the final shot: the view from the room

Our suite had a nice balcony (along with the living room, two bathrooms, bar, etc. etc.). When we got up this morning, this was our view. What a great day!

our crew

At the end of the night, we all voted on which course was our favorite. Each course got at least one vote; the overall winner was the Osso Bucco.

From the left, going around the table, were: Mitzi, Mark, Jen, Tom, Joanna, Tom and Jeff. These are the friends with whom we enjoy our "gourmet dinner potluck" -- so it was a natural choice to invite them for such an affair. We have all agreed to go to this year's March of Dimes Executive Chef Event -- and make sure that we come home with another outstanding dinner.

5th course: Liquid Nitrogen Gelato

Chef Harker & Chef Mario prepared this rocky road gelato (with madagascar chocolate & peanut toffee cluster) right at the tableside. It was a great show, and a fun way to finish the evening.

This was served with an Alvear Perdro Ximenez de Anada (Montilla-Moriles, Spain). I had never had a wine like this, either -- it was similar to a port, but not as heavy. Delicious. Despite the fact that I was full by this point, I ate every last bite!

4th course: Beal Osso Bucco (Sous Side)

I had a hard time deciding between this course and the squab as to which one was my favorite. This was my first time trying Osso Bucco, and I thought it was amazing. It was served with a Zinfindel Glace di Viande, black garlic gremolata (which I thought was a bit more mellow & sweet than traditional garlic), and carnaroli rice.

What probably tipped me over to vote this course as my favorite for the night was the wine. It was a 2007 Nickel & Nickel Bonfire Vineyard Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, CA). I am going to have to seek this wine out again: it was richer & more complex than I'm used to for a Zinfindel, but not quite as hefty as a cabernet. Unbelievably good.

3rd course: Star Anise Spiced Cast Iron Roasted Squab

This dish was amazing. It was a prepared by cooking the squab in a sous vide (held at 140 degrees) for 24 hours. It was so tender! It was served with a burnt orange & sambuca butter sauce, over ancient grains & after-hours hold pearl micro spinach. This course was definitely in the running for my favorite. Tom and Mark were both very interested in how Chef Harker made the burnt orange sauce -- it was unique & delicious. Tom says he's going to work on this at home...

The wine pair for this course was a 2006 Domaine La Barroche Cateauneuf du Pape (Rhone Valley, France), which was outstanding.

2nd course: Head on Prawns

This course was a head-on prawn served with charred baby romaine, nero pecorino, an heirloom tomato sorbet, while anchovy emulsion, and a garlic gel. The charred baby romaine was fantastic. My favorite way to enjoy this dish turned out to be trying to get a bit of all of the elements onto my fork at the same time, and enjoying them all together.

This was served with a 2006 Scagliola Moscato di Asti "Primo Bacio" (Piemonte, Italy). I had never had a wine like this before: it is "naturally effervescent" -- so drinks a bit like champagne, but since it's not actually carbonated, it has a regular wine cork. It was a sweet wine (but not syrupy). I think I'd try it as a dessert wine.

1st course: Wild Boar Pozole

Chef Harker likes working with game meats, so we encouraged him to use as many different game meats as possible. His first course was very impressive: a wild boar Pozole, served with bone marrow sopecitos (which are kind of a middle ground between a flat bread and an Indian fry-bread) topped with coriander blooms and served with a cabbage slaw and guajillo chili paste. Of course, I could not get enough of the coriander blooms...

This was served with a 2008 Amayna Chardonnay (Leida, Chile). I liked this wine a lot -- but once I added the chili paste to the pozole, suddenly I loved this wine. It was a great pair.

March of Dimes Executive Chef Dinner

Last fall Tom and I went to a March of Dimes fundraiser event, where we bid on a private dinner. We "won" a night at a local hotel/resort (in their 'presidential' Suite) along with dinner to be served in our suite to us and 6 of our friends. We had the best time!

Dinner started with a myriad of appetizers + champagne. My favorite appetizer was the wild boar, served with fig sauce and a creme freche (I think) on top -- with sage ash. (I'm not typically a big fig fan, but I must say: it was the most perfect flavor combination that you could imagine.) There was also a cucmber with compressed avocado, and an oyster-tasting.

There were both east-coast and west-coast oysters. We learned that east-coast oysters are more briny (salty), and their shells tend to be more smooth. West-coast oysters taste a bit more metallic, and their shells are more scalloped.  I liked them all! This was served with a citrus vodka, which was awesome.

By the end of the night, I was glad I had refused 2nd helpings of the champagne or vodka. Although they were both great, there was certainly plenty of alcohol consumed for the night!

awesome day!

We have finally had a winter here in Colorado. The last week has been cold, snowy & gray. (More gray than we are used to or like, if truth be told.) But today I had the day off, and it was FABULOUS. We went to the Mesa trail & did some hiking. I brought snow-shoes, which weren't really required, but fun anyways. We were in thermals and long-sleeve T-shirts, and ended up hot! It's supposed to be 70 degrees this weekend... a far cry from the high of 9 earlier this week. We'll take it.

Tom Goes Pro

I have been preparing dinners for Elise's hospital
journal club meetings for about three years now
so when they offered to pay me to cater the
Medical Executive Committee meeting
this month I took it as a compliment.

Suckers!

The most popular dish was the gratin sweet
 potatoes with chipotle puree. Easy and tasty.
 I put this with chili crusted leg of lamb
(previous post) and paired it with a
beautiful 2007 stags leap Merlot.

I got a deal on the stags leap Merlot 2007
and was blown away. We have gotten
 away from Merlot as of late with all
of the other more exciting grapes
to taste, but after this I will be revisiting
the Merlot grape. We normally don't buy
much wine in this price range
but when we do we expect it to be good,
but this one is vary impressive and could pass
for an even more expensive bottle.

My personal favorite of the evening was
the second course, a shrimp bisque with
lemon cream and ground fennel. I have been
wanting to do a bisque since we went to
Nantucket a few years ago. I found this recipe
in the Flying Pans book, a recent gift from my
culinary mentor and friend from San Diego Sherry.

I started with a golden beet salad with danish blu
and camambert with balsamic vinaigrette. I paired
this with a Napa sauvignon balnc.