The Wine and Food Corner

Tomato Cucumber Nectarine Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Menu Ideas for Specials Week of 7-30 thru 8-4 SPECIALS IN RED

Grilled Wagyu Ribeyes or Strip Steak, Wohlner’s Garlic bread, sautéed Mushrooms. Waldorf Salad(Iceberg Lettuce, crisp New Zealand Fuji Apples, crunchy Pascal Celery, red grape halves, walnuts, and raisins.) Wine: The steak and Garlic bread scream for a Chianti Classico, a big Brunello, or the Michele Chiarlo Barbera d’Asti. Seedless watermelon would be refreshing for dessert.

Scallop Ceviche with Kiwi Ginger Salsa served as a Lettuce Wrap.   Bad news readers.  I intended to post a link to a wonderful recipe from Chef Jason White who was a guest on Simply Ming.  However,  Ming Tsai relaunched his website today and the recipe is no longer there.   Let me look for it and I’ll present it on another blog post sometime soon.  It sounded so good, too.

Grilled Mahi Mahi with grilled Sweet Corn: Grilled kebobs of Super Sweet Cherub Tomatoes alternating with Whole Mushrooms. For dessert: Diced Nectarines on Edy’s Ice Cream. Wine: Sauvignon Blanc or Pinto Grigio.

East Coast/West Coast Fish Tacos: Soft shell tacos of grilled East Coast Cod fillets with West Coast Grilled Corn and Black Bean Salsa. Beverage: Foster’s Beer or Malcun Pino and Tio white wine, Pinot Grigio, or a cold crisp Reisling. For dessert: Shortcut Strawberry Shortcake ala mode: Fresh Strawberries, Sara Lee Pound Cake, and Edy’s Ice Cream, mint garnish.

Retro Johnny’s Steakhouse Starter Spread: Robert’s Cottage Cheese with fresh minced chives(dried is ok) and some black pepper. Dip with Ritz Chips, Wheat Thin Chips, or spread on crackers. So retro yet so good!

Centercut Pork Ribchops coated with a specialty Wober Mustard. First sear these then place on a cooler spot on the grill or in the oven to finish cooking through; cook to an internal temperature of 153f-155f.

Centercut Pork Loin Chops with Nectarine Salsa. Pork Chops grilled or pan seared then served topped Wine: Chilled Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, or Gruner Veltliner (aka ‘GruVee’ or ‘groovy” in wine geek speak.)

Fresh Bone-in Turkey Breast, either baked, grilled or hot smoked, would make a nice dinner entrée, and then use leftovers to make some sandwiches with a Russian Dressing or Chipolte Mayo. Or combine with Canadian Bacon for the next two sandwiches

Wohlner’s Own Smokehouse Canadian Bacon and Turkey Breast Club Sandwich with Lettuce. Canadian bacon is lowfat and much leaner than regular bacon. No cooking.

Wohlner’s Own Smokehouse Canadian Bacon and sliced summer tomato BLT sandwich. Canadian Bacon comes fully cooked. Quicker and easier to use.

Wohlner’s Own Smokehouse Canadian Bacon and Eggs for breakfast or sandwich.

Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberries and Nectarine Slices on Kellogg’s Corn Flakes

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Curd! Killer combo.  Make your own lemon curd or buy a jar of Dickenson’s Lemon Curd found in with the jams and jellies.

Shortcut Strawberry Shortcake ala mode: Fresh Strawberries, Sara Lee Pound Cake, and Edy’s Vanila Ice Cream, mint garnish.

Midsummer Salads

Danish Cucumber Salad w/ Tomato and Dill: This is based on my friend Gerda’s (not the bakery Gerda) Danish Cucumber Salad.  I had everything for this one in the garden.  Diced or sliced Cucumbers, halved Cherub Tomatoes, diced Green Pepper, and diced green onion with a dressing of cider vinegar, sugar, dill, plenty of coarse ground black pepper and just a pinch of salt; no oil used. Best if allowed to marinade for an hour.

Nectarine, Cucumber & Cherub Tomato Salad w/ Valencia Orange Vinaigrette Go to this link for recipe: http://www.sophistimom.com/tomato-cucumber-sala-orange-vinaigrette-nectarines/

Waldorf Salad; Iceberg Lettuce, crisp New Zealand Fuji Apples, crunchy Pascal Celery, red grape halves, walnuts, and raisins in an easy and simple to make mayo or Miracle Whip dressing.

Starters

-Retro Dip of Robert’s Cottage Cheese and Chives with Ritz and Wheat Thin Chips

-Super Sweet Cherub Tomatoes, cubes of Halloumi Cheese kebobs, grilled.

-Grilled Corn and black bean salsa with Tostitos Scoops chips.

-Nectarine and Cucumber Salsa with Tostitos Scoops

-Wheat Thins Chips with a Wohlner’s deli made tapenade such as Artichoke Tapenade.

-Tzatziki on baguette slices. (Diced cucumber, garlic, lemon, dill, and strained yogurt.)

Tzatziki: traditional Greek appetizer you can make at home or buy Wohlner’s deli made.

Sun Luck Japanese Sesame Oil: Sesame Oil is a must have flavor condiment for your pantry. It has a very low smoke point so it’s not for frying or sautéing. Drizzle some on seared Ahi tuna, grilled asparagus, steamed or grilled broccoli, and add a touch to your bowl of soup.

Summer Cocktail of the Week:

Blueberry Lemon Highball. Blueberries and Lemon are a classic flavor combination. Last week we showed how to make a blueberry infused Vodka. This week we’re using the infused vodka and lemon soda, such as Boylan’s, to make this week’s summer drink. Recipe: Fill a tall glass with ice. Add one shot of blueberry vodka and fill to top with lemon soda. Garnish with a couple blueberries and a mint sprig. (Note: You can buy blueberry vodka, or, as we wrote last week, Make your own Blueberry Vodka in 3 days:-Add 1/3 cup of fresh Blueberries to a 750ml bottle of plain vodka, gently shake each day for 3 days then strain out the Blueberries.

Desserts:

Shortcut Strawberry Shortcake ala mode: First dice fresh Strawberries and add 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar, let this sit for a hour or longer to “macerate”.  Assemble with a piece of Sara Lee Pound Cake topped with Edy’s Vanilla Ice Cream, the Strawberries, and mint garnish.

Fresh figs with Quark Cheese and Honey. Also try some  goat cheese with fresh figs and honey.

Quark Cheese, from Nebraska’s Branched Oak Creamery, is a European version of American cream cheese but better.  Spread some on a cracker or your morning bagel.