Food, Wine & Friends Page 261
We hosted an impromptu dinner mid-week for the visit of Ken
& Lois O'Tool. Coinciding with the visit was the wedding anniversary
of Connie & Mark!
Chewie joined in the festivities, as he likes the cuisine at
Uncle Gerad's.
Connie volunteered to bring her last can of Foie Gras, so we scaled back a bit
on the nibbles to accompany the Champagne.
The 2004 Bollinger Grande Année...
Ken & Lois had no trouble in hoisting a glass of bubbly.
And the "happy couple."
Connie then sliced up a block of Foie Gras to have as a first course.
Accompanying the Foie Gras was a little bottle La Magendia, an
exceptional Jurancon sweet wine made of Petit Manseng.
The wine has a terrific level of acidity, so its sweetness is balanced nicely.
Pairing it with rich, fatty foie gras also tames the sugar in the wine.
Next...some homemade Pesto.
Two wines from Cantina Terlan...
2011 Vorberg is a Pinot Bianco which can age for many years. This was a
pleasantly dry white with a touch of apple-like fruit...no oak. It was too
young and a bit overwhelmed by the very aromatic, garlicky pesto.
The 2011 Quarz is a Sauvignon Blanc. This is a big wine with a lot of
personality. For some people, this is simply "too much," as many
folks find the 'cat pee' fragrances to be too strange and not to their taste.
I felt this wine worked well with the pesto and prawns, having sufficient
acidity to be a nice palate cleanser. But it is very herbaceous and leans
towards that cat pee character.
We then had a nice little granita of Sandrone Dolcetto.
This little fellow was hoping and waiting for some
"people food."
I had purchased some seasoned pork at San Francisco's Fatted
Calf butcher shop on Fell Street.
The fellow there suggested oven-roasting these over a bed of vegetables.
I didn't find that simply oven-roasting these to be to my taste, so I tossed
them onto a hot grill on the stove and these got nicely charred.
We cut the pork into serving pieces and accompanied it with the oven-roasted
vegetables (cauliflower, trumpet mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, garlic and
onions).
There was also a pan of oven-roasted potatoes.
We opened and decanted two bottles of 2006 Vintage Barolo:
E.PIRA by Chiara Boschis was beautiful! Lots of ripe, red fruits and a suggestion
of wood. It was moderately tannic on the palate and still fairly young.
The CASCINA FONTANA also had beautiful red fruit notes and it's a rather tannic,
youthful wine. It had a nice level of astringency, so it paired well with
the food, but was a bit over-shadowed by the more flashy Pira wine.
{We had some left over and the next day, the crew at the shop liked both
wines. Ellen said she felt the Cascina Fontana held up better and was the
more sturdy wine.}
Chewie enjoyed the pork and kept asking for more.
For dessert we had stopped by The Cakery for a Chocolate Truffle Cake.
When they posed for this snapshot, the Paparazzi appeared out
of nowhere and numerous photos were taken!
The cake was sensational!
We then sat down in the living room and Chewie decided he could find a most
comfortable place.
And with that, we adjourned the proceedings as it was a
"school night."
BACK TO THE FIRST FOOD, WINE
& FRIENDS PAGE
BACK
TO THE PREVIOUS PAGE
ON TO THE NEXT PAGE
