On Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:51:00 -0800, "Bob Terwilliger"
> wrote:

>Tonight Christine was gracious enough to invite guests over to her new
>apartment for a Southern dinner. Lin and I got there early enough to help
>with some of the light work, but Christine already had everything well under
>control, so there wasn't much for us to do.
>
>Right off the bat, Christine offered us bacon-pecan pralines (with a bit of
>orange zest) and our choice of cocktails. (Translation: She plied us with
>liquor under the guise of determining which cocktail went better with the
>pralines. :-)) The two cocktail choices were (1) ginger ale with bourbon and
>(2) iced tea and lemonade with bourbon. Being designated driver, I tried
>only tiny sips of each, and thought that the ginger ale drink went better
>with the pralines, but the iced tea drink would be more welcome as a
>thirst-quencher.

It didn't hurt that the bourbon was Maker's Mark either. Very
smooth.
>
>When the other guests arrived,

My husband and I were the "other diners". Bob, it was the second time
I've had the opportunity to chat with your lovely wife in person and
the first time I've met you. WOW, you *don't* bite. LOLOL! She has
you well trained, my man. Hopefully we can all get together soon.

>they also tried the praline-cocktail
>combination and voiced their devout approval.

Oh, yes - and I still want that recipe! It's breakfast, it's an
appetizer, it's dessert! Sky will love it.... everything is better
with bacon.

>Then we sat down and Christine
>presented a wonderful repast in courses:
>
>The first course was a black-eyed pea cake (think "crabcake," only with
>black-eyed peas instead of crab) with "comeback" sauce. The "comeback" sauce
>is a nicely tangy mixture based in part on mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.
>The combination was crunchy, full-flavored, and altogether delightful.

Deelucious! Yum, yum, yum.
>
>The second course was a salad with red leaf lettuce, tangerine slices,
>chiogga beets, and pomegranate seeds, with a citrus dressing. (Did it have
>pecans or walnuts in there? I'm probably forgetting some of the ingredients.
>Mea culpa.) The salad was crisp, refreshing, and delicious,

Loved the salad and that dressing was to die for! I like pomegranate
seeds, but they seem to like me too much... they get stuck between my
teeth and that's hard to do because my teeth are very close together.

>especially along
>with the white wine (a Viognier) which had been brought by one of the other
>guests.

I brought the wine. Maybe it was me, but I won't buy that brand
again. Love Viognier, but not that one.
>
>The main course was stunning: A skin-on pork shoulder roast had been studded
>with bay leaves and cooked through. Then the bay leaves were removed, and
>the skin (along with the subcutaneous fat) was taken off in one large piece.
>That large piece of skin and fat went back into the hot oven and got roasted
>until it was crisp.

A particular favorite of hubby's.

>Each serving of the luscious bay-scented roast pork was
>served with a chunk of crisp pork skin and a scoop of spoonbread. To take it
>*completely* over the top, Christine ladled on a sauce made from red wine,
>butter, chanterelles, and other wild mushrooms.

May I have seconds?
>
>The finale to the meal was a lemon chess pie topped with freshly-whipped
>cream. Most of the diners had never had any kind of chess pie before, and
>now find themselves enthusiastic fans of it. The cream was from a local
>dairy, the same one which provides cream to the renowned Chez Panisse.
>
The pie was sooo lemony! Yummers.

>It was all too soon when Lin and I said our goodbyes and embarked on the
>trek home. Thanks, Christine, for an exceptional and memorable meal!
>
Yes, thank you Chris. It was a lovely evening that ended all too
soon. Thanks for posting the wonderful recap, Bob. I can only say
DITTO.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.