This was our third dinner and we had 9 people around the table. We kept it to 7 courses and even at that everyone was in food coma phase by the end of the meal. But oh what a good food coma it was!
Presenting the first course. Fried Mac & Cheese matched with champagne. Yes, champagne as it's bubbly nature will assist in cutting the richness of the two types of fried macaroni and cheese. Jodie's first choice was Patti LaBelle's "Over the Rainbow" Mac & Cheese that uses Velvetta and a full stick of butter. Oh my, is it good! The second was an adult version using Gorgonzola and bacon plus blue cheese. To think Jodie actually liked the latter version due to her aversion to "stinky" cheese.
The salad course was next and it was a classic wedge salad. Complete with grape tomatoes, bacon and blue cheese crumbles. Homemade dressing was the topper this course. Jodie went the extra step in providing a Feta version for those that did not like blue cheese. Fina score was 6 for blue and 3 for feta. Now here is where it got interesting. For the salad and soup courses we decided on white wines and Jodie kept me in the dark as she said over and over, "Yes, they are blends." And in the end they were - with Chardonnay. Please know, I am not a wine snob, but just not a fan of Chardonnays. Well, in the end I was the one eating crow, but both were quite good. I so need to get in touch with Rob and find out what they were. I feel bad. Oh wait, the first was from Tsillan Cellars. Boy, bet that is helpful!
So now we moved on to the soup course and it was a classic chicken noodle and I deboned the chicken. Of course at least two people found small bones. No, there were no prizes for finding them. I am only human and boy the chicken was hot. The final add in was the garlic noodles that Jodie freely shared was not home made, but was fresh pasta to keep final cooking time down while still being firm for the soup. It was good, but not my favorite course.
So what the heck are you looking at? It was the intermezzo beverage. I went completely sideways and picked a Lemoncello. Yes, it is not technically a wine, it is like a long lost Italian cousin. Oh leave me alone, I thought it would be fun and oh my Heather did like it and it was matched up with pomegranate sorbet. Fun and good transition as we head into the heavier part of the evening.
Of course you know what this is. You were thinking that must be the remainder of the homemade meatloaf that was based upon Mother's Beef Meatloaf that you can find in "Mother's Best" by Lisa Schroeder. Why yes, it is! Good guess. Jodie took the classic recipe and changed out the beef with 1/3 ground pork, 1/3 ground turkey and 1/3 ground veal. Then the peppers were converted to carrots and the beef gravy was switched to a mushroom gravy. Oh yes that is a strip of bacon as she put strips of bacon on top for flavor. See below for what a whole one looks like. Served with mashed potatoes and a delightful Barbaresco and well, it is amazing. Mind you the wine was not the first choice as the first choice had gone bad, but that is for another posting.
You think we were done? Not quite yet. Tsillan returned with a Syrah blend to go with the beef stroganoff. It was just delicious. Tell me we are done, please tell me it is so! But no. One more and it is dessert.
Here we see Rob, Jodie, Matt and Karen. They were all enjoying the dinner, but you can see they are slowing down. Comfort food was making us all think one thing, is it nap time?
The final course of the evening is a chocolate cake, but not just any cake. It is a Dobash Chocolate cake that is one that uses egg whites in the cake while the frosting uses granulated sugar along with corn starch and is cooked. Very Hawaiian and lighter than you would expect. Jodie made a great pairing with a Zinfandel. Totally yum and oh what a meal it was. This was the first time we had a "type" of theme. Our first two used foods to tie through. Bacon and apple were the first two dinner themes. Interesting on how we weave things together.
And so goes our third vintner's dinner. Next up it appears we are going to have an Asian theme. Should be interesting. But now I get to look forward to a couple of getaway days per doctor's orders both involving water. Stay tuned.
Presenting the first course. Fried Mac & Cheese matched with champagne. Yes, champagne as it's bubbly nature will assist in cutting the richness of the two types of fried macaroni and cheese. Jodie's first choice was Patti LaBelle's "Over the Rainbow" Mac & Cheese that uses Velvetta and a full stick of butter. Oh my, is it good! The second was an adult version using Gorgonzola and bacon plus blue cheese. To think Jodie actually liked the latter version due to her aversion to "stinky" cheese.
The salad course was next and it was a classic wedge salad. Complete with grape tomatoes, bacon and blue cheese crumbles. Homemade dressing was the topper this course. Jodie went the extra step in providing a Feta version for those that did not like blue cheese. Fina score was 6 for blue and 3 for feta. Now here is where it got interesting. For the salad and soup courses we decided on white wines and Jodie kept me in the dark as she said over and over, "Yes, they are blends." And in the end they were - with Chardonnay. Please know, I am not a wine snob, but just not a fan of Chardonnays. Well, in the end I was the one eating crow, but both were quite good. I so need to get in touch with Rob and find out what they were. I feel bad. Oh wait, the first was from Tsillan Cellars. Boy, bet that is helpful!
So now we moved on to the soup course and it was a classic chicken noodle and I deboned the chicken. Of course at least two people found small bones. No, there were no prizes for finding them. I am only human and boy the chicken was hot. The final add in was the garlic noodles that Jodie freely shared was not home made, but was fresh pasta to keep final cooking time down while still being firm for the soup. It was good, but not my favorite course.
So what the heck are you looking at? It was the intermezzo beverage. I went completely sideways and picked a Lemoncello. Yes, it is not technically a wine, it is like a long lost Italian cousin. Oh leave me alone, I thought it would be fun and oh my Heather did like it and it was matched up with pomegranate sorbet. Fun and good transition as we head into the heavier part of the evening.
Of course you know what this is. You were thinking that must be the remainder of the homemade meatloaf that was based upon Mother's Beef Meatloaf that you can find in "Mother's Best" by Lisa Schroeder. Why yes, it is! Good guess. Jodie took the classic recipe and changed out the beef with 1/3 ground pork, 1/3 ground turkey and 1/3 ground veal. Then the peppers were converted to carrots and the beef gravy was switched to a mushroom gravy. Oh yes that is a strip of bacon as she put strips of bacon on top for flavor. See below for what a whole one looks like. Served with mashed potatoes and a delightful Barbaresco and well, it is amazing. Mind you the wine was not the first choice as the first choice had gone bad, but that is for another posting.
You think we were done? Not quite yet. Tsillan returned with a Syrah blend to go with the beef stroganoff. It was just delicious. Tell me we are done, please tell me it is so! But no. One more and it is dessert.
Here we see Rob, Jodie, Matt and Karen. They were all enjoying the dinner, but you can see they are slowing down. Comfort food was making us all think one thing, is it nap time? 
The final course of the evening is a chocolate cake, but not just any cake. It is a Dobash Chocolate cake that is one that uses egg whites in the cake while the frosting uses granulated sugar along with corn starch and is cooked. Very Hawaiian and lighter than you would expect. Jodie made a great pairing with a Zinfandel. Totally yum and oh what a meal it was. This was the first time we had a "type" of theme. Our first two used foods to tie through. Bacon and apple were the first two dinner themes. Interesting on how we weave things together.
And so goes our third vintner's dinner. Next up it appears we are going to have an Asian theme. Should be interesting. But now I get to look forward to a couple of getaway days per doctor's orders both involving water. Stay tuned.
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