This “interesting” combo will rock your world!
I love to try new foods, new recipes, new drinks, etc. My husband, unlike me, does not think “interesting” should be an adjective used to describe food or beer, and he pretty much hates wine altogether. So, while I’ll miss him dearly when I’m in AZ and he’s still farming in ND, until the weather is about 40 degrees cooler in both states, I get to try all kinds of “interesting” food and beverage adventures.
When I was down here a couple of weeks ago I ran across a Total Wines and More in Gilbert. I know it’s cliche, but “kid in a candy store” describes my Total Wines shopping trips. I always pick up a couple of bottles of local wine. When I was in Minnesota, I selected Hotdish Red and Walleye White. 🙂 Here in AZ, the bottle that caught my eye was Hatch Green Chile Wine from New Mexico. You guessed it. It looked more “interesting” than your average local grape selections or the often too-sweet fruit varieties in many Midwestern stores. I bought it and added it to my wine fridge.
Today I decided to try the green chile wine. The label suggests pairing it with Mexican food. That makes sense because there’s a lot of truth to the wine rule about “if it grows together, it goes together,” ie. Italian food, Italian wine, Spanish wine with Spanish dishes, etc. First, I tasted the wine to see what flavor profile to pair it with. The wine is really good all on it’s own! It’s very light colored with a slight greenish tinge. The predominant scent is the chili pepper, but it’s not overwhelming. The wine is slightly sweet, with a hint of the chile pepper flavor.
With this in mind, I perused my fridge to see what was on hand and Pinterest for some inspiration. I had guac ingredients in my fridge and shrimp in my freezer, so I searched for shrimp ceviche on Pinterest. This was the recipe I used for inspiration: https://pin.it/w4hj2vgu3uj2mk. I decided to cook the shrimp. At some point I may decide to let the acid in the lime juice “cook” the shrimp in the traditional ceviche manner, but the evening before I start a new job is not the right time to be experimenting with raw seafood, IMO. Since the wine has a slight sweetness to it, (and because I love pineapple and happened to have one setting on my counter) I decided to add chopped fresh pineapple per one of her suggested variations. Here is my version. Again, make it your own, based on what you like and have on hand.
- 2 lbs. cooked shrimp, chopped into small pieces. (I only had raw in my freezer, so I cooked them with a little olive oil, S&P and garlic powder. )
- juice of two fresh limes (I nuked them for 30 sec. They release their juices so much better!)
- 2 chopped green onions
- a handful of chopped fresh cilantro
- one large chopped jalapeno (remove the ribs and seeds or leave them in, depending on your heat tolerance)
- 1/2 large chopped cucumber
- a generous half cup of chopped fresh pineapple and about 1/4 cup of the juices if you get any when you core and cut it
Mix all the ingredients and let it set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to develop. Enjoy with tortilla chips.
I’m sure some of you are thinking “eww – shrimp and pineapple?” Trust me, they are wonderful together! There are so many fresh beautiful flavors going on. This is the perfect dish for a hot summer day or evening. Most importantly, the match of this with the wine was made in gastronomic heaven! The fresh, slightly sweet, chile pepper flavor profile of both made for a perfect pairing. If you aren’t in the neighborhood to buy the wine, the light, bright, flavor and tropical fruit notes of a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc would pair nicely as well.
Let me know if you try this. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for variations. Here’s to being interesting! Cheers!
ND2AZ Foodie 