I did as much prep work as I could early in the day (sauces, chopping, etc.), but somehow the day just flew and guess what?  We were still eating well after 1am.  As usual, the best laid plans gone awry! Overall, it was a success – apart from a few cooking snafus and wrangling with the world’s most difficult dessert in my opinion.  I must point out how well-adjusted I have become to our small kitchen here in Taipei after coming from huge Western style kitchens, which you can get more info about them here, with easily sourced ingredients.  It has taken time to get used to cooking with only two burners, a small and quite temperamental oven, and having to run to five different types of grocery stores to get supplies, so I am rather impressed I managed to pull off a dinner this grand.

Here is a look at the courses and links to recipes where applicable.  I planned the entire meal around two special bottles of wine for the evening — 07 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay and our rather expensive 02 Heitz Cellars‘ Martha’s Vineyard legendary Cabernet Sauvignon.

First Course: Bagna Calda

Bagna Calda is one of my all-time favorite dishes from The Stinking Rose Restaurant in California.  Both Brett and I love garlic so I was thrilled to introduce him to a garlic themed restaurant when we first started dating.  Bagna Calda is one of their signature dishes, which is basically a garlic bath.  Cloves of garlic are baked in olive oil, butter, and anchovies.  Once the cloves are soft, you can spread these garlicky delights on bread, crackers, etc.  Since we were doing a big multi-course dinner, I opted to cook just a few cloves for each of us, otherwise I am sure we would’ve filled up on these right away.

I used some of my favorite Northern California Lucero Olive Oils (Basil and also a bit of the Lemon), some anchovy paste, high-end French butter, and baked everything in a small dish for about 35 minutes on 325 degrees F.  They key is to coat the cloves in oil so they stay moist in the oven.

Second Course:  Scallops on Potato Pancakes

This course was inspired by a Food & Wine recipe for Scallops with Potato Pancakes and Caviar Sauce.  Since Brett is Jewish and loves his Hanukkah latkes, this was a perfect opportunity to combine them into his fancy birthday dinner too!

Caviar is not that easy to track down here and for the price of $100 US, I didn’t think it was really worth spending that much for sauce.  I opted to make a vanilla butter sauce instead.  Since I was making only four scallops I just used a portion of a Tahitian vanilla bean we got in French Polynesia.  I made a simple sauce of chopped shallots, white wine, butter, and the vanilla pod scrapings.  The Food & Wine recipe says you can make the latkes ahead of time and keep them at room temperature for two hours, but I recommend making them fresh so they stay extra crisp.

Third Course: Ravioli Filled with Brie, Pumpkin, and Leeks Tossed in a Browned Butter Sauce

This is definitely the course where disaster began to strike.  The pasta dough I intended to use had an awful consistency, so I ended up making dough from scratch!   Unfortunately, our apartment is either overly humid or skin-cracking dry.  Brett had turned on the dehumidifier because of all the cooking I had been doing so the dough ended up cracking and drying out too soon.  I couldn’t get it rolled as thin as I needed so I knew my ravioli skins were going to be more dense than normal ones.

Although the ravioli were quite thick, at least the filling came out great.  I heated fresh pumpkin puree I had already made with some Brie and a small handful of finely chopped leeks.  I made a simple browned butter sauce and topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Fourth Course:  Leek and Red Wine Soup

This course was inspired by Food & Wine’s recipe for Silky Leek and Red Wine Soup.  The soup has a nice blend of leeks, a pinch of saffron, red wine, and of course heavy cream.  This is a great recipe, but for the dinner I varied it slightly to be less creamy and more of a true red wine soup.  When I was working on this dish, Brett’s face was priceless…I opened the saffron and I think he saw dollar signs floating above.  We can only get one kind of saffron here and it’s over $30 US for 1 gram or 0.03 ounces.  I only used a pinch I swear!

Fifth Course:  Mini Baked Mac and Cheese

These are fun and really simple to make.  Take cooked elbow macaroni and mix with your favorite blend of cheeses and drop into buttered muffin cups.  You can make them ahead of time and keep in the fridge until you are ready to bake.  I used a blend of Padano, Parmesan, Mozzarella, and Cheddar.  Top them with additional grated Parmesan and bake until they are golden brown on the top.

