Braised short ribs and polenta with Asiago and Romano and Bodega Mataredonda Libranza. The meat gets better each time I re-heat it.

quote:

Originally posted by GregT:
Braised short ribs and polenta with Asiago and Romano and Bodega Mataredonda Libranza. The meat gets better each time I re-heat it.

Sounds great. Love braised meat with polenta.

Carved turkey breast that was in the shape of a large ostrich egg. Really kind of weird how they were able to form a nearly perfectly egg-shaped roast with turkey breast and I almost asked them if they used transglutaminase as a meat glue but it was at a buffet line at my wife's company party and I reminded myself that some random guy carving a turkey breast will have no clue and just think I'm a douche.

Last night, Sidecar on College. A nice vibe, great service, and they treat BYO wines well. Food was reliably good, but they would earn even higher marks if they eased back on the salt shaker.

Beach angel oysters (BC)
Everspring Farms muscovy duck breast German style braised red cabbage, rosti potato, cider gastrique. Seared steelhead trout with swiss chard, grainy mustard honey glaze, white wine butter sauce.
Artisinal Ontario cheese plate

After sharing our champagne and GC burgundy with the staff, they kindly offered free postprandial whisky. Nothing special - Glenfiddich 12 and Glenmorangie 10, but it was a nice touch.

Oven-baked split chicken breasts and potatoes, with steamed sugar snap peas.

Prime NY strips aux poivres with a 2009 Vacqueyras Cuve de l'Hostellerie from Domaine La Garrigue

Last week, two big pots of goodness, each feeding us for a few days:

Chicken Tikka Masala
Red Beans and Rice

The tikka masala was great with a Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling, and I had a Green Flash Imperial IPA with the red beans. Not a good match - not that any food would be with that beer.

i need to start perusing this thread for dinner ideas. you folks eat well.

gonna need some ideas when food&wine pairing course starts next semester.

cold pizza

quote:

Originally posted by TallGirl:
i need to start perusing this thread for dinner ideas. you folks eat well.

Most of the winos I know are foodies as well.

Tandori chicken and spinach.

quote:

Originally posted by thelostverse:

quote:

Originally posted by TallGirl:
i need to start perusing this thread for dinner ideas. you folks eat well.

Most of the winos I know are foodies as well.

You said it! When I get into a cooking creativity "rut," I often come back to this thread for ideas. As a group, yeah, I'd say we eat pretty well. We tend to drink okay, too.

count me as a wino who's a foodie/baker.

i eat well and i cook a lot at home. when i eat out, it's gotta be good though.

my last food pairing was a strawberry crisp (homemade) with a moscato d'asti.

quote:

Originally posted by TallGirl:
count me as a wino who's a foodie/baker.

i eat well and i cook a lot at home. when i eat out, it's gotta be good though.

my last food pairing was a strawberry crisp (homemade) with a moscato d'asti.

ever think about trying it with an old colheita?

sublime. the nuttiness of the colheita pairs superbly.

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
ever think about trying it with an old colheita?

sublime. the nuttiness of the colheita pairs superbly.

ooh, that's interesting. the moscato d'asti was nice because it pairs well with fruit and fruit based desserts. i don't make a very sweet crisp because i rely on the fruit to provide sweetness. the topping has brown sugar & cinnamon.

i can see it working together but i figure a colheita with molten lava cakes would be a better pairing.

i'm going to give your suggestion a try. any particular one you'd rec? wish port came in smaller bottles because it's tough drinking when it's just me.

quote:

Originally posted by TallGirl:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
ever think about trying it with an old colheita?

sublime. the nuttiness of the colheita pairs superbly.

ooh, that's interesting. the moscato d'asti was nice because it pairs well with fruit and fruit based desserts. i don't make a very sweet crisp because i rely on the fruit to provide sweetness. the topping has brown sugar & cinnamon.

i can see it working together but i figure a colheita with molten lava cakes would be a better pairing.

i'm going to give your suggestion a try. any particular one you'd rec? wish port came in smaller bottles because it's tough drinking when it's just me.

colheitas sees time in wood much like sherry's and madieras. you open one and it'll last for a week without worry of degradation, younger ones even longer. (gregt might differ with me, but I don't care ;-))

Chocolate and colheitas/tawnies I find to be a very bad pairing. The chocolate is just too rich and creamy. It'd be like would you smoke a cigar with hot chocolate?

