another gastronomic entry for your delight.
we met some friends at the herbfarm for dinner last night. it was the 1st dinner we'd attended under the new executive chef keith luce. it was pretty good, although i was a bit sad. i had a hard time enjoying it as i couldn't smell anything (all stuffed up) and thus didn't have much taste - still getting over 'the cough'. in fact my last 3 courses i just had them box up so i could bring home. i didn't even see them!
the theme for the dinner was 'dinner for red-heads'. they always have this one around valentine's day. usually chef selects the menu and the somaliers have to match wines to the courses, but for this dinner the somaliers get to select their favorite red wines, and then chef has to figure out what to prepare for the match! talk about turning the tables!
it's kind of nice going there now. carrie, ron, and angela recognize us. in fact angela nearly pounced on us when we walked in (but we didn't mind becuase she was offering hot spiced cider). after chatting a few minutes with her we went down to the wine cellar and talked to ron for a few minutes. angela said things were different with chef luce, not that that was good nor bad, and that maybe the biggest change she noticed was in ordering meats. instead of (for example) just getting the ribs and shoulder of the beef they were getting and using teh entire cow. so that means they're serving more 'out there' stuff like tripe, tongue, brain etc. hhhmmmm. they seat you by table. carrie was on autopilot and asked for our name, but before i could even get 'stoecker' out she was like "oh, hi, here you go, your usual table."
so here's what was on the menu:
course1: The Red Sea
Montana paddlefish caviar on quail egg benedict
rosemary-skewered basil-fed snail with a dried strawbetty vinaigrette
albacore tuna, ver jus, and huckleberry ceviche with parsnip crisps
herbfarm indigo oregon sparkling pinot noir ( a deep red wine champaigne)
course2: Lightly Smoked Sablefish
smoked sablefish - or black cod - with beet sauce
hazlenut-dusted crispy skin
douglass fir salt
2004 mccrea cellars counoise, ciel du cheval vineyard
course3: Shellfish convention
puget sound bivalves in a pinot noir and brown butter sauce (razor clams, clams, muscles, oyster htere might've been another, but no geoduck)
morel custard (or in my case lemon thyme custard) with scallop and toped with english thyme puff pastry
2005 le cadeau willamette valley pinot noir, rocheux
so far the favorite wine
course4: oregon black truffle, squash and potato gratin
with housemade bacon and sour cherry-sage gastrique
2005 benson vineyards sangiovese, lake chelan
now the favorite wine
and oh my gosh this was fantastic!!!!
course5: sorbet of cabernet franc
ok this was more a palett cleanser
sorbet with warm rose geranium syrup
course 6: red roosevelt elk
winter-herb-and-walnut-crusted elk medallion
on a stew of elk shoulder, sweetbreads and cellared vegetables
2005 grammercy cellars syrah, walla walla
now our favorite wine
course7: river's edge "up in smoke" cheese
river's edge oregon goat cheese in smoked maple leaves
(don't eat the maple leaf)
with pickled lade apple terrine adn warm emmer biscuit
we chose to include a wine with this course:
1862 madeira sercial - yum! 1 oz pouring
tyson, 1 of the somaliers, also brought us 2 each of the following to try as well. we were actually looking at this 1 bottle and asked what it was earlier in the evening. it was the sam adams barley port 'utopias'. it was surprisingly good! we like sam adams ales and lagers, but never knew they had done anything like this. it was golden in color, and had stiff legs. smelled strong to me, like brandy and congnacs, and warmed you up as it went down like they do. but it's taste was total port. i'm thinking we're planning on getting a bottle of this stuff! we actually asked for a 1oz pouring for each couple on that one as well. the other drink she brought us was also good. it was an italian baked amarone. real dark almost balsamic in color, again fairly stiff legs, and tasted more port than wine. but as we really like a couple of hte amarones, and ports, the idea of mixing the 2 isn't really much of a stretch.
course8: pair of pared pears
oregon d'anjou pear tart
comice pear and red wine sorbet
with lemon-geranium adn rosehip foam
course9: brewed coffee, tea and a selection of small treats
spiced almond biscotti
vanilla palmier
bay and carmelized rice dark chocolate truffle
milk chocolate rosemary toffee
coff-cocoa nib white chocolate truffle
sherry and port (?) flavored jellies (think apples & cotlets)
course10: obstacle course to the town car for our ride home
:-)
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