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!

a time to...

To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, And a time to die;

A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill, And a time to heal;

A time to break down, And a time to build up; 

A time to weep, And a time to laugh;

 A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain, And a time to lose;

A time to keep, And a time to throw away;

A time to tear, And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;

A time to love, And a time to hate;

A time of war, And a time of peace.

What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?  I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

~Ecclesiastes 2.1-11~

Recently, I have been presented with several situations that have once again impressed on me the shortness of our time.  A dear college friend and I remembered that we graduated from college three long/short years ago and contemplated how our siblings and parents have all grown up and gotten older.  My once tiny baby is now nine and a half months old.  Friendships are growing and I want more and more time with these wonderful people.  My third wedding anniversary is rushing towards me at breakneck speed.  My brother is deploying to Afghanistan in the Army for nine months, leaving his new wife (they have only been married for three months) behind.  

With all of these different cases, the reality is clear.  I choose what is important to me in the time that I am given by what I choose to do.  God has given all of us a specific amount of time.  What are you doing with it?

I am afraid that I often fill my time with worries, frustrations, and silly little things.  Why do I do that?!  God has put eternity in our hearts and we feel so often the shortness of the time He has given us on this earth.  Put it to use for Him! He is making everything beautiful in its time...even me.  Even this poor, silly, jealous, selfish girl who wants so badly to be a woman for my God.

So as I worry about whether I vacuumed this week, did dishes yet, organized those silly papers on my desk, there are people and tasks out there that actually will fulfill my God-given task which mirrors His.  I am part of His process to make everything beautiful!  I have friends who are weeping this week who need comfort and company, family who is savoring the last few times we get to talk to my brother regularly, and babies to laugh with and watch as they grow physically and spiritually.  

Is this making any sense yet?  I'm not sure I'm making sense to myself entirely.  But this is what I am really trying to say.  Your time is short.  God has things for you to do.  Do them.  Don't get caught up in the silly and petty.  Dishes will always be there.  Your opportunity to laugh with your baby, talk to a family member, or pray for someone, may not be.  

Have a beautiful day, dear friends.

Wine Wednesday :: A Dinner to Remember part 1

Another hump day but boy do I have a treat for you if you are into quality food.  Of course, it might also drive you a little crazy to see these pictures and hear me talk about it but you'll have to bear with me because this is soooo worth it.  Because we were at the restaurant for about four hours, I've decided to split up our experience into two parts to do all the foods and wines justice.

For the foodies in my readership, you may have heard of the impending ban on foie gras in California (if duck liver sounds nasty, you've got to try it before you knock it).  With that in mind, Corby, myself, and some of our friends with rather gourmet tastes, planned our farewell to this delectable dish.  The chosen location of our last supper was Marche Moderne.  A phenomenal restaurant that you need to visit at least once in your life time.  And while it is definitely more expensive than your average eatery, this place is actually reasonable in their prices and portions for the quality and kinds of food that you are getting (I'll show you more in a bit).

But I do want to mention that I DO NOT EAT LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME!!!!  I would love to - don't get me wrong.  I would probably be working 24/7 to support a habit like that.  And I would probably stop appreciating it quite as much as I do now.  But anyway.  I just wanted to share that this was a VERY special occasion and I wanted to share it with my readers.  It is actually one of the ways that I learned a lot about wine pairings with food.  When someone truly knows how to match a good wine with excellent food, the experience will be like this one.

So on Saturday night, this is what I ate and drank.  I almost passed out...I definitely went to another dimension.  Almost.

 The evening started out with an amuse bouche of red pepper soup with brioche toast topped with tapenade and we started our wine tour with an AMAZING 2009 Francois Villard Condrieu.  SOOOOOO good!!!  (If anyone is looking for a high class white wine to wow people with - look no further!) This Condrieu was clean and crisp when you first smell and sip.  But as the evening progressed and it continued to breath, there was an even more elegant nose.  The taste made me think of driving through citrus groves where you can just make out lemon and orange in the air but it almost eludes you.  This wine was probably one of my all time favorite whites.  I am putting that down here in writing.  My favorite white wine to date.

