New recipes, January 5, 2013

Tonight we hosted this fabulous cast of guests. The dinner was an auction item at the Mental Health America Colorado annual dinner, and these fine supporters of MHA were the winners--5 courses, with wine pairings, prepared by us.



The first course was an appetizer we adapted from a Top Chef recipe, Smoked Salmon with White Chocolate Wasabi Sauce, served with Gruet Brut sparkling wine from New Mexico.  We have made this before a few years ago, and we gave this a 5.  There are  couple elements we didn't get to (cayenne dust, ginger and lime juice), so this gets a 4, but the flavors were still wonderful!

The amuse bouche was a Whipped Ricotta and Pear Crostini, from the United Airlines December 2012 Hemispheres Magazine.  It got a 5 the first time we made it, and it still does. There was no separate wine with this bite.

The soup course was the Cream of Barley Soup from The Last Dinner on the Titanic, by Rick Archbold and Dana McCauley.  It was served with a Cossart Gordon 5 Year Old Madeira Bual Medium Rich. We have also made this dish in the past, did not like the way it turned out this time quite as much, so today it gets a 3.

The salad was the Cellared Vegetable Salad from the February 2012 Food and Wine.  This was served with the Guy Drew 2010 Russell Vineyard Riesling, a great match.  We've made this salad before, and will again!  It gets a 5.

Next up: Braised Leg of Lamb, adapted from the Braised Lamb Shanks recipe from the February Cooking Light.  This is one of the new recipes--it is wonderful what you can do with a marinara, lamb, and some time to braise!  We gave this a 4.  Served with a Terredora DiPaolo Aglianico Campanie 2010.  A great match!

Finally, the dessert was the Molten Chocolate Cake with Caramel Filling from the September 2008 Food and Wine.  We served it with a little edible gold to make it spaThis knocked it out the park, and we give it a 5!  Served with a KWV Tawny Port (NV) from South Africa.  This is a very nice dessert wine, and a great match to the cake.