But fruits like strawberries, lychee, papaya, dragonfruit, go very well with a colheita. As do hard cheese or aged cheeses that are salty and crystallized.

apples go very well with an old vintage port.

I *would* recommend a 96 quevedo, since I sell the stuff ;-)

But the selection is certainly endless.

The noval 1974 and the 1976 Colheita are just stunning but around 150$,
cheaper recs would be Warres which could be found from 30-60$ (no financial interest to any of these two houses)

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
colheitas sees time in wood much like sherry's and madieras. you open one and it'll last for a week without worry of degradation, younger ones even longer. (gregt might differ with me, but I don't care ;-))

ugh .. you said the evil word .. sherry.

quote:

Chocolate and colheitas/tawnies I find to be a very bad pairing. The chocolate is just too rich and creamy. It'd be like would you smoke a cigar with hot chocolate?

even dark chocolate (70% cocoa)? it's less creamy and has a nice bitter aftertaste.

quote:

apples go very well with an old vintage port.

great. i have a couple of 2000 vintage ports in my cellar. if this works, i could use this for my food & wine pairing assignment.

quote:

I *would* recommend a 96 quevedo, since I sell the stuff ;-)

But the selection is certainly endless.

The noval 1974 and the 1976 Colheita are just stunning but around 150$,
cheaper recs would be Warres which could be found from 30-60$ (no financial interest to any of these two houses)

gosh the lcbo has a warre's colheita tawny but it's in the middle of no where.

i'll keep looking. thanks.

this is interesting because i do a lot of baking but never really pair it with anything.

quote:

Originally posted by TallGirl:

quote:

Chocolate and colheitas/tawnies I find to be a very bad pairing. The chocolate is just too rich and creamy. It'd be like would you smoke a cigar with hot chocolate?

even dark chocolate (70% cocoa)? it's less creamy and has a nice bitter aftertaste.

This might be a matter of personal preference. I 've done the dark chocolate 70-100%! and unless you get a really young tawny, the chocolate will pretty much blow away any semblance of wine flavors. You can certainly do it, but I feel it's much like tasting two distinct flavors that don't really blend.

It's acutally more about the saltiness of a dish that brings out the spices and complextity in ports.

quote:

quote:

apples go very well with an old vintage port.

great. i have a couple of 2000 vintage ports in my cellar. if this works, i could use this for my food & wine pairing assignment.

I was thinking of stuff from the 60s and 70s acutally. Most 2000s are currently in a dumb phase, it'll tastes like muted fruit, charcoal, oak, tannins, spirits and sugars.

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
It's acutally more about the saltiness of a dish that brings out the spices and complextity in ports.

hence the salty hard cheese suggestion?

quote:

I was thinking of stuff from the 60s and 70s acutally. Most 2000s are currently in a dumb phase, it'll tastes like muted fruit, charcoal, oak, tannins, spirits and sugars.

aiy .. 60s and 70s? those are geriatric old, nor do i think i can get my hands on something that old at the local liquor store. most stores around here stock stuff that is for drinking now and young.

TallGirl, that is not geriatric old for port. My best suggestion for you within our monopoly is to track down a bottle of the 1983 Warres. Drinking reasonably well, and is on sale for $67ish.

quote:

Originally posted by AML:
TallGirl, that is not geriatric old for port. My best suggestion for you within our monopoly is to track down a bottle of the 1983 Warres. Drinking reasonably well, and is on sale for $67ish.

the 83, while spirity and can have a bad streak, would be perfect with baked apples with a dash of cinnamin in a salted caramel sauce!

Grilled prime bonelss NY Strips with a red yet to be determined

buttermilk fried chicken tonight.

I think i need to locate some ruinart bdb~!

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
the 83, while spirity and can have a bad streak, would be perfect with baked apples with a dash of cinnamin in a salted caramel sauce!

i was able to track down one of these on the saq site:
Quinta Do Noval Colheita Tawny Port 1997

g-man .. didn't you mention noval? i can get a half bottle for $31.

quote:

Originally posted by TallGirl:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
the 83, while spirity and can have a bad streak, would be perfect with baked apples with a dash of cinnamin in a salted caramel sauce!

i was able to track down one of these on the saq site:
Quinta Do Noval Colheita Tawny Port 1997

g-man .. didn't you mention noval? i can get a half bottle for $31.

the 97 is young but ready to drink.
it would be quite enjoyable.