Culinary Fool: Entertaining

Brunch for Seven

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:25:49 GMT

Last week I suddenly got motivated to have some friends over for brunch. The catalyst was wishing EE happy birthday last weekend and then realizing it had been some time since I'd seen him and BR. Once we established that they were available on Sunday I decided to include a few others in the plans and M and K and their husbands accepted invitations to join in.

So Sunday at 11:00 they met at my house and luckily, although it is still freezing cold here in Seattle, the sun was out. This was important as I wanted to grill part of the meal. My grill is under cover but getting back and forth to it isn't much fun if it happens to be pouring rain!

The menu was pretty simple:

Grilled asparagus, grilled pineapple and grilled maple syrup-basted Ham

Oven roasted potatoes

Strata (savory bread pudding)

Cinnamon buns with a citrus-honey-butter sauce

Fresh squeezed grapefruit and orange juice and a Bloody Mary bar

Both the strata and the cinnamon buns recipes were new to me and from Pure Flavor: 125 Fresh All-American Recipes from the Pacific Northwest written by local author, Kurt Dammeier, owner of Beecher's Cheese.

This was a pretty simple brunch but one that really tasted of spring. If you've been thinking of entertaining this is a great way to do it!

Holiday Party 2007

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 21:43:11 GMT

Friday night I held my annual holiday party. It was a ton of fun, as it always is! And I say this not because of anything that I do but because my friends are all so good at mixing and mingling that everyone who comes, whether they know anyone else or not, is included in assorted conversations and often ends up making new friends that night.

Over the last few years it seems my party has become a bit predictable and so this year I eliminated several of the tried and true dishes that I normally make and filled in with several new items. All of the new items were very good and the group loved them so they will appear on future menus, I'm sure! Here's the menu with links or information about the recipes.

The "Old Items" on the menu included:

Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
Pecan Chicken Salad on Cucumbers
Gougere (Cheese puffs) from Dishing with Kathy Casey: Food, Fun, and Cocktails from Seattle's Culinary Diva
Smoked Salmon, Chive Creme Fraiche, and Capers with Crackers
Warmed Brie topped with Caramel and served with sliced green apple

The "New Items" on the menu included:

Oven roasted potatoes with dill topped with Creme Fraiche and Ikura (Salmon Roe)
Smoked Trout Toasts from The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor
Chicken Liver Pate with Brandied Fruit from Kathy Casey's Northwest Table: Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Southern Alaska
Sesame Roasted Shrimp Sticks with Zippy Apricot Dipping Sauce from Kathy Casey's Northwest Table: Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Southern Alaska
Prosciutto, Gorgonzola and Pear Crostini
And a friend brought, Rosemary-Parmesan Icebox Crackers

And, I rounded it all out with:

Cheese Platter
Pickled Vegetable Assortment
Green Tea Wasabi Peanuts
Truffles
Cookies (check out the last few blog entries)
Carmelcorn

And, of course, there was plenty of sparkling wine, wine and sparkling water to round it all out.

More photos are here.

"Cheese" Dinner

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 02:18:37 GMT

The last couple of weeks have just flown by. Last weekend I had family members in town for four days and did a ton of cooking - which I loved! Cooking for big groups is always fun but does take a bit of time and recovery when you've done several big meals in a row. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos but I will tell you that for one of the lunches I cooked a whole copper rive sockeye and it was heavenly!

The family left Tuesday morning (one of my nephews had high school graduation on Monday night) and then I was busy getting the house back to normal and catching up on work. Then, last night, it was time for a "payback" dinner!

When I took the French Cheese Tasting course during the Seattle Cheese Festival, I had been riding on a friend's ticket when he came down sick. So M and I had decided that we'd do our own version of the tasting to let him get a an idea of what he missed. I changed it up a bit though and decided that we'd do some actual cheese tasting but in addition I"d do a light meal where everything was made with cheese.

We started the evening on the deck with Gougères and Veuve Clicqout NV Rosé Champagne, a very French wine for our tasting. I "discovered" this champagne last October at a class at Gourmet Institute and immediately fell in love. Upon my return to Seattle I happened upon it one day while at Esquin and snatched up a bottle. While not priced for everyday drinking it's a very nice special bottle of champagne.

We continued with our conversation on the deck and added blue cheese and walnut crostini drizzled with honey to the food options. Unfortunately, soon after the crostini the wind picked up and the clouds blocked the sun, just temporarily but long enough to chill my guests. So we moved inside.

After a bit of a rest from the first two nibbles, I made the mushroom and egg dish that I'd had at the Harvest Vine class. It was very good! I love this dish as it really could be anything from breakfast to dinner and combines sweet and salty tastes with several textures for a delightful and comforting meal. By this time we'd switched to a couple of red wines, a lovely Bordeaux and a delightful Rhone, that C had contributed to the evening.

