We suspended our gourmet dinners for the summer and had our first one of the new season last night at Fay & Leith's, who are co-owners of my local quilt shop, Bolts in the Bathtub. The other owner is Fay's sister, Dawna. Dawna and her husband, Robert, were also at the dinner.
The first course, pictured above, is beautiful! It is "massaged" kale with mango and pine nuts. I had not thought that kale would be tender enough to eat uncooked, but Fay explained that in this Food Network recipe, you coat the chopped kale with lemon juice and olive oil and massage it for a few minutes, then put it in the refrigerator where it will hold for 3-4 days, getting more tender as it waits for you to finish the dish. I have to make this salad for the visual impact alone, although it tasted as good as it looks....
With the salad, we had a Carnival 2009 French Columbard from California; the slight sweetness of this white wine complemented the mango very well. I will probably make this salad this weekend for some friends and I think a Reisling might work with it, too.
This was one of the dishes that Fay & Leith, who are the best cooks I know, served with the entree course. Mushrooms and peeled garlic cloves were roasted in a slow oven for hours; I have to admit that I was wishing for bread to spread that wonderful garlic all over! Now that I am thinking about it, this is probably the healthiest gourmet dinner we have ever had....that's a good thing!
Clockwise from the top of the plate: Chicken and lamb were marinated and slow cooked separately; root vegetables, including parsnips (YUM!) cooked along with them. My plate would have been more colorful, but I very selectively left the carrots in the pot. At the upper left are those yummy mushrooms....
The entree wine was a Levendi 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.
Ripe, succulent peaches are still very much in season here, so Fay baked peach cobbler and then gave us our choice of ice cream or Cool Whip -- I couldn't make up my mind, so had both! With dessert, we enjoyed a Rockledge 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from St. Helena CA.
We'll be at Dawna's house sometime within the next couple of weeks before I leave town on a teaching trip, and then next month will be my house. Hmmm.....it will be October....do you think a Halloween theme might be in the works?
The first course, pictured above, is beautiful! It is "massaged" kale with mango and pine nuts. I had not thought that kale would be tender enough to eat uncooked, but Fay explained that in this Food Network recipe, you coat the chopped kale with lemon juice and olive oil and massage it for a few minutes, then put it in the refrigerator where it will hold for 3-4 days, getting more tender as it waits for you to finish the dish. I have to make this salad for the visual impact alone, although it tasted as good as it looks....
With the salad, we had a Carnival 2009 French Columbard from California; the slight sweetness of this white wine complemented the mango very well. I will probably make this salad this weekend for some friends and I think a Reisling might work with it, too.
This was one of the dishes that Fay & Leith, who are the best cooks I know, served with the entree course. Mushrooms and peeled garlic cloves were roasted in a slow oven for hours; I have to admit that I was wishing for bread to spread that wonderful garlic all over! Now that I am thinking about it, this is probably the healthiest gourmet dinner we have ever had....that's a good thing!Clockwise from the top of the plate: Chicken and lamb were marinated and slow cooked separately; root vegetables, including parsnips (YUM!) cooked along with them. My plate would have been more colorful, but I very selectively left the carrots in the pot. At the upper left are those yummy mushrooms....
The entree wine was a Levendi 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.
Ripe, succulent peaches are still very much in season here, so Fay baked peach cobbler and then gave us our choice of ice cream or Cool Whip -- I couldn't make up my mind, so had both! With dessert, we enjoyed a Rockledge 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from St. Helena CA.
We'll be at Dawna's house sometime within the next couple of weeks before I leave town on a teaching trip, and then next month will be my house. Hmmm.....it will be October....do you think a Halloween theme might be in the works?
Oh my goodness this just looks wonderful! I love the wine & food pairings. I agree a slightly sweeter German or Alsatian Reisling would be fantastic with the flavors of that salad. YUM!
ReplyDeleteTeri