Hi all,

First I'd like to thank all you folks for the great suggestions you
always give!! I was I was that good :P

Anyways, I got another pairing for you!!

I'm playing with a 3-course menu for 7 people for New Year:

1. Start off with a couple of small appetizers whilst chilling out on
the couches! Maybe just a roquefort dip and tuna with lemon dressing,
both served with grissini. Something quite informal.

1. We continue from above but move to the table to move to the formal
side of things. Here I was planning to start the meal with 3 different
amuse bouche recipes: Buttered toast with creme fraiche and caviar
(black or red?), almond-filled dates with pancetta, and garlic soup
with pancetta served with french baguette.

2. The main dish: duck a l'orange with wild rice and cumin roasted baby
carrots. As a side salad, endives and chicorice with an orange &
walnuts dressing. Wine: Chianti Classico or Burgundy (whichever I buy
first!!)

3. Cheese plate that includes parmesan, cheddar, aged gouda, roquefort
and grapes. Wine: Bordeaux

My gut feeling tells me that the move from Chianti to Bordeaux is
smooth! I hope I'm right!

What would you guys suggest for the appetizers and amuse bouche course?

Thanks,
Max

"MaxMustermann" > wrote in
ups.com:

> Hi all,
>
> First I'd like to thank all you folks for the great suggestions you
> always give!! I was I was that good :P
>
> Anyways, I got another pairing for you!!
>
> I'm playing with a 3-course menu for 7 people for New Year:
>
> 1. Start off with a couple of small appetizers whilst chilling out on
> the couches! Maybe just a roquefort dip and tuna with lemon dressing,
> both served with grissini. Something quite informal.
>
> 1. We continue from above but move to the table to move to the formal
> side of things. Here I was planning to start the meal with 3 different
> amuse bouche recipes: Buttered toast with creme fraiche and caviar
> (black or red?), almond-filled dates with pancetta, and garlic soup
> with pancetta served with french baguette.
>
> 2. The main dish: duck a l'orange with wild rice and cumin roasted
baby
> carrots. As a side salad, endives and chicorice with an orange &
> walnuts dressing. Wine: Chianti Classico or Burgundy (whichever I buy
> first!!)
>
> 3. Cheese plate that includes parmesan, cheddar, aged gouda, roquefort
> and grapes. Wine: Bordeaux
>
> My gut feeling tells me that the move from Chianti to Bordeaux is
> smooth! I hope I'm right!
>
> What would you guys suggest for the appetizers and amuse bouche
course?
>
> Thanks,
> Max
>
>

I am not seeing red with the duck and salad, the suggestions for
Vouvray/Montlouis or similar or a Wh burgundy even work better. the
first course sounds like it would be good with champaagne as it covers a
lot of ground and varying tastes well. Starting with Champagne just
seems to lead to white with the next course.

Chianti followed by Bordeaux is not immpossiblebut the red after a white
would be nice. another idea forthe main course., Graves white, dry wine
mix of Semillion and Sauvignon Blanc I find it too be very handy with
some hard matches such as the typical American Thanksgiving dinner.

--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

As I would probably have guessed, I'm not a great fan of whites but I'm
open to suggestions.

Any alsation whites that I get my hands on?

btw... I live just opposite alsace across the rhine

Max

>Start off with a couple of small >appetizers whilst chilling out on
>the couches! Maybe just a roquefort dip >and tuna with lemon dressing,
>both served with grissini. Something >quite informal.

Well, I like to open with Champagne. Would work well with the tuna,
unsure re the dip. Other option might be off-dry Riesling (I confess to
not knowing what grissini is/are).

>1. We continue from above but move to >the table to move to the formal
>side of things. Here I was planning to >start the meal with 3 different
>amuse bouche recipes: Buttered toast >with creme fraiche and caviar
>(black or red?), almond-filled dates with >pancetta, and garlic soup
>with pancetta served with french baguette.

In order of preference, I'd say Champagne, sparkling Vouvray, Chablis,
Loire SB.

>2. The main dish: duck a l'orange with >wild rice and cumin roasted baby
>carrots. As a side salad, endives and >chicorice with an orange &
>walnuts dressing. Wine: Chianti >Classico or Burgundy (whichever I buy
>first!!)

If you go easy on the sauce, these might work. As stated in previous
thread, my preference would be off-dry white however.

>3. Cheese plate that includes parmesan, <cheddar, aged gouda, roquefort
>and grapes. Wine: Bordeaux

You might think of adding in a 375 of Sauternes for the roquefort.Just
a thought.

