Shallow Seas Rosé and a Smoky Corn Side Dish recipe

It’s September 10, and I don’t know how the time flew by so fast! I hope everyone had a fantastic summer, and that we are enjoying these last long days of sunshine before we are back to Portland winter weather and getting the much needed rains after this hot and dry summer. I am trying to get in as many more days of dinners on the outside front porch as I can, and I have a really amazing rosé wine I’ve enjoyed a couple times that I wanted to recommend to you. The Shallow Seas Rosé from Real Nice Winemakers, is a local wine that has really stood out this summer from multiple rosés I have had – I’ve brought it twice to two different parties with many foodies as attending guests, and at both parties, it was a huge hit.

The Shallow Seas Rosé has an AVA that is 100% Willamette Valley, sourced from Hyland Vineyard, Olsen Family Vineyard, and Westmount Vineyard. I first had it in the spring where I brought it to a friend’s birthday party and we paired the wine with roast pig and other side potluck dishes, including my smoky corn side dish that I’ll share the recipe shortly.

Shallow Seas Rosé with roast pork and smoky corn? Yes, it is an unusual pairing I know but it worked because this rosé is a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Riesling, and has a beautiful blush pink color. The Riesling grapes in the blend gives this rosé and extra acidity and minerality that paired well with the crispy skin of this Chinese roast pig  and smokey corn. These crisp flavors ground the slightly sweet strawberry and peach of the wine, and is what makes it stand out so much from most rosés and pair excellently with a wide variety of dishes. With an SRP of $18 it’s also incredible value too.

From the winemaker Anthony Van Nice, of Real Nice Winemakers on Shallow Seas:

“The name and the antique diver helmet refer to our marine sedimentary soils here.  The whole area was an inland seas millions of years ago and plate tectonic forces pushed this ancient seabed up to the surface.   You can walk the vineyards and break apart rocks with your hands and find fossilized seas shells and other marine life.

We played around with putting two unlike things together…black + magnolia and shallow + seas.”

The roast pig you see above was a dream that the birthday lady had always had for a party – and this pig easily fed 20 of us and we also took home ziploc bags of some leftover pig too! If you are interested in also ordering a roast pig, this one you see was ordered from Good Taste Noodle House. My corn side dish here was also a huge hit – and I wanted to share the recipe here!

I’ve made this dish multiple times – often making different substitutions depending on the season. Here, because it was April, and a pig party, I decided to saute the corn niblets (I used frozen corn niblets) in bacon fat and I used various peppers for color. In the summer, I will often add those juicy summer tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market, especially cherry tomatoes because I love the burst of acidity they provide. In the fall, you might add cut up squash, or edamame. Make this more of a meal by adding farro. It’s a recipe that is easy adaptable to what you have on hand.

It’s also easy to dial back or add more smokiness or spiceiness or creaminess based on what you like. The original recipe that I based this on calls for mayo but I had vegenaise, and you can also use Mexican crema. This makes enough for 16 people because it’s meant for a potluck party.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups of corn kernels — see note below
• 4 tablespoons of butter, olive oil, or bacon fat
• 2 large red peppers, diced – set aside 1/3 cup for topping
• 5 green jalapenos peppers, diced – set aside 1/3 cup for topping
• 2 stalks of green onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup mayo or vegenaise
• 1 cup of light sour cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
• 12 ounces of cotija cheese, crumbled so it’s almost like grated cheese. Set aside a chunk for topping
• 1/2 tablespoon smoked salt (or whatever to taste)
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh ground pepper (to taste)
• 1 lime

Instructions:

1. Note on the corn: Use 20 ears of corn that you remove the kernels from the cob. You can grill the corn and then remove the kernels, or another way is to remove the kernels first. OR, use thawed frozen corn niblets – about 8 cups worth, and char on the stovetop with a cast iron pan. I used the thawed corn kernels in a pan in two batches – just heat the pan to high, start with olive oil, or melt butter, or for this party batch I use 2 tablespoons of bacon fat for each 4 cup batch. Put the corn kernels in and after mixing enough so they are all covered with the fat, just let it sit and sear for 5-7 minutes before stirring again.
2. I diced 2 red peppers and 5 jalapeno peppers and 2 stalk of green onions. After the corn kernels were seared I threw in **most** of the diced peppers to incorporate the flavors with the corn. I left a 1/3 cup of both kinds of pepper raw to top at the end.
3. Remove the corn and peppers mixture from heat and let cool.
4. Meanwhile, mix 1 cup of light sour cream and 1/2 cup of vegenaise or mayo, 1.5 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder, most of the cheese and mixed them all together. After the kernels were cooled, I spread this mixture into the kernels. I then added the smoked salt, freshly ground pepper, and squeezed lime juice to taste.
5. At the end, I topped everything with the reserved red peppers and jalapeno peppers and the crumbled cojita cheese, and then sprinkled a bit more smoked paprika and chipotle chile powder on top
6. Optionally in the past I have also added cut chunks of avocado into the mix, or used more green onions, or had cilantro in here. I’ve also made a totally vegan version of this where I added cherry tomatoes and edamame instead of using the peppers, and completely left out the mayo, cheese, sour cream and it was still tasty, though the creamy texture was then lost (which may be fine when you are eating it outside in temperatures in the 90s!).

You can also see more variations of corn dishes I’ve made such as corn, tomatoes, and tortellini, or a Pan roasted corn salad with spinach and Mozzarella!

What is your favorite way to have corn? I love having corn off the cob as just kernals so it’s less on my face and easier to eat.

What do you like to pair rosé wine with?