 Our appetizer for the evening were these ridiculously good fried pig ears with crispy brussel sprouts tossed in a vinaigrette.  Whodathunk.  Pig ears, brussel sprouts, and vinegar.  The people at Marche Moderne.  That's who.  Go visit. Eat.  Ok, I'll stop plugging them.  I know the food will be enough. (If you are in the area and want to go visit, hit me up.  I'll come with.)  =)

These two dishes formed our next course.  The top picture is a truffle pizza.  Yes, you heard me.  Truffle pizza.  (Fyi, we are not talking chocolate truffles.  We are talking about the kind that pigs find in the ground.  And they are heavenly.  If you haven't tried any yet...you might want to consider not going there because they are addicting.)  In addition to the truffles (which would have been quite enough), there is prosciutto and burata cheese.  Un-be-liev-able. 


The second dish is a little more complex but just as amazing.  Morel mushrooms surround a red wine emulsion that has a poached egg on top of it.  Those flavors were crazy!  I could have stopped at this point in the evening but we were barely getting started.  

 With those two dishes we had this beautiful Bordeaux.  ' Nuf said.  Bordeaux is quickly becoming my favorite red wine.  Try one if you have not yet had a chance.  I have tried a couple of Bordeaux recently (2009 was a wonderful year for that region in France) and you can get some excellent wines for reasonable prices.  This one though...this one was a little leathery (in a good way) but well balanced with some dark berry tones to it as well.

And I think I will finish the first half of this tale here.  There are still three dishes and wines to do.  You will not want to miss it.  =)

Have a beautiful day!

kah-ray-zee week!!! (in pictures!)

I have come across different points in my life when I look at my calendar and things that I have to do and think to myself, "Man, you can not say no, can you?"  But then I give myself a minute and think, "But you were Super Woman in your dream last night.  Get your rear in gear!"  =P  So this is some of what I did this week.

I was getting crazy creative.  So here is a snapshot of what I made.  Some of these things may end up in the shop pretty quick so visit snsnsnsibility.etsy.com to see some of it pretty soon!

And then I was rearranging furniture to get my little reading nook.  So excited to look for some art work for that empty wall! (In case you hadn't heard, my father-in-law, brother-in-law and hubby spent last weekend putting laminate floors in my living room.  It was amazing.)

before and right before

the finished result - totally LOVE!

And then Sunday was Father's Day so we got some pool time with the hubby and the baby.

And my new favorite flowers...peonies make me smile.  =D  See?  I smile - even in blog posts.  =P

Linking up with:

 

Have a beautiful day!

Wine Wednesday :: Villa Fulvia 2005 Ripasso

Welcome back everyone!  At least I hope you've come back to hear about another fabulous wine!

Alright, so I kind of started drinking and eating rather quickly again...I will get pictures of my meals and share them with you very soon though!

Today's wine is a beautiful red wine that will wow your taste buds and play nice with your wallet.  Now, I am a mother and wife, my family lives off of mostly one income (I do part time work here and there but nothing steady at the moment) so cost-effective wines are a must.  That being said, at $16.99 a bottle from my favorite Orange County wine shop, Wine Exchange, is pretty darn good considering the great qualities of this wine.

Villa Fulvia 2005 Ripasso

At my first taste, I thought it is so easy...that doesn't explain much but let me see if I can expand that.  It is not overly fruity or acidic so you don't feel like you are getting hit in the face with a big crazy flavor.  There were fruity undertones but it was so well balanced!  I had this wine with pizza and it was fantastic!  I have heard that it goes really well with pork but like I said, I was pretty happy with my pizza and wine.  =)  The longer it sat in my glass, the flavor developed into a rich, full, dark, flavor...think dark chocolate with cherries...really dark chocolate with really ripe cherries eaten outdoors with the smell of the outdoors as you eat...or in this case, drink!

Check it out, folks.  You won't regret it!

Have a beautiful day!