Foodie Heaven- Asheville North Carolina

From time to time, I like to write about trips we have taken, and the food and wine scene of the locale. Buzz and I just returned from Asheville, NC, and it is foodie heaven. Asheville sits at the base of the Great Smokey Mountains and has, in the past, been noted for the Vanderbilt Mansion; The Biltmore. But more and more people come to Asheville to experience the food and wine at one of its 139 restaurants. The reason that this number of eateries is amazing is that the total population of Asheville is only 89,000.

The population is dominated by young people. This may be because there are over 20 colleges and universities within a 50 mile radius of this small city. The atmosphere is vibrant and somewhat kinky. To illustrate this, after our food tour, we came across a champagne bar and decided to have a glass of the bubbly. It also is co-located with and old book store, and a resident busker.

The food tour itself was amazing. My favorite was Modesto. We had veal pate' with blackberry mustard sauce and a crisp Chablis. The farm to table movement means a lot at this restaurant. They have their own farm and bring its freshness to the table. We went to 5 other restaurants that had their own unique style and flavor; curry at Blue Dream Curry, shrimp tacos at the White Duck Taco shop, and Bhramari Craft beer. One of the other places we went to requires a special spot ,It is the Chocolate Fetish. Move over Godiva and all the other chocolate purveyors. The chocolate is fresh and rich and over the top. It was love at first taste. Next years Christmas baskets get goodies from this shop.

The final stop on our trip was the wine tasting at the Antler Hill winery. Wines were ok and we were all set to buy some when it occurs to us that we can't take them on the plane so we have to ship it. Well, in this hot weather, the winery folks said that they could not guarantee that it would be kept cool enough in shipment. UPS was set up to do the delivery, but if we were not home then it would be left on the porch or if we did USPS it would go back to an in to a hot warehouse or also hot back room of the post office.

Our last stop was Bee Charmer. They had a honey tasting, which was new to me. They had over 100 kind of honeys. We tasted only 5 or 6. Good stuff.Still no plane ride for these bottles. Ah,c'est la vie.

Rosy Red Potato Salad

Without a doubt, my mother made the best German Potato Salad in the world. Unfortunately it was a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and I have not been able to reproduce it. So I have struck out on my own and have come up with a recipe that is lower calorie and without too much mayonnaise. Try this at your next BBQ.

Ingredients:

Salad:
5 cups of baby red potatoes, boiled, cooled and cut into quarters
1/2 cup diced red pepper
3 diced green onions

Dressing:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 Teaspoons Dijon mustard
1Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoon Lite mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Once potatoes are done and cool, add the red pepper and the green onion
Mix dressing thoroughly until emulsified
Pour dressing over potato mixture and let sit for about an hour to let the flavors marinade

Feeds 4