Good Morning, Culinary Sunday followers!!! Hopefully everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend! We had 54 hits yesterday alone, which may be an all-time one-day high for us, so I'm really excited to hear if anyone made anything in particular for Easter! (Also... shout out to the hits from Kuwait... once again, assuming its the men and women serving our country, so thanks for all you do!)
We had a fabulous meal this week! We wanted something light but full of flavor and decided to go the salad route to see if it could "fill" us for a dinner. It was spectacular!
Cocktail - Strawberry-Basil Margarita
This cocktail was more a "cleaning out the fridge" type of cocktail. We combined last week's strawberries with the extra basil in the fridge, added tequila, triple sec, and lime juice and blended with some crushed ice. It was a delicious margarita! And you don't taste the tequila, for those wimps out there. :-)
Appetizer - Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Delicious! A warm, comfy, velvety soup with a great creamy texture and slight kick that sneaks up on you. Just be careful when frying those walnuts. Jenn had a little visit from the Norwalk FD when the smoke detector suddenly went off.
Appetizer Soup - 2010 Petit Bourgeois Sauvignon Blanc
This fabulous French white is fermented in stainless steel giving it a great minerality but has some great roundness and depth. You smell fresh flowers and grass, with crisp green apples and citrus on the palate. The grassiness gives it almost a Sancerre taste. This was a great wine, but we didn't realize the soup would have a spicy kick, so if we paired again, I would go with a Riesling for the soup. Overall, lovely drinking white!
Entrée - Seared Duck Breast, Mixed Greens, Walnut and Goat Cheese Salad with Diced Apples and Blackberry Vinaigrette
Isn't that a thing of beauty?!?! This was incredible! Let's break it down. First, make the dressing in advance. It's rather easy and it is finger-licking good! This will go great on any salad! When ready to eat, simply cook the duck (I'm thinking maybe add a little spice rub for a kick of extra flavor and depth), and then while it rests, combine all the greens and plate. It's actually really easy. The flavor was great, the crisp of the apples against the melting goat cheese with the succulent duck breast - divine! You can definitely expect us to put more salads on the menu with the upcoming summer!
Entrée Wine - 2010 Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel
Okay, so in case you were every wondering what my "everyday drinking wine" is - here you go. My fail safe is the Bogle vineyard line - normally their Petit Syrah. (Soooo good!) So when we decided on working with a Zinfandel for our meal, I figured what the heck - may as well give old faithful a try! It did not disappoint! It had bold and vibrant notes of blackberry and raspberry. On the palate, the strong berries mixed with spice and what seemed like some tar or tobacco. It had full-bodied but smooth tannins that resulted in a lingering and lush finish. Delicious wine!
Dessert - Limoncello Cheesecake
I could eat this all day, every day. The best cheesecake we have made - hands down. (And I consider myself a cheesecake Queen, so this was hard for me to admit.) Jennifer nailed this one! The flavor was incredible, the texture was soft and creamy, but the best part - the biscotti bread crumbs. Light years difference between that and regular graham crumbs. And the best part was - she found a fantastic lemon biscotti that just worked so well. If you can find it, you must use it:
So there you go! Another delicious meal from start to finish! And a salad to boot!
Next week will be a lot of fun. (And a step back from this healthy kick.) John's nephew from Holland is visiting, so we're creating a menu just for him. So what does Holland not have that he can experience here in the States? How about my favorite (and based on the hits we get... your favorite, too) - Southern style BBQ???
Next Week - Southern Comfort Small Plates
glad you had a nice Easter meal. all your meals are wonderful! i love to cook and thought i did pretty well til ive been seeing what you guys cook! the kids were all home so it was nice and we checked in on marks parents and sisters. enjoy your evening!
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