Wine Food Pairing - a Tasty Tinhof Treat

A get together with Cousin Michaela and some of her friends turns into quite the celebration when the Blaufrankisch Rose is poured!



We are at Weingut Tinhof, of course, a place that we enjoy for the terrific wines as well as the traditional food. Hans and his wife Angelika always make us feel so welcome.




















I chose the "ham bread" ... as you can see, it is an open faced sandwich served on a dense rye bread and topped off with delicious ham, peppers, pickles and grated horseradish that has enough zing to make me whistle dixie!

Cousin Franz had a veggie platter and the produce was taken right out of the garden ... YUMMO!

Alfred and Houdini went for various "wursts" that I like to call "mystery meat" due to the fact I really don't want to know all the preparation details ...lol!

A great time was had by all .... another successful wine food pairing. CHEERS!

A World in a Pan .....

A wonderful new website has just come to my attention ... it is called A World in a Pan
..... the new culture sensitive cooking school concept!

It features recipes from all over the world for you to try out and enjoy ... This month they have added a recipe from my own kitchen ... the "Austrian Quickie"

Be sure to stop by and browse their site and check out my addition ... lol!

Wine Food Pairing - Old Pilot Meet Up!

Don't be a show-off. Never be too proud to turn back. There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots.
E. Hamilton Lee, 1949

BigAl and some up his "old" pilot buddies had a meet up at the Weingut Tinhof. Wine food pairing is tagging along to watch the festivities.


Hans Tinhof is actually one of the crowd also, but he just isn't quite as old!


These guys go way back together with crazy, scary stories that they tell about their flying adventures ...



BigAl was very big into precision flying .... coming in 2nd in the World Championships held in Canada in 1979.


Here he is holding up a picture from one of his acrobatic stunts ..... YIKES!!!! I'm glad he doesn't do that anymore ... that upside down plane looks pretty close to the ground to me!


I had to have a couple of glasses of wine just to look at that picture .... lol .... of course, I chose a Blauer Zweigelt to settle my nerves and it seemed to do the trick. Pretty soon I was ready to join in the terrific feast that the Hans Tinhof crew prepared.


All traditional Austrian dishes from the fresh breads to the different wursts .... YUMMO!

Here are the boys posing together ... BigAl, Karl Zimmerman, Fuchs, and Hans Tinhof.

Wine food pairing toasts all the old pilots. CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing - A Schnitzel Throwdown!

Wine food pairing says move over Bobby Flay ...

We are having a schnitzel throwdown here in little Breitenau Austria!



Schnitzel is one of many Austrian claims to fame, but the Wiener Schnitzel ... oh my! Named after the capital of Austria, Vienna or "Wien" as it is called in the German language, it traditionally is made using veal .. but schnitzel nowadays can come in any meat variety. Schnitzel, of course is any cutlet pounded thin, breaded with flour or crumbs and sauteed quickly in butter.

If I am feeling saucy then the pusstaschnitzel is the best ...... pusstaschnitzel is smothered in

flavorful peppers, onions and tomatoes ... YUMMO!



If I am in the mood to be "healthy" ... then putenschnitzel is for me ... made with white meat turkey .... and then a garnish of fresh lemon to be squeezed on top ...

I can't decide ... both are great and the Gasthaus Sindlhofer in Breitenau Austria makes them best ...

Does a throwdown need an absolute winner? Wine food pairing decides not to decide ... lol. CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing - Wine and Cheese Feast!

Wine food pairing has learned a lot about the European customs of Austria. One thing I know for sure ... if you go visiting you always must bring something .... flowers, wine or a sweet treat. Of course, for me, I love it when someone visits us and brings a new wine into the house!

A surprise visit from our friend Hans and in his sack of goodies was an Italian wine ... Oh Boy!!!!

Giordano Vei Cavour ... the name rolls off my tongue .... and good manners means we all sit down to enjoy the wine! A ruby red wine made with selected black grapes that was smooth and gentle in flavor. We had just come back from the market and we had a terrific "stinky" cheese and fresh pumpkin seed rolls to pair with this food and wine bounty.

If that wasn't good enough, I remembered seeing some of our neighbors red grapes hanging over our side of the fence. I sent BigAl out to clip a few and we added the grapes to our wine and cheese feast!

Does it get better than this? The freshest foods, good friendships and super wines ... a wine food pairing success. CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing - Must Love Wine!

Wine food pairing has been surfing the net and found a cool new wine site "Must love wine"

....... Must Love Wine is a social network for wine lovers to chat and share knowledge about their favorite wines.

What's not to love about that!

Be sure to check it out ... and enjoy. CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing - Breitenau Austria Headquarters

Wine food pairing is giving you a glimpse of our Breitenau Austria headquarters. For winter, it is definitely Florida for us, but BigAl inherited his parents home in Austria just a little over a year ago and it has been nothing, if not an adventure for this American girl as we visit and stay for a few weeks in the late spring and fall!

The lifestyle and the culture is so different from what most Americans live with. The villages are wonderful little jewels that you pass through in a blink of an eye and it seems that all are well maintained and ready for show. Especially considering most of it is old .... I mean really old .... Breitenau, where our house is located was first mentioned in documents dating back to the 1100's ... that's older than me and BigAl put together ... lol!