Sixth Course: Caesar Salad

To counter the two heavy pasta courses, I did a light salad with a traditional Caesar dressing (just used very little egg yolk).  Instead of shaved or grated Parmesan cheese, I used Parmesan crisps I had baked earlier in the day.  These provide a nice crispy texture in a salad (especially if you do not use croutons).

Seventh Course: Herb Crusted Lamb Chops with Caramelized Broccoli

Brett loves his lamb chops so I couldn’t imagine a big dinner without them, not to mention they pair perfectly with our beloved Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  I marinated the lamb in red wine and herbs for most of the day and then crusted them with a mix of additional herbs.  About five minutes on the grill and they were perfect.  For a side dish, I prepared a little caramelized broccoli with sliced garlic.

Eighth Course: Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Soufflé with Vanilla Rum Caramel Sauce

This was a course of concern for me.  I had not made a true chocolate soufflé before, so probably not the best time to try one now!  I had really wanted to use Valrhona chocolate, but we could not find it at the store this time, so I opted to use an interesting Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt.  I also added 1/4 of the Tahitian vanilla pod to the chocolate mixture.  I used a recipe from Food Network for the soufflé itself.  I had a rough time getting my egg whites to stiffen and I think I must have had a tiny bit of egg yolk on the beaters.  As I continued to mix for what seemed like 30 minutes, Brett found a tip online that said to use cream of tartar.  It did work — the egg whites began to form peaks shortly thereafter!

Earlier in the day, I made a Tahitian vanilla bean and Cuban rum caramel sauce.  It was quite thick, super sweet, but oh so delicious!  Looking forward to finishing the leftover sauce with some vanilla bean ice cream!

Ninth Course: Passion Fruit Macarons with Dark Chocolate Passion Fruit Ganache

I’ve read numerous recipes and blogs about how difficult these are to make, but I wasn’t dissuaded.  I can see why you need to make them over and over again to get them right.  I could not find food coloring anywhere here in Taipei (go figure), but we did find food flavoring drops that had some color.  I bought the passion fruit and coffee flavors in hopes I could use one of these two.  Combing the fruit stand, I found fresh passion fruit and decided to try a passion fruit macaron with a passion fruit chocolate ganache.

While I aspire to make macarons as good as Pierre Herme, I figured it was a bit ambitious to start off trying that complex of a recipe.  Instead, I went with the queen of simple and straight forward – Martha Stewart! It appears she can really do anything.  Her basic macaron recipe was quite simple and easy to follow.

I started the macarons in the morning and the first few ended up sticking together (when they say leave at least 2 inches in between…they really mean it!)  Trying to get the almond mixture in the pastry bag was a challenge in itself.  If you have wedding rings on and happen to be a lefty like me, take them off!  That almond mixture is a $&@*@( to clean off rings, especially if you have any pave set diamonds!

Out of 20 something macaron halves, I did manage to get at least 6 sets that were reasonably the same size and shape.  A tip: let them cool completely otherwise they are very easy to break.  Set them aside and do something else for an hour or so — if you live in a humid climate like we do, it may take even longer for them to completely set.

For the ganache, I actually used a Pierre Herme recipe with fresh passion fruit puree.  Making your own passion fruit puree is not hard if you basically put the “guts” in a food processor and then strain.  Some people use sugar as well but since it was going into a ganache, I did not add any extra sugar.  And now we have extra puree for passion fruit margaritas!

One recommendation on piping the ganache — let it harden completely.  I put it in the fridge for nearly an hour; however, it started softening quickly due to the humidity and the heat of my hands on the pastry bag and began to spit.  It probably would’ve been easier had I let it set up longer.

Overall, the macarons came out better than I expected for my first time and they were delicious, so that is what’s important!  Next time I can work on the aesthetics.

Tenth Course: Aged Cheeses and Gourmet Honey

We love pairing gourmet cheeses with wine and have been known to make a meal out of meats and cheeses before.  Our favorite chef here in town often treats us to special aged cheeses, gourmet honey, and homemade raisins after one of his big degustation menus.  Finding certain gourmet cheeses here can be hit or miss sometimes — one thing I definitely miss from the States!  In the end, I served the aged Parmesan and Padano since we still had a little Cabernet Sauvignon left.  Not terribly exciting, but a clean way to finish off after those two rich desserts.

