Wine Wednesday :: A Dinner to Remember part 2

Happy 4th of July, everyone!  I hope you have wonderful plans for time with friends and family and to remember the great gift we have of freedom and liberties in America.

But here, ladies and gentlemen, I finish the saga of our "Foie-maggedon" adventures.  Last week, you heard me write at length about a great many wonderful dishes.  The best are yet to come.

 And this is the main event.  These two dishes were what we came to see - and more particularly, eat.  The first two pictures are of the foie gras pate and porcini mushroom ravioli in chicken consumme.  You would not believe how amazing that dish was.  Doesn't it look like a simple thing?  One ravioli, a little bit of foie gras tourchon, and chicken soup.  A little taste of what Wolfgang Puck might make for himself when he was sick.  I don't know why you would make this when you're sick but it was so supremely wonderful that you can't help wishing you could get it when sick. =)  


The second dish is the classic saute foie gras.  It is moist, warm, and succulent.  This particular preparation was served over a piece of sweet bread and a bed of cooked peaches.  Along with this classic dish, we had a traditional wine pairing.  Or rather, three...  =)  I have a friend who likes to over do it with wine sometimes.  Ok, not really.  We were celebrating the end of our freedom to eat in California and took advantage of it.  So we had three Sauterne wines from the same maker but different vintages.  Chateau Lafaurie-Payraguey makes some heavenly sauternes.  If the foie-gras wasn't enough, this certainly put us into other worlds.  We had an 1986, 2003, and 2005.  If you have never had a 25 year old bottle of wine at any point in your life, I would highly recommend you try.  If you have never had a 25 year old sauterne in your life....well, I think you might be out of luck because we all went hunting for more bottles after this dinner and came up empty.  But you should definitely try tasting at least some sauterne if you have never had it.  


Wines like sauternes pair wonderfully with rich dishes.  A sauterne is often times more viscus of a wine than your normal red or white.  It has a more honey-like taste and feel.  Often it is complimented with wonderful citrusy and exotic flavors that make it the perfect compliment to something so fatty and succulent as foie-gras or other such dishes (certain cheeses and even fried foods go well).  Or if you just want it for a wonderful dessert wine, this is a good start!

And our journey is almost over.  These last three dishes were the end of our evening (and my camera phone was not playing nice for these).  The first picture is of a corn potash (a thick soup) with shaved black truffles and drizzled in truffle oil.  Holy cow...almost as good as the foie-gras. Almost.  =)  The last two pictures are of our dessert.  Panna cotta.  The food of gods and an amazing finish to this meal.  Vanilla, perfect texture, creamy, and paired with an almond biscotti...we were all about ready to die when we finished.  The last picture is of my new friend, Amelia.  She is one of the owners of Marche Moderne and the maker of this divine dessert.  She came and checked on us and we kind of gushed about everything...Peter wanted a picture with his hero.  =)

All in all, an evening to remember.  Ironic that it is the 4th of July and there is now a ban on this food.  =)

I hope you all have a beautiful day and wonderful bottle of wine!