Things that we take for granted in the US are also different ... for example..... you go grocery shopping and want a shopping cart? You must put a 1 euro coin in the chained lock on the cart and pull it out ... yes, you get you 1 euro back when you return your cart. This is everywhere.

When you complete your shopping ... do you want your items bagged? You must bring you own bags then ... no paper or plastic over here! The first time back when we shop I always forget and have to juggle with my purchases.

Dogs are welcomed in all eating establishments. This is great for Houdini who loves to sit at the table and enjoy his meal along with us ... of course all the dogs are well mannered that come into the restaurants . Water and even sometimes treats are brought out be the wait staff ... many times before we are served!

Now to get REALLY SERIOUS about the differences in countries and talking about something close to my heart .... WINE!

The wine is wonderful in Austria, the Germans even import it and mixed it up with theirs and still call it German wine ... lol! There are vineyards everywhere and wine is served almost like water here.

Another really great thing is that the local wines are extremely inexpensive. It is not unusual to pay only a couple of euros for a wonderful bottle of wine. We even have wine farmers that make the rounds here and deliver! They have been coming to the house for so many years they just pull in and open the cellar windows and stock us up for the next year ..... how cool is that!

We have the "party" room in the cellar that is specially made to hold over 100 bottles of wine and it is all set up like a traditional wine house ... perfect for BigAl, the wine babe and our friends!

It is certainly a different lifestyle over here and I must say, other than my language skills that need a lot of improvement, I enjoy coming over here and spending time. BigAl, of course, is my translator so I know what is going on and so far I have managed to stay out of trouble (pretty much)!

Wine food paring toasts Austria. CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing - An Austrian Quickie!

Hahahaha! Wine food pairing serves an Austrian quickie! You guys must have dirty minds ... I would never write something naughty ...lol!

The Austrian quickie I was referring to is a quick one pan meal .... onions and green peppers sauteed in EVOO then toss in potatoes, tomatoes and sausage. S&P to taste and you are good to go on a wine and food adventure!

Now for the "real deal" you will want to pan fry a couple of eggs in butter, what else, and lay them on top with a sprinkle of fresh chives .... pickles are always a great Austrian garnish ... gherkins are the favorite !

I used Pussta (meaning pepper) sausage. Now BigAl says this stuff is from Austria, but I know that the Hungarians also make some mighty spicy stuff. This pussta sausage was so hot it made my eyebrows sweat ... pretty darn hot!

I served a local Austrian white wine with it to cool us down a little ..... Mullerthurgau Welschriesling from the vineyards not too far away. It certainly did the trick!

Hot crusty bread and a platter of farm cheeses and finished the meal up and we were singing zip-pe-de-doo-da in no time flat ...lol!

So many of the Austrian meals are quick and simple, you just need the fresh ingredients to pull it altogether .... wine food pairing across the pond. CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing - Chicken Parm for the Soul

Ahhhhh! I have been wine food pairing with all the traditional Austrian specialties for the last few weeks now and I just had a hankering for something different.

The fridge showed a couple of chicken breasts that were calling out to me. What to do ... I also felt like pasta would be good. How about chicken Parmesan served over a bed of pasta ... sounds like a perfect wine and food plan to me ...lol!

It was kind of funny to think about it, but I started off my chicken breasts very much like the Austrians do their schnitzels ... whacking, dredging, dipping and dredging again ... then sauteing in butter and EVOO ... great minds must think alike.

Angel hair pasta goes into boiling salted water for a couple of minutes and I heat up a red sauce that I got at the local market ... the jar of sauce was imported from Italy and being that they are neighboring countries I figured I'd be pretty safe. Well, it was pretty good, not like having Mama in the kitchen, but definitely worthy of a quick meal.

Everything was layered on a large pasta platter and I thinly sliced some parm to top it all off. A salad of fresh greens drizzled with my favorite balsamico vinegar and pumpkin seed oil and dinner was ready for serving.

BigAl found a Blauer Zweigelt from Österreich (austria) in the downstairs wine cellar, popped the cork and we were ready. Zweigelt was named after Dr. Zweigelt, the grape scientist who developed it in 1922, it's a modern variety designed for commercial wine, with a relatively short growing season that helps it thrive in the Austrian area. The Zweigelt grapes make a juicy, tart red wine that's served on almost all Austrian tables as their red table wine. YUMMO!

The scene was set with the leaves outside just starting to turn colors with the crisp fall days, a savory chicken parm on the table and a delicious zweigelt swirling in our wine glasses catching the candlelight. Chicken parm for the soul? Wine food pairing says why not. CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing - Austrian Comfort Food!

An afternoon with our good friend Hans Tinhof and where should we go eat? We are all ready for wine and food!



A wine food pairing is always an adventure adventure ..... Hans' hueriger, Weingut Tinhof, is closed for the next couple of weeks and we are looking for some traditional Austrian food.


