food and wine pairing

You are currently browsing articles tagged food and wine pairing.

“What’s in the House” Soup

August 25, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 14 comments

Despite yesterday’s chilly rain, I had a fantastic evening. After finishing 3 projects for work, I went for an all out run in the rain, splashing in puddles and completely soaking wet by the time I was done. I looked very much like I did in this photo. I can not wait to officially start training and fundraising for the 2011 Boston Marathon.

After a hot bubble bath, complete with Philosophy Pumpkin Spice Muffin bubble bath (adore Philosophy!), I put together a delicious soup using ingredients I had laying around the house.

1 summer squash

1 zucchini

3 heirloom tomatoes

6 potatoes

1 carton organic veggie broth

1/2 red onion

1 cup cubed tofu

3 cloves garlic

olive oil

dried herbs and spices to taste: basil, fennel, crushed red pepper, black pepper

I began by chopping everything in uniform sizes so that all of the ingredients would cook through.

I then sautéed the chopped onion and garlic in some olive oil just until soft, pouring in the veggie broth before they started to brown. I added the potatoes first, then about 3 minutes later the tomatoes and tofu, and 5 minutes after that, the zucchini. As I was stirring, I added tiny bits of the herbs and spices, tasting as I went along. Toward the end, I drizzled in a bit more olive oil, then lowered the pot of soup to simmer for about 15 minutes.

Once my husband arrived home, I ladled our bowls and grated parmesan cheese over the top.

Served with a small glass of spicy, jammy Nero d’avola, this meal was warming to the core. My Monday workout plus making a big Monday night meal, plus my run made me sore and sleepy. And the rain certainly made me want to go to bed!

I am soooo happy it is Wednesday! Dinner tonight at Upstairs on the Square with some of my favorite Boston bloggers which is totally making me smile. I still have to draw a winner for my CSN Stores giveaway, will definitely announce that by the end of the day tomorrow.

What’s your smile-maker today?

Technorati Tags: food and wine pairing, recipe, soup, tofu, vegetables, Vegetarian, wine

Tags: food and wine pairing, recipe, soup, tofu, vegetables, Vegetarian, wine

An Italian-Style Feast

August 14, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 19 comments

Mid-summer farmers’ market ingredients make cooking delicious meals easy. Last Sunday I took advantage of all of my great market buys to put together a very quick, healthy Italian style dinner.

I started with my basil walnut pesto which, in my humble opinion, is some of the best pesto I have ever had. I can’t even be around it because I want to eat the entire bowl, all by itself. I like using walnuts because they seem richer and more buttery to me and also because they are a lot cheaper than pine nuts.

This pesto included:

2 cups basil, torn into pieces

around 1/4 cup Parmigiano cheese

2 handfuls chopped walnuts

3 large cloves garlic

olive oil, enough to make the pesto into a nice smooth paste

I started by adding the walnuts, garlic, and cheese to the food processer. I whirled those items around until they were completely blended together. Then I slowly added basil and oil, a handful of basil, a drizzle of oil, process, and repeat until all of the basil has been used and all of the ingredients are combined. It should look like this.

If you prefer thinner pesto, stream in more oil as you are processing the mixture.

While I was making the pesto, I was boiling several cups of chopped red potatoes until fully cooked. In the last 2 minutes of cooking, I added in chunks of summer squash so they cooked but were not mushy.

I then tossed the hot potatoes and squash with about 1/4 cup of pesto until everything was coated. I left this salad to cool down to room temperature while I prepped the main course.

For my cod with tomatoes, I chopped two large tomatoes and sprinkled the pieces over two fresh cod fillets. To that I added salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and a few spoons of olive oil and let them cook through. These fillets cooked quickly which was nice because the tomatoes stayed intact and didn’t get too liquid-y.

The potato and squash salad was a perfect compliment to the light fish. I paired this dinner with a summery Belle Vallee Pinot Gris and ate it out on the deck to enjoy a hot summer evening.

While it is a beautiful summer weekend, I have definitely noticed it getting darker earlier and am seeing lots of back to school stuff. I am going to try to make the most of the rest of the summer and to enjoy every minute. Here are some of my “Savor Summer” plans:

A bachelorette party on a boat. . . today!
Our 4th wedding anniversary dinner at Craigie on Main Wednesday
Newport Winefest next weekend
An after work run with one of my oldest friends
A North End blogger event
The Copley Farmers’ Market every Tuesday and Friday
Sitting out on my deck as often as possible
Tax free weekend wine tasting at The Urban Grape
Walks around Castle Island
Kayaking on the Charles

What are your “Savor Summer” plans?

Technorati Tags: cod, Food, food and wine pairing, Italian recipe, pesto, potato salad, recipe, tomatoes

Tags: cod, Food, food and wine pairing, Italian recipe, pesto, potato salad, recipe, tomatoes

Celebratory Summer Dinner

July 8, 2010 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 14 comments

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to post this delicious meal, but I am really excited about it and think you will love it. Back in May I had the very exciting task of creating a recipe to pair with Travessia Vidal Blanc. At the same time, my friend Raija had JUST finished grad school. Since I was in the mood to cook and celebrate and had some great wine samples for pairing, we had a last minute celebratory dinner.

We started out with a little Veuve Cliquot purchased at the Healthworks Boston Wine Exchange tasting.

For our dinner, I moved on to the Travessia Vidal Blanc. This white is incredibly light and refreshing with some delicious peachy flavors. At the winery, Marco adds strawberries to the Vidal Blanc, and after the wine has had the strawberries in it for awhile, it is amazing.

For dinner, I started with a REALLY ripe mango. I had to stop myself from eating all of the mango as I chopped it. So juicy and delicious.

I added another one of my favorite flavors, spicy jalapeno, including the seeds.

I mixed those with a couple of other favorite ingredients, cilantro, ginger, coconut milk, lemongrass paste, and curry powder.

Simmered for a bit to allow the flavors to mix and mingle

And then added some big, sweet sea scallops. The result? A creamy, flavorful coconut curry scallop dish. It had a little bit of spice that went REALLY well with the Vidal Blanc.

It was a light, summery dinner with a perfect, local wine. I am pretty excited to say that Marco had recipe cards printed up with my recipe on them and is distributing them in the winery in New Bedford. If you get down there, make sure to grab one, along with a couple of bottles of Vidal Blanc!

I am off to California tonight. What are you all up to for the weekend?

Technorati Tags: cilantro, coconut curry, coconut milk, curry, Food, food and wine pairing, recipe, scallops, Travessia, Veuve Cliquot, Vidal Blanc, wine