Spanish Night at my House

We had a small get together at my house 2 nights ago for some Spanish Tapas, appetizers, etc.. My Mom is in town and she brought some great Cold Cuts and Cheese fort he night. The Get together was for her friends and relatives.

For Starters, we had some cheese: Truffled Brie and Clarines French Cheese with some Melba Toast and Fuet (A Catalan type of Salchichon) (sorry no picture). With this, we had a 2007 Martin Codax, a fresh, fruity Albariño which I enjoy even as an appetizer wine.

As more gusts arrived, we immediately served the Cold Cuts: Salchichon Iberico, Chorizo Iberico, Lomo Iberico and Jamon Iberico de Bellota (All these cold cuts are Iberico, meaning they come from a special free range Iberian Pig). This give the deli a distinctive and different taste, somewhat like the Kobe of Beef or the Kurobota of Pork. We also had some Olivas rellenas de Anchoas (Anchovy filled Olives)

I then opened the first bottle red wine, a 2004 Muga Reserva Especial, which I decanted for around 1.5 hours before serving. I have been enjoying lately Muga wines, since they are classic Rioja wines, medium bodied but very elegant in structure. Since this was quite young, the decanting was the only for this wine to reach its potential.

Then, more Spanish goodies: Tortilla de Patata y Chorizo and Croquetas de Pollo. I made the Tortilla myself and the Croquetas were ordered from a friend. Both delicious and a good match for the wine, a 2001 Beronia Reserva. I normally have stock of this in my cav since it's a great everyday wine, easy to drink and medium bodied. It goes very well with any kind of Spanish Tapas.

We also had Fideua, a sort of noodle Paella. It is cooked the same way as a Paella, but instead of rice, short noodles (fideos) are used. This one was very tasty although I did not have any more time to add seafood, like Shrimps, Squid, etc. This is also normally served with All i Oli (I make mine with Egg yolk, Garlic and Olive oil, with a pinch of salt and Lemon).

It was a quite enjoyable night. Most of the Tapas were gone, so next time I know that I should make more. I love this kind of dinners, since you eat in smaller portions and it's a more informal way of having people over. Our guests enjoyed the Spanish goodies and promised to come back again for more soon (until my next trip to Spain, so that I can bring back more fresh cold cuts).

Dinner at the Doc's House

December 14 was dinner at the Doc's house. I had been looking forward to this dinner, since I heard that food is always good in his house, and I was not wrong. Noel was to to season/Grill the Steak while we had our appetizers, which he did while the others had not arrived yet.

As we arrived and for starters, we were served Champagne Krug Grande Cuvée Brut NV paired with Sushi from Toki and Dulong with toast. The Sushi, I think served in honor of Keichi, was excellent and the spicy Dulong, excellently paired with the Champagne.





We were also served a 2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett , a Riesling Kabinett. This was also quite enjoyable, since it is not as sweet as a Spatlese. A very good match with the Spicy Dulong.

Noel then proceeded to grill the steaks, as Doc and I watched how he did it. I've always thought grilling steaks was quite hard, but after seeing how Noel did it, it did not look as complicated and it was done quite fast actually.




After grilling, the steaks where let to rest around 10 minutes before serving:

Dinner was then served in their formal dining room. For starters, we had a simple yet delicious Caesar's Salad. This is a salad I really enjoy, so simple yet when well done can be very good.


The Doc then served us 2 reds blind, which I had with the Snake River farms US Prime Grade Rib-Eye. I enjoyed wine #1 better with the Steak, since it seemed to be a younger more full bodied wine, while the second wine was a more elegant wine. Wine #1 was a 1998 Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5 and wine #2 turned out to be a 1994 Vega Sicilia Único. I loved both wines, enjoying the Valbuena with the Steak and the Unico on it's own and later on with the Cheese platter. Thank you Doc for this special treat, since I really love Spanish wines and Vega Sicila is probably the best if not one of the best producers in Spain.

The Doc then opened another bottle, this time a Bordeaux: 1990 Château Gruaud Larose which we had with the Cheese platter, Dried Figs, dates and Apricot. Noel had mentioned later that the bottle was slightly off, or corked, but for me it was still quite enjoyable. Doc also opened a bottle of Sauternes for the cheese: 2001 Château Suduiraut, a light Sauternes which went very well with our cheese.

More dessert followed with the sinful and delicious Home made Ice Cream of Mrs. Doc. I must say this is probably the best Ice Cream I've had, so rich and creamy, I could not help myself from having 2 servings. They also served home made cookies served with the Ice Cream.

Thank you Doc and Mrs. Doc for inviting us to your house. I enjoyed everything, every thing, from the food, the setting, the wines and the company was great!!

Usual Suspects Roast Goose Lunch at Je Suis Gourmand

Another one of those Christmas meals..I think we had a total of 4-5 before Christmas..this time it was as Je Suis Gourmand. Noel had suggested we have a typical Roast Goose (typical German Christmas meal I think) and of course we all agreed.

For starters though, we had a bottle of Piper Heidsieck Cuvée Rare Champagne NV of course care of Jay. Very refreshing fruity, slightly sweetish Champagne.

Photo care of Noel

Our First course was then served: Warm Duck Foie Gras Gateau with Roasted Scallops & Pan-Seared Duck Foie Gras. I love this dish, which we had already last year for another Christmas Lunch at JSG. This is a very rich dish, since the Gateau is also made of Foie Gras. I enjoyed this with the little Champagne I had left in my glass.

As soon as we were done, most of the reds were opened: Jojo's 1999 Château Trotanoy, My 1999 La Granja Remelluri Rioja Gran Reserva, Keichi's 2001 Peter Thustrup Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru, Aarons 1990 Château La Fleur de Gay.




