A Four-Course Meal with Sip and Puff

Last week, while on vacation in shoreline Connecticut, my family and I hosted good friends Don and Irving, proprietors of Butternut Farm in Glastonbury, CT, for dinner. I grew up working on Don's farm, and whenever I'm back in Connecticut I always end up working a day or two in the field or in the barn. Don is also a great cook, and I've gleaned a lot of cooking knowledge from him. He's cooked personally alongside Julia Child; and over time I've picked up some techniques and tips from him and so I knew that I had to pull out all the stops to make a delicious meal.

I settled on a four-course meal complete with three different kinds of wine. Since I really like spice, I wanted to form the meal around the main course - an Indian dish called rogan jhosh. It's a curry dish made by combining boneless lamb shoulder in with lemon juice, garam masala, Madras curry, and chilies. The first course, a cheese and mascarpone plate, would serve to keep the guests happy and occupied while I prepared the second - a Persian barley soup called ash-e-jow - and the main course, the rogan jhosh. For dessert, I planned on serving peche Melba - halved fresh peaches, poached in a vanilla syrup, and served over ice cream and topped with a pureed raspberry sauce.

And so we had to have wine with each course, right? Now, you can't just go to the store and randomly buy three wines and call it a day. To bring out the best flavors, and to complement the meal, I had to figure out what wine flavors / vintages work well with the foods. Then, of course, I had to go out and get a good example of that vintage, buy all the stuff, plan the dinner, cook everything in proper order,  and serve everything, then clean up. No biggie, right?

The first course was cheese, crackers and basil served with an herb and white mascarpone dip. I served wheat crackers, colby jack cheese, and dill Havarti cheese. Had I thought of it, I would have served some Camembert or D'Affinois. My brother Dan artfully arranged the plate-and-napkin centerpiece.

For the wine, I chose a 2006-vintage Banfi Rosa Regale sparkling red wine. I chose this because not only did I need something light and bright to serve with the cheese, but I also wanted something that had some sugar to it.The wine itself was delicious - very light and sugary, with just a hint of effervescence that made it a pleasure to drink. There's lots of fruit flavors in there, chiefly strawberry, but took on a polished finish. It was served extra-cold, and I really enjoyed the levity of it, especially as a beach afternoon drink.

The wine may have mellowed out a bit with age, since it's 8 years old at this point. I'd imagine newer, younger wines would be a little fresher and brighter. Still - it was great. The guests loved it and it kept them occupied while I got to making the second and third courses.

I'm serving a dinner with a South Asian / Middle Eastern flair; for the soup, I'm serving a thick barley soup called "ash-e-jow." It's made with barley, tomato puree, sauteed onions, and chicken stock. I pan-fried the barley first, to crisp it up, before mixing it in with the other ingredients.

Stirring the lamb. Onions are sauteeing while the ash-e-jow is reducing. 

Onions, bay leaves, garam masala, lemon juice, and some tomato puree are all simmering

At this point, while the food is cooking, let's talk main course wine. 

Since the rogan jhosh is going to spicy, strong, and hearty, I knew I'd want a strong red to stand up to that spice. I could have chosen a Malbec, a Cabernet, or perhaps a Pinot Noir. Don and I discussed the main course, and he offered to bring the main course wine. He settled on a  2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from Parnell Estate's Alexander Valley vineyard. I popped it in the fridge for a few minutes, then cracked it open and poured it to let it breathe while I set the table for the soup. 

Ash-e-jow  is served, Cabernet Sauvignon is breathing, and guests are still out on the porch enjoying the ocean view. 

So the wine is poured, the soup is plated, and the guests are moseying on in from the porch, I figured it's time to sneak back to the kitchen to sample the wine. As you can see, it's got a cool purple color when candled.

I was really struck by the smoothness of this wine. It had a nice woody aroma, one that suggested perhaps a stronger tannic flavor background. Nope, it was smooth and crisp with some dark fruit flavors with a perfect hint of spice. Super! I didn't want to drink too much, because I had to finish cooking the curry and serve. But I knew the strength, flavors and the smoothness of the wine would complement the curry nicely. 

Dinner is served! I made a zillion cups of rice.

The soup turned out great (but could have used more chicken stock.) Everyone loved the wine, and once the rice was finished, I served the curry and the garlic naan. We burned through that delicious Cab, and so I had to dip into our reserve of a divine bottle of Montesierra tempranillo. The meal was great as was the company!

...and now for dessert. I've always wanted to try my hand at Peche Melba, which is a dessert made by poaching fresh peaches in a vanilla-infused simple syrup, then serving them over vanilla ice cream drizzled with fresh raspberry puree. I admit that I, with the help of my aunt Jayne, made the peaches earlier in the afternoon to save time. Skinning poached peaches is also a pain in the ass, so thanks to Jayne for doing that. 

Oh, yeah!

And for such a dessert, like many, I choose port. I'm a big port fan. Port, also known as "porto," is a kind of fortified red wine made in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. It's sweet and is usually served as an apertif. It's higher in alcohol - usualy 19% - 23% ABV - due to some special techniques used when making the wine (including the addition of aguardente, a brandy-like distilled grape spirits.) I've had numerous ports, mostly in the $20 - $25 range. They can get expensive, though - my favorite port, a Cockburn's 20-year tawny, happens to be the most expensive bottle of wine I ever purchased. But there are a lot more affordable options, including tonight's: Fonseca Bin No. 27.

This is a great house port that I've enjoyed for years and years. It's inexpensive enough to drink every day, but sweet and refined enough to bring out for guests. I really like the sweetness, the nice deep blackcurrant flavors, with a super velvety texture. Don't drink too much - it's only meant to be sipped.

Peche Melba served! The amount of Port in our glasses is a little excessive, but it was tasty!

There you have it - a four course meal, Sip and Puff-style. I hope to be making more dinners like this for the blog, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading!