A "Relatively" Delicious Dinner

Last week, we enjoyed a delightful evening and delicious dinner hosted by my cousin and his wife, who live in Sonoma. My cousin in a superb cooking and is very knowledgeable about wines.

We started with an appetizer plate that included fig jam and crackers, olives, stuffed peppers.

The wine my cousin served with the appetizers was a 2009 Alexandra Gianna Pinot Grigio made by a friends of my cousin and his wife. The wine is produced by Jon and Carol Sebastiani, and is named after their youngest daughter. I rated it as excellent - at the top of my wine grading system.

The first dish was a fantastic mussel dish prepared by my cousin. The ingredients included mussels, pancetta, roma tomato, chicken broth, half a stick of butter, and a half bottle of white wine. I love mussels and pancetta, and this was one of the best mussel dishes I have ever had, and better than a terrific one I had at Bistro Jeanty last night.

The next wine that my cousin opened was a 2004 Kenwood Cabernet Sauvignon, from Kenwood in Sonoma County. It was also excellent.

The second dish was prepared by his wife. It was equally delicious - with a jalapeño vinaigrette that included apple cider vinegar, jalapeño, onions, garlic, and cilantro.

The table where we ate the appetizers and main courses was very interesting. It was made from a massive wooded beam from an old house they had renovated in San Francisco.

We moved to the living room for dessert - pumpkin pie and ice cream. We love pumpkin pie, and ice cream is always high on Linda's list.

The dessert wine my cousin served was a 1994 Carmenet late harvest sauvignon blanc. We enjoyed it, but he thought it was not very good.

Despite all of the wonderful conversation, food and wine, there was one major flaw that may outweigh all of the pleasure of the evening - the colors of the different cloth napkins they used did not match. We suggest that they may wish to attend napkin matching school. (Only joking, of course.)

A Dinner Treat from Chef P

Last Saturday evening, L & P, who are friends and neighbors, invited us and friends K & G, and P & G to dinner to celebrate the birthday of K's husband, G. The host, P, prepared one of his typical "chefisticated" dinners. Every bite was terrific.

The menu

1. Appetizers

- Dark rye canapés with boursin cheese spread, topped with thinly sliced radishes and garnished with chives

- Hothouse cucumbers sliced on a bias, piped dill herbed cream cheese, topped with smoked salmon, garnished with capers and fresh dill.

- Green & Kalamata Olives 

The appetizers were accompanied by Korbel Rosé California Champagne

2. Main Course and Side Dishes

- Beef Burgundy

- Roasted Baby Potatoes with Herbs

- Zucchini Gratin

- Baguettes from Ooh La La French Bakery

The main course was accopanied by two wines

- 2005 Château de Chamirey AOC Mercurey Premier Cru Burgundy (100% pinot noir) - a Burgundy wine to accompany Beef Burgundy

- 2007 Les Hauts du Fief Cave de Tain Crozes-Hermitages (100% syrah)

3. Dessert

- Symphonie cake from Ooh La La

The foods were fantastic and the wines were excellent.

Recipes and Comments on the Main Dishes and the Sides

Chef P. obtained all of the recipes below from foodnetwork.com. I have used five recipes from that site, and loved them all.

1. Beef Burgundy

This is a classic French dish, which is called Boeuf Bourguignon in French. It is sometimes called, Beef Bourguignon - using one English word and one French word.

When I was in France in June, I had Beef Burgundy several times. Chef P's was far superior. One of several reasons is that he used a superior cut of beef - beef tenderloin.

The recipe he used was a recipe by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. It is a 5-star recipe from foodnetwork.com - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/filet-of-beef-bourguignon-recipe/index.html Interestingly, Ina Garten has another 5-star Beef Burgundy recipe on foodnetwork.com - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beef-bourguignon-recipe/index.html

2. Roasted Baby Potatoes with Herbs

Chef P. obtained this wonderful Giada de Laurentiis recipe from foodnetwork.com as well - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/roasted-baby-potatoes-with-herbs-recipe/index.html
Chef P provided me with the following comments about how he prepared this recipe:

I put the oil, 5 cloves of smashed garlic cloves in a large baggie with 2 tablespoons of herbs de Provence the day before baking and let it season in the refrigerator, then, next day,  threw the potatoes in it to coat and spread them out on a baking sheet, sprinkle lightly with Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper (not too much). Portioned 40 potatoes for 8 people, had 5 or so left over. = 1.5 pounds of potatoes. I roasted the potatoes for 40 minutes total, turned them at 20 minutes. I removed the garlic before cooking since it is possible to burn chopped garlic which could turn bitter. Anyway, 40 minutes at 400 degrees is plenty.  I did not drizzle with any additional oil after cooking, although a pinch of herbs over the top would look nice.

3. Zucchini Gratin
This was another Ina Garten recipe from foodnetwork.com -

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/zucchini-gratin-recipe/index.html

Chef P told me the following about his experience preparing this recipe:

I cooked the gratin the night before and the gratin veggies were firm to the bite. When I reheated them (for 20 minutes after having turned the potatoes) they got overcooked (mushy) , even though still flavorful. Doing it again, I would take the gratin recipe through covering it with the bread crumbs and cheese, refrigerate, then cook along with the potatoes just before dinner. If you are doing this all the same day then it does not matter.

