FOOD, WINE & FRIENDS #309
Geez...it's been a while since we posted some food & wine photos.
But then it's been a while since we've hosted a meal.
For the Labor Day weekend in 2024 we fired up the stove and got busy hosting
some friends and their kids for a Sunday dinner.
We planned ahead in hopes the Avocados would be ripe for a Crab & Avocado
"tower."
We prepped some things to incorporate into the crab mixture,
including tomatoes, radishes, red onion, cucumber and parley...
While that was ready to go, we got busy with some nibbles to pair with a bottle
of Champagne.
At the Fresh Market by Burlingame Avenue we picked up some
fresh figs to wrap with some Prosciutto di Parma.
The prawns were boiled and chilled and then peeled.
Laurent Perrier's Blanc de Blancs "Brut Nature" was a good match for
the various nibbles on the table.
The figs were perfectly sweet with the savory Prosciutto di Parma.
We wanted a couple of stony, minerally dry whites to pair with
the Crab and Avocado first course.
The bottom of the tower is the avocado 'salad' and the top is a mix of the fresh
Crab with little bits of radishes, tomatoes, celery, red onions and English
cucumber...Use your imagination if you want to make this.
It will impress your guests and it's not that difficult.
I had made this using a 5 inch mold...but that is maybe too much, so I bought
some four inch molds for this.
I noticed all but one guest was more than capable of devouring such a portion.
The Grosjean 2022 Petite Arvine comes from Italy's Valle d'Aoste and is
routinely good.
It's their Vigne Rovettaz bottling and it's bone dry with light hints of grapefruit
and maybe some white flowers or appley notes.
And then there's that stony element.
The other bottle is a Petite Arvine blend from Petite Arvine's home,
Switzerland.
It's a Domaine des Cretes 2022 bottling called Reflet Blanc.
It's 45% Petite Arvine, 45% Savagnin Blanche (also known in Switzerland as Heida
or Païen) and 10% Marsanne which they call Ermitage or Ermitage Blanc in
Switzerland.
Both wines see a touch of oak aging but not so much for the aromas and flavors
of wood, but for lees contact and maturation.
You'd be hard pressed to sniff and taste these and guess they've seen a wood
barrel.
The Grosjean costs in the low $30s while the Swiss wine, typical of most Swiss
wines, is more costly, going for about the mid-$50s.
Still, these are both excellent.
We then had one active pan on the stove for accompaniments to the Lamb we were
to grill.
The ovens had roasting pans for Brussels Sprouts &
Pancetta and Roasted Potatoes with Garlic.
Two bottles of wine were opened and then decanted.
2007 and 1997 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
We then put some marinated lamb chops on a grill pan.
I often create clouds of smoke, but this time the lamb had been out of the
'fridge for a while and the pan was heated to a medium heat.
The marinade was finely chopped rosemary with minced garlic and olive oil.
I salted and peppered the lamb on the grill.
The mushrooms were fortified with some TartufLanghe Sugo Funghi porcini e
Tartufo.
About 5 minutes per side for the lamb got us to medium rare.
The potatoes, Yukon Golds, we cut in half and rubbed with olive oil and seasoned
with garlic, salt and pepper.
About 40 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees did the trick for both the potatoes
and garlic.
Brussels Sprouts were halves and bathed in good olive oil with some small bits
of good Pancetta. 20 minutes, or so, did the trick there.
The guests begged me to "Do a Bob."
Our late colleague Bob Gorman was justifiably proud of his culinary talents and
would insist I take a snapshot of him presenting his kitchen artistry.
If you poke around on this site, you'll find such images.
So I presented the main course.
The 1997 was on the left...it's lost a bit of color and appears like a Pinot
Noir with garnet color.
It has the bouquet of an old red wine and was medium-bodied and fairly smooth
with the lamb, etc.
I'd say it's quite good, being maybe worthy of 1 and a half to two stars on the
three star scale.
The 2007, darker in color, had some cellar smells with an almost corked or musty
character.
This was not out and out corked, though. It simply had the suggestion of a
musty element.
Remarkably the wine did not taste corked!
It was certainly perplexing as the flavors were quite good, but given the odd
nose, I'm not sure how to actually rate this one.
We made a batch of Cinnamon Gelato to accompany the Homemade
Apple Crisp.
The Moscato d'Asti 2023 from Paolo Saracco was exceptional, capturing an intense
"green grape" fragrance of the Muscat.
It's mildly fizzy, low in alcohol and very flavorful, so it was a good choice
for the dessert.
Thanks, all, for coming!
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