January 27th - Mince

January 27th – Mince
I was feeling under the weather today with some kind of stomach flu. I wanted some kind of comfort food and fell back on making mince and mashed potatoes which I hoped would sit well in my stomach. Mince, a stew of ground beef, onions, carrots, and Worcestershire sauce, is ultimate comfort food to me (right up there with plain roasted chicken) and it’s hard to think of something that screams comfort food more than mashed potatoes. Normally I would have chosen brown ale or Scottish ale with mince, but beer didn’t sound good. Red wine is actually good at fighting some stomach bugs (it’s the tannins and anthocyans I think), so I opened a 1996 Condada de Haza to have with it. It was an unlikely pairing but very good. The Haza had round fruit flavors with a wonderful spiciness. The flavors of mince are very basic but rich, and the wine played into it and made me feel somewhat better.