By the time we finished this course, I was exhausted.  When I woke up Saturday morning, I was actually sore!  Standing hunched over a counter on hard tile floors for 12+ hours made for a long day, but Brett was worth it…sore muscles and all!

Sadly, our wine collection at home has been rather neglected as of late – between traveling the past few months and moving into a new place, we calculated that we’ve eaten more meals at various airports than our own home so far this year!  Last night was an unusually cold and windy night in Taipei so we opted to skip going out and finally enjoy a nice romantic meal in our new apartment, which provided the perfect excuse to open one of our good Napa Cabs.  Our pick – the 2004 Reserve from Waterstone.

Any good Cab deserves a nicely paired meal to bring out the complex array of aromas and flavors found in this hearty varietal.  My pick for this wine was a juicy, thick grilled steak.  Marinated with a dry rub, much like Emeril’s Essence, I was very curious to see how the Cab would stand up against the strong black pepper flavor often best reserved for a varietal like Zinfandel.

To my pleasant surprise, the Waterstone Cabnernet stood up perfectly against the peppery dry rub, maintaining its fruit forwardness and a nice finish.  The 2004 Reserve Cab is 9% Cabernet Franc, perhaps providing that tobacco touch that married so well with the black pepper in the spice rub.

In general, I’ve found 2004 to be a fantastic year for Cabs in the Napa Valley.  Almost every 2004 Cab I’ve tried from Napa Valley has easily beaten out other year vintages, hands down.  After what turned out to be an early harvest season due to early bud break followed by a hot summer,  many vineyards were faced with a decrease in fruit production; however, they ended up with grapes that had much more concentrated flavors.  This certainly worked in Waterstone’s favor as this wine was recognized by Wine Enthusiast and awarded 91 points in the November 2008 Buyer’s Guide.

Tasting Notes and Wine Data

• Tasting Notes: Aromas of cedar oak, currant, black cherry and ripe plum.  Flavors of cherries, plums, chocolate and tobacco marry with the subtle oak nuances. Firm tannins provide a balance, leading to a long, lingering finish.
• Composition: 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot, 4% Petite Verdot
• Oak Aging: 21 months in brand new small French Oak barrels
• Production: 664 cases
• Bottling Date: January 15, 2007
• Suggested retail: $75
• Cellar Potential:  Wine Enthusiast suggests cellaring until 2012, or drink now after decanting for a few hours
• Website:  www.waterstonewines.com

Bleaux Magnolia is located in downtown Napa, about 2 blocks walking distance from the Beazley House B&B.  Back in January, Brett had come out to visit me and we stayed at the Beazley House for a couple nights, which is an absolutely fantastic place if you want to stay at a B&B!  It came highly recommended and we decided to check it out since we could walk and poor Brett was pretty jet lagged after his flight from Amsterdam, so we didn’t want to eat too late.

Bleaux Magnolia specializes in contemporary Creole. Their website notes that many people except to be brought back to New Orleans but as they remind everyone, this is California! 🙂

Chef Mermod, co-owner, is actually a self taught chef. He’s spent a lot of time working in restaurants in California and also in Louisiana, learning the cuisine there.

General Manager Schuster, is a Louisiana native who has a long history in the restaurant business, including managing some premier restaurants in San Francisco.

The restaurant is small and reservations are definitely recommended. There is a cute outdoor patio area which would be nice during the summer. They offer various specials and 3 & 5 course dinners. Tuesday nights are $1 BBQ Oysters and Wednesday night is movie night – they show a free movie on their patio area.

They have received a number of accolades being a relatively new restaurant. They were voted Best New Restaurant in 2008 and one of the whole Napa Valley’s top 10. One of the best things about them is they don’t charge a corkage fee which is rare. We didn’t know that beforehand, otherwise we would’ve brought one of our own bottles with us!