Our final dish of the evening was a cheese plate with bread and cherries. We had our choice of Humboldt Fog (from M), St Agur (from C) and a triple cream, Delice de Bourgogne, which is actually more like butter than cheese!

We finally pushed away from the table somewhere around midnight. It was a fun, long and lingering meal. Quite lovely.

Menu for a Winery Concert

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 22:39:42 GMT

Last night we kicked off the summer concert season in style! First, the weather did its part which was so wonderful! When we entered the concert grounds at Ste Michelle Winery the temperature was in the mid-80s, the sun shining brightly and the air stayed warm for most of the evening.

Harry Connick Jr was our entertainment and I only wished he had played a bit longer as we really weren't ready to leave as they finished the last encore. It was a great night and one I hope we are able to repeat several times this summer.

A little hint if you haven't been out to Ste Michelle before; although they sell wine within the concert grounds they normally only offer four or so options. And what they offer is great but sometimes you just want something a little different. Instead, go into the tasting room where you can purchase from their entire offering of wines. For last night's event we started with a Sauvignon Blanc - which I think is a perfect warm weather wine; then we moved on to the Columbia Valley Merlot and ended with the Cold Creek Syrah.

Here's the menu with photos following!

Winery Concert Feast

Mixed Nuts and Pub Snack Mix (to keep everyone happy while the rest of the meal is assembled)

Smoked Salmon with thinly, sliced red onions; capers; and cream cheese on crackers

Smoked Duck Crostini

Grilled Shrimp

Charcuterie Plate with Cornichons, Olives and Truffle Mustard

Fresh Baby Carrots and Radishes

Orzo Salad

Cheese Platter with Bread, Apples and Apricots

Dark Chocolate Truffles

Handling Large Group Events

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 16:08:54 GMT

This weekend 30 people from the Seattle Flickr Meetup Group descended upon the Nordic Center at Stevens Pass for a day of showshoeing and photography. I joined this group about a year ago when I found out about it through my blog activities - if you've ever clicked on one of my photos (at least those used since April 2005) you'll have gone to my photostream out on the Flickr photo sharing site. Several months after I'd started using Flickr another member pinged me to join a Seattle Food and Drink pool. Once part of that pool I heard about the Meetup Group through the message board. I attended a meeting last year and now am one of the organizers of the group and administrators for the group photo pool.

This trip to Steven's was our first really big event. The group has done several hikes and taken the ferry over to Bainbridge Island but for this event we decided to leave early in the morning (at least early for some folks), rent a bus for the trip and as part of the deal provide a little breakfast and snacks for the way home.

I was the organizer for the event and mostly had a blast pulling it all together but also went back and forth between excitement and worry since the total dollar outlay for the trip was pretty high and I wanted to make sure we broke even on the whole thing.

Well, it all turned out really well and I was even able to refund everyone $5 from the original fee!

Since this is a food-related blog what I am getting to here is that when planning for large groups places like Costco and Cash and Carry are indispensable. I know I've talked about Costco many times but for this trip I used them for all of the breakfast baked goods (muffins, croissants, bagels and Danish); two brands of yogurt; bottled water; fruit; freshly baked cookies; candy bars; soft drinks; chips; and granola bars. I probably forgot one or two things but you get the idea.

Cash and Carry helped out with paper bags, handi-wipes, and napkins.

The only things I bought from "regular" stores were beer - and this was only because we were only allowed cans on the bus and Costco only carries bottles, and ice. We rounded out the whole thing with Coffee Travelers from Starbucks.

Now here is the thing that is sometimes hard to get your head around. I actually had too much food. However, I paid less for too much than I would have paid to get exactly enough at a traditional store. Weird, isn't it?

And the quality of the food - especially those freshly made breakfast items and cookies - is better than grocery stores and in many cases rivals even bakeries.

So when planning a large group activity, or even a large party at your home, make sure you check all your local resources. You may be pleased at what you find!

Now if I could just figure out a way to get them to do all the packing, hauling and cleanup...

Deerfield Ranch Wines, Dinner and Pairings

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 19:26:11 GMT

Last Saturday night I attended and participated in one of the most fun dinners ever! A couple of months ago, my friends DW and MG contacted me to ask if I'd like to join them and a few others in a wine-pairing dinner. They are very tied in with a California vintner, Deerfield Ranch Winery. Their idea was to select eight wines from Deerfield Ranch, assign a wine and a dinner course to each person attending the dinner and then it was each person's responsibility to come up with something to pair with their assigned wine. Well, as you might guess this whole idea appealed to me!

