Mrs. Lochman's Salad

A couple of weeks ago, I had the distinct pleasure of conducting a wine tasting at the home of one of Charlotte's nicest and most gracious hosts. She invited me to share her beautiful buffet table with her friends after the tasting and then emailed me the recipe for her delicious vegetable salad, which will always make me think of her and the wonderful evening I spent with her and her friends.

This salad makes the best use of all the vegetables that are available at our farmer's markets right now. If you can't get good fresh corn, then substitute it with frozen. This just tastes like summer.

Mrs. Lochman's Salad
(a.k.a. Fresh Zucchini and Corn Salad)

1 ½ lbs. medium zucchini
2 tsp. salt, divided
1 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from 2 ears)
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
½ tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. fresh ground pepper
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
¼ cup thinly sliced basil leaves

Trim off ends of zucchini. Cut into ribbons using a vegetable parer. Place strips in a colander over a bowl. Toss with 1 ½ tsp. salt and let drain, covered in refrigerator, for at least 1 hour. Rinse the zucchini in the colander under cold running water to rinse off some of the excess salt and then drain on paper towels.

If using fresh corn, husk and clean corn. Bring water to boil in large pot and add a tablespoon of salt to the water. Immerse the corn cobs in the water, cover, return to a boil and boil for 10 minutes or until just tender. Remove from water and cool to touch, then slice kernels off cob with a sharp knife.

Whisk together lemon juice, sugar, pepper, and remaining ½ tsp. salt in large bowl. Whisk in olive oil in a slow stream.

Add all veggies to dressing and toss well before serving.
Adjust seasoning if needed. Can be made 6 - 8 hours in advance.

Our icy cold Kakadu Ridge Unoaked Chardonnay was delicious with this salad!
Serves 6.

Cheers!

Chef Debbie

The Ultimate Guacamole

I bought some unripe avocados one day last week, thinking that they would turn from hard nobs to nice soft fruits after a couple of days on my counter so that I could make a vegetable salad with them, but my timing was off and they weren't ready when I needed them. So yesterday, when I found that they were perfectly ripe (they give just slightly to the touch), I decided to make guacamole with them and now I'm sharing my recipe (method) with you! Just in case you've only had rather bland "guacamole" try this method because I like mine with very bold flavors.


Have all your ingredients ready before you cut open the avocadoes, which will turn brown unless they quickly come into contact with the lime juice. Dice the onion, tomato, clean the cilantro, and stem, seed, and dice the peppers. I just noticed that the garlic is not in this picture, but you will definitely like your guacamole better if it has garlic in it. It's all a matter of personal taste, though, so increase or omit ingredients to your palate's delight.

Here is the finished guacamole just begging for a tortilla chip! Keep this in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap in contact with the surface of the dip until you're ready to serve it.

The Ultimate Guacamole

3 medium avocados, just tender to the touch but not mushy soft

1/2 cup finely minced red onion
2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced (or to taste)
2 small cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
Juice of 1 or 2 limes, to taste
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
A dash of freshly grated black pepper
1/2 cup ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped
Garnish with lime wedges and cilantro sprigs.

To peel and seed avocado, run sharp knife around pit from stem to blossom end and back again. Gently grasp each half and twist. The will separate with one half retaining the round brown pit. Cup that half in one hand and tap pit with sharp side of chef knife, then twist the pit with the knife to remove it. Using a large serving spoon, run it around the avocado just under the skin and the half will easily come out in one piece.

Place avocado halves in a mediun bowl and mash with a large fork. Leave some lumps in it so it looks rustic. Add all remaining ingredients, taste, and adjust for seasoning. Add salt, pepper, or more lime juice as needed.

Place in serving bowl and garnish with lime wedges and cilantro sprigs.

Serve with tortilla chips.

A wonderfully cold tecate would be great with this, or if you are a wine lover, pull out a cold bottle of our Vina Cordilla Sauvignon Blanc or our Kakadu Ridge Unoaked Chardonnay.

Cheers!

Chef Debbie

Wines for Humanity

Wines for Humanity is a great company to be involved with, full of warm and sharing people who want to give back to their communities.

We just had a leadership conference in Chicago and I took my new Nikon D90 camera with me. I know that I irritated all my cohorts with all my "practice" shots, but some actually came out really good. Here they are!


Anton




Sabina

Jose & Gina

Frank

Jennifer

Wine Tastings & Networking Groups

Just as birds of a feather do, wine lovers tend to flock together. We form clusters at parties where the conversation naturally migrates to comments about the wine served, tales of great tastings attended, favorite bottle openers, and our favorite BYOB restaurants. We even strike up conversations in the wine aisles at grocery stores!

I am amazed by the growing number of networking groups that are being formed for the sole purpose of gathering to appreciate wine with like-minded people. As the trend grows to entertain in the home and also to incorporate wine into business networking events, we are realizing that appreciating fine wine is an amazing catalyst to camaraderie!

I've joined a local business networking group for women, Networking Women and Wine. What great fun to gather together monthly at a local restaurant or wine bar to enjoy wine and find ways to support each other's business! Thursday I am going to lead a tasting (and pair the wines with my signature hors d'oeuvres) for a meeting of the group Women Who Wine. (Isn't that just a great name?) This group meets in private homes. I cannot wait to meet these sisters-in-the-vine and once again expand my social circle of wine enthusiasts.

Where ever you live, check your area for groups of wine enthusiasts, make new friends, enjoy some great wine together, have fun! If you are in my area, I'll help you hold a great tasting in your own home. Contact me through my website and let's plan your party!

Here's to the corkscrew - a useful key to unlock the storehouse of wit, the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship, and the gate of pleasant folly. ~W.E.P. French

Cheers!
Chef Debbie

Wine with WHAT???

We all know the old "red wine with meat and white wine with chicken or fish" rule, right? Pretty simple thing to remember, don't you agree? But it's no longer as simple as it was in the '70s when our wine choices at most restaurants were simply "Burgundy" and "Chablis."

One of the most enjoyable things about exploring wine is doing it in the context of food. It's like creating a third dimension. For example, at a recent wine tasting at Global restaurant in Charlotte, NC, Chef Bernard Brunet offered a delicious New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that was quite everything that grape offers from New Zealand, bright acid and lots of vibrant, flowery and green flavors on the palate.

Now, we know that Sauvignon Blanc is generally a perfect pairing for salads with vinaigrette, seafood, Thai food, etc., but the server placed a neat shot of cold, sweet, cinnamony pureed acorn squash soup on my plate. My interest was peaked! I took a sip of the fresh, light and perfectly balanced soup, rolled it over my tongue and then, with a tiny bit of the soup still upon my tongue, sipped the wine. Amazing! The wine's acidity dropped and the vegetal qualities disappeared! The soup tasted less sweet and the squash flavor became more pure. They became the sum of each other's parts and in my mouth joined into harmonious balance. That, my friends, was a perfect example of a brilliant pairing of food with wine!

Albert W. A. Schmid, a renowned expert on wine and spirits and author of manuals for the hospitality industry advises, "If all else fails answer these three questions: Do you like the food you are eating? Do you like the wine that you are drinking? Why does this have to change? Perhaps you have stumbled on the perfect pairing between food and wine…for you. Trust yourself!"

So go out and have fun playing with your food....and wine. And don't worry if you think you might be breaking "the rules." Explore, experiment, and trust your own palate!