Eating and Drinking Locally for the Summer Months #WinePW

I love living in Michigan.  I love that we have a variety of weather, sometimes all on the same day.  I love the beauty of our State; the Great Lakes, the multitude of inland lakes, the sand dunes, the farmland, the orchards and the vineyards.  I think we grow the best apples, strawberries, peaches, cherries and corn on the cob that can be found anywhere else in this Country.  I even love the snow and the freezing temperatures of the winter months.

What I don't love is the gray days that we suffer through during the dead of winter and I wistfully look at warmer climates and wish that we, too, could enjoy fresh local bounty year round.  Alas, while we can enjoy all the foods that we have preserved over the winter and I still get fresh eggs, though not as abundantly during the winter.....you aren't hitting up any Farmer's Markets for local produce.  We can still get locally grown meats and if you are a hunter or angler the season is ripe for the picking, so to speak, but we are not getting any fresh fruits and veggies...that's for sure.

So during the season I hit the Farmer's Markets as often as I am able and thank God for the abundance of all the great produce we are able to enjoy now and preserve for later.  My meats are all home grown from the farm of our friends, Dave and Vicki, and are perfect for putting on the grill during the dog days of summer.  Along with those grilled meats, I serve up local, fresh veggies.  I grill them, I turn them into salads, I make cruditè platters with dips made from fresh herbs.  I also use as much local fruit as I can get my hands on...berries are very abundant, peaches are sweet and juicy, apples are tart and crisp, rhubarb is everywhere, and cherries are exploding off the trees.

Michigan also has great wineries and breweries with more popping up each and every day.  I am normally a California red kinda girl but when the weather turns hot I tend towards white wines that are served chilled.  Michigan makes some great white wines.  One of my favorites is this crisp dry white from the little town of Leland called Fishtown White.  Leland is affectionately called Fishtown because it is known for it's fishing.  You can charter a boat and go out after fresh salmon or whitefish. I have been lucky enough to have been the recipient, numerous times, of fresh salmon from our Great Lakes....it is amazing.  Whitefish is extremely popular in Northern Michigan and a treat that I enjoy at least once each visit.

With that thought in mind and no plans of going north before this post was due, I went on a hunt for some smoked whitefish and a bottle of the Fishtown White.  I had a pretty good idea that I could find Michigan White Fish at my favorite local market, Nino Salvaggios, and I was right.  They had both the white fish and the wine.

I turned this whitefish into dip that I served on garlic toasts with cold, crisp, clean glasses of Fishtown White.  The old adage to serve food from the same locale as the wine holds true locally as well as in other States and other Countries.  This pairing was delicious and a perfect start to a lovely dinner enjoyed poolside on a glorious Michigan evening.

I opened up a block of cream cheese, grabbed the sour cream, lemon, dill and fish from the refrigerator, spied a red onion on the counter and decided to add that as well.

This dip is delicious and was a perfect match for the Fishtown White.

Don't miss out on all the other summer wine pairings.  You will find them directly under this recipe.

Smoked White Fish Dip

6-8 oz. smoked white fish meat, picked over, bones and skin removed

1 (8 oz) block Neufchatel Cheese

1/4 c. sour cream

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 T. diced red onion

handful of fresh dill weed fronds or to taste

dash of hot sauce 

salt and pepper to taste

Place half of the fish, the Neufchatel Cheese, onion,  sour cream, lemon and hot sauce in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until smooth.  Spoon into a bowl and fold in the remaining fish.  Taste and season as desired.  Print Recipe

More Summertime Wine Pairings

• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm will share Eating and Drinking Locally for the Summer Months #WinePW
• Cindy of Grape Experiences will pair Summer Supper: Cool Pasta Salad and Côtes du Rhône Refreshers
• Ellen of Family Around The Table will prepare Hassleback Chicken Cordon Bleu
• Jane of Always Ravenous will prepare Southern Summer Supper with a French Twist
• David of Cooking Chat will pair Grilled Shrimp with Pineapple Salsa and a Summery White Wine
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla will share Ceviche + Scheid's Albariño #WinePW
• Jade of Tasting Pour will share Sweet Pea Pesto Meets Wines of Summer
• Jeff of FoodWineClick has prepared Cool Kitchen Seafood Rolls for an Easy Summer Supper
• Julie and Edgar of Wine-N-Friends will share Tintilla and Ribs: Superb Summer Pairing #winePW
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator will share Getting to know Napa: Bison Steak BBQ with Rombauer Atlas and Stice Cabs plus Conn Creek Atlas Rose! #WinePW
• Peter and Nancy of Pull That Cork will share Lamb Gyros and a Super Sauvignon Blanc for #winePW