We load up in the car and head on out to the Hotel Restaurant Schwartz. We have been here many times and always enjoy it ...... it is a great place to stop on our way to the house in Breitenau after the long flight over from Florida when there is nothing to eat in the house.


Hans and BigAl toasting to the wonderful Austrian afternoon and longtime friends!

Alfred had a light tasty lunch of thinly sliced beef and cucumbers drizzled with vinegar and EVOO served alongside a mixed salad ....



Hans also went for the beef, but in a more hearty fashion with Austrian dumplings and a pasta casserole. Warm and filling .... Austrian comfort food ...




















I went for the stuffed green pepper in a yummy tomato sauce served with parsley potatoes .... the filling was a mixture of rice and pork and well seasoned. It was just what the doctor ordered for a crisp fall afternoon. Definitely food for the soul!


I paired this up with a blaufrankish (red table wine) and I was a happy girl, indeed!


What more to life is there? Good food and wine and great friends to enjoy them with ... wine food pairing. CHEERS!

Oh My! Wine Food Pairing at Peischinger Dorfwirt

Wine food pairing ... a lazy afternoon in Austria.



In a small village just a few minutes from our home in Breitenau is Peischinger Dorfwirt. This lovely Gasthaus is located in Peisching Austria .... Peisching has been around in Austrian history since the 12th century and for an Amercian girl, like myself, I am amazed to see bits and pieces still standing today several centuries later.





It is always a treat to eat, drink and visit with the owners, the Family Beistiner, who have known BigAl and his family for many, many years .... the gasthaus has been in the family for five generations. The last time I was here I enjoyed watching the storks nesting in a chimney across the street. How cool!





Peistinger Dorfwirt has a traditional Austrian kitchen and while they do have specials and a menu, they really will make what you request as long as they have it on hand ... a very friendly, customer oriented place. A great place for wine and food!




We visited with our friend Ralf ( yes, it is spelled that way!) and he was quite pleased at not only the food, but the great service. It was a wonderful sunny Austrian fall day and we sat in the garden to enjoy the terrific weather and all the people passing by.




These small villages are so special in the fact that it doesn't take to long before you meet someone that you know .... that means, of course, that you have to sit a bit longer to chat and then maybe order another glass of wine. In my case, it was a Blauer Zweigelt ... it showed me once again that their are many different variations of this tasty red wine. The zweilget here was full bodied and was great with or without food.




Ralf went with a white wine spritzer and thought it was perfect for the sunshine filled afternoon and of course, BigAl can't get enough of the local Austrian beer ... lol!




We all went with the "specials" of the day ... the boys went with a beef schnitzel, served with a rich sauce, topped with thinly sliced fried onion rings, potato patties and pickle ... I had a bite and it was delicious.




I decided on a chicken breast stuffed with spinach and then topped with the most amazing cheese sauce made with Emmanthaler swiss cheese ... YIKES ... this was sinfully rich and was paired with a fresh pasta that even made it better!



With any rich meal in Austria, it very important to have a digestive aid .... lol ... you know what that means ..... SCHNAPPS! I was going out on a limb here, but I asked Johann the owner if he had any of my new favorite "NUSS Schnapps" ... after a conference with BigAl as to asking what I was asking for he came out with the most wonderfully sweet liquor that was truly the nectar of the Gods .... Oh My!


The afternoon was a complete wine food pairing success! Next time you are in Austria, be sure to stop by. CHEERS!

Wine Food Pairing does Oktober-Schoppen in Breitenau

Oh my ... it is October in Austria and Holiday celebrations have begun .... wine food pairing wanders over to the Gasthaus Sindlhofer where the Musikverein Breitenau (Music Club of Breitenau) is holding a fund raising event. Coinciding with Oktoberfest it is always well attended from not only Breitenau but from as far away as Vienna where people come to enjoy the food, music and friendship ...

The band played all kinds if great to tapping Austrian music and really got the crowd stirred up ... fans standing on benches and clapping wildly ...


Two of our friends Mandy and Gunter Kwas enjoying a cool beverage and the great tunes!





Franz and Finny Sindlhofer, owners of the Breitenau Gasthaus Gemuetlichkeit sat at the extra special table for the "who turned 60 this year" table and were able to enjoy the festivities instead of serving ......






Then the food started coming .... schnitzels and wursts of all types ... YUMMO!


The music club, cooked and served as well as keeping the crowds entertained ....












Even the "burgermeister" of Breitenau (mayor) got into the swing of things and pitched right in to make sure things ran smoothly ...




















These two cute young ladies were really the "stars" of the whole affair ... I don't know their actual job description in the German language, but I dubbed them the "schnappsie" girls. They came table to the table and offered up some of the best high octane schnapps from that little wooden barrel. Served in tiny pewter schnapps shot glasses ... they waited for you to give the glass back ... I tend to sip on my schnapps, but I was encouraged to just "chug" YIKES ... talk about bringing tears to your eyes! I'm not sure if I was crying from the "burn" or it was just so darn good!



This was a terrific fall afternoon just south of Vienna in the small village of Breitenau Austria. The sky was bright blue, the sun was shining and the air crisp. Perfect for the days activities. Another wine food pairing experience. CHEERS!