Highlights include Magnificat, Napanook, three different Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Saintsbury Pinot Noir, Schramsberg Cremant, Frank Family Blanc de Blancs, two Champagnes, Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay, Qady Essensia, and Estancia Meritage. I'd say the winner of the red category was the deep, smooth-as-a-baby's-ass Napanook, and the winner of the sparkling category was the bracingly dry, toasty/minerally Frank Family. Luis has a keen palate and a true afiçion for the grape, and he has helped to elevate my appreciation for fine wine. Having him around is not helpful to frugality, but we truly had some splendid enological exploits.
We did our fair share of eating, too. I didn't cook as much as I usually do; we ate out or grazed more of the time. I did grilled salmon with sweet pepper coulis and grilled corn on the cob, but I took no pictures. In fact, we ate out more in a week than Lindz and I do in three months. But this was vacation. 42nd Street Oyster Bar was quite good; I had clams on the half shell for the first time. I liked them; they are firmer and meatier than oysters.
For dinner on our last night together, I made grilled boneless porkchops with a speck and sage sauce with herbed roasted potatoes. Lindz made the salad of greens, strawberries, blue cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. Tasty Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Pinot Noir accompanied it.
It was all a much-needed respite from the cubicle farm. Talk of travel, life and the future while enjoying the finer things is a restorative pastime.
5 comments:
Very much your father's son. And dad would be proud of the bottle pic.
I neglected to add an important item to the last meal we had together: Lindz made mint chocolate chip ice cream from scratch. Fresh mint, Perugina chocolate, and a basic ice cream recipe. It was perfect. Real mint flava.
How did you add the mint? Did you puree the leaves or make an infusion? Did it stay green?
To make the mint chocolate chip ice cream, I used the vanilla ice cream recipe from The Best Recipe and just left out the vanilla. I got handfuls of chocolate mint from our plant on the deck and stripped the leaves off the stems and then bruised them a little in a bowl. Then I added them to the milk, cream, and sugar mixture on the stove and kept them in there while I tempered and added the eggs. I let the mixture cool in an ice bath and then in the refrigerator for about three hours. I strained the mint leaves out just before adding the mixture to the ice cream maker and while the ice cream maker was going, I added in the shaved chocolate that I had kept in the freezer.
The ice cream wasn't green; it was just the color of plain ice cream for the most part. It ended up with a nice, soft, herbal mint flavor instead of a harsh peppermint/chemical flavor.
Next up--pomegranate sorbet!
what a fantastic trip! thank you SO much again for your hospitality. it was super excellent to see you again and catch up!
those wines... i'm glad we could share that champagne! next time i'm in napa, i'll get summore.
miss you already.
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