Wine & Harvest Salsa

Wine, weather and farmers market harvest! What more could you ask for to make a perfect summer weekend! Well, a nice long bike ride in late afternoon to take in the smells and sights of summer put a nice touch on the weekend also!

Our Farmers Market this weekend was packed with fresh corn on the cob, heirloom tomatoes, green tomatoes, a variety of hot peppers, zucchini, many varieties of lettuce, kale, green beans, carrots, fresh flowers - I could just go on and on. What you see in the photo is just the "tip of the iceberg" as to what I hauled home. But one of my best finds this week was tomatillos! Those cute little green tomato looking gems with the lovely little sticky jackets around them. When I got a look at those I thought, SALSA! So we had salsa this weekend with every dish I conjured up. One of the best was charcoal grilled tuna, as we used the salsa on the tuna. The next night it was grouper on the grill with a side of salsa. So fresh and crunchy from the hot peppers, green onions and those lovely tomatillos added more crunch and a hint of lime flavor. Here is a simple salsa I whipped up from the market goodies.

Salsa by Deb

3 heirloom tomatoes, you can use any kind that are fresh

4 tomatillos

1 hot wax pepper and 1 jalapeno pepper

1 good bunch of green onions

1 good splash of extra virgin olive oil

1 good splash of red wine vinegar to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Chop up your veggies and add the oil and vinegar and you have yourself a yummy quick fresh salsa. Also let it set for about an hour before you use it as the flavors need to combine.

Before and with dinner I had chilled a bottle of 2005 Covey Run Dry Riesling, as I knew the flavors of this would pair well with our fish and salsa. Covey Run Dry Riesling is located in Columbia Valley, Washington State. Riesling is Washington States most versatile wine and this wine is proof of just that. I choose a Dry Riesling, as I find them not quite as sweet as a regular Riesling. The Riesling grape is high in acidity so they make the wine with a certain amount of residual sugar to balance the tartness. Covey Run is made with 100% Riesling grapes and the volume of alcohol is 12.5%. After popping the cork, I was breathing in the aromas of peach and honeysuckle. On the palate was loads of honey and peach and this Riesling had just enough sweetness to round off the racey acidity and citrus peel flavors I was tasting also. It had a nice full and long finish.

A nice start to the finish of a lovely summer weekend!

Cheers!