C'etait Formidable!

Last Saturday evening, P & L, our friends & neighbors, treated us and three other couples to a superb feast. I always feel fortunate to eat one of P's dinners, since he's such a great cook.

We started with tasty appetizers - thinly-sliced baguette with different two toppings:
1. A homemade bruschetta spread with the following ingredients:

Muir Glen organic diced canned tomatoes & a pesto of:

·      2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

·      1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese

·      1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

·      ¼ cup cashew nuts & ¼ cup of walnuts

·      3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

·      Salt & freshly ground black pepper 

2. Tasso Tapenade (a delicious commercial product)

The next course was a very nice cold Vichyssoise (potato-leek) soup, with carrots, celery, vidalia shallots, 50% chicken stock/water; salt and pepper to taste; heavy cream

That was followed by an Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) salad of Arugula, feta, cherry tomatoes (which P added to the recipe), watermelon (1 inch dice),  and mint from his garden

It was dressed with a citrus vinaigrette

The main course was grilled butterflied leg of lamb with an Ina Garten yoghurt-mint sauce. P basted the lamb with a balsamic vinegar glaze just before removing it from the grill. The lamb was cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth. The sauce was fantastic! I love lamb & this was some of the best I've had.

The dessert was a terrific concoction called Espresso Jellies from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe available at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/espresso-and-chocolate-jellies-recipe/index.html

It included chocolate chips, heavy cream, espresso powder, and coffee liqueur. P also added a layer of raspberry coulis.

The wines included:

A Korbel rose brut with the appetizers

Zisola Nero d'Avola

Fetzer chardonnay (brought by another guest)

Ecco Domani pinot grigio (brought by yet another guest)

A Delicious Italian Dinner

On Monday evening, our friends M & T, who are making their annual visit from Germany, prepared a wonderful Italian dinner for us and friends L & P. I am getting very hungry as I relive that meal.

They brought some of the ingredients from Germany. M is a superb cook and both M & T are gourmets, who appreciate good food and wine. We have dined with them in four countries - the U.S., Italy, France, and Spain. We always have a great time with them and with L & P.

Table decorated with napkins in the colors of the Italian flag


The menu for the evening was:

Appetizers:
- Prosciutto di Parma (one of the best Italian hams) wrapped around Grissini (Italian breadsticks)
- Celery filled with spicy, creamed tuna
- Marinated olives
- Marinated pearl onions
- Ciabatta bread and a cream cheese & chive spread

The Appetizers

First Course
Risotto in red wine. The red wine was a 2008 Santa Cristina Sangiovese produced by Antinori in the Chianti Classico area of Tuscany.

Main Course
Tender morsels of chicken breast and scampi with truffles, asparagus, spring leeks, mushrooms, & capers in a saffron-champagne sauce.

The Main Course



Dessert
Strawberries with sugar & orange zest in a sauce of mild mustard, sugar, and balsamic vinegar. This dish was created by a chef at Don Camillo, one of the oldest Italian restaurants in Berlin.

The Dessert



Wines
- Korbel sparkling rosé brut
- Lugana San Benedetto 2010 from Zenato winery in the Veneto. (M & T, another couple of friends, my wife and I did a wonderful tasting at the Zenato winery in 2004.
- Vitiano Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Vielen Dank!

Moroccan Delight

On Friday night, we were treated to an incredible home-cooked Moroccan meal by our friends G & P. The impetus for this meal was a dinner the four of us had enjoyed at a local Moroccan restaurant. One of the dishes I had eaten was called Bisteeya. G, who was very familiar with Moroccan cuisine, understood that this dish was hard to prepare properly in a restaurant. He offered to treat us to a Moroccan meal prepared by him. Since he is the best chef/cook I have ever known, I knew this would be a special treat.

(On a previous occasion, before a trip to Provence, I had asked him if he could describe daube, a Provençal stew I had seen mentioned in a book on Provence. He not only described it, but he prepared a complete Provençal meal, including daube. I tried daube three times in Provence, including at Les Deux Garçons in Aix and Le Safari in Nice. None held a candle to his daube.)

On Friday, he prepared two main dishes for us - bisteeya and lamb shanks in Moroccan spices. Both were incredible.

Bisteeya is a chicken pie with chicken, onion, eggs, spices, and a layer of gound almonds, wrapped in filo dough and topped with confectioners sugar and cinamon. (The dish was originally made with pigeon.) It requires a great deal of time to prepare from scratch, the way he prepared it. I cannot begin to describe how mouthwateringly delicious this dish was.

Needless to say, the lamb was equally delicious.

The wines he served were two whites:
- Hugues Beauvignac Coteaux de Languedoc made with the Picpoul de Pinet grape
- Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand

Both were perfect accompaniments to this feast.

There are many examples of this recipe on the Internet. One of these recipes, with a picture of the finished product, can be found at http://www.suite101.com/content/bisteeya--moroccan-chicken-pie-a259546