The night we were there they had their version of Oysters Rockfeller which were $3.50 each. We decided to try a couple each and OMG, they were incredible. I wish I could remember everything in them but I know one of the ingredients was marscapone cheese.

I ordered the Gumbo and Brett had the Jambalaya with the Duck Confit. Both were excellent but I agree with Brett, if we went back and they were serving the oysters, we’d each probably order 10 each and just eat those! LOL. They were incredible and I have been craving them for months now.

Bleaux Magnolia
1408 Clay St.
Napa, CA
Across from Clay St. Parking Garage & behind West America Bank.

Business hours:
Mon-Sat:  Lunch 11:30am – 2:30pm   Dinner  5pm – 9pm
Sunday:  Brunch 11am – 2:30pm    Dinner 5pm – 8pm
www.bleauxmagnolia.com

Andretti winery is definitely a fun vineyard to check out on your Napa wine travels. It is owned by racing legend, Mario Andretti, and longtime friend, Joe Antonini (former CEO of Kmart). Many people are not aware that wine was Andretti’s second passion and he finally saw that come to life in 1996 when they founded the vineyard. Their consulting winemaker is Bobi Pepi – of the Robert Pepi Winery in Oakville.

As with most Napa wineries, there is a charge to wine taste unless you join their wine club which is not a bad deal. I was a member of the winery for a few years now and was never disappointed with any selections. This is the only way to get invitations to the winery events, most specifically the annual dinner with Mario Andretti himself.  Many years ago, my father, who was in the custom painting business for a bit, painted one of Andretti’s first helmets.  He left the industry many, many years ago but I grew up hearing some amazing stories of great racers, and Andretti was obviously one of them.  I had wanted to join the wine club in hopes of bringing my Dad to one of the events where Mario was attending.  Ironically, I was never available when the event would come up!  I would probably still be a member of their wine club, but gave most of them up when I moved abroad several months ago. 

The winery grounds are beautiful and very Tuscan themed.  Tucked away off Hwy 29 on Big Ranch Road, don’t blink or you might miss the entrance sign!  The beautiful grounds are not immediately visible from the road which just adds to the feeling of being in Italy.  Wander around behind the tasting room a bit and take in the beautiful scenery on your visit.   

Andretti offers three collections of wine – their Montona Reserve Series, the Napa Valley Series, and the California Selections Series. While all are quality wines, I would recommend paying the extra to try the reserve wines. The Montona series is named after Mario’s childhood home and are very limited quantity wines, offered first to wine club members. The port is one of my favorites!!

They do offer private wine and dinner tours and other private wine pairing classes but you must call ahead for reservations and availability. Individual tastings run about $10 pp.

Andretti Winery
4162 Big Ranch Road
Napa, CA 94558

Open Daily: 10am – 5pm
888-460-8463
707.261.1717
Fax: 707-259-6776
www.andrettiwinery.com

I stumbled upon Arroyo winery many years ago after an article appeared in Southwest magazine on the top 5 lesser known vineyards to hit in the Napa region. Although the magazine article brought a lot headache due to a huge increase in visitors for a short while, some loyal wine lovers were created as well.

Vincent Arroyo is a very small production winery with an annual case production of about 8,000 of seven different varietals. He pretty much was a one man show for awhile and when you’d visit the tasting room (which was right across from his house), you’d meet him. The last time I was there for an event, he obviously had quite a bit of help and the place was packed – they were offering golf cart shuttle from the street back to the barrel areas!

His signature wine is the Petite Syrah which almost always sells out prior to even bottling. You need to get on a waiting list for it but trust me, it’s worth it! In addition, he produces a Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, and several red blends. Their signature Petite Syrah is developed into several different bottlings: Napa Valley Petite Syrah (blend of their many vineyards), 2 vineyard designated ones – Greenwood Ranch & Rattlesnake Acres, Winemaker’s Reserve Petite Syrah (barrel aged for 34 months) and a Petite Syrah Port.

One fun element to Vince’s take on winemaking is his dogs get in on the action! Each year, he features a special wine named after one of the dogs. The first year I met Vincent, he was working on J.J.’s blend! JJ runs around the vineyard and loves to run and jump on the barrels, especially to retrieve his tennis ball! Both JJ and Bodega were featured on the Napa Dogs winery calendar in 2007!