And, I have to say the people/wine/pairings were done with great skill, I thought. DW and MG did a great job at looking at people's interests, talents and experiences to match up who got what and when. I think that had a lot to do with the success of the party.

We started the dinner early - as you can imagine it takes a little time to relax and enjoy eight dinner courses. Saturday was beautiful here in Seattle! At 5:30, our start time, the temperature was in the low 70s and DW and MG's yard was shaded. Their yard is always beautiful and welcoming, and for this night they'd set up a dining area outside, complete with dining canopy and graceful tied back panels. But I'm ahead of myself...

Upon entering their home and specifically the dining room, we were greeted with the array of wines, glasses and the night's wine menu. They were artfully arranged on the dining room table - but that only gave a hint of what was to come. Outside on the deck the outdoor seating area beckoned, as did a table prepped for the appetizer course. And then, down the deck steps in the center of the yard stood the dining area, complete with appropriate linens, dinnerware and more glasses. Each place was marked with a placecard and the list of wines. The napkin rings were individual vases holding petite flower arrangements!

Each guest arrived with their offering tucked away in Tupperware or on a prep tray or already prepared on a serving platter. They found a little corner of the kitchen to tuck away the treasure until it was their turn to show what they had prepared.

Although the meal was based on Deerfield Ranch wines, several "bonus" wines were brought out throughout the evening. The first of these came just prior to the appetizers. MG brought out a wine made by his brother's winery in Oregon, Grochau Cellars Sauvignon Blanc. This winery is still in its infancy but is doing some really great things - so watch for the characteristic label. While I'm not going to go into detailed notes on each wine, since this was the first of the night I can tell you it has a gorgeous grapefruit taste upfront and then finishes with a nice, clean mineral taste. I really liked it.

While we were enjoying that wine and the all-ready free-flowing conversation, JJ brought out the appetizer. Actually not just one appetizer but two, although they were assembled in a bright mosaic pattern that looked as if they had always been paired that way. And for those who were ready, the "first" wine of the night was poured, the Deerfield Ranch Peterson Vineyard 2004 Sauvignon Blanc. (Note: The "counting" of the wines will be very confusing what with the "regular" wines and all the bonus bottles so don't worry if you lose track!) This wine had quite a different character than the GC Sauvignon. It was much more subdued and softer. It actually seemed a bit like a "light" Chardonnay.

The appetizers were wonderful! One was a grilled shrimp with a great slightly spicy flavor. The other was a Gruyère Artichoke Tartlet - perfect little bite-size morsels of creamy goodness with a bit of a tang from the Gruyère. We were off to a great start.

While we were chatting, comparing the two Sauvignon Blancs and nibbling our way through the appetizers, MG snuck off to assemble course number two. There was a little blender noise, a little slicing and the sound of another cork being pulled from a bottle. Then we were all called to move to the table for the next course.

The wine for this pairing was the Deerfield Ranch Château Labbé Vineyard 2002 Chardonnay. It was so buttery that we almost didn't need the sauces for this course - freshly cooked and cracked Dungeness crab - almost. The crab was served with a spicy cocktail sauce made with (my favorite!) lots of horseradish; a wonderfully tasty and fragrant tarragon butter - which was probably the table favorite; and ghee. We did our best to make a dent in the heaping platter of crab - believe me freshly cooked Dungeness can't be beat - but we were also mindful that we still had two courses left before the entrée and more after that!

I was up next with the third course. My assigned wine was the 2002 Jemrose Vineyard Pinot Noir. I love Pinot Noir. Love it. My first inclination was to do something with salmon but I do that all of the time. Instead I put on my thinking cap and cherry popped into my head, since Pinot often has a cherry element. What do I like with cherries? How about duck? After a bit of research a plan was pulled together! Smoked Duck with Cherry Chutney on Crostini. (In another post I'll tell you more about this recipe including the elements I based it on.)

While the folks were finishing up "just one more bite" of crab I headed for the kitchen to do my assembly. I chose to do individual servings of three crostini each and then decorated each plate with a couple of fresh cherries from the morning's Farmers' Market run. The cherry in the appetizer echoed the cherry tastes in the wine - or vice versa. I was very happy with the pairing. Although, by this point, probably two crostini per person would have been enough - although nearly everyone managed to consume all three pieces!

Are you stuffed yet? Amazingly we were doing a great job of pacing ourselves and although we were now prepared to start our fourth course, I think everyone was doing okay. Our fourth course was also the signal that another bonus bottle of wine would be shared! LE who was assigned this course is a big Syrah fan and he just happened to get the Syrah pairing - interesting how that worked out... So, in addition to the Deerfield Ranch 2001 Ladi's Vineyard Syrah that was on our night's menu, he brought along a Washington wine for comparison, the 2002 Cayuse Vineyards Coccinelle Vineyard Walla Walla Valley Syrah. (Try saying that a few times!). The Cayuse was a big, hearty Syrah, that had been decanted for a couple of hours by this point and still benefited from air in the glass to help it completely open. The Deerfield Ranch was no wallflower either and both went well with what appeared to be an "interesting" accompanying dish that was a perfect flavor pairing with these Syrahs.

LE's food offering was a version of Vietnamese Bahn Mi. He'd made spicy little pork meatballs, a red chili sauce and pickled carrots. We were offered tiny little poorboy rolls to assemble our own sandwiches with the already mentioned elements and fresh cilantro. These slightly spicy flavors met and mingled with the black pepper elements in the Syrahs for a very happy marriage.

At this point there was a little break in the eating action while the grilling, baking and sautéing needed to finish the entrée was taken care of. We all got a chance to move around a bit before settling back at the table for the next few rounds. It was just what we all needed before continuing on.

TJ and C had the entrée course which consisted of three elements. As a side note TJ and C are actually part owners of Deerfield Ranch and were able to fill in lots of interesting detail about the winery and it's history throughout the dinner. But back to the entree... While TJ handled the grill, C had kitchen duty. On the grill he had thick-cut, rosemary encrusted lamp chops. Oh, my! Heavenly fragrances drifted from that grill. In the kitchen, C was warming beautifully molded (as in formed not "moldy"!) polenta made with lots of milk, butter, Gorgonzola and Parmesan cheeses and she was also sautéing Haricots Vertes with tarragon.

Once on the plate the tastes, colors and textures of these elements all came together in a tasty ensemble and one that paired perfectly with our wines. Yes, I said wines as we had another bonus bottle for this course. This time though, instead of being from another winery it was another vintage. Our scheduled wine was the Deerfield Ranch 2000 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon. Our bonus was was the 2001 North Coast Cabernet Sauvignon. I was never quite clear on which glass held which wine but I can tell you that I enjoyed them both! And the strong flavors of the rosemary and lamb were great with the Cabernets. We spent a nice leisurely time on this course and with the wines.

TS had been assigned the cheese course to accompany the next wine, Deerfield Ranch 2001 Roumiguiere Vineyard Sangiovese. He'd actually done all of his preparation and even setup ahead of time, allowing the cheese to sit at room temperature for a while prior to serving. Since Sangiovese is an Italian grape he chose mostly Italian cheeses to go with their Italian cousin. On the platter was Fulvi Pecorino Romano, a sheep's milk cheese; Vacche Rosse Parmigiano Reggiano, a raw milk cheese that comes from the Red Cow breed that almost became extinct but was granted protection in the 1980s - after tasting this cheese, we're certainly glad that happened; an aged Asagio; and to round out the offering an Appenzeller Swiss.

As I was nibbling on this cheese and sipping the Sangiovese, it occurred to me that any one of the courses and their wines would have provided a completely satisfying experience. I would have been happy just sipping Sangiovese and breaking off bits of cheese and sprinkling in bits of conversation along the way. And that could have been true of any of the courses we'd had throughout the evening. But lucky us - we got the whole series of experiences! And we weren't done yet.

It was now somewhere around 10:00 pm; time to move inside to keep the neighbors happy, to warm up a bit and to enjoy dessert. It was DWs turn to provide this final course. And for his wine there was 1997 Sonoma Mountain Late Harvest Gold, made with Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling grapes. Earlier in the evening I'd had a conversation with a couple other guests about our preference or lack there-of for dessert wines. So many of them are rather sickeningly sweet. But this wine deserves its name - it is pure, liquid gold, full of a rich, honey flavored essence that satisfies your sweet tooth but knows how to move on without superfluous lingering.

To pair with this golden treasure DW concocted a mixed berry crisp full of summer sunshine. He used blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, just lightly sweetened, topped with a crunchy layer and finished off with whip cream and more berries. It was the perfect ending to this many-coursed meal. A hint of sweetness, flavorful but light. Ahhhhh...

And just when you thought we were done - one more bonus wine made its way to the table. Deerfield Ranch Zinfandel. We sat around the table sipping our last little sips. Although at this point we'd been eating and drinking for five and a half hours, I think we were all a little hesitant to go for then the spell of this wonderful evening would be broken.

Eventually we had to move away from the table, pack up our various containers, leftovers and whatever else, and each make our way (along with bottles of water from our hosts!) back to our respective homes. As I mentioned at the start, this was really one of the most fun dinners I have ever been party to - I am so happy to have been included!

