Wine Food Pairing …my famous potato salad, grilled brats and?

Wine Food Pairing ….I absolutely love it. It allows my imagination to run wild with possibilities!

I am famous for my All American potato salad….at least with my friends and neighbors, and of course that's all that matters. I have even lined up friends at my kitchen counter and given lessons….some of them actually wrote down what I said…even though I really don't have exact measurements or anything….mostly, I do it by taste…..trial and error.


To start off, I begin by opening a family sized (1.5 liter) bottle of Cavit Pinot Grigio from Italy. I take down my favorite Tervis tumblers with the saying "It's 5 o'clock Somewhere" embroidered on the front. To these I add ice……fill tumbler half with the delightful Pinot and then top off with sparkling mineral water……..NOW, with spritzer in hand I can begin the prep for the potato salad.


I like to use Idaho baking potatoes….I know they tend to fall apart a bit when you boil them, but they absorb all the wonderful flavors so nicely that I use them anyway. I usually boil about 8 medium sized potatoes and then while I'm steaming up the kitchen I also hard boil half dozen eggs. While these are cooking I go to the chopping board and dice up my green onions/scallions and celery for a bit of crunch….these all go in my super king-sized metal bowl to wait for the rest of the goodies.


In another bowl I mix up my dressing…..lot's (maybe a cup or more) of miracle whip light and at least half of a jar of pickled sweet relish…….several dashes of Jane's Crazy Salt and paprika (the sweet kind, not the eyebrow sweating Hungarian kind!) Did I forget to mention the special Austrian mustard that I bring over once a year? It comes in a tube and has the word Senf on the front…I think that means mustard in German…….anyway, add a goodly squeeze of that!


OK, the potatoes are now cooked, drained, cooled, peeled and diced and the eggs are peeled and chopped (actually I have one of those egg slicer deals that work great). This takes about two spritzer's worth of time. Now we are ready to combine! Put everything together in the king sized bowl and mix with a large spoon…..I use my Mom's old wooden spoon that she got from her Dad…..it is about eighty years old and I think that this is why the salad always turns out so good, but I may be wrong!


Now we enter into the trial and error portion of the prep….I call it tasting and tweaking….I believe it is self explanatory. When it tastes great….STOP! Refrigerate and let the flavors marry….YUM!


I like to fire up the grill about now…… I am on spritzer number three……more mineral water than wine ….I must pace myself…..and bring out the brats (those are sausage, not naughty children) to go on the barbie. I have already boiled these guys in beer for about fifteen minutes to take the edge off and placed them in a Ziploc with a touch of extra virgin olive oil and a few dashes of Italian seasoning to marinade. The barbeque is hot and I call my husband (of course I could do it myself, but I am a princess and he grills much better than I). The cook always needs a beverage and usually it is a spritzer, also….because grilling is HOT work…at least that what he tells me!


The food is ready, the Pinot Grigio is on the table along with the sparkling water and another Wine Food Pairing has begun….or maybe it is ending! CHEERS!

Denise Clarke has been passionate about wine food pairing for many years... to follow her blog go to :
http://www.winefoodpairing.blogspot.com
or go to her website at:
http://www.wine-food-pairing.com