01 September 2014

Dinner at Home 27.08.14

Dear friends was visiting from Abu Dhabi. We were planning to eat and drink well all day so we started of at the deli 'Market and Platters' and bought some goodies for an easy lunch; Blini with sea urchin crème, gherkins, Taggiasche olives, ceps-crème, newly baked baguette and three cheeses: Beaufort, Comté and the strong Livarot. This was washed down with a bone dry and almost salty Manzanilla La Guita from Hijos de Rainera Perez Marin.
A great, easy little lunch while I was preparing for dinner.
 





We started the dinner in the sofa with a light and appetizing bottle of NV Brut Champagne form Laurent-Perrier together with a creamy asparagus soup I quickly made.
 




At the table we enjoyed an oily and fat 2011 Dalsheim Hubacker Riesling Trocken from Weingut Keller in Rheinhessen, Germany.
This great wine with notes of apricots, honey and lemon zest was great with my two, japanese inspired starters.
 




First I made salmon sashimi with cucumber and sesame ponzu. The shiso-cress I garnished the plate with was a very interesting combo with the wine.

 



Second of the two japanese sashimi dishes was made of tuna that I quickly seared the surface 'tataki-style'. Served with smoked katsuobushi mayonnaise, pickled mushrooms and croutons. Also worked well with the riesling.
 




Two reds was now served together with the main course. The first, 2010 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de Réservée from Domaine du Pegau, already showed a great complex nose of newly grinded coffee, root vegetables, bay leaf, licorice, and oak together with an highly interesting note of something sweaty and dirty. In the mouth the wine was pretty tight and quite dominated by the oak. I felt a bit sad that I opened this bottle at a such young age, should have been kept for at least another 5-10 years where it would have been even better.

If the previous mentioned bottle of CNdP was too young the second bottle drank beautifully at the moment, easily the best wine of the evening. 
2004 Finca Dofi from the famous Álvaro Palacios in Priorat, Spain.
Silky, medium to full body with notes of plums, chocolate and violets and with a long elegant length, this was really good.
 




The wines was served with beef shank that I braised long in red wine, with various spices and vegetables and served with fluffy potato purée and summer vegetables. Yummy I must say.




 
For dessert I made Gino, a classic dessert that was created in the 90s (I believe) at restaurant PA&Co in Stockholm.
Simply banana, kiwi and strawberries gratinated in the oven under a layer of white chocolate and topped with vanilla ice cream. A dessert that is made in no time (apart from the vanilla ice cream) and tastes great.



 

One of the guests told me that her favorite wine was white burgundy so what does a host have to do other than opening a bottle of that very wine?
2011 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru-la Maltroie from Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard filled the purpose perfectly as a fresh end after a long dinner, smokey and packed with minerals and notes of melted butter.
Until next time, Cheers!