The Dinner To Be Remembered - The Early Courses

On October 5th 10 people came together to enjoy and share in a Sparkling Vintner's Dinner.  Jodie & Rob were our hosts and did an amazing job of putting all of the dinner together.  If you look at Last Sunday's post you will see "The Arrival" and today I am going to do "The Early Courses" and tomorrow will be "The Finale" so I hope you enjoy.

The Amuse-Bouche is a single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre. Amuse-bouches are different from appetizers in that they are not ordered from a menu by patrons, but, when served, are done so free and according to the chef's selection alone.  In the case of our dinner it was a wonderful bit called champagne pickled cucumber with fresh chopped water chestnuts for crunch.  Delightful.  Served with a Liquid Couture.

The first course of the evening (yes, this is the "first course") is a Mini Tartes Flambés which were a huge hit with everyone there to the point that some people were licking their plates as you can see below.  Originally Jodie had planned to do a puff pastry style but in the end the little "slider" style worked best.  Filled with caramelized onions, bacon and crème freshe they were addictive.  This course was paired with Garbel Prosecco and the bottle alone was a show stopper.  Beautiful green with gold decorations all over it.

The two plate lickers are Michael up from Long Beach, Wa and dear friend as well as Melanie who works with Jodie.  This was her first vintner's dinner and by the way it went, I think it will not be the last.

The Second Course was pan-seared foie gras with figs and a port wine sauce.  "Oh mamma, spank me and send me home!"   Yes, it was that good.  In fact, it was so good that I forgot to take a picture of the original one served to me so Rob kindly made me a second.  Thus, I present regular photo and a close-up of this amazing dish.  Oh and she put the dish on a bed of arugula dressed salad.  This course pairing was a Cremant D'Alsace. 

Many of the dishes for the dinner were inspired when Jodie & Rob had dinner at the Eiffel Tower restaurant in Las Vegas and she enjoyed the meal so much she bought the cookbook.  It is a pretty fancy book with a red velvet cover.

Next up was the soup course which she had planned to use the recipe from the restaurant.  Alas, it was not in the cookbook and when she called the restaurant she was told that they do not share that recipe.  Well, that did not deter Jodi as she made her own version of Cream of French Onion soup.  It was a delight in its' own way, but you need to release any sense of traditional French Onion soup.  She served it with Fontina topped cheese puffs that you could put on the soup or eat on the side.  This course was paired with a sparkling Princesa.

How else can you describe the Salad/Vegetable Course other than a work of art.  This night she made no one but two of these beautiful creations.  Based on a traditional Ratatouille recipe, she modified it so the base sauce was a pepper based creation and tomatoes were added in with the squash, zucchini and eggplant.  Totally amazing and looks like it came right out of the movie!  Yes, we discussed the Disney movie to some extent. 

Here is the serving size we each got and was totally satisfying.  This was paired with a favorite of mine, Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Reserve Champagne.  Quite good and not overly expensive.  In fact, no sparkling beverage was over $25 a bottle.

Each time we do these dinners there is a scheduled intermission and tonight was no different.  Allows all to get up and walk around and use the bathroom, etc.  Here is a moment of fun is Deb and Heather.  They are two people who I met via these dinners and just think are a couple of great gals.  They live in Kent and so do not get to see them a whole lot, but when we do it is always a good time.  Now on to the Finale tomorrow!