Wine Food Pairing - It's Too Hot to Cook!

Sometimes it is just too hot to cook! Wine food pairing can be done without turning the stove on, just use your imagination!

One of my faves is a cold avocado soup. This bad boy can be whipped up in a matter of minutes and leave you plenty of time to pop to cork on your favorite wine.

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 Very ripe, large Haas avocado
  
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• juice of one fresh lime

Peel the avocado,remove the seed and cut into several pieces. Place in the blender, and purée. Turn off the blender and pour in all your other ingredients. Pulse a few times until mixture is just blended. Salt and pepper to taste.

Now I like to garnish this with my homemade salsa made with fresh tomatoes, red onion, cilantro from my garden, squeeze of lime, a smidge of balsamic vinegar and a couple of dashes of Tabasco. Always do a taste test and add salt and pepper.

Chill the soup and the salsa....the flavors always get better when they mingle a bit. I serve the soup with a dollop of the salsa and break up a couple of corn chips on top.

One of my favorite hot weather wines is white merlot. The white merlot from Sutter Home features a medium deep red color, with a slightly fruity cherry and raspberry aroma. The taste is somewhat less acidic than the zinfandel, with an initially sweet flavor, and slightly tart finish. Chilled, this makes a perfect wine food pairing with the cold avocado soup.

Be flexible with your wine food pairing in the summer heat. CHEERS!