March 31, 2018 Lunch – The Shed, wine tasting, Seder at Carole and Mark’s house

March 31, 2018 Lunch – The Shed,  wine tasting,  Seder at Carole and Mark’s house

In the morning we made 20 deviled eggs for tonight’s Seder at Carole  and Mark’s house.   The filling was the yolks mixed with mayonnaise, mustard, and fresh dill.  We delivered the eggs on our way to Santa Fe with a bottle of Gruet Brut Rose.

We drove to a Santa Fe and met with Ernesto Mayans regarding a picture, then drove to The Shed for lunch.  I ordered my usual, blue corn enchiladas filled with ground beef with red chili and double Posole.  Suzette ordered a marinated green bean salad and we each drank a Negra Modelo. We also ordered a mocha cake to be removed from the freezer so it would thaw.  Everything was delicious, but we took some marinated green beans with us for later consumption.

Here are The Shed’s Red Chili Sauce and Mocha Cake recipes, if you want to replicate them at home.



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We drove to Stephen’s Consignment to inquire about the provenance of the Haddock but Stephen was not there.  Suzette purchased two fabulous hats.  Here she is wearing one of them.

A little before 2:00 we drove to the Santa Fe School of Cooking at the corner of Guadalupe and Johnson street for a wine tasting seminar sponsored by the Chile and Wine Festival.  The instructor was a master sommelier named Tim Gaiser.  Aaron met us and attended also.  The seminar was interesting but just scraped the surface of professional wine tasting. It went through the various attributes of wine and we tasted six lovely wines that fully expressed their grape variety.  Here is the sheet with the wines and the tasting categories that were covered. Mr. Gaiser, who lives in Rio Rancho, has a website that is printed on the material so you can access his blog.

When the seminar ended a little after 5:00 we drove to Carole and Mark’s house in Rio Rancho for their seder.  We met Judith and Micheal, and Wendy, who cooked the meal, and Rachel, who we had met at Hanukkah.  We joined them on the back patio for appetizers of chicken liver and the deviled eggs.

I poured the pink rose.  As the sun set we went inside for the Seder.  Mark led us through the whole ceremony.  With lots of responsive reading.  Rachel sang the prayers beautifully.  It was like we were in another world; the world of the ancient rituals of the Children of Israel.

Dinner was served after the service.  We started with my favorite, gefilte fish and horseradish.  Then we ate the main course.  Wendy had made a very traditional meal of roast leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots with lemon and a green herb dressing, and Rachel made kugel custards.  We drank Chateau Pitray, a red Bordeaux.

Château de Pitray 2012 Premier Vin (Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux)
90
POINTS
Editors’ Choice
   
A selection from the best grapes and parcels, this is a dense, firm wine with both great tannins and dark fruits. Acidity gives a lift to the dry core of the wine and brings out the black currant fruits. Wood aging is still showing, so the wine needs time. Drink from 2017.

PRICE $17,  Buy Now
DESIGNATION Premier Vin
VARIETY Bordeaux-style Red Blend
APPELLATION Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
WINERY Château de Pitray

The most interesting part of the meal for me was dessert, which was broken pieces of matzo dipped in toffee and then coated with chocolate and garnished with either crushed macadamia nuts or cashews.  There were also chocolate coconut macaroons.  We drank decaf coffee with dessert to try to get enough caffeine in me to drive home.

The day’s activity had worn us out and the multicultural array of food and wine had left our stomachs a little queasy.  Too many good things will sometimes do that.

Bon Appetit