"This many empties = good times"As Mick and Amy weren’t in attendance, we didn’t rate the wines either. I’m just going to do some random thoughts about each of the courses.
"The Menu"1st Course - Gorgonzola Dip and 2006 Henri Bourgeois “Les Baronnes” Sancerre, I’ve been on a Riesling kick for a bit and forgot how good a nice Sauvignon Blanc can be. The crispness and precision of the wine cut through the richness of the dip and was a good pairing.
Here is the recipe for Gorgonzola Dip - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Beets-with-Walnut-Gorgonzola-Dressing-100673 (forget the Beet part of the recipe, just make the dressing part – serve with crackers or vegetables)
2nd Course - Fresh Corn Soup Topped with Roasted Corn Guacamole and 2007 Wegeler Spätlese Riesling. Soup is very good but a lot of work. The recipe below claims to serve 4 to 6. The first time I made it, I barely got 4 decent sized servings out of it. I doubled the recipe this time. Shucking and shaving kernels off 18 ears (supposed to be 16 ears for a double batch but they were small so I did two extra) of corn becomes very tedious very quickly. The Riesling’s sweetness easily kept up with the sweetness of the corn and the avocado and was a nice pairing.
Here is the recipe for the Soup –
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Corn-Soup-Topped-with-Roasted-Corn-Guacamole-352975 (It is the soup portions that are small, there is more than enough of the Guacamole to go around)
3rd Course – Smoked Salmon with cream cheese, bagel crisps, lemon, capers, cucumber, and red onion with 2005 Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay. One of my favourite wine and food parings of all time, ‘nuff said.
4th Course – Chimichurri Steak with classic Greek Salad and 2001 Vina Albali Gran Reserva Rioja. The Chimichurri Steak was a big hit with everyone. Great flavour and extremely tender meat. The recipe is below. I doubled the recipe for the Chimichurri and used half of it to marinated the six steaks the night before. Reserve the other half. Cook the steak to just Medium Rare and then tent them on a plate covered in foil for 4-5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak after that and place in a large bowl. Pour the reserved Chimichurri in the bowl to lightly coat all pieces of meat and then stir so all are evenly coated and then serve. (Note – doubling the Chimichurri recipe will give you lots and you will probably have some left over). Switching to the medium bodied red at this point made a nice change from the whites we’d been drinking and was a good pairing for the meal.
Here is the Chimichurri recipe –
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Steak-and-Chimichurri-Toasts-105959
5th Course – Individual Angel-food cakes with Berries, Whipped Cream and Raspberry coulis and 2005 Henry of Pelham Botrytis Affected Riesling. It has been a year since we last had the 2005 Henry of Pelham Botrytis Affected Riesling and it was even better then I remembered it. Great nose and a very nice balance between acidity and sweetness.
The night was fun as we got caught up and just talked and laughed about life in general. I will say that I was feeling all that wine the next day though! Hopefully we’ll all get together again soon and not wait another 20 years to get together.
Cheers!
Mark
Here is the recipe for Gorgonzola Dip - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Beets-with-Walnut-Gorgonzola-Dressing-100673 (forget the Beet part of the recipe, just make the dressing part – serve with crackers or vegetables)
2nd Course - Fresh Corn Soup Topped with Roasted Corn Guacamole and 2007 Wegeler Spätlese Riesling. Soup is very good but a lot of work. The recipe below claims to serve 4 to 6. The first time I made it, I barely got 4 decent sized servings out of it. I doubled the recipe this time. Shucking and shaving kernels off 18 ears (supposed to be 16 ears for a double batch but they were small so I did two extra) of corn becomes very tedious very quickly. The Riesling’s sweetness easily kept up with the sweetness of the corn and the avocado and was a nice pairing.
Here is the recipe for the Soup –
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Fresh-Corn-Soup-Topped-with-Roasted-Corn-Guacamole-352975 (It is the soup portions that are small, there is more than enough of the Guacamole to go around)
3rd Course – Smoked Salmon with cream cheese, bagel crisps, lemon, capers, cucumber, and red onion with 2005 Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay. One of my favourite wine and food parings of all time, ‘nuff said.
4th Course – Chimichurri Steak with classic Greek Salad and 2001 Vina Albali Gran Reserva Rioja. The Chimichurri Steak was a big hit with everyone. Great flavour and extremely tender meat. The recipe is below. I doubled the recipe for the Chimichurri and used half of it to marinated the six steaks the night before. Reserve the other half. Cook the steak to just Medium Rare and then tent them on a plate covered in foil for 4-5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak after that and place in a large bowl. Pour the reserved Chimichurri in the bowl to lightly coat all pieces of meat and then stir so all are evenly coated and then serve. (Note – doubling the Chimichurri recipe will give you lots and you will probably have some left over). Switching to the medium bodied red at this point made a nice change from the whites we’d been drinking and was a good pairing for the meal.
Here is the Chimichurri recipe –
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Steak-and-Chimichurri-Toasts-105959
5th Course – Individual Angel-food cakes with Berries, Whipped Cream and Raspberry coulis and 2005 Henry of Pelham Botrytis Affected Riesling. It has been a year since we last had the 2005 Henry of Pelham Botrytis Affected Riesling and it was even better then I remembered it. Great nose and a very nice balance between acidity and sweetness.
The night was fun as we got caught up and just talked and laughed about life in general. I will say that I was feeling all that wine the next day though! Hopefully we’ll all get together again soon and not wait another 20 years to get together.
Cheers!
Mark
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