Saturday, October 15, 2011

Wine Paired Dinner




When restaurant employees get a day off, and actually get to socialize, eat, and of course drink outside of work, we tend to go over the top on food and wine. Tonight’s meal definitely fits the profile of a gluttonous indulgence.
This Monday night meal has been in the works for some time. There was a significant amount of anticipation for the meal; which can almost always lead to disappointment. However, tonight all expectations were completely exceeded; everyone really immersed their passion of food into their dishes.
There are many various ways on how to host a food and wine coursed meal. This is how we devised ours: every couple cooked two courses (3 couples = 6 Courses) and we all chipped in on the wines, and I selected them based on what was being cooked. I think it work out really well. I am not going to break down the recipes for every course this week, but I will do a blog on each course and the wine/winemaker for the next 6 weeks. The wines were all absolutely stunning, well almost all. The last wine of the night, had an odd, overwhelmingly smoky taste, I had tasted the 2009 vintage and it was outstanding, so I am not sure if it was just a bad bottle, or our tastebuds were overloaded by this time in the evening.
I also have to appologize to Erin, not my wife Erin, but I definitely had had enough wine by the end of the evening I forgot to take a photo of the delicous desserts.
Breakdown on Wine Menu

Amuse – Bluepoint Oysters with Mignonette Sauce
Wine - Montsarra Cava Brut, Spain, NV

First Course – Cucumber Blueberry Feta Salad with a Pomegranite Dressing
Second Course – Pancetta Wrapped Scallops with Herbed Vinagrette


Wine – Lagler Gruner Veltliner, Austria, 2010

Third Course – Smoked Chicken Thighs with Chipotle Peach Barbecue Sauce and a Bourbon Barbecue Sauce


Wine – Agricola Punica Burrua, Sardinia, 2009

Fourth Course – Red Wine Braised Shortribs with Yukon Gold whipped Potatoes


Wine – Shafer One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007, Napa California

Cheese Course – Hulmbodt Fog Macaron Almonds and Dried Cherries


Wine – Eric Texier St Julian St Alban Cotes Du Rhone, 2009, France

Dessert Course – Espresso Mouse and Lemon Curd Basil Trifle
Wine – Black Kite Kites Rest Pinot Noir, 2008 Anderson Valley, California