TheWino.net

Work Travel...

I travel a fair amount for my job.  While the actual travel part is never enjoyable, the part of being in new places, meeting new people (or old friends you don't see very often) makes it worthwhile.  However th part that gets me through it is the pleasure of seeking out and finding great food.  

It started six or seven years ago as I got into wine, just a year or so before this blog was conceived.  I think it was an orgasmic potato leek soup and hiramasa appetizer at a customer dinner, and since then I've been fixated on finding great food when I'm on the road.  I go out of my way searching Yelp, Zagat (love this app on my iPhone), local sites to find those hidden (or new to me) culinary gems. The search keeps my mind balanced, and the food, my body healthy (except for the fact I often over consume).  

 

As I've aged, the little things have become important and food is at the top of the list.  So if you know of gems in New York, Seattle, LA, Boston please send them my way.  I've got SF and the peninsula covered, if you need tips there, just let me know.  

In the meantime I'll sleep well tonight thanks to another great meal :)

Sunday Nite Guac

I made a simple but delicious guacamole last night for our weekly family dinner. The picture is of the finished product, which was easily the simplest I've made - combing a third of a red onion (finely chopped), 3+ very ripe avocados (nearly past their prime), a squeezed lime and seasoning (salt, pepper & some crushed cayenne pepper). The key was the state of the avocados which allowed for an easy mash & maximized flavor. At any rate I will be making that version again.

Scrambled Eggs with Fried Chickpeas & Chorizo

Leftovers (fried chickpeas) are yummy when combined with something fresh and warm. Happy New Years Eve everybody!

Fried Chickpeas with Chorizo & Spinach dinner...

Last night I was inspired by a recipe I came across on a small food blog site called FreshTart.net.  If you love chickpeas/garbanzo beans, you'll enjoy this dish, which is essentially Chickpeas, Chorizo sausage diced up, Spinach, olive oil with some sherry cooking vinegar added in for taste.  

Avocado, Heirloom Tomato, Goat Cheese Sandwich

I love freestylin' foods, to me its the only way you discover new combinations and its essential if you hate wasting fresh stuff that's already in your house.    

Beet, Goat Cheese with Pistachio Nachos

I made an awesome beet salad with goat cheese and crushed pistachio topped meal two nights ago.  So when I got home a bit late last night I wasn't sure what to make until I saw a bag of tortilla chips sitting on the counter and decided to make a beet based nachos.  
 

Shrimp Ceviche: A New Love

This past Saturday while at our local market we came across a special on pre-cooked shrimp, the salad stuffing type.  So I picked up a pound and asked what dishes he liked to create with it, to which he quickly responded Ceviche.  So I looked up shrimp ceviche on epicurious.com and went from there.  

What came out was memorable.  Combining avocado, diced cucumber, a jalapeno pepper (my addition), white onion, organic ketchup, mexican hot sauce with some olive oil, salt and a bunch of lime juice created an incredible dish.  Served on top of good tortilla chips, we ended up eating this both Saturday & Sunday night and loving every minute of it.  

We had a central valley muscat canelli (Carvalho family wines) that nicely complemented the spice in the dish without overpowering it.  

The epicurious recipe will feed around 6 as an appetizer or up to 4 as a main.  If you want to tone down the spiciness you can ditch the jalapeno pepper.   

If you like shrimp, or kind of like it but hate the "fishy taste" some folks complain about, this dish will surprise you.  

NY Foodie Trip

I spent the first half of this week in New York on business and had an incredible run of spectacular meals. 

Mocha - Pune, India

Mocha is a cafe in Pune, a small chain in the metro areas of India, that caters to a western taste of traditional coffee, chocolate treats, unique combinations but with a hooka Indian twist.
A colleague and his wife brought me here on our day off, India's Republic Day holiday, to enjoy some coffee. This place is cool with loungey seating and delicious drinks. I had the Choco-latte which was two shots of espresso with warm chocolate syrup, a huge dollop of whip cream on top. If you want a lounge feel or good coffee, check out Mocha.

German Bakery - Pune, India

In the Koregan Park area of Pune is the Osho meditation resort, beautiful green patches of trees surrounding some of the most ostentatious homes I've seen in Pune. One of the unique culinary stops in this area is the hippy haunt of vegetarian, German styled, health food. I wasn't at Osho for more than five minutes before I had multiple people mention this place.

While the chocolate cake type of dessert was amazing, the rest of my meal was only average, and I would say it's only worth the trip if you're looking for bakery items, need a break from Indian food and/or want to people watch the eclectic clientele.