An eight hour dinner party

[Abra]

Last night two personal chef friends and I had a slumber party, the main feature of which was a dinner that began at about 6:30 p.m. and ended at 2:30 a.m. It all started in honor of my coming across a few bottles of hard to find wine - a Cayuse Syrah, a Leonetti Merlot, and a Varner Chardonnay. We set out to pair the untasted wines with decadent and delicious foods, each of us taking one wine and creating two dishes to pair with it. And then, we had the leftovers for breakfast.

With the Varner Chardonnay

Scrambled egg with lime creme fraiche and caviar, and bloc de foie gras on crostini with truffled salt and a balsamic reduction.

Copper River salmon ravioli with arugula pesto.

With the Leonetti merlot

Homemade pate de campagne with three mustards: violette, piment d'Espelette, and noix.

Homemade boudin noir, and home cured pork confit and guanciale sauteed with fresh peas and garlic scapes.

With the Cayuse syrah

Sorry for the taken-by-candlelight colors, lamb lollipops with a strawberry rhubarb chutney and potatoes sauteed in duck fat with fresh chives.

Salad with lemon vinaigrette, candied lemon zest, and crispy fresh herb fritters.

There were also two desserts

a cream cake made with Paula Wolfert's Basque aromatic mixture and fresh peaches in raspberry brandy, which we had with some homemade vin de noix, and a pastry-chef made tart that inexplicably didn't get photographed, but was a delicious sablee with mascarpone and wine-glazed pears, which we had with some Torii Mor port.

A blazingly hot and clear morning woke us and inspired us to eat again, something we'd sworn never to do just a few short hours before.

Soft scrambled eggs with truffled salt and a saute of home-cured bacon, potatoes, and fried sage leaves, plus a little pate and caviar on the side, and a fruit bowl to counteract the cholesterol.

Should I mention that these meals were eaten almost entirely out of doors, and good portions of them were eaten in pyjamas? Every single thing was delicious, with the possible exception of the (I made it so I can say so) boudin noir, which was tasty but really, really visceral and squishy. The Cayuse was by far my favorite of the wines. The company was awesome. Not only are they dynamite cooks, they clean up after themselves! I feel so lucky today.

[Ling]

That's an absolutely amazing spread, Abra. I had the 2002 Leonetti Merlot recently and thought it was one of the better merlots I've tasted. Everything sounds delicious, especially the home cured pork confit and guanciale!

(I had truffled eggs this morning for breakfast too...what a coincidence. )

[Chufi]

Wow, Abra, that's an incredible dinner. What fun. Everything looks so good but I have to say the pate looks better than good, it looks perfect.

lamb with strawberry rhubarb chutney, that sounds really intriguing, and almost a bit weird!

Should I mention that these meals were eaten almost entirely out of doors, and good portions of them were eaten in pyjamas?

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Yes.

[Marlene]

Abra, you can come and cook at my house in your PJ's anytime. That looks wonderful. And isn't it the best doing a dinner with people who know and understand your passion for cooking good food?

[Abra]

The thing about that Leonetti, for me, was while it's a very good Merlot, with a lot of weight and presence, I don't think it's a good value. Compared to the Cayuse, which cost 35% less and was an absolutely kick-ass mind-blowing bottle, the Leonetti seemed over-hyped. The Cab of theirs that I had last year was really excellent, but I think this merlot is just very good. And for that price, I want more than very good!

[KatieLoeb]

Wow! I want to come to your slumber parties! That looks amazing!

What could be more fun than padding around in your pajamas and cooking and eating amazing food and drinking great wine? Sounds absolutely perfect.

[Shaya]

What a great party, Abra. I would love to have some of that saute of home cured pork confit and guanciale with fresh peas and garlic scapes. Yum.

Edited June 26, 2006 by Shaya (log)

[bavila]

If there's a heaven, I want it to be like this party!

I love the garlic scapes -- still big enough to show off their fantastic whirly shape.

[little ms foodie]

Beautiful Abra! The scrambled eggs with lime creme fraiche- is that from the Rover's book/menu? damn that is one of my favorite things!! Was the torchon of foie gras made? If it was purchased please tell me where, it looks like the Rouge tin shape I try to bring home from France.

I've had that Syrah, oh my that is a memorable wine. Can I ask where did you 'come across' all these beauties? I'm not familiar with the Chardonay, tell more?

[Daniel]

Wow Abra... Awesome!

[Abra]

Good eye, LMF. The egg dish is indeed from Rover's. One of us interned there, and so she knows that dish intimately. I'd never had it before, and it's wonderful.

The bloc de foie was in a tin, and I think it came from the caviar store, if such a thing is possible. I can check with the person who brought it.

I got the wines at our local wine shop, which gets a small allocation. If you can find that Varner anywhere, grab some. It's gorgeous, very French in style. Varner is here, but what we had was a 2002, which isn't showing on their website.

Bavila, last night I had garlic scape tempura at a little Japanese place here - now that was heaven!