2.15.2008

V-day Feast, Part II

The delicious food for Valentine's Day continued at dinner. I had brought two French wines to drink with dinner: a Burgandy, which was light and refreshing, and a Malbec/Merlot blend (80%/20%), which was much heavier and had a spicy flavor. I arrived in time to watch my brother-in-law cooking the sauce for the chicken. He got lots of credit for the food, but in truth, it was a team effort. My sister is an excellent sous chef. She finds the ingredients, prepares/chops anything that needs it, and essentially lays the foundation for the cooking.
On the menu for the evening were two recipes out of Ina Garten's Barefoot in Paris cookbook (hence the French wine). The entree was Chicken with Morel Sauce, a lovely sauce made with morel mushrooms, creme fraiche and Madeira wine. Interestingly, it was similar (though much better!) to the mushrooms in cream sauce that I made a couple years ago for Valentine's dinner. On the side were Roasted Vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, shallots, and red peppers. Very yummy! Everything was delicious, actually, and all we lacked was crusty French bread to sop up the sauce. [sigh] Guess we're just going to have to do it again.
I brought a sparkling Italian wine (since I don't really like champagne much) for dessert. It was called Moscato d'Asti, and was quite sweet, like an alcoholic soda. The dessert was creme brulee, and like most true creme brulees, was delicious. The evidence, you see below.
I'd like to thank my dear sister and brother-in-law for inviting me up for dinner and for the deep and thoughtful conversation (trans-sexuals, psychology, politics, to name a few topics). I feel very lucky that you two moved out here to Colorado. Hugs all 'round!

4 comments:

Janiece said...

Go Grabills! Taking care of (y)our Anne since...whenever you moved to Colorado.

Mummy Grabill said...

We had a fantastic time! Always fun to have GREAT food and lively conversation! The wines were great and I particularly loved the dessert wine (yummmm).

Janiece, we moved to Colorado about 3 1/2 years ago. Anne had always joked that we should move here, but I don't think she actually thought we would. I like to think I took a little care of her before we moved here, but it *is* much easier when in close proximity. You can't cook for someone 3,000 miles away!

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Valentine's day as I did! As I told Anne that evening - Valentine's, for me, is about expressing youself to ALL the ones you love, not just your SO. Anne, we had a lovely time, Brian really enjoyed himself and we LOVE your company!

Anonymous said...

wow, that looked delicious!

belsum said...

Having a good sous chef is most definitely an important part of the process!