More Photos

Meritage Wine Tasting

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 13:46:54 GMT

Part of the discussion during the Amarone Wine Tasting turned to Meritage and some of the bottles we all had stashed away. At that time we talked about doing a tasting where everyone brought a bottle and we sampled through the whole lot. (Meritage wine is a blend made from traditional Bordeaux varietals.)

My friends Chef Big John and Kim, let me know they were coming to the west side of the mountains for Taste Washington, among other things, and we made a little plan to do something Friday night. And with their penchant for wine I decided this was the perfect opportunity to do our Meritage tasting. Some of the original cast of characters were not able to attend but Big John and Kim also brought some friends along so we had a total of 9 people - which is a nice number for a tasting as everyone gets a decent sample from each bottle.

When everyone had arrived we took a vote and decided to open several bottles at a time and let everyone choose what appealed to them. Our lineup for the night was heavy on Washington wines since we all enjoy our local wine industry, although I had a couple of older California wines I decided to add to mix. Unfortunately, both of those wines had faded :-( but we had some outstanding Washington blends. I'm not going to list them all as we managed to open and pretty much finish eleven bottles of wine but you can see many of them in the photo above.

In addition to the wine, there was food, of course! I made Baby Back Ribs Osso Buco Style, Smoked Salmon on Buckwheat Blini, Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus, a version of the Onion Tart, Gougere, and a cheese platter.

We sampled our way through the wines and talked about everything under the sun. At the end of the evening all that was left were some leftovers, great memories and a pile of corks! This was a really fun way to do a wine tasting and was fairly easy to plan, as the host. If you've been thinking of getting into wine tasting I recommend this idea as a place to start.

Spring Brunch 2006

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 17:48:01 GMT

Last Saturday I had a few women friends over for brunch. I had hoped that the weather might hold so that we could at least start with a cup of coffee or glass of champagne out on the deck but it was a bit too cold outside. But that was okay because it was warm with the conversation and laughter of friends inside!

I had one planning faux pas in that the space I had planned to set up the beverages, was also the place where I was doing the last minute grilling of one of the dishes. So as guests arrived I had to make them wait to get started. Poor planning on my part but, of course, no one really cared.

I had decided that we'd start with a Bellini Bar. Now, technically a Bellini is white peach puree and Prosecco but the term is starting to be used with many fruit and sparkling wine combinations, although orange juice and Champagne will always be a Mimosa! You can see more about how to set this up in my Bellini Bar post on The Spirit World.

Next we moved to the table for our meal. I like giving people options for brunch so there were a couple of main dishes and some supporting side dishes.

I always like to have a fruit plate as a lighter option for people. What's on it varies by what looks good when I'm shopping. This year I had slices of pineapple, cantaloupe and kiwi - those three provided a nice range of colors, too.

We had a basket of blueberry scones made with dried blueberries. This was a slight variation on the original Ina Garten strawberry scone recipe from her Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. The same basic recipe can be found here.

As, I've mentioned before I tend to always experiment on my guests and made two new recipes this time. The first was Garlic and Rosemary Goat Cheese Tart that I'd seen Emeril make the week prior to the brunch. (Ironic note: I was at the gym on the treadmill watching Emeril making this beautiful but not so calorie or fat-conscious dish...) This is a great quiche - the texture is really smooth and creamy, the tart goat cheese adds a nice little kick and the garlic and rosemary are the perfect flavor enhancers.

The next new dish was a Savory French Toast from a recipe by Michael Chiarello. This recipe reminds me of an Italian version of a Monte Cristo sandwich. Fresh mozzarella, basil and prosciutto are sandwiched between slices of country bread. The whole stack is covered in an egg batter and then grilled. They were really good and would make an excellent lunch dish along with a nice green salad.

The final main dish has become a brunch favorite. It was Tom Douglas' Wild Rice Waffles with Gravlax and Chive Creme Fraiche. There is something about those waffles that just hits the spot. And of course you can never go wrong with smoked salmon of any sort!

To round out the meal there was Aidell's Chicken Apple sausage and sautéed Haricots Verte.

It was a great way to spend a little time eating, catching up and easing into our weekend. I highly recommend you try having a weekend brunch!

Amarone and Miscellaneous Food

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:31:29 GMT

Just to tie up a few loose ends, I wanted to mention the other food I prepared for the Amarone Wine Tasting. I was really happy with the fact that everything went really well with the wines. I had thought it would be more of a challenge and that was actually why I made so many different things - I was just hoping that one or two would work well. Instead, everything worked well!

I've already mentioned the Cottechino and Lentils a couple of times but I was really pleased with how the wine really cut the richness of this dish. I basically used the same recipe I recently posted but I did include carrots and celery in the mix and they really add a nice element.

Although I originally wasn't intending to really make this a dinner, I started realizing how much meat I had on the first draft of the menu and decided I should round it out a bit. I added the Red Wine Risotto that R made for our last dinner club meeting. You just can't go wrong with risotto and the red wine flavor was especially good.

I also added some simply prepared Haricots Verte. I blanched them for 3 minutes, cooled them and then did a quick sauté in olive oil and butter and added a few toasted, slivered almonds. The nutty tones also complemented these earthy wines.

Finally, as a "dessert" of sorts, I had a couple of cheeses and sweet soprasotta. The cheeses were Pierre Robert, a super smooth and dreamy triple creme and Bonde de Satine, a (nearly) raw goat's milk cheese that has been aged just long enough to pass the import laws. It also had an earthy, nutty flavor that complemented the wine. (Thanks to the guys at DeLaurenti's for both those suggestions!)

I was really pleased at how it all turned out! I already have some more ideas in mind for another little wine tasting party...

Amarone Wine Tasting

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 18:40:16 GMT

The Wines

2000 Giuseppe Lonardi Ripasso de Valpolicella Classico Superiore
1988 Tommasi della Valpolicella Classico
1991 Brigaldara della Valpolicella Classico
1993 Tommasi Della Valpolicella Classico

The Food

Antelope Burgers w/Shiitake Port Sauce

Braised Short Ribs

Wine Risotto

Cottechino with Lentils

Haricots Verte

Sweet Soprasotta

Pierre Robert

Bonde de Satine

Breads: Como & Raisin-Pecan

Several years ago I had my first tasting of Amarone. At the time I knew nothing about it and my first sip was not all that enticing. I realized later that this wine needs some time. It can't go directly from bottle to glass or at least not with the best result. After that initial taste I was intrigued but couldn't quite make myself pay the price for a bottle of wine that I wasn't sure I would like - Amarones start in the $50 range and go up from there. At some point I happened to be in a local wine shop when they were doing their semi-annual purge - removing older wines to make way for new - and found a few bottles of Amarone significantly marked down. I grabbed two of them and a few weeks later found another at a great price. I put them away with the idea of doing a tasting at some point.

Well, months led to years and I'd never quite found the right time to have them. I decided I needed to just make the right time. Amarones are normally consumed between 10 and 15 years. My oldest bottle, a 1988 was well past even the 15 year mark. So last night I had a few friends over and we cracked open the bottles. I also included a Ripasso, a wine I accidentally found while searching for wines from Lombardy for a dinner club meeting last year.

To explain Ripasso I first need to explain Amarone. Amarone is made in the Veneto region of Italy. It is made from grapes that are picked and then air dried for two to three months. This results in very concentrated sugars and a resulting full-bodied, high alcohol wine. The drying also results in a very earthy taste. Ripasso is the "poor man's Amarone". It is made by taking Valpolicella wine and running it across the lees of Amarone which causes a refermentation process. This wine exhibits some of the attributes of Amarone without incurring the cost associated with the special handling needed for an Amarone.

Finding food to accompany Amarone is a fun challenge. In the Veneto, Amarone often accompanies game. To that end I wanted to find some bites that would evoke that wildness and work well. I happen to have on hand some ground antelope, courtesy of my brother-in-law from one of his hunting expeditions. Braised beef seemed like it might provide another good option and then I decided to round it out with Cottechino, which just seemed like it might work.

In the next few posts I'll cover tasting notes and recipes and let you know what I thought worked well.

New Year's Eve Weekend

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 15:42:33 GMT

Before I take off on this Superbowl challenge and all the things that go along with it, I had better take care of some old business. I can't believe that I haven't talked about our New Year's Eve dinner and it's already January 28th. Where in the world did the month go? I guess I've just been a bit discombobulated lately. Well, I resolve to get back on track by February 1!

This New Year's Eve was such a nice, perfect time. My friends E and BR invited R and I to spend the weekend with them at a family residence on Camano Island. Their house sits near the Southwest end of the island, right on the water (actually on a hill but with a path down to the beach), looking out at Whidbey Island. It's a beautiful and peaceful place filled with the sounds of wind, waves and birds. The house is both large - with plenty of room for private mediation or napping - and cozy.

Our plan was to arrive early afternoon on New Year's Eve, spend a leisurely afternoon and evening, take our time getting out and about on New Year's Day with everyone contributing to either the evening meal or Sunday's breakfast.

