be the perfect match for Sean’s fish and crust-with-a-kick. It has lots of tart, spicy citrus characteristics, loads of minerality with a lovely slaty, dry finish. And don’t just take my word for it – James Halliday gave it a whopping 94 points and 5 stars last year in Australian Wine Companion.

Our thanks to Sean at Look and Taste.

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.

We’ve been having great fun in the last few months with the guys from Look and Taste, and Niall’s recipes matched with wine are now a firm fixture on this blog. So, when Niall suggested I call into the Look and Taste kitchen for the visit of the Dragon’s Den crew, I jumped at the chance to contribute to the brand new Look and Taste Show at the same time.

Episode 7 was released this week, with an apprehensive yours truly in front of the camera for the Techniques feature. Check out the full episode below including some tips on storing wine. (Yes, you CAN put red wine in the fridge sometimes!)

Now a Look and Taste feature wouldn’t be the same without a wine match, so for Niall’s rustic-style BLT sandwich, you want something light and refreshing but with enough zip to cope with the saltiness of that delicious bacon.

For the week that’s in it following our New Zealand tasting last weekend, I’m recommending you try the Tussock Sauvignon Blanc from Nelson. It’s superbly priced for the quality and, as they used to say about new pop songs before the days of iTunes, is available in all good record stores. Well, it’s available in a number of very good independent wine stores, that is – and on 10% discount on curiouswines.ie until midnight tonight.

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.

With people having to tighten their belt and watch their spending these days due to the dreaded “R” word there is no better way to save a few Euros than by cooking at home instead of eating in fancy restaurants.

So out goes the fancy fish and chips in the city centre bistro at 20 euros and in comes the home cooked version with this super simple recipe. The fish and chips are both cooked twice in piping hot oil which leaves them lovely and moist in the middle and delicious and crispy on the outside, and with a little delicious home made tartar sauce on the side you are laughin’

The best part about the whole thing is that the money you have saved can be spent on a tasty little bottle of white which the lovely lads over at Curious will help you choose……

Mike’s wine match:

The first thing I consider when wine-matching is the strength of flavour of the food and, the tartare sauce aside, fish and chips are all about protein, starch and deliciously guilty grease. The strongest flavour from the tartare sauce will be the vinegar from the gherkin and capers, and the lemon juice, so a wine with a nice bite and acidity will be your safest bet and help you cut through the oil on the fish and chips at the same time.

Our house white Cuvee Jean-Paul Sec is just made for this dish. It’s a Colombard Ugni Blanc blend but possesses distinct Sauvignon qualities – fresh, zingy and aromatic with a lovely acidic bite making it perfect for cutting through the grease of the chips whilst bringing out the flavour of the fish.

Best thing about it too – at €7.99, it’s as cheap as chips!

Niall Harbison is Co-Founder and Master Chef at 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.

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.