April 5, 2014 Dinner Party at Susan and Charlie’s

April 5, 2014 Dinner Party at Susan and Charlie’s

 

I had talked to Susan and Charlie about getting together for dinner to discuss their recent trip to museums in Philadelphia.  Susan had suggested making dinner with some fresh Myers Lemon flavored pasta she bought in San Francisco recently.  I thought that was a great idea.  We, both being lawyers, decided she would call the company that made the pasta and ask the owner for his about menu suggestions to go with the pasta.

When we talked on Saturday Susan said the owner suggested just a salad and bread, Susan said for us to bring wine.  Suzette had to go to Santa Rosa again on Saturday and I had to finish my Memorandum for the Court of Appeals.

At 6:00 when Suzette had not shown up yet, I went across the street to the Palmers to check out the dinner menu. When I arrived Charlie had just made himself a gin and tonic and offered me one, so I sat down and had a drink.   Susan showed me what she had bought for dinner.  She had bought a bunch of fresh asparagus to put into the pasta and four grilled chicken breasts and a wedge of fresh Parmesan cheese.  When Suzette arrived about twenty minutes later and called from our house, we asked her to bring a bottle of Pinot Grigio white wine and some tarragon and garlic greens for the pasta and to come over.   Suzette arrived shortly with a bottle of Trimbach Pinot Gris “1900 Hommage À Jeanne” 2000 and a bag with a stalk of garlic and a handful of tarragon and chives from our garden.  Susan invited us to join her in preparing the meal.  I took on my usual function of chopping ingredients and Suzette helped Susan in the kitchen cook the meal.   Susan and Charlie have a wonderful island between their kitchen and their office area with high stools that are perfect for eating and prepping and observing and discussing the food with the cooks in the kitchen.  We are planning a similar layout in our proposed kitchen remodel that we hope to start in May or June.

I chopped one half shallot, 4 large cloves of garlic, the stalk of garlic and its greens, the chives and tarragon.  Susan steamed the bunch of asparagus and boiled the pasta and tore up lettuce for the salad and heated lovely fresh baguette from Costco and a loaf of Farmer’s bread from Whole Foods.  Suzette then sautéed the shallot, garlic and herbs and added chopped, blanched asparagus and then the pasta to mix the flavors, while I diced up a tomato and about ¼ of a red onion for the salad and Susan chopped 1/3 of a cucumber and Charlie showed me his new Mac computer and some choices for a small laptop to take on the trip (the best choice seemed to be an Acer at Costco for $300).  But, I decided to take my existing laptop, as I did when we went to England and France last summer, when Suzette said she would help me back up my files in case I lost the laptop.  Susan started the meal with a very interesting tomato basil soup from Costco.

              

  When the entree was ready, we set the table and I opened the wine and poured.  I cannot describe how amazing Trimbach Pinot Gris “1900 Hommage À Jeanne” 2000 is.   It has every good characteristic you would want: a strong almost syrupy character, a leathery minerality and a hint of dry sweetness, while still very fresh and fruity; amazing for a 14 year old bottle of white wine.  It was a great wine and a great treat.  I bought 6 bottles when offered them by Southern Wine a couple of years ago at $37.50 a bottle and I have never regretted the purchase.  I responded to drinking Trimbach Pinot Gris “1900 Hommage À Jeanne” 2000 the way the Southern Rhone aficionados at the Taos Winter Wine Festival earlier this year responded to a vertical tasting of vintage Chateau Beaucastel, with great respect for one of the world’s great wines and a famous French family that has devoted generations to capturing the best qualities of grapes and terrior in wine.   The Trimbach family in Alsace and the Perrin family in the Rhône are both quintessential examples of the best producers of great French wine.

  

 

                The dinner was wonderful in all other aspects also.  The pasta although a bit undercooked, was very pleasant and very fresh.  We decided it needed some more lemon juice and salt, so Susan cut up a lemon and fetched the salt.  I loved the blanched and lightly sautéed asparagus combined with the shallot, herbs and pasta.  We each cut up some grilled chicken breast and added that to our pasta and served ourselves salad and bread and butter.  I loved the new dark bread baguette from Costco.   In my opinion, the wine dominated the light fresh food ingredients, which I also loved. 

 

 

After dinner I ran back to our house and fetched the other slice of Italian Cloud Cake so we could let Susan and Charlie taste it.  They loved it and we had a lively conversation with Susan about how it was made, which is still a mystery to Suzette and me.  Finally at around 10:00, after a lovely evening, we said goodnight and went home.

Bon Appétit