The month associated with love officially ends today, and you have every reason to ensure that you keep that loving feeling going, and continuing to shower the love of your life with a delicious meal paired with a complementary bottle of wine will do just that.

Burns House recently shared with The Nassau Guardian how to pair food with champagne, and this time around, they have again come up with delicious and doable foods you can find in your grocery store to pair with wines from their Barton & Guestier line — wines that represent the wonderful diversity of French wines and enables the occasional wine drinker to the connoisseur to make a journey through France.

Barton & Guestier, which is known as the benchmark of French wines with almost three centuries of experience in the wine business have been sold at Burns House for more than a decade and appeal across the board to people of all ages, and as such are perfect for an intimate dinner or a gathering of family and friends.

Using everyday ingredients — lamb shanks, grouper, bowtie pasta and chicken — they have come up with recipes that pair perfectly with their wines. They have paired their Chateauneuf-Du-Pape, a wine with a bouquet of spicy flavor, reminiscent of wild herbs and fruity overtones with a spicy caramelized lamb shank. The well-balanced wine that has good length and offers spicy and fruity flavors on the palate, is perfect with spicy food, rich stews, game and cheese.

The Cotes De Provence they paired with a pan-seared grouper with lemon mojo sauce. The bouquet on the wine is an explosion of red berries and fragrant flowers on the nose, with flattering citrus aromas that appear when agitated. Lively on the palate, the wine has a jam-like fruit finish. It is ideal as an aperitif, and excellent with Mediterranean cuisine and exotic dishes.

The Cotes-Du-Rhone, a wine that is a great value, that is food friendly, earthy and delicious, but won’t upstage the moment they have paired with a bowtie pasta with asparagus, roasted shallots and blue cheese. It is a concentrated wine that is well structured with spicy and black fruit flavors, and matches well with spicy food, red meat and cheeses.

The intense salmon-pink Rose D’Anjou, that is fruit driven with overtones of sweet red fruits and spices they have paired with a chicken curry. The wine also matches well with summer salads, exotic and spicy dishes.

Caramelized Lamb Shanks
Pair with Chateauneuf-Du-Pape

6 lamb shanks
½ cup onions
3 tablespoons honey
6 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon thyme
1 ½ teaspoons powdered ginger
1 ½ teaspoons powdered cardamom
1 ½ teaspoons powdered cumin
1 or 2 glasses of water
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Mix the spices together. Peel and chop the onions. Fry the onions in the olive oil in a big cooking pot. Remove the onions then brown the meat. Season. Brush the shanks with honey then sprinkle the spices so that they stick onto each of them. Put the lamb back into the pot. Pour in 2 glasses of water. Add the garlic and thyme.

Cover and allow to simmer over a low heat for 1 hour and 45 minutes or 2 hours. Check from time to time that there is always a little water and add some if necessary. Remove the cover and increase the heat for 10 minutes to reduce the sauce. Remember to stir regularly.

Place the lamb in the center of the plate. Delicious with good homemade mashed potatoes.

Pan Seared Grouper with Lemon Mojo Sauce
Pair with Cotes De Provence

Lemon Mojo Sauce:

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
Juice of 1 grapefruit
Juice of 2 oranges
Zest and juice of 3 lemons
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 cup chopped cilantro

Make the mojo: Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook until garlic begins to turn golden brown. Add grapefruit juice and next 5 ingredients to pan (be careful, mixture may splatter); increase heat to medium high; bring to boil. When mixture comes to a boil, turn off heat and stir in cilantro.

6-ounce grouper
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin

Season the fillets with the salt and pepper. In a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil over a high flame, not quite to smoking point. Add in the butter, then quickly, just as the butter begins to melt and bubble, place the fillets in the hot oil. Allow the fish to brown well before turning it over, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the fillets and brown the other side. Once the fish is browned, place the pan in the oven to finish cooking, about 3 to 4 more minutes.Transfer fish to plates and drizzle with Lemon Mojo Sauce.

Curry Chicken
Pair with Rose D’Anjou

6 boned chicken legs
1 apple
¼ cup thinly sliced onions
½ tablespoons flour
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
½ cup coconut milk
½ teaspoon green chili pepper paste
1 ½ cup liquid cream (35% fat)
½ cup veal stock
Juice of ½ lime
1 teaspoon Curcuma (turmeric) powder
Salt and pepper

Cut the legs into smallish pieces. Season and flour. Dice the apple. Fry the chicken in olive oil. Add the onions, veal stock, apple, coconut milk and cream to the pan. Bring to the boil. Add the curry, curcuma (turmeric) and chili paste. Cook for 10 to 20 minutes (depending on the size of your pieces). Add the juice of half a lime. Check the seasoning.

Place the chicken in the center of the plate and pour the sauce around it. White rice is perfect with this dish.

Bowtie Pasta
Pair with Cotes-Du-Rhone

1 1/2 pounds medium shallots (about 24), peeled, halved lengthwise
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from French bread
1 1/2 pounds farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
2 pounds thin asparagus, trimmed, cut diagonally into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound creamy blue cheese (such as Saga blue or Gorgonzola), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss shallots with 2 tablespoons oil on baking sheet; spread in single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes.

Stir 2 tablespoons oil and breadcrumbs in skillet over medium heat until crumbs brown, about 4 minutes. (Shallots and crumbs can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover separately; keep at room temperature.)

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water 10 minutes. Add asparagus; cook until asparagus is crisp-tender and pasta is tender but still firm to bite, about 4 minutes. Drain pasta and asparagus. Transfer to large bowl. Immediately add blue cheese and shallots. Toss until cheese melts and pasta is well coated. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowls. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian