Don't get drunk, but getting a bit high may be unavoidable

One of the fun things I did during my last visit back to the U.S. is touring wineries and tasting their products. As we traveled, we did the tourist thing and took some photos for the album.

My stepdaughter took us to two wineries.

The first one was Kalrya Winery in Santa Ynez

http://www.kalyrawinery.com/

Our second visit was to the Sunstone Winery also in Santa Ynez.

http://www.sunstonewinery.com/

I loved Sunstone. The winery was beautifully built to capture the Spanish classic design of California's history. The place is so COOL!

     They sold their wines and other specialties like flavoured olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar.

The flagstone patio with a beautiful view beckoned everyone to sit and enjoy a glass of wine.

After tasting all the wonderful wine and getting a little high it was time to leave the wineries behind and head off to the small tourist town of Solvang for dinner. One advice from Aunty Lucy: Don’t get drunk, but getting a little high is forgiveable (unless you are driving). In fact, it is almost unavoidable, if you visit more than one winerie. They pour as much as you want in the tasting room. Drinking too much is awful and will just spoil your day.

We arrived in Solvang at just the right time for an early dinner before the drive home. We dined at a small restaurant called Mustard Seed.

The restaurant looks very nice but the food there was just so-so, nourishing but lacking flavour. I think we should have gone home and made the chicken roulade shown below for dinner. It would have been much more satisfying.

Chicken Roulade

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)

1 medium carrot (blanched and thinly sliced)

1 capsium (roasted, skin removed and in 8 slices)

1 cucumber, (seeds removed and thinly sliced)

4 tbs grated cheddar

16 -20 slices pancetta

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Method:

Butterfly the chicken breast and lay them open on the cutting board. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Lay slices of cucumber, capsicum, carrot and 1 tbs of cheddar cheese on the chicken. Roll the chicken breast around the filling and then wrap each roll with pancetta. Secure the pancetta strips with toothpicks or tuck the ends under other wraps to hold in place. Brown the rolls evenly on all sides. Put the chicken roulades on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake in the pre heated oven at 350 degrees F until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170°F. Should take about 15 minutes.

I served it on a two layered bed of lightly sauteed fresh spinach and grits flavoured with parmesan.

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