We celebrated an anniversary dinner with the K's which also turned out to be a celebration that Hurricane Iselle bypassed Oahu. I'm not sure if Madame Pele had a hand in repelling Iselle from the rest of the major islands but I'm glad that the outcome was better than predicted. Of course the impending hurricane did alter my cooking plans a little.I originally planned on purchasing oxtail from Costco to make my oxtail ragu pasta but after the seeing the feeding frenzy for bottled water, gasoline and dried goods, decided to skip the trip to Costco. I also planned on smoking pork to to place on guacamole and taro hash cakes (copying Gooch's smoked pork on ulu latkes at the Chef Friends Collaboration Dinner at MW) but assumed that it would be rainy and windy on Saturday which are less than ideal smoking conditions so that dish was also nixed. So we started our grocery shopping for Saturday's dinner on Friday pretty much doing a "cuisine du marche" or selecting whatever the local supermarket offered. We started the evening with a bottle of Paul Bara Grand Rose.
Then moved on to a Godme Blanc de Noirs.
With Wild Boar Salami by Creminelli (I couldn't tell you it was wild boar if i didn't know any better).
And Homemade Pickled Beets
Our main course being a Moroccan Braised Lamb with carrots and parsnips and Israeli couscous.
I wanted to pair this dish with an Amarone - specifically a 1997 Zenato Amarone but couldn't find that bottle in my storage unit so I settled for a 2010 Kosta Browne Koplen Vineyard Pinot Noir.
And since Ms C never sampled my Caramelized Onion Foie Gras tartlets, we did a quick trip to R Fields for a couple of slices of frozen foie gras.
And with foie gras, you HAVE to have a nice Sauternes so I uncorked a 2001 Chateau Rabaud-Promis. The 2001 vintage was a phenomenal vintage and since this was still a baby at only 12 and 1/2 years old, it still had good acidity to cleanse the palate.
I also made my Caprese Crostini with tomato confit, freshly made basil pesto and burrata.
The braised lamb was paired with 2 sides, a Spicy Roasted Cauliflower (slathered with spiced Greek-style yogurt and roasted whole at 400 degrees).
And a Pea Panzanella with croutons created by our good friend Sponge Bob. This is a great summertime side dish that was created by NapaStyle's Michael Chiarello.
E roasted some Kobe steaks
With mushrooms and onions
With Okinawan Sweet Potato Mash
And since man (and woman) can't live by meat alone, we also uncorked a bevy of reds including a 2007 Checkerboard Napa Valley Red (bowing to the owners who decided to uncork this beauty).
A 2005 La Jota Vineyards Cabernet Franc
A 2001 Caymus Vineyards Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
A 2008 29 Estate Cabernet Franc
And as a counterpoint to these BIG CA reds, a 2001 Chateau Sociando-Mallet Haut Medoc
We finished the evening with the Tatsumoto Family Secret Lemon Pound Cake
And assorted desserts from The Alley
Another great meal with good wines and most importantly, GREAT friends! Happy Anniversary to our friends, the K's wishing you many more! Though the hurricane(s) may have altered some of my original cooking plans, it all worked out in the end. Already looking forward to breaking bread again with the gang!
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