Posts Tagged ‘food and wine’
Sweet Potato French Fries made with Olive Oil
No, this isn’t fast food. Those may look like normal fries, but they are far from it. You see, I have a very natural and healthy cooking philosophy. I cook as much from scratch as I possibly can. I also use the most healthy ingredients whenever possible. It takes a certain lazy spirit to, upon getting a craving for french fries, get off ones’ butt and go to the drive through. You are assured three things if you do that- 1) You will be damaging your body with deadly nutrition, 2) you will get fat and ugly, 3) you will spend more money than you should be.
Upon staring at that pile of fries on my plate are you wondering where I get off saying such things? Well, I made those fries! No, they aren’t from a bag of frozen fries from the store either. I got a sweet potato (which is actually healthy for you), cut it up in french fry strips, and put it in a saucepan of hot olive oil. Olive oil is super good for you- You should have at least 1 tablespoon per day. There are many nutrients that are classified as “fat soluble”, meaning your body won’t absorb them if you aren’t eating good fats.
Sweet potato fries are amazing. You can either contrast the sweet fry with salt or you can compliment and deepen the sweetness with a hint of sugar. I initially made them with hamburgers but a couple potato’s make way more fries than I had imagined- So I actually ended up getting 3 meals out of them.
You can take this olive oil frying method further and use it for pretty much anything you normally buy fried. Another favorite is making nachos with freshly fried whole wheat chips. How do you get chips? Easy- You cut tortillas into triangles. It’s not rocket science. Everything you eat at restaurants is made somewhere for dirt cheap with the most unhealthy ingredients to reap the biggest profit. You can flip a switch, make it at home, and realize not only a huge savings from your pocketbook but also your wasteline. Enjoy!
The Wide Wine World
What I love about a blog called “Food and Wine” is that there are so many things I can really talk about. Food and Wine truly are two of my greatest passions. I often say that when I own a home someday I don’t even need a bedroom as long as the kitchen is huge. Now let’s get one thing clear- I am not a wine expert. I am not a four star chef. I am someone who loves to cook and drink wine and I try to continuously learn more about them. As I learn- I will teach, to the best of my ability, anyone willing to read and join me on this vino-culinary adventure.
When I think about all the wine related things we can talk about my mind swirls. How about wineries? We can go into what wineries are the best at making certain wine varietals. We can explore which wineries are the most fun to visit. What wineries are the best by region- Such as Sonoma, Napa, the NorthWest, Central California, Europe… the list goes on and on.
Speaking of wine varietals- We can go into the differences between them. There’s Cabernet Souvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Port, Champagne, Bubbly Wine, Zinfandel, and many more varietals; Not to mention the countless versions of each type. For example, what’s the difference between dry and sweet Chardonnay.
Wine is rarely enjoyed straight out of the bottle (unless it’s cheap and at a frat party). There are countless wine accessories we can go into. I’ll research and display wine glasses, wine decanters, wine refrigerators, wine racks, wine bottle openers, wine cellars, wine stoppers… whew! I’m out of breath! Each one of those categories is deserving of an entire blog by itself- But I’ll do what I can to get you the relevant information.
And the last wine related topic on my mind (for now!) is wine and food pairing. You know how powerful this can be if you’ve ever successfully paired a wine with anything- Be it cheese, dessert, or an entre. Adding food to wine tasting can give the wine an entirely new flavor. It’s often shocking how big the difference can be. Don’t get me wrong- It doesn’t necessarily mean the wine flavor is always better with food; It’s just different. The particular wine you are drinking may be equally fantastic with food and all by itself. I can’t wait to explore more wine pairing opportunities with you!
In another post we will get into some of the culinary topics this blog is going to cover. One of which will be the ability to actually cook with wine. The ability to cook well with wine is a mark of a good chef. You need to be aware of all the tools available to you for adding flavor. It’s amazing to think of how many ways wine and food go together.