Each of the five books in The Rick Podowski and The Hefty Trio series contain seven ethnic (Polish, Italian, Irish, Mexican) recipes and information about seven wineries. A wine is then paired with the recipe. A reader who completes the series will have learned about thirty-five boutique wineries and have thirty-five recipes paired with the appropriate wine. Four of the pairings from The Fishy Chips are presented below. Click on the link to see the recipe.
The Fishy Chips
Loyalty and betrayal quickly become conflicts in The Fishy Chips, set in the Silicon Valley of California where many of the titans of the computer world have research and development operations and manufacturing facilities. Educators, under the control of Chinese agents are using students from the Mission Community College’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Program to obtain a top-secret computer chip being manufactured by Intel for use in the United States Military's anti--ballistic missile system. Rick has to reconcile his loyalty to his students with loyalty to his country as he works with his friend from the FBI to recover the stolen component.
Also telling the story is George Yuan, a nineteen-year-old alienated Chinese-American. Through the help of a beautiful female spy, George discovers his love and loyalty to China. He agrees to help steal the computer chip. In the process of recovering the stolen computer chip, the FBI captures the members of the spying ring, and two others are murdered.
"Conflicting Loyalties: An Excerpt from The Fishy Chips." was a winning entry in the 17th Annual Mendocino Coast Writer's Contest, Summer 2006. It was published in the Todd Point Review.
Polish Potato Pierogies with Fernwood Mirepoix
A plate of pierogi fried in butter and topped with sour cream puts
Rick in heaven. Pierogi are inexpensive and very easy to make.
The Fernwood Mirepoix is light and fruity.
Irish Beef Stew with a Hunter Hill Zinfandel
Beef stew is the ultimate of comfort foods. Chunks of beef, carrots, and onions is a thick broth served over noodles is a real crowd pleaser.
Fettuccine and Clams a la Teresa with Alfaro’s Billy K Merlot
This is the dish for those who want to impress, but don't know how to cook. Add scrubbed whole clams to a simple Marinara sauce. Spoon the sauce and the opened clams over ithe pasta. Put a bowl of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on the table beside the basket of Italian bread rustico, light a candle, pour two glasses of Billy K Merlot from Alfaro Family Vineyards, and dress the salad with eighteen-year-old balsamic vinegar and California extra virgin olive oil. What a perfect dinner !
