The First Official SWIRL of 2008

Fellow Amateurs du Vin,

The SWIRL calender begins a little later this year, with the delay in coronation until February. Nonetheless, we are off to a great start to the new year.

March 2nd, 2008 (honoring Steve and KT's birthdays): Tim and Jewel graciously hosted tonight's festivities, taking their new stove for a full test drive. The night began at 6ish, with Steve and Ruth providing the appetizers, Jewel and Tim offering the main entree, KT and Gene brought a side dish, Kay was responsible for the salad course and Barry and Suzie closing the show with desserts. The offiicial menu is as follows:


Appetizer: Beef Empanadas (two versions: one baked and one fried...both were delicious but the fried version was overwhelmingly the favorite). Steve shared a delightful salsa that was directly from Costa Rica. For an accompanying beverage: Segura Viudas Brut Rose.

Wines of the evening:
1. 2000 Chateau St. Martin de la Garrigue: Bronzinelle Coteaux du Languedoc (France)
2. 2000 Caratan, Marco Felluga: Rosso de Venezia Guila (Italy)
3. 2000 Domaine La Beguda des Papes: Chateauneuf de Pape (France)
4. 2000 Conti Sertali Salio "Canua Sforzato" Valtellina (Italy)
5. 2003 La Consulta: Cabernet Sauvignon (Argentina)

Entree: Jewel made an exquisite rabbit stew, accompanied by mashed potatoes. Gene made a green bean/roasted pepper vegetable side dish. Tim provided a near endless supply of Fleur de Lis bread to sop up the sumptious sauce that Jewel made for the rabbit. (Tim notes that this the first SWIRL in which an entire loaf of bread was consumed)

Salad: Kay made a deliciously delicate salad of living butter lettuce, sprinkled with a blue cheese from Denmark. (All remaining shards of bread were used to swipe our plates clean).

Dessert: Suzie made a delightful polenta shortbread cake, with figs, raisins and assorted spices. Barry provided a whipped cream topping for the piece de resistance. Suzie and Barry also provided a spot of limoncello to accompany this delicacy.

Verdict: yet another amazing meal, in which our cumulative culinary offerings were outstanding and the array of accompanying wines were of equal quality and married perfectly with the cuisine.

It was agreed that the next SWIRL would be at Barry and Suzie's on March 16th. We will use an Irish theme, with the entree being corned beef and we will switch our beverage choices to beers.

A promising beginning to yet another year of exceptional food and beverage.