Sweet Endings

For Restaurant Week/Eric and Jon's birthday a few of us went to the Beehive, a trendy-as-hell place in the South End. It's somehow cavernous and still intimate.

The wine list here is great, with bonus points for an amazing collection of sparkling wine/champagne. Mike and I shared some Mumm Napa Prestige with oysters and a proscuitto flatbread (the wine was actually great with it, cut through the rich saltiness of the meat well), then he opted for the duck risotto (fine) and I got the hanger steak with a substitution of sage and sea salt frites (disappointing). Our dinner wines (Pinot for him, a Bodegas Tempranillo for me) were also nice and appropriate.

But the highlight of the meal was the dessert (and dessert wines) we had. Mike had the chocolate pot de creme with the Pfeiffer Muscat (an Australian dessert wine that was luscious and decadent, sweet dried fruit flavors, and a nice match with the chocolate). I had the Irish cream cheesecake with Dr. Loosen Auslese Riseling, a honeysuckle-scented glass of richness (and since the Irish cream flavor was essentially missing from the dessert, actually a great pairing too). Reminds me that I need to experiment more with dessert wines...last night, this was the perfect way to end our meal.

Two Bottles, Two Dinners

My local wine store (Kappy's in Medford, a veritable Wal-Mart of liquor) has tastings every Friday and Saturday, and I've found some delicious bottles as a result. Our wine Saturday came out of one of these tastings...I was looking for a nice Beaujolais (Morgon, probably) to lightly chill with our lamb loin chops. I stumbled on the Kris Pinot Noir, a DOC Italian wine that has great fresh fruit flavors, almost with the same juiciness you find w/ a Beaujolais. We had that, grilled asparagus, broiled lamb chops with some salt, pepper, and garlic. Great Saturday night date meal. The Kris is delicious (I would probably drink it on the first cool night in October or so...it tastes like that balance between summer and fall).

For Sunday (traditionally our "have a nice meal at home" night), I cooked swordfish steaks in foil with lime and onions, blanched green beans, and made Barefoot Contessa's potato salad with dill. We had Les Vieilles Vignes Muscadet with our fish, which picked up the nice citrus and herb elements of the meal. It's a nice sip of wine, less than $10, bracing and clean. Not super complicated, but that's the way Muscadet should be.

Lightly Chilled Beaujolais and Date Night!

Mike and I had a hell of a good time last night.

We'd gotten some lamb chops at the grocery store...which I let sit in a cup or so of Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages 2005, five or so garlic cloves (minced roughly), good olive oil, a little apple cider vinegar, some salt and pepper.

While that was marinating, I made panzanella (an Italian bread salad--the bread is toasted in olive oil--with shallots, tomatoes, cucumbers, red and green peppers, plenty of fresh basil, and a yummy mustard vinaigrette). Letting that sit, I threw the lamb chops in the broiler (if we ever get a house, a grill is absolutely a must!). We had that spread with the Louis Jadot Beaujolais, lightly chilled (maybe half an hour in the fridge). Not the most complex of wines of course, but the fruity flavors really paired nicely with the pepper and sweetness in the salad. I also liked the contrast of the intense earthiness in the lamb chops with the slightly rustic flavor of the wine. By far the best red wine drinking experience I've had in the summer months.

If you're curious, the recipe for the panzanella is here (I changed the red onions to shallots and left out the capers).