Wine Spectator has a good Wine and Food pairing section but you have to have a membership to access it.

Try one or more of these:

Classic Wines

Wine Matcher

food and wine

Ann

Try these (LOL - sorry I couldn't resist)

Wal-Mart Wines
The top 12 suggestions for Wal-Mart Wine:

12. Chateau Traileur Parc
11. White Trashfindel
10. Big Red Gulp
9. Grape Expectations
8. Domaine Wal-Mart "Merde du Pays"
7. NASCARbernet
6. Chef Boyardeaux
5. Peanut Noir
4. Chateau des Moines
3. I Can't Believe It's Not Vinegar!
2. World Championship Riesling
1. Nasti Spumante

seriously - I would visit a local wine shop tell them what you are planning to serve and ask them for suggestions.

I use this site alot

Here is a link that might be useful: wine lovers page

All the sites I know suggest a wine to pair with a certain food....not a food to go with a wine.
I am assuming your husband already knows what wines he wants to serve and it's now up to you to cook that food? That right?
It's still a bit dicey...you can say things liek a pinot grigio pairs well with fish....but which pinot grigio and which fish and how is its auced?
If your DH is the wine expert, it might be better if he decided what food to serve and then you come here and someone will find you a recipe.
Linda C

Thanks, all! I remember now, the theme wine will be Shiraz. DH has laid in six different selections, of varying qualities/prices. (If he thinks I'm doing six complete courses, he's mistaken.) The "Wine Matcher" link that Ann provided lists lots of complementary food choices. There are also lots of recipe links there, although so many that it is hard to believe they are all are good matches.

So far, I'm thinking of grilled lamb kabobs, possibly with Moroccan or eastern Med seasonings, grilled veg, a salad, with some sort of finger food to munch before the grilling starts. I'll need a plan B in case the weather tanks by next week. It's stinking hot here today, but by the end of August, things are usually "unsettled", and we may get chased indoors. I'll stick to the lamb idea, but don't want to have to consider a heavy stew or casserole.

I don't even want to think about dessert. I haven't finished digesting yesterday's... I'd prefer to do something light, but that site recommended chocolate. Light Chocolate??? Aren't those contradictory ideas??? Moroccan chocolate??? Gotta think about this a bit more...

Thanks

You won't regret baba ganoush or hummus or feta-spinach dip as an appetizer. I have served Shiraz with all of those and liked it, but maybe that is just me.

If you don't like chocolate, rice pudding or apple filo strudel for dessert, or Pears Belle Helene, which is a combination of both fruit and chocolate. However, nothing beats cheese nuts and fruit for dessert with wine, IMHO. I love the soft dessert cheeses like St. Andre.

Shiraz is such a great wine, IMHO, casual and great with all the Mediterranean food I love. If I didn't have red wine amine issues it would be my "go to" table wine. I love the Aussie versions.

If the featured wine is Shiraz...you pretty well have to do chocolate!
The grape used to make a shiraz is the sirah and that's what it's called in France and in the US. Australia calls that grape Shiraz. It's a heavy red, often in a high tannin wine that will age well. Not sure I would call it "informal" but I guess it's all in how you use it.
The lamb kabobs are good with it...as are the grilled veggies.
How about this tart?
Chocolate Hazelnut tart
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups peeled, chopped, and toasted hazelnuts
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)
1 cup corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 store bought frozen pie crust, defrosted
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and the flour. Add the eggs, hazelnuts, chocolate chips, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt. Stir well. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 1 hour.
Cool the tart for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Or this
The recipe is from last month's Cooking Light

COCOA FUDGE COOKIES

1 cup flour
tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
5 Tbsp butter
7 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine
flour, soda and salt; set aside. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium
heat. Remove from heat; stir in cocoa powder and sugars (mixture will
resemble coarse sand). Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine Add
flour mixture, stirring until moist. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches
apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2-3
minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies.
Or if you really want to knoci their sox off....try this...
CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY GANACHE CAKE
This pull-out-all-the-stops cake for special occasions may
be prepared in steps in advance and glazes on the day it is
to be served.

