Text 13560, 132 rader
Skriven 2008-09-10 18:08:04 av Michael Loo (1:18/200.0)
Ärende: dinner pt 2 898
=======================
Lobster bisque & creme fraiche - Nicholas had made the soup
beforehand, roasting the shells in the canonic way and so on, but
after blending the mess, there was no hair sieve to get rid of
the little shell bits, so we ended up with a more texturous
experience than I'd have preferred. The flavor was extremely
intense, and the addition of a couple ounces of lobster meat and
a tablespoon of creme fraiche to each serving was very luxurious
indeed. What I'd have done differently: strained the soup better,
through diapers if necessary; drizzled on a half teaspoon of chive
oil per bowl.

John had brought the Ken Wright Cellars Chardonnay, Oregon, 1997
- minerally, a little light, still lemony and showing the earmarks
of a young wine. A slightly candied finish. And that was before
the other white came out.

Heitz Chardonnay Lot Z-82, 1968 - This was an award winner in its
day; Nicholas had seen Joe Heitz himself around 1980 and mentioned
that he had some; Heitz sighed with envy and said that his had all
been drunk up. An exceedingly rich, very ripe wine, not gone but
only lightly maderized. Thick on the tongue, a big experience.
The Wright didn't stand a chance.

I drank mostly the Wright with the soup course, saving the Heitz
for by itself.

Granita of sour orange and Campari - we couldn't find the
grapefruit, which was the original plan, but Russo's had sour
oranges for the astounding price of 49c a pound, and we pounced
on them. Now you'll note the irony of this guy pinching his
pennies while the wines he offered at dinner would retail at
about a thousand dollars a person (i.e., a frugal consumer's
entire food budget for a year). This was a palate cleanser
extraordinaire. You'd take a bite and the tartness would make
the taste buds pop not only of you but of the person next to you.

Sweetbreads - a bit of disagreement about the presentation. I
wanted a classic, simple version: pan-fried and served with
a touch, maybe a teaspoon per serving, of stock reduction or
demi-glace flavored with a tiny bit of lemon to cut the richness.
I wanted little dice of tomato and mushroom also. John suggested
a white wine reduction. Nicholas pitched a fit and would settle
for nothing more than naked breaded butter-fried sweetbreads on
a plate, sort of like the way steakhouses serve steak. As I was
the cook, I vetoed the breading in favor of flour and cut the
butter halvesies with peanut oil but otherwise was obedient.
Turns out that given the insufficiency of time in preparing,
the things were meatier than normal, and some counterpoint was
necessary, so Nicholas cut a half lemon into chunks and
apportioned one per plate. The accompaniments (I did all of
the work on these, except for the first shelling of the beans) -

Golden chanterelles & fava beans - sauteed in butter, the beans
blanched first - a really fine dish, performed well; and

Pattypan askutasquash, zucchini & garlic chive buds - I don't
know why the pretentious name for squash, but what the hey.
Blanched all ingredients (the squashes were babies, 2" or less)
and then sauteed them in butter.

Chateau Desmirail, Margaux, 1929 - turns out Nicholas had
either read the label wrong or forgotten in the 30 years since
he's visited that part of his cellar. This wine was way over
the hill (the 1928 is said to have been better from this maker,
despite in most of France 1929 being the king), though clearly
it had been a big wine from a big chateau. Light rose color,
aroma of strawberries and cherries. Still good acid, though of
course no discernible tannin. He clearly should have opened
the wine 30 years ago the last time he saw it: it would have
been robust and wonderful. 

Chateau Desmirail, Margaux, 2003 - the property, once part of
the great Rauzan chateau, fell on hard times, as many did,
between that 1929 and the end of the war, and it was quite
disused when the famous Lurton family picked it up and picked
it up. It now makes biggish, plumpish not very notable wine
of a quite high order. I think that a goodly part of its
pricetag in the upper $40s comes from the Lurton name and the
"3e cru classe en 1855." It has robust briary flavors, cocoa,
cedar, your standard Bordeaux experience; nothing more. Slightly
sweet for my taste, with the grapes bordering on overripe. This
I think is a reflection of modern tastes, which have been
corrupted by Australian Shiraz (a high-end version of which I
would prefer to this).

Salad - a simple green salad of frisee and romaine, EVOO dressing.

Vendeen Bichonne, Pascal Beillevaire affineur, La Vendee, Bretagne
- a rather funny cheese, extremely costly, almost like a Cheddar
infected with a little mold. The inside was creamy and slightly
tart and spicy, the texture more French, the taste more English;
the outside tasted like old basement, leaves, almost blue.

Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignon, Cask H-11, 1967 - the least wine of
the evening; even though it still had good color and some tannin,
the Margaux was so much classier it wasn't funny. Speaking of
overripe grapes, too. A slight mustiness exaggerated that of the
cheese. Still, this was quite drinkable and in any case a
collector's item. Nicholas has a couple cases of it left. He could
auction them off and get a car with the proceeds.

Peaches, raspberries, roasted rhubarb & Grand Marnier - Nicholas
forgot to pick the rhubarb, even after being reminded to do so,
so that was off. Not a big deal; that would have tartened the
mixture a bit much, as the fruits were pleasantly sweet-tart,
with just a splash of liqueur not doing too much to mess up the
balance.

Chateau d'Yquem, 1966 - deep gold, amazing rich toffee and
stone fruit aroma, lots of honey and Botrytis. Wine Spectator,
which has become the laughing stock of the wine world, rated it
84, but it becomes clear that the taster had had a flawed bottle:
the published description almost shouts "corked!" - but even
at that, the reviewer doesn't seem to have noticed this, and 84
is quite an achievement for wine gone bad. This bottle hadn't
gone bad, and it was an amazing experience. Not sickly cloying,
either, lots of acid to go with the creamy richness. Extraordinary,
especially given the age and the great liveliness remaining.

La Minita Estate, Tarrazu, Costa Rica, Terroir coffee - I had a
couple sips of this with no major harm done owing of course to
all the booze beforehand. It is a thin and delicate brew, almost
as fugitive as the '29 wine. Slightly soapy I thought but wouldn't
say anything in the company.

It was quite late when we parted, and I was lucky that John and
Irene dropped me off on their way home. John was quite intoxicated
but managed to hold the road quite well.


--- Maximus/2 3.01
 * Origin: Get your COOKING fix here! - nsbbs.darktech.org (1:18/200)