December 31, 2017 Brunch – New Recipe Flourless Quiche with bacon, tomatoes and Spinach New Year’s Eve Dinner at Gruet Winery

December 31, 2017 Brunch – New Recipe Flourless Quiche with bacon, tomatoes and Spinach  New Year’s Eve Dinner at Gruet Winery

The best, most creative dish I ate today was The Quiche Suzette made for brunch.  It was creative because instead of a pastry dough crust Suzette linked the bottom of the Quiche with crisp, fried bacon.  She made her usual filling of eggs, milk, and grated Swiss Emmenthaler and Manchego cheeses.  She then added spinach to the filling and topped the Quiche with slices of Roma tomato to add to the Quiche green and red contrasting colors.



I ate two pieces, it was so delicious.  We shared the bottle of Cruse Blanc de Blanc Brut Sparkling wine that Bill and Regina brought us on Christmas Eve.  We both decided that the wine was a little sweet and it would make a perfect mimosa, which was recommended on the back label, so I squeezed about two T. of orange juice from a navel orange and added 4 tsp. of orange juice to each glass.  It made the wine much more delicious as a mimosa.

After breakfast I took down the last fifteen or twenty luminarias and stored them in the garage for next year.

The I watched the dreadful finish to the Cowboys’ season as the managed to score only 6 points on a Philadelphia team that was doing little more than going through the motions, waiting for their by









week of the playoffs.

When the game ended at 2:00 we took a one hour nap.  We were awakened by a call from Wily who wanted to come pick up the Prius and pick up a bottle of champagne. For a New Year’s Eve Party.  He didn’t care how inferior the champagne was so I gave him a bottle of Asti Spumante and a bootle of Wilson Winery Almond Sparkling wine that Suzette bought years ago.
After Willy left, Suzette then cut my hair and eye brows, which is bi-monthly treat.  I felt wonderful with less of a mane.

We then dressed and after watching the late NFL games, drove to Gruet, arriving just at 7:00.  The club room was set with about 60 to 70 chairs around circular tables that seated 8 each.  The room was quite lovely lit mainly by candles places in the center of each table and the light that filtered into the dining room from the aging area behind glass.

Here is a picture of the room.

Soon our table guests arrived, Mike and Amelia Murphy and their friend Katie on one side and Ron and Barbara on the other.  Katie’s husband had become ill and could not attend.

Mike and Amelia live just north of the north riverside drain just north of where Tramway meets 4thSt. near the river.  He was telling me about a new Winery that is planned for the abutting property which he is opposing due to a plan to make it a high intensity commercial development.  He is fighting the commercial development at the winery on the basis of access and I gave him a suggestion.

The meal included five courses and four wines.  The first course was a lovely appetizer plate with

prosciutto wrapped around slices of cantaloupe and honey dew melon on one side of the plate and an approximately 3 oz. pile of white lump crab meat served with a spicy cocktail sauce on the other side
of the plate.  We were served a half glass of Blanc de Blanc  Sauvage NV, which was bone dry.

Tasting Notes
100% Chardonnay. No dosage. Gruet Sauvage Non Vintage is a bone-dry sparkler, pale straw in color with a delicate but persistent mousse. The minerally aromas and flavors of bright citrus pair well with oysters, sushi and cream sauces.

Winemaking Notes
Varietal Blend: 100% Chardonnay
pH: 3.05

Alcohol: 12%
Vineyards: American


Oak: Bottle Aged
Fining: Sterile Pads
Aging: Aged en Tirage for a minimum of 24 months

After we finished our appetizer and glass of Sauvage, we were poured a library wine made especially by Laurent with 75% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir juice and aged four years on the lies.  It was incredibly creamy, with a hint of yeastiness.

Shortly thereafter we were served a bowl of lobster bisque.  I could tell that the chef had used frozen lobster meat instead of broiling a fresh lobster, but there was lots of lobster and the flavor of the soupwas really good.  This was the best course for me.

A little later we were served a very interesting salad of mixed greens garnished with a fluffy swirl of creamed goat cheese, and dabs of black lumpfish caviar and guacamole.  This was Suzette’s favorite dish.

Then a newly released Gruet 2015 red blend was poured.  It is the same general percentages of juice as the 2012, except the 2015 includes some Mourvèdre juice.  Here is the 2012 blend:

Winemaking Notes
Vintage: 2012

Varietal Blend: 80% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc
pH: 3.74
TA: .48 g/l
Alcohol: 14.5%

The entrée was then served and everyone was disappointed.  It was a couple of small beef entrecôte that resembled and were almost as hard as a hockey puck with four steamed stalks of asparagus garnished with a crab and cream sauce that was bland, a pile of tricolor rice sautéed with slices of mushroom, and ½ of a dinner roll.  Suzette would not eat her meat at all. I ate one entrecôte to my
regret.

The meal was catered by Whole Food and it appears that they prepared the entrée in their commissary and then brought it and kept it warm for the 1 ½ duration of the first three courses during which time the meat and rice dried out.  It was a very disappointing dish.

The red blend was just okay.  Although it has garnered tasting grades of 88 to 89 points, I was not blown away with it the way I am with Gruet’s sparkling offerings.

After the entrée was cleared we were each poured a half glass of Demi-sec, which was quite lovely.  Here are its
Winemaking Notes
Varietal Blend: 50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay
pH: 3.10
RS: 2.5% g/l
Alcohol: 12%
Vineyards: American
Oak: Bottle Aged
Fining: Sterile Pads
Aging: Aged en Tirage for a minimum of 24 months

Desserts were then served, a small glass filled with a raspberry flavored whipped cream with some threads of orange zest and topped with a couple of fresh raspberries.  Pleasant, if you like eating whipped cream for dessert, but rather unexciting.  Perhaps it was well that the dessert was unappetizing because I was full and did not need to eat any more.  Although I ate a couple of
spoonfuls of cream with a berry.

We left shortly after the wait staff removed the dessert and glasses at around 9:30.

As we walked out we were given a triple bottle carton with two Gruet champagne glasses and a bottle of Gruet Brut .

We arrive home at. 9:52, just in time to see the ball fall at Times Square and kiss to wish a happy new year.

Suzette rang in the New Year with a few Buffet’s chocolates and a glass of cognac.  I ate a small bowl of yogurt topped with some of Suzette’s blueberry Quince syrup/compote.

I went to bed around 10:30 after an attempt to get into the hot tub was aborted due to high wind.

I slept several hours, but was awakened by a stomach ache that lasted several hours.

Alas, not a great meal, food wise, although a very adequate meal from the perspective of the wine.

Happy New Year and Bon Appetit