Vincent Arroyo hosts several events each year that are worthwhile to check out (if you can get in!!)

– Barrel Sampling Event – Last Saturday of February each year (free). Opportunity to taste all the wines still in the barrel and sample delicious food!

– Open House – First Saturday of May each year (free). They bring out the previously released library wines which have been sold out for people to try! This is an opportunity for people to see how their wines are aging.

– Winemaker Dinner – First weekend in May (reservation only, $$)

– Arroyo Open – August (fee -$$). The winery holds the Arroyo Open in St. Helena every year. Unique challenges at various holes, and a catered buffet dinner paired with wine.

-Amigos De Arroyo (unk). This is “THE” event if you can get in. Every October they get a group together to harvest and hand pick grapes, transport them back to the winery for stomping. Once all the work is dine, feast on paeall prepared over an open fire and drink some of his best wines. Each member of the group will eventually receive 2 bottles of wine they helped make once it has been bottled AND they are all listed on the label as winemakers! This is obviously a very popular event and you must be entered into a lottery to even have a chance at participating!

NOTE TO VISITORS WANTING TO TASTE: You MUST call ahead for an appointment now! For groups of 6 or less, the tastings are still complementary as far as I know. For groups of 7 or more, the fee is $5 per person. Please be respectful and make reservations ahead of time versus showing up direct at the winery.

The first time I had a wine from Franciscan was actually a few years ago while living in Las Vegas!  While enjoying a wine pairing dinner at the Stratosphere’s Top of the World Restaurant, one of the courses was paired with the Franciscan Chardonnay.  Normally, not a huge fan of white wines in general, I instantly fell in love with it’s unique flavor.  It had the buttery flavor of a Chardonnay but it was very fruit forward.  The memory of that wine stayed with me and I made sure to visit Franciscan on my next trip to Napa.

Franciscan is located in Oakville, right on Highway 29.   Founded over 30 years ago, Raymond Duncan and Justin Meyer were there for the beginning of this Napa stronghold, with the 1975 Cabernet Sauvignon.  Agustin Huneeus became involved in 1985, concentrating on a commitment to small lot wine making and introducing their Bordeaux style blend, the Magnifcant.  Another two years later Franciscan made more headlines by producing the Cuve Sauvage, the first Napa Chardonnay produced fermented with wild yeast. Today, Janet Myers is Franciscan’s winemaker and has excelled in staying true to their signature: bold wines with rare combination of rich, vibrant flavors yet fine, supple texture.  Working with Mondavi and other leading vintners around the world, she has brought that knowledge to Franciscan, creating some incredible wines.       Some of my favorites: 2006 NAPA VALLEY CHARDONNAY (Rated 89 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine)

• Appearance:  Pale lemon yellow
• Aroma:  Pretty stone fruit and ripe pear, with lemon peel notes.  Layered aromas with enticing minerality, hints of cream and vanilla, and crisp apple undertones.

  

• Flavor:   Fresh and lively, yet good richness and body.  Layered flavors of lemon and golden delicious apple, pineapple, and toasted oak.  The round mid-palate extends to a lingering crisp finish and bright citrus flavors, minerals and sweet oak.
• Composition: 100% Chardonnay
• Appellation:   Napa Valley
• Oak Aging:   8 months sur lee, French and American Oak
• Alcohol:  13.5%
• Release Date:   December 1, 2007
• Retail:  $18.00 USD

2007 SAUVIGNON BLANC (Rated 83 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine)

• Appearance: Pale Yellow
• Aroma:    Citrus, melon, and fig
• Flavor:    Fresh and lively.  Vibrant, layered flavors of lime, lemongrass and melon with hints of minerality on a crisp, elegant finish.
• Composition: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
• Appellation:   Napa Valley
• Alcohol:   13.5%
• Release Date:  March 1, 2008
• Retail: $17 USD

Franciscan Winery 1178 Galleron Lane, St. Helena, CA (707)967-3830  10am-5pm Different tasting flights available, but plan for at least $15.  There are discount coupons online and at Franciscan’s website.