I won't bore you with the all the relaxing details - there was a lot of time spent reading, gazing out at the water, and napping - instead I'll jump right to the food portion of the weekend! E and BR were responsible for appetizers. They had arrived earlier in the day and took a trip up to Taylor Shellfish Farms to pick up fresh oysters. To keep us occupied while he was shucking oysters E first put out bowls of his favorite crackers and "dip". The dip is actually mostly grated cheese mixed with a sauce for spreadability. It comes in a hot and not-so-hot version. He also treated us to more of his cheese crackers. Yum!

Then he set about shucking Olympia Oysters; our little native oysters that have recently been brought back from near extinction. These are amazing little, fresh bites of the sea. Sweet, delicate, salty, mineral: all the things you want to taste in these amazing bite-size morsels. We were spoiled with four or five dozen of the beautiful little guys. Add a glass of champagne to the mix and there isn't much you can do to improve the experience.

After we rested for awhile we set about making the main portion of the meal. I had volunteered for this piece of the celebration and had decided to make what I thought was called Steak Diane, or at least used to be by a place called Henry's Off Broadway. This was a nice restaurant with a huge fan base but it closed several years ago. I'm not sure why but I miss it. Well, when I looked up Steak Diane recipes they weren't what I was expecting but the concept was easy enough so I just set about making my own.

Fillet Mignon is wrapped in bacon, grilled and then topped with crab and Bearnaise sauce. I'd decided that garlic mashed potatoes were just the thing to accompany it. And we also had a nice green salad to round out the meal. There are many slight variations on Bearnaise recipes so I chose one that was a bit lighter on eggs but nice and lemony to really complement the crab. I have to say this dish was awfully good!

For out finale E brought out a gorgeous cheesecake! I haven't had a piece of cheesecake forever and this was an excellent one to remind me just how much I love cheesecake. I forgot where he purchased it but I need to find out. It was rich, dense with that perfect tang that good cheesecakes embody. I really should have had a piece for breakfast, too!

At midnight, after watching fireworks on Whidbey Island while keeping one eye on the TV to see those on the Space Needle, we headed off to our cozy rooms. I was the first one up in the morning (as I think I always am...) and quietly made my way out of the house to start the New Year with a refreshing walk. After about 45 minutes of walking in the rain I was refreshed enough! I returned to the house and others started making their way up and into the living areas. Before you know it we were watching the NFC Champion Seahawks and enjoying Bagels and Lox and all kinds of accompanying trimmings as presented by R. She'd brought all kinds of schmeers and vegetables so we could assemble various combinations of salmon-goodness.

This was really a great way to start the New Year! It was such a completely relaxing and refreshing weekend. There was conversation if you wanted it and quiet when you preferred.

With fires going all weekend, the rain outside the windows was an interesting element that made being inside all that much more pleasant.

The New Year was off to a great start - already I'd done some of my favorite things. Cooking, relaxing, discussing and hanging around with great friends - what more can you ask for?

The Seahawk win was just an added bonus! :-)

Wine Glass Tags

Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:51:48 GMT

Each year at my holiday party I use lots and lots of matching glassware. To help my guests keep track of their glass or to keep them from stealing others', I ask everyone to use these little tags. I have a couple stacks of them along with a couple of pens on the drink table so that they are easy to use and very accessible.

I also have a lot of charms but I find that for larger parties they don't tend to work quite as well, as people tend to forget what they chose. I think they work fine for smaller gatherings, as a lot of the time what someone chooses becomes a topic of conversation.

You can find these tags all over the place now. Wine shops nearly always have them, but I also find them in the wine section of my grocery stores. I believe I generally pay about $3.50 for 25 of them.

If you don't find them in shops in your area, they are available online. Here are a couple sites that sell them:

2005 Holiday Party Planning

Wed, 28 Dec 2005 02:12:43 GMT

I've decided that I'm going to do a couple of different posts about my annual Holiday Party, as there are a few recipes I'd like to share with you. So for this post I'm really just going to whet your appetite by talking a bit about the party planning and posting the menu! :-)

This year was a jam packed year and with my furnace being replaced and my laptop crashing the week before; and with my family in town the weekend before the party I didn't actually start planning until Monday morning (the 19th) and the party was on Wedensday the 21st. I follow a similar menu from year to year, so it wasn't that hard to put the menu together, although I had planned on trying a few new items this year. The way things were going I decided that I'd better scrap that idea and just do things that I was sure would turn out and that I knew how long they took to prepare.

For me the key to a larger party like this (I had about 30 guests) is supreme organization! Once I set the menu, seen both in its rough form (with lots of symbols that track certain things) and in its finished form above, the next thing I do is make lists. Lots of lists! There is a shopping list divided by subsection based on where and when I will purchase the items. Most years I try to purchase all the non-perishables well ahead of time and then get the perishables a day or two ahead. This year nearly everything was purchased on Monday with a few things like bread purchased on Wednesday morning. But, I still had things divided by where I was getting them: Costco; grocery store; specialty market.

Besides the shopping list I have lists of tasks. The first list is just a giant list of everything that needs to be accomplished - cooking, housecleaning, shopping, organization (picking out serving pieces, arranging the furniture, etc). The next list is broken out by day - which things can I do five days prior, three days prior, etc. Whenever possible I do things like rearrange the furniture and pick out all the serving pieces up to a week before party time - it's just a couple things that I can get off the list early!

This year it was all divided between Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. For the days prior to party day the lists are arranged in sort of a chronological order but I don't worry too much about that, other than if something needs marinating time or chilling time or something like that. The party day list is actually broken out by hour or half hour so that I can do all tasks in an orderly and sensible order and know if I am behind or ahead of schedule. You can see some list samples in the photo below.

One key to the lists is to make sure you break your tasks into small enough pieces so that you have a realistic idea of what you need to accomplish and so that you can do early preparation wherever possible. For instance, for the Turkey Tea Sandwiches I had four tasks that spanned all three days: bake break (Monday); make the cream cheese mixture (Tuesday); assemble the sandwiches and, finally, slice and plate them (Wednesday).

The final list I make is for any items that I plan to serve hot. This list may contain a start time (depending on how long the final heating/baking time is) but always has the oven temperature and the baking/cooking time. I may also indicate which of my two ovens will be used.

I know this sounds like I'm a bit anal. Well, yes I am, however the lists really help me glide through the whole thing in a much smoother, more relaxed (although I'm generally working quickly) manner. For this last party I ended up trapped in the kitchen for a little while - not because of my preparation work though. It was because I used a different layout for the beverage table which turned out to be a bad idea. Oh well, I won't do that again next time! Other than pulling a few items out of the oven during the early part of the party I was completely ready to go by the time the first guests arrived. I love that!

Here is the menu:

2005 Holiday Party

December 21, 2005

Chinese BBQ Pork

Pecan Chicken Salad on Cucumbers

Onion Tart

Prosciutto-wrapped Roasted Asparagus

Smoked Salmon w/ Onion & Caper

Cream Cheese

Turkey Tea Sandwiches

Marinated Mozzarella

Hot Crab and Artichoke Dip

Parmesan and Poppy Gougére

Spinach Pinwheels

Cheese-Stuffed Mushrooms

Warm Brie with Caramel & Toasted Walnuts

Pickled Vegetables

Pork Pate

Assorted Cookies, Fruitcake & Bread

Almond Clusters & Fudge

Mocha Panna Cotta

Birthday Dinner

Thu, 10 Nov 2005 16:53:56 GMT

Just about two weeks ago I had a few friends over to celebrate my birthday. The hard part of this dinner was not being able to invite everyone I would have liked to have there. I wanted to keep the group on the small side so that we'd all fit at the table. And, because I was planning a multi-course meal, it would have been out of control if the number of guests was too large. However, everyone had been invited to the celebration at Daniel's so I really wasn't leaving anyone out altogether.

I have always wanted to do a multi-course dinner but had refrained since I actually try to attend my own parties, not just serve at them! :-) But I came up with a perfect plan for this one. First, nearly all of the meal was made in advance and just needed to be plated as we moved through the courses. Second, I asked each of the guests to assist me with a specific task - this gave me both the chance to spend a little time with each of them and made the serving that much faster and more efficient. And, contrary to my usual way of doing things, I'd actually made everything in the past, except for the cake, so there would be no surprises in how things actually turned out!

Next year is a big milestone year for me and I want to hit that milestone running, so this year was my "kick-off". I plan to rev up the adventure level and do things I've always wanted to do but just hadn't quite gotten around to doing. That was one of the reasons for choosing this particular format.

Here was the menu:

Brenda’s Forty Niner
aka
First Stop on the Road to Fifty

Gougére and Mixed Nuts
Martinis
-----
Oysters on the Half-Shell with Champagne Mignonette
Buckwheat Blini, Crème Fraiche & Caviar
Osetra, White Sturgeon (American), Ikura
Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Brut - NV

---- Lemon Vodka Sorbet ----

Chestnut Soup with Cognac Cream
Jazzed up Waldorf Salad
Nobilo Icon Sauvignon Blanc - 2004

Venison Medallions with Shiitake Port Sauce
Oven-Roasted Asparagus
Gnocchi with Roquefort Cream
Apex Columbia Valley Merlot - 1995

---- Poire Williams Sorbet ----

Selection of Cheese
L’Orange
Hedges Red Mountain Port (Fortified) - NV
Coffee or Tea

I'll post more about the party next week. In the meantime, here are a couple more photos.