For genoise
1/3 cup sifted unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder such
as Droste (sift before measuring)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
a pinch baking soda
3 large whole eggs
3 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
For syrup
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup raspberry liqueur such as Chambord
For ganache
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 pound semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (not
unsweetened), chopped coarse
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
For glaze
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (not
unsweetened), chopped coarse
Garnish: fresh raspberries
Make genoise:
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 9-inch round cake pan
(about 2 inches deep) and line bottom with a round of
parchment paper or foil.
In a small bowl whisk together cocoa powder, flour,
cornstarch, and baking soda.
In a metal bowl whisk together whole eggs, yolk, sugar, and salt until combined. Set mixture over a saucepan of simmering water and continue to whisk until lukewarm. Remove bowl from heat and with an electric mixer beat mixture at high speed until it has cooled and doubled in volume.
Sift one third cocoa mixture over egg mixture and fold in.
Sift and fold in remaining cocoa mixture, half at a time,
in same manner. Pour batter into pan and smooth top. Bake genoise in middle of oven for 30 minutes, or until it is firm to the touch and pulls away slightly from side of pan. Invert genoise onto a rack and immediately invert onto another rack to cool right side up. Genoise may be wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled 1 week or frozen 1 month. Thaw genoise before assembling cake.
Make syrup:
In a small saucepan bring water and sugar to a boil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Cool syrup and stir in liqueur. Syrup may be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered.
Make ganache:
In a saucepan bring cream, butter, and corn syrup to a boil over moderate heat and remove pan from heat. Add chocolate, swirling pan to submerge chocolate in hot mixture, and let stand 3 minutes. Whisk ganache until smooth and transfer to a bowl. Chill ganache, covered, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
Assemble cake:
Let ganache stand at room temperature until slightly
softened and pliable but still cool. With a whisk or
electric mixer beat ganache just until light and fluffy.
Remove parchment paper from genoise and with a long
serrated knife cut cake horizontally into 3 rounds.
Invert top layer of genoise onto a springform pan base or a 9-inch cardboard round and brush with one third syrup. Spread layer with half of jam and spread one third ganache over jam. Top ganache with middle layer of genoise and repeat layering of syrup, jam, and ganache. Top with third layer of genoise, smooth-side up, and brush with remaining syrup. Spread top and side of cake with remaining ganache. Chill cake until ganache is set, about 30 minutes. Cake may be assembled ahead, wrapped in plastic wrap, and chilled 5 days or frozen 1 month. Thaw cake before proceeding.
Make glaze:
In a saucepan bring cream to a boil and remove pan from
heat. Add chocolate, swirling pan to submerge chocolate in
hot cream, and let stand 2 minutes. Whisk glaze until
smooth and pour through a sieve set over a bowl. Cool glaze
to room temperature.
With cake on a rack set over a pan (to catch drips) pour
glaze through sieve onto center of cake. Quickly spread
glaze evenly over top and sides of cake with a long,
narrow, metal spatula. Let cake stand until glaze is set,
about 5 minutes.
Garnish cake with raspberries and keep at cool room
temperature until ready to serve.
Gourmet
February 1997
Or a flourless chocolate cake!
Sounds like a great party!
Linda C

Yeah, the only reason I think of Shiraz as casual is it goes so well with all the Mediterannean foods, and that's what I eat almost all the time. Also the Aussie wines in general seem more casual to me, but perhaps that's just their general lifestyle portrayed in their marketing campaigns. I mean they have wineries called "Penguin" and "Great White Shark." Maybe your husband is going with the French Sirah wines, which I have never had.

Linda's recipes sound fantastic! Wine and cheese and wine and chocolate are the great red wine dessert pairings. Shiraz has to have something to stand up to it. I am definately going to add that torte to my repertoire Linda! And that ganache cake, OMG!

Shiraz and syrah are pretty much the same wine, but for the differences in winerys....made of the same grape...as is pinot grigio and pino gris.
I think the only thing that makes a wine formal or informal is what you drink it out of....I have many many times had champagne out of a paper cup while sitting on the ground, or out of a plastic glass standing in a parking lot.
Linda C

Thanks for those recipes, Linda. I think I'll make the cookies for the kiddoes (the grown-ups ate all the choc brownies last time we had company, but hey, the kids were too busy playing video games while waiting for us to get to dessert). But I digress... Besides, one of the guests insists on bringing dessert, and I'll bet real money it's chocolate.

I'm pretty sure we'll do mostly Australian wines. We have good selections here (including the "Pink Kangaroo" type offerings, which we will forego on this occasion). Maybe one French, but they are getting expensive, and are trying to cutlivate an "exclusive" market, so not many choices at low-med price ranges.

This will be our last big blow-out for the season, as our general contractor informed me today that he plans to demolish our kitchen two days later.