Wine & Country Living

This year it's a Cajun blackened Thanksgiving turkey dinner and although I know there are some people who wouldn't eat another green bean casserole, it's my job to give back this piece of American, to guests topped in homemade roasted onion rings.

As far as I can remember, once a year my parents loaded us kids into the station wagon and we'd rive into Napa Valley to purchase two cases of wine. Both wines from the original Charles Krug winery; a pink Rose and a case of blonde Chablis. As I recall, these wines were chilled and served to accompany appetizers and holiday dinners with family and guests. My Italian roots tell the story of me drinking Charles Krug Rose at holiday meals at the tender age of nine from a jelly glass jar.

This year I am looking of a little salt box Rose, a little drier than usual, to pair with my fiery blacked Cajun bird. Winemaker Joel Waite of Cavu Cellars, Walla Walla, makes a Barbera Rose, drier than anyone else in the valley, with a sprinkling of Grenache-styled orange and strawberry fruits, with that remarkable little tickle of minerality at the end of the tongue. At just $20 a bottle, this approachable Rose, brims in a generous balance of acidity that screams, "Drink me with fiery salty foods!"

Because you make your cellared wines in such an approachable and generous manner, reminiscent of you, Mr. Joel Waite, yours truly, Judith Henderson of Wine and Country Living, gives you 98 points for the 2010 Cavu Barbera Rose, a fine and affordable bottle of local wine. Congratulations Cavu Cellars! 509-540-6350. until next week, "Eat Art, Drink Imagination."

Roasted Onion Rings

2-medium yellow onions sliced thin

1-egg whisked well

1-cup white flour

1-cup panko bread crumbs

1-teaspoon onion salt

1-teaspoon garlic granules

Method:

Place onion rings into bowl with whisked eggs; toss well to coat. Add remaining ingredients to a paper and egg coated onions; shake bag to dust rings well. On a sheet pan generously sprayed with non-stick oil, spread out onion rings; bake in a 475 degree oven for 30 minutes, stirring twice while roasting. Remove onions from oven and apply to top of your favorite green bean casserole; lower oven to 400 degrees, place casserole in oven for 20 minutes, to heat and serve.

Judith's new Cookbook, "Wine and Country Living," is now available through sales and distribution: www.chefjudithhenderson.com