Saturday Night – Sheian and Kevin

Sheian and Kevin joined us for our usual Saturday night dinner. Sheian is off to university in a couple of weeks and this was a send off dinner for her.

"The menu"

We didn’t review the wines as each of them have been reviewed here on Zippy Sauce before. I will do a quick summary of the highlights for each of the courses and wines.

"Spicy Shrimp just waiting for some mint sauce"

First Course –

Spicy Shrimp with Fresh Mint Sauce paired with Robert Mondavi 2004 Napa Valley Fumé Blanc, California. The four of us had this combination last week and it was so good we decided to do it again. Last week we had the 2003 Fumé Blanc vs. the 2004 we had this week. The 2004 was nicer than the 2003 as the harshness on the mid-palate wasn’t there as much. The 2004 is the last year that the Robert Mondavi Fumé Blanc was done in a frosted glass bottle which is a shame as it gave the wine bottle a very distinctive look.

"2005 - No Frosted Bottle for you!"

Here is the recipe for Spicy Shrimp -

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Grilled-Sweet-and-Spicy-Shrimp-with-Mint-Dipping-Sauce-108272

The only modification I make to this recipe is adding another tablespoon of lemon juice to the mint sauce and cutting the vegetable oil back to compensate for the extra lemon juice.

"Good on its own but better with Lobster!"

Second Course -

Lobster, Corn & Red Pepper Chowder paired with Chateau Lynch-Moussas 2003, Pauillac,France. This pairing was quite good as the richness of the lobster really brought out the fruit of the wine. The recipe was taken from a cook book called “Healthy Cooking for Two”. The only modification to the recipe was adding lobster as the original recipe has no seafood but does suggest that adding seafood to the recipe would be a good addition

"Great with the soup"

Third Course -

Almond-encrusted Goat Cheese with Raspberry Poppy Seed Dressing on a bed of Mixed Greens paired with a Wegeler 2004 Riesling Kabinett, Germany.

"Ready for baking"

This recipe was a favourite from years back. I haven’t made it in probably 5 years or so as Amy isn’t a big fan of Goat Cheese. But, as Goat Cheese is a huge favourite of Sheian’s, I decided to give it a go and hope Amy didn’t mind it. I was pleased that not only did Sheian love it but so did Amy. The pairing between the food and the wine was so good that a second bottle was opened as the first just quickly disappeared.

"The finished product"

Here is the recipe -

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Almond-Crusted-Goat-Cheese-Salad-with-Raspberry-Dressing-105335

The only modification I made to this recipe was to double the raspberries from 2/3 of a cup to 1 1/3 cups.

"One bottle is good but two is better!"

Fourth/Main Course -

Beef Tenderloin served with Grilled Mixed Vegetables, Blue Cheese, and Mark’s “Zippy Sauce” and paired with an Altaïr 2004, Chile.

"Where's the Zippy?"

This recipe is pretty straight forward – 6 Beef Tenderloins marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and Montreal steak spice grilled to medium-rare. The vegetables were peppers, onion and sugar snap peas lightly coated in olive oil and Montreal steak spice and grilled in a metal basket on the BBQ until light charred but still crisp. The Altair was very good with both the beef and the vegetables and I’m not disappointed to have four more bottles on the rack. Kevin was a big fan of the Zippy Sauce and it is nice to have another convert!

"World's heaviest 750mL bottle!"

Dessert -

Sheian’s “PICS” Dessert paired with a 2005 Henry of Pelham Botrytis Affected Riesling. This creation is an invention of Sheian’s. It didn’t have a name until recently when we made one up – PICS is short for Peanut Butter, Ice Cream, Chocolate and Skor. We enjoyed the dessert while watching UFC as Mick and Amy are big fans and Kevin and Sheian wanted to see it to. I’m not a dessert fan but I really liked this one; with all the different items in it, each bite was completely different from the last. The wine went nicely with it too.

"P.I.C.S."

The evening was a lot of fun. My only disappointment for the night was that we didn’t do this sooner and both Kevin and Sheian were a great addition to our usual Saturday night dinner. I wish we could have had a few more of them before now. Well maybe Sheian will get bored of University food and need another dinner here…

"Exceptional wine at an exceptional price"

Cheers!

Mark