Project Wine Session #1.

Project Wine Session #1.

The inaugural project wine session was quite the success! Good wine(s), good food (I hope!) and excellent company as always. Not only did I pick up several tips from resident wine expert K, I also had my second breakthrough by detecting the pear in the bouquet of our first wine. Some improvement here at least.

It was also the first in a long time that I've cooked for a dinner party, and successfully at that. I suppose I've internalized enough from all the culinary programmes I've been watching to semi-bury the memory of a very dismal pad thai that my guests had to smother in belachan several new year eves ago.

On the menu:

Inspired by an episode of Take Home Chef. This was served with Quartz Reef Pinot Gris 2008, a wine that on hindsight would have worked better with a spicy Asian salad.

Having to roast the garlic and tomatoes may be more cumbersome than a basic pesto recipe, but it is absolutely worth the effort. Recipe from here.

My proudest culinary achievement to date - perfecting the sabayon on my second try and accidentally-yummy vanilla custard on my first. Thank you Anna Olson, for making it look so easy on Fresh. Recipe from here. The dessert was served with Pegasus Bay FINALE Noble Chardonnay 2004, an extremely sweet wine with an extremely strong nose of brussel sprouts or as DX says, sauerkraut. How odd is that! It worked fine in the sabayon recipe though.

I'm gonna freeze some of that pesto the next time I get around to making it, and I think the sabayon's going to be my dessert of choice for entertaining at home. Quite a night huh? :)