New Mexican Adventure Parte Dos

We left Albuquerque the next morning and headed into Santa Fe.  After trickling through the mountains to the east and winding our way through desert passes we ended up in an urban area completely carved from stucco/adobe.  I’d never seen an "earthen" looking Starbucks, but now I can tell you they do indeed exist.

Our arrival into Santa Fe was a bit turbulent as I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and by 2:30 I was exhausted and irritable.  We headed into the arts district near the capitol and quickly realized there was a festival going on, and between my irritability, street closures for the festival, and the crowds of pedestrians we retreated to a little dive serving “mexican” food just off the main drag for lunch and then slept off the ginormous portions the rest of the afternoon in the hotel.

As I’ve mentioned before, my dad was a bit incapacitated on this trip due to a rotator cuff surgery and subsequent Breg (sling apparatus), so he chose to sit the rest of the evening out.  Mom and I decided to give the arts district another chance, so we braved the one way streets and traffic, dropped a pin at our parking spot and headed out on foot.

We did find the festival with music, food, and dancing...

From there we sidewalk shopped up a hill and found beautiful Cathedral Bacillica of St. Francis of Assisi where we tried out my forward facing camera...

And finally proceeded to a quaint little wine bar/restaurant for a glass of wine, even though the menu sounded spectacular!

I don’t have too many notes about the wines that we tried at the restaurant other than I remember we each had 2 different glasses (so, not “bottle only” ie, less expensive) and tried them all (a server’s nightmare).  We started with a Sancerre (French sauvignon Blanc) and an Albarino (citrusy, mineral situation with a slight effervescence from Spain).  Then we moved on to a Pinot Blanc from Alsace (which I thought would be sweet based on the region, but because Alsace is cold, and these grapes probably didn’t get completely ripe, the wine was acidic and delicious) and then a dry Rose.  After wine, bread and butter we walked along the streets and decided we really enjoy Santa Fe and should return with friends soon.

**Dad was not left out!  We popped by Trader Joe’s and grabbed an eggplant parmesan for him to enjoy along with a hazelnut chocolate bar for us :)

The next day we ventured out into the largest farmer’s market I’ve ever seen and had a wonderful morning, well, aside from the rain...and the cold...and the parking, but then, I’ve said too much.

Joking aside, the market was super!  We found flowers, smelled roasting chiles, ate bread with grasses baked right in, bought some apples, cider squeezed from those apples, preserves with chiles, and so many other things!  

 I couldn't believe that after all the driving through desserts and seeing no farm land at all there was a cornucopia of produce available, even things that are out of season at home all grown locally at the same time.  What a strange growing season they must have, but then again we are in the high desert, where weather is variable...surely it affects the veggies.

I should mention the people here were as interesting to look at as the produce.  Watching people being one of my favorite pastimes, I could hardly force myself into the car, but alas, our time in Santa Fe had come to an end.  We headed east toward Lubbock, TX munching on our FM finds and sipping coffee.

 Again, I'd call this a success.  From here the trips winds itself down, but Lubbock should not be slighted, so I'll post about our wine adventures there next!

Vinho Verde

When planning dinner tonight I was thinking about 3 things:
1. I’ve got hamburger meat thawed out.
2. I’m trying to be “good.”
3. It’s hot and I’m going to be tired.

Taking those things into consideration I hopped over to one of my favorite blogs and checked in on a “skinny” dinner, which I would thoroughly contaminate with my own poor choices I’m sure.  So here I am facing a zucchini boat of a dinner utilizing low fat sausage when I only have sad ground beef.  This doesn’t sound promising.  Here’s something to learn about me: when faced with a food decision:  I. Always. Choose. Mexican.  That is all.

So here’s how dinner went down:

Ingredients for Taco Stuffed Zucchini

• 3 medium sized zucchinis
• 1# ground beef
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 2/3 C Water
• 1 6oz can of el pato tomato sauce
• 1 small can of sliced black olives
• 1/2 C shredded cheese
• 1 box whole grain (yes, they make that) couscous, cooked according to box instructions

Preparation

• Cut the zucchini in half length wise; remove guts.
• saute onion and bell pepper in a pan, all the ground beef, and cook until brown, then drain.
• Add the seasoning packet to the meat situation and stir in the water, cook until most of the water is gone.
• Fill the zucchini with the taco mixture, top with tomato sauce, olives, and cheese.
• Bake in the oven covered at 350 for like 15 minutes, uncover for like 10 minutes and voila!
• Serve with the couscous, or as my guy found out: little tiny pasta.

