Food and Wine Introspective

I have been trying to eliminate TV from my daily routine, but the Food Network and Travel Channel are making that hard. I do enjoy the simple tips from Rachel Ray like grating garlic into your marinade or exploring delicacies of half born chicken eggs or halo halo with Andrew Zimmerman. Today I will simply post on a few meals that have had some inspiration from TV shows, some from podcasts, and some from my curiosity of mixing interesting ingredients.

This is just a glimpse into a few dishes I have done recently. I try to keep them affordable, healthy and tasty (also maximizing a very small kitchen space). I'm still working on portion control . Yesterday I marinated a chicken breast in several spices with an emphasis on cayenne and paprika and grilled it (on an indoor grill). I broiled a vegetable kabob of baby bella, red onion, and yellow pepper. Amazingly, heirloom tomatoes were the cheapest in the store, so I simply prepared them with salt and pepper. Oh, I can't leave out my new found love, quinoa! It looks like cous cous and is an Incan organic grain that contains the most high quality protein of any grain. I paired it with a Pouilly Fuisse, an exquisite chardonnay from Burgundy.

Wyatt likes pork, I'm not a big fan. As a compromise, I made him a center cut pork chop and myself a pork cutlet dredged in lemon and Parmesan. I oven roasted asparagus with lemon zest and made a side of angel hair pasta with fresh tomato sauce and baby bellas in marsala. Normally I wouldn't recommend a Malbec with pork, but I didn't mind overpowering the dish : ) Malbec is very fruit foward and a great value wine out of Argentina.


After a trip to Mitsuwa, I was stocked up on Asian goodies. We love making miso soup from fresh miso paste. It tastes just as good as the sushi restaurants and is very healthy. Miso paste is a great ingredient to add to marinades or sauces and has an unbeatable shelf life of six months, now thats value! Asian stores often have marinated meat, so we grilled a nice helping of bulgoki, alongside fresh shitake mushrooms. No Asian meal is complete without a side of kimchi, fermented spicy cabbage. Wine pairing for this is an Anderzon Cote de Rhone, which is a Syrah. Very bold and flavorful, again probably not the best choice for spicy food, but we drink what we like and enjoy trying things out for ourselves!



Thought for the Day: You gotta have fresh intestines for chittlins~Andrew Zimmerman

Keeping Austin Weird

In anticipation of our trip to Austin, I decided to watch David Linklater's Slacker to get a feel for Austin. The movie was one character after another and had little cowboy hats or country. I then found out that the motto for Austin is Keep Austin Weird. So at that point, I didn't know what to expect. Luckily Rachel Ray had made several trips to Austin and reassured us that we were in for some culinary treats.

The BBQ was phenomenal in the Austin area. We enjoyed ribs, brisket, and turkey at Stubb's in downtown Austin. The sushi scene was great too. Lonely Planet gave us the tip to head to award winning Uchi. Foie gras and fatty toro on the same menu, now thats my kind of place. Of course we hit the coffee houses, which boasted many unique and yes weird spots, ala Spider House and Ruta Maya International Headquarters. The common theme amongst the food and drink joints in Austin is a stage and live music, it is the live music capitol of the world.

Wyatt soon discovered my passion for Goodwill as Austin or Texas, for that matter, appears to be the thrift store capitol of the world. He was very patient and even found a beautiful triple X beaver cowboy hat and leather cowboy boots.

We enjoyed two stepping and the rodeo at Cowboy's Dance Hall in San Antonio. Riding a bull for eight seconds takes a very brave individual. The Broken Spoke was reminiscent of Station Inn, our favorite spot in Nashville. With cowboy hats and boots, I'm sure we blended right in with the locals.

If you have any suggestions for locations that have a great two stepping or country dancing scene, let us know while we still have the bug.




Thought for the Day: I got gaps; you got gaps; we fill each other's gaps. Rocky

Happy Birthday to My New Husband!