John and Kendra were the first to invite us over since my return from CO. This is a severe departure from my usual Good Friday routine (dinner with former members of Cheers and the all-important start of Vodka Season) as we have postponed our annual dinner to April 9th.
The good news: I only needed to prepare an appetizer. The bad news: I chose risotto. So did Kendra. Ugh. How could this happen?!? They were planning on grilling -- who accompanies grilled warm-weather food with risotto (why was I doing it, you ask? See prior posts about Donna's endorphin rush when I use "in-inventory" ingredients).
A little good-natured teasing about the risotto cook-off (my good nature completely depending on everyone thinking mine was superior, of course) and we decided to split the two offerings into courses. Kendra's had shrimp and corn (an unusual crunchy combo that worked nicely) and mine was with exotic mushrooms and truffle oil. After repeatedly pointing out that I used homemade stock (Kendra used canned), the crowd was on board with my need for approval and assured me that mine was better. The truth mattered not -- I was only interested in winning, no matter how false a victory.
We also had filet mignon on the grill, accompanied by a "left rack" bottle of Chateau Leoville Las Cases St. Julien, 1998. It was excellent. We started with a bottle of Franciscan Merlot and a bottle of Catena Malbec, both of which were quaffable, but not in the same plane of existence with the Leoville. The riesling Kendra served with the onion tart (which I disrespected by calling it a quiche -- I apologised to both the cook and the creation, then ate a second piece) was phenomenal, but I neglected to write down the name. It was memorable.
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