Mi e' parso che DaleW abbia scritto:

> Well, I like to open with Champagne. Would work well with
> the tuna, unsure re the dip. Other option might be
> off-dry Riesling (I confess to not knowing what grissini
> is/are).

Cruspy bread sticks, typically found in Piedmont and now in all
Italy.
They are often paired with cold-cuts and creamy cheeses. Here's a
small
but clear pictures, where you can have in idea of theyr size
http://foodesigns.com/register/portf...n-grissini.gif
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

Mi e' parso che Vilco abbia scritto:

> Cruspy

Pardon: "crispy"
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

As for the amuse-bouche part, I'd stay with Champagne from this first
part.

I'd rather go easy on the sauce to make a red work. The sauce has a
base of oranges and red wine though. I'll be looking into your Riesling
Kabinett or Spätlese suggestions. What do you mean by 'off-dry' and
'with some body'?

I'd rather remove the roquefort than adding an extra wine. I wouldn't
want to have 4 open bottles of wine plus another un-alcoholic champagne
(yep, need one of those too!!)

Max

MaxMustermann wrote:

> 1. We continue from above but move to the table to move to the formal
> side of things. Here I was planning to start the meal with 3 different
> amuse bouche recipes: Buttered toast with creme fraiche and caviar
> (black or red?), almond-filled dates with pancetta, and garlic soup
> with pancetta served with french baguette.


> What would you guys suggest for the appetizers and amuse bouche course?

I can not think of a single wine that would be a good match for all
three. I would serve iced vodka with the caviar, but some like a brut
Champagne. The date dish might match with a good, not too dry Madeira,
perhaps a Bual. The garlic soup is likely to kill most wines or spirits
if it has much garlic. Perhaps Gilroy garlic wine :-). If there is not
too much garlic, you might try Zubrowka, a plant flavored vodka from
Poland and elsewhere. If there is much garlic, you might try a Russian
pepper flavored vodka. If someone wishes to eat all of the dishes, they
should start with the caviar. If the garlic is strong, then next have
the dates and then the garlic soup. If the garlic is very mild, you
might want to reverse this order.

If the garlic is very strong, the taste may still linger into the next
course or two, so it might clash with some wines even then.

"I'll be looking into your Riesling
Kabinett or Spätlese suggestions. What do you mean by 'off-dry' and
'with some body'? "

By off-dry I mean some sweetness, but no where near dessert level. So
typical Kab/Spatlese (not trocken or halbtrocken, not a Spatlese from a
really ripe warm year).
By some body I mean not an etherreally light Mosel, for instance.

"DaleW" > skrev i melding
oups.com...
>By off-dry I mean some sweetness, but no where near dessert level. So
>typical Kab/Spatlese (not trocken or halbtrocken, not a Spatlese from a
>really ripe warm year).
>By some body I mean not an etherreally light Mosel, for instance.
It sounds like a 'feinherb' (the driest of the sweet wines) from Rheinpfalz
of 2002 or 2004.

But I'm not sure I'd want a white for this dish. The Chianti sounds fine to
me.
Hugh Johnson suggests Sauternes for a duck with oranges, however???
Anders

On 19 Dec 2005 09:15:45 -0800
" > wrote:

]
] MaxMustermann wrote:
]
] > 1. We continue from above but move to the table to move to the formal
] > side of things. Here I was planning to start the meal with 3 different
] > amuse bouche recipes: Buttered toast with creme fraiche and caviar
] > (black or red?), almond-filled dates with pancetta, and garlic soup
] > with pancetta served with french baguette.
]
]
] > What would you guys suggest for the appetizers and amuse bouche course?
]
] I can not think of a single wine that would be a good match for all
] three. I would serve iced vodka with the caviar, but some like a brut
] Champagne. The date dish might match with a good, not too dry Madeira,
] perhaps a Bual. The garlic soup is likely to kill most wines or spirits
] if it has much garlic. Perhaps Gilroy garlic wine :-). If there is not
] too much garlic, you might try Zubrowka, a plant flavored vodka from
] Poland and elsewhere. If there is much garlic, you might try a Russian
] pepper flavored vodka. If someone wishes to eat all of the dishes, they
] should start with the caviar. If the garlic is strong, then next have
] the dates and then the garlic soup. If the garlic is very mild, you
] might want to reverse this order.
]
] If the garlic is very strong, the taste may still linger into the next
] course or two, so it might clash with some wines even then.
]

A trick to lessen the lasting effect of the garlic while retaining
flavor is to simmer it in milk, adding liquid as necessary, for
an hour or so.