I enjoyed all wines, my favorite being Aaron's la Fleur de Gay. I was also expecting more from my Remelluri, which I found was a bit soft and a very safe wine. It was very light bodied and perhaps needs more time in the bottle.

Our main course was then presented to us by Marc, who appeared out of nowhere and said: "Gentlemen, your Goose is ready"

Photo care of Noel

He then brought it back to the kitchen, to carve and plate it, and this is what we got:


I must say at first I was not too sure about having the Roast Goose for lunch, since I had never tried it. This turned out to be delicious, complete with stuffing, gravy and Red Cabbage and Potato Dumplings. The best thing about this dish was the wine we had with it. Jay had suggest during our emails about the menu that a typical/regional paring for this would be a Riesling, so Jay brought a 2003 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Spatlese. This was for me one of the best if not the best food and wine pairing this year. Thank you Jay for bring this wine..it was a great match.


We had to take a long break before dessert, since we were all quite stuffed with all the food. The food was so delicious that I just ate it too fast and was really quite full...so after an approximate 20 minute break, we continued. We first had a cheese course, which we continued having with the reds. Another red was opened: Rene's 2001 Chateau La Tour Haut-Brion. I have had this a few times and it is quite enjoyable. a Medium bodied wine which went very well with the cheese platter.

After another long break, we finally had the dessert. Another 'special' request from Noel and one that would match perfectly with our Roast Goose meal: Chestnut and Butter Cream Christmas Log with Sauce & Marrons Glacés (Buche de Noel). Very very rich dessert, which none of us were able to finish (except Keichi). We had this great dessert with another good pairing: 1998 Leon Beyer Gewurztraminer Selection de Grains Nobles (Noels wine). I must admit I was not a fan of sweet wines but I have learned how and when to enjoy them, and this time was one of those times i really enjoyed it.

With no more space for anything, we lingered around over coffee and more wine. Thank you guys fro all the good wines we had, Noel for suggesting the Roast goose and Marc for preparing it!! Truly a great and fun lunch! Thank you again to Noel, since I used some of his pictures for this post.

Usual Suspects Pre-Christmas Dinner at The Goose Station

As I said, I would be posting backwards from latest to earliest, so this was our one of our Pre-Christmas meals with the group. We all had decided to have it at The Goose Station, since we feel quite at home there and food is great. Rene was in charge of making reservations and preparing our Degustation Menu. We were the usual group (Jojo, Rene, Keichi, Greg, Aaron, jay and myself..unfortunately Noel could not join us although he came for a few drinks)

For starters, some Champagne: Freixenet Reserva Real from Aaron and a BilleCarte Salmon Brut Rose from Noel. I always enjoy good bubbly before starting a meal and both of them were very good, crisp and fresh.

We were then served with the Amuse Bouche: Foie Gras Cones, Potato and caramelized Onion, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Prosciutto and Brie. I have tried all of this before and spoken about it in my previous blog, so I will only talk about the new dishes I have tried this time.


We then had: Salmon Tartare - White Asparagus Foam, Mango, Cilantro, Daikon Sprouts, Avocado oil and Caviar. My first time to try this and I loved it. All the flavors perfectly balanced and with good contrast. I had this with a 2007 Domaine Rimbault Sancerre (sorry no picture).

We then had 2 wines served blind. Keichi had already mentioned that he was going to bring an 82 Cos D'Estournel. Jojo then pulled out a wine saying it was the same years as keichi's Cos, so he suggested we serve them blind and see how they fair...so we did



As we were tasting, we had the 3rd dish of the night: Beet Garden (see my previous post on this), which I also like very much.


Eventually everyone had their votes and 5 out of 4 voted the 2nd wine better then the first. At that point we still did not know what wines was Jojo's, we only knew Keichi's wine. After Keichi Voted, we asked him to reveal the bottle of the wine that he voted 2nd, and to his disappointment, it was his wine. The winner was Jojo's 82 Le Bon Pasteur.

Notice Keichis 'serious' face...



Next, we had one of my favorite dishes: Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise Foam, Bacon Tuille, Fleur de Sel and White truffle Oil. This we had with Rene's Bottle of: 2006 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. Not really my type of white wine, since i find many of the Bordeaux Whites oaky, although still quite enjoyable. I did not drink the wine with the Eggs Benedict, as it is really quite hard to pair any Egg dishes with wine.


Next, the Seared Foie Gras, a tribute to the Holiday Season, with Roasted Pumpkin Pudding, Ginger Bread, Blueberry, Toasted Brioche, Chestnut and Micro Mustard Greens. With this we had the perfect wine: 2007 Dr. Loosen Riesling Spatlese. I think one of the better pairings, since I find Sauternes too sweet.

After a break, them main dish arrived: Black Angus Rib Fillet, Sausage Jus, Haricot Verts, Truffle Oil, Whipped Potatoes, Burre Schublig, Peas and Crisp onions.

With the Steak, we had several wines on the Table: 2002 Lynch-Bages from Greg and a 2005 Chateau Taillefer from Aaron. Both wines were very good and match perfectly with our steaks.



For Dessert, we had Chocolate Candy Bar, Earl grey Mousse, Ganache, Bisquit. With this, Jay pulled out his bottle of Benriach 15 year old Single Malt. The Dessert was sinful and the Single Malt, what can I say? Before enjoying wine I was a scotch drinker so I loved it. In fact I am now more into Single Malts than Scotch, So I really enjoyed this one.

And now, for the 'fun' photos:

Group Shot

Too much Single Malt???

Another group Shot....

Final Group shot with The Chefs and Owners of TGS, Rob and Sunshine

We had a great time, food and wine was great. My next post: the Pre-Christmas Lunch to this dinner, a Roast Goose lunch specially prepared for us by Chef Marc Aubry in Je Suis Gourmand.....