Now for the good stuff:

I purchased a bottle of wine last night to go with a take out Tex Mex feast which was delicious.  The aforementioned wine was also muy delicioso with this dinner.  I’m breaking several rules on this one guys, but it’s hot outside and I’m not about to go all Tempranillo on this dinner. 

Nobilis Vinho Verde $5.95 at Central Market

It’s a light, highly acidic, somewhat sparking wine made using the Alvarinho grape from the Vinho Verde region in Portugal.  Hopefully that geography lesson wasn’t too boring!  The wine had a slight sweetness and when paired with the “Hot and Spicy” taco seasoning packet, totally eased the fire in my mouth.  Now dinner wasn’t too robust, and the lower meat-to-vegetable ratio made the meal seam lighter so I found this to be a good pairing.  The fat in the ground beef was also cut nicely with the acidity in the wine, and the olives did something really cool with the chalky undertones I noted.  Did I mention is was $5.95 and totally didn’t taste/smell like lighter fluid??

Would it have been better had I paired it with a traditional salt cod dinner of the region? Maybe, but I’m in Texas and Tex Mex was on the menu and this little baby rocked it.

Cut to the Chase-r

I like to drink.  I’m just throwing that out there.  Judge me.

Here’s the thing:
Sometimes I drink for fun socially, sometimes I drink to relax and chill out at home after a long day at work, and sometimes I don’t need a reason!  Honestly, I imbibe wine and usually bright citrus numbers, especially in the summer.  I typically try to keep a $7-14 price range, especially on weeknights, but I’m working up an experiment.  One could go as far as calling it a challenge... 

I’ve recently moved in with my guy, my very very sober guy.  In doing so I’ve taken on cooking dinner for the two of us on a fairly narrow budget just about every evening.  I’ve also realized how very stagnant my vino choices have become. So, here’s my challenge: pair affordable wine with my modest weeknight dinners, keeping budget and enjoyment in mind, make a quick tasting note on the wines, and jot down a couple high points about the food pairing choice.  How many should I shoot for a week?  3 sounds good to me...  The wine budget and selection could get a little dicey, but it’s possible my trusty HEB (grocery store) or the Goody Goody Liquor just down the street will suffice.

The Backstory. Honestly.

Honesty is a good policy, and in keeping with that very cliche adage, I’d like to start this blog off honestly.  I am a girl who enthusiastically enjoys food, wine, cooking, and eating.  I like to go out, “ooh” and “aah” over expensive dinners (occasionally) with friends or my guy and then (inspired) go home and try desperately to recreate not only the food but the experience.  Is that wrong? I think not.  I’m someone who knows what she likes...well, maybe just has a general idea of said likes.  I’ve taken myself to culinary school, then another college where I followed my dream of attempting to become a food writer, then on to sommelier school.  See what I mean about generalizing my likes?

In an effort to fully disclose I’ll mention that I’ve owned a restaurant that I would consider somewhat successful.  Maybe success isn’t measured in the same way for everyone.  I consider it a success because it happened.  I lived my dream of owning a restaurant - a place where people came to have a good time, share conversation, “ooh” and “aah” over pricey dishes, celebrate anniversaries and birthdays, and where they too were inspired to go to their homes and recreate the experience.  I’ve also closed that place and moved on; one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.  Luckily for me I have a most amazing family that supports every whim each of us has, and always will.  So many things changed in my life when I took the giant leap of faith into sole proprietorship: I found myself in charge, I learned to make decisions, I discovered hard work, humility, reality, and in the midst of struggle and success...my guy found me. Here is where the blog begins (sounds a little cheesy, I know, better get used to it!).

And so the stage is set!  the goal here is to explore the things I’m passionate about.  I’m not checking my grammar, or putting any pressure on myself to make this space perfect in any way, because otherwise this might as well be work!  I’m going to share what I will when I have time and, honestly, have fun with it! In doing so I’m hoping to maintain/increase my wine and food knowledge, and to dabble in writing a bit more.  I hope this is a stimulating process for you, but mostly, I can’t wait to read this in 20 years and see how life has changed....here we go...