Brut champagne would be my choice for the starters. For the
duck, since no one else has mentioned it, I recommend a good
Cabernet Franc from the Loire. How about Ch. Hureau Saumur-Champigny?

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies

Emery Davis > wrote in
:



> Brut champagne would be my choice for the starters. For the
> duck, since no one else has mentioned it, I recommend a good
> Cabernet Franc from the Loire. How about Ch. Hureau Saumur-Champigny?
>
> -E

Excellent suggestion Emery and one I would normally make for duck but for
the orange sauce which frankly always causes me to run the other way. I can
see a move from a Loire red to Bordeaux as an easy transition.

--
Joseph Coulter
Cruises and Vacations
http://www.josephcoulter.com/

Jeez! All great suggestions!

I'm probably settling for the following:

1. Appetizers/amuse-bouche: champagne
2. Main course: Chablis Masion Thorin 2003
3. Cheeses: Bordeaux

btw... I opened a bottle of bordeaux and tried it with Old Amsterdam.
Good but I have a feeling that parmesan and aged gouda will be a better
match

Max

In message .com>
"MaxMustermann" > wrote:

> Jeez! All great suggestions!
>
> I'm probably settling for the following:
>
> 1. Appetizers/amuse-bouche: champagne
> 2. Main course: Chablis Masion Thorin 2003
> 3. Cheeses: Bordeaux
>
> btw... I opened a bottle of bordeaux and tried it with Old Amsterdam.
> Good but I have a feeling that parmesan and aged gouda will be a better
> match
>
> Max
>
If you can get it, try some really mature Cheddar — Montgomery 18
month matured is wonderful with Bordeaux — well with Saint-Emilion
anyway!

Timothy Hartley

On Mon, 19 Dec 2005 15:02:32 -0600
jcoulter > wrote:

] Emery Davis > wrote in
] :
]
]
]
] > Brut champagne would be my choice for the starters. For the
] > duck, since no one else has mentioned it, I recommend a good
] > Cabernet Franc from the Loire. How about Ch. Hureau Saumur-Champigny?
] >
] > -E
]
] Excellent suggestion Emery and one I would normally make for duck but for
] the orange sauce which frankly always causes me to run the other way. I can
] see a move from a Loire red to Bordeaux as an easy transition.
]

Need one with enough depth of fruit to stand up to the orange sauce.
A hot year might help, too. But overall I find these fabulously versatile
even with tough matches.

Also forgot to condemn the choice of Roquefort with Bordeaux.
Mike just suggested a Salers, that's a very fine choice.

Or, use a Montlouis demi-sec and you can have your Roquefort and
Salers, too!

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies

"MaxMustermann" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hi all,
>
> First I'd like to thank all you folks for the great suggestions you
> always give!! I wish I was that good :P
>
> Anyways, I got another pairing for you!!
>
> I'm playing with a 3-course menu for 7 people for New Year:
>
> 1. Start off with a couple of small appetizers whilst chilling out on
> the couches! Maybe just a roquefort dip and tuna with lemon dressing,
> both served with grissini. Something quite informal.
>
> 1. We continue from above but move to the table to move to the formal
> side of things. Here I was planning to start the meal with 3 different
> amuse bouche recipes: Buttered toast with creme fraiche and caviar
> (black or red?),

Beluga or Sevruga (IOW black) Serve with Champagne. It's a classic
combination.

almond-filled dates with pancetta, and garlic soup
> with pancetta served with french baguette.

I think you can forget about wine with those. Maybe dry sherry with the
soup, if you must.

> 2. The main dish: duck a l'orange with wild rice and cumin roasted baby
> carrots. As a side salad, endives and chicorice with an orange &
> walnuts dressing. Wine: Chianti Classico or Burgundy (whichever I buy
> first!!)

Duck with Chianti, Burgundy or Bordeaux sounds fine. I'm not so sure about
the orange sauce though.

> 3. Cheese plate that includes parmesan, cheddar, aged gouda, roquefort
> and grapes. Wine: Bordeaux

Vintage Port would be a much better match with those cheeses than would
Bordeaux - especially in the case of the Roquefort. You might also
substitute Stilton for the Roquefort and crumbling the latter into the
salad.

BTW, oddly enough, wine doesn't go all that well with grapes.

> My gut feeling tells me that the move from Chianti to Bordeaux is
> smooth! I hope I'm right!

It would be fine - but with the main course - not the cheese plate.

HTH

Tom S
www.chateauburbank.com