Happy New Year

It has been an eventful Christmas and New Year's from a food and wine perspective. Received some excellent wines from the relatives for Christmas. More on these bottles when I open them up.

The tennis party of Champagne and paella was great. We had  bottles of Pol Roger and Monopole. We also had a Jaime Serra Cristolino cava. The champagnes were fine, nothing special. Liked the cava the best. Created a new rift on the caesar salad. I steamed some 2 pound lobsters and and took out the meat. I then tossed the meat with the romaine lettuce and dressing. A classic and so simple.

Received a new pizza stone for Christmas. Bright red  14.5 inch round from Emile Henry, France. Tried it and the pizza came out nicely crisped. Pizza hint--- put the cheese on before the sauce. Just don't cover the entire crust with cheese. Place the sauce where there is no cheese.

New Year's eve dinner was my favorite. We picked up a whole Peking Duck at the Peking
Duck House in Chinatown in NY. We also bought some dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. It was the first time we have been to Joe's. We then bought some ribs from NY Noodletown, an old standby. I bought some greens and baby bok choi from a street vendor. We brought it all home. Started cooking around 7pm. Opened a bottle of Duc de Romet champagne. Great bottle. It received vg reviews from the Wine Spectator and the Wine Advocate. Paid $30.

For dessert I made a hot passion fruit souffle with passion fruit whipped cream. This is a recipe that I have adapted from other types of souffles. I use concentrated passion fruit juice from Aunt Lillikoi a small business on Kauai. We discovered the shop when we were in Kauai and now my wife gets me the juice for my birthday. Easily shipped and relatively inexpensive.

We decided to open up a Sauterne with the souffle. I was able to obtain 2 half bottles of 2001 Chateau de Rieussac several years ago. It was the Wine Spectator No. 1 wine of the year several years back and they rated it a perfect 100. Never before had a wine rated 100. Truthfully the wine was good but didn't knock our socks off. We finished half the bottle on New Year's eve and the other half the next night. The wine was golden and honey like with a nice finish.

We have been drinking a few more 2009 beaujolais's and the I must say that they are good but not as good as the all of the hype suggests. Try the Deboeuf 2009 Jean Descombes Morgon. Just found it for $12. It is as good as they can be.

Wine of the Week

2008 Tukma malbec from Argentina. About $12. The WA recently gave the wine a 91.It outclassed a 2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva . We had the bottles for Christmas dinner.The Muga is a favorite of mine so it says alot about the Tukma. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find another bottle of the Tukma.

Hope 2011 is a great year for everyone.