Seafood Class June 2010

I know it’s been awhile since I blogged but hopefully it was worth the wait in between posts since this week was seafood class! Now that the cheese classes are defunct, I don’t get to go to Whole Foods too often anymore. They do have a monthly wine class but they’re always on Thursday nights when I have football practice. (http://wholefoodsmarket.com/storesbeta/st-louis/store-calendar/) Rumor has it that the instructor, Jill Aboussie, always pairs the wines with quite a few cheeses and other Whole Foods goodies during the classes, but I prefer to hold out for the real thing.
Wine Merchant in Clayton had a couple of Friday night cheese classes this month but I called too late to sign up for them. I guess I should let a few others learn how awesome cheese can be!
I have been attending Angie Ortman’s (STLWineGirl) classes at Provisions on a regular basis since those are on Tuesday nights and she has just finished her summer schedule. (http://www.stlwinegirl.com/UpcomingEvents.html) Not only does she have her regular food/wine pairings, but she will also be teaching wine and cheese pairings at The Wine and Cheese Place in Clayton on Forsyth (http://www.wineandcheeseplace.com/).
Anyway, this month’s seafood class theme was Alaskan Seafood, which we had done at some point last year so the Cod Cakes were a repeat, but it was one of my favorites so I didn’t mind. The cod cakes actually had some chipotle peppers so they had a little bit of a kick by themselves but when dipped in the mustard sauce…watch out! I think there was more than just a pinch of Cayenne pepper in them. That’ll teach me not to fill half of my plate with sauce!
We actually started with halibut tacos which was a light course. Chef Matt heated the tortilla shells so they were crispy, which made them hard to fold. I probably would have left them room temperature, especially since the tacos also had other “cool” toppings like mango, avocado, and shredded cheese.
One of my favorites for the evening was a Yukon (potato) wrapped sable fillet. I have never had sable before much less eating anything wrapped in a potato slice! The potatoes were sliced very thin (using a mandolin slicer…that’s fun to say!) so they could be wrapped around the cut of fish and held together with a kabob stick. After the kabob stick was full, he cooked them in a skillet with vegetable oil, using the stick to flip ‘em. I thought that was pretty slick.
When it came time to eat, the fish really didn’t stay inside of the potato blanket, but the fish was super tasty because it had the flavor from the potato grease. Not to mention the fish was so light and soft…it melted like butter! I definitely would be interested in trying more sable if it always tasted that light.
For the first three courses, white wines were paired, which is typical for fish, but for the salmon course, a red wine was paired and held up pretty well. The last course is always something special and this class did not disappoint. Chef Matt pulled out a full Copper River Sockeye Salmon that had been caught on Saturday and delivered on Tuesday morning! That’s pretty darn fresh for St. Louis!
Luckily the fish had already been beheaded and gutted so all Chef Matt had to do was cut the fish into steak slices. It definitely put me in the mood for some sushi! Hehe The steaks were just salted and peppered and squirted with olive oil…that’s almost something *I* could do! Even the Dijon mustard marinade (with balsamic vinegar and a heavy dose of honey) even seems like something I could handle, and it made for a very sweet topping for the salmon.
I learned that fish should only sit in marinade for fifteen minutes at most or else the fish becomes mushy. The salmon was cooked with the skin and bones to hold in the flavor so you had to be careful while eating, but the meat was so soft the bones came right out. Chef Matt said there are fewer bones from the stomach to tail than from the stomach to the head too.
Since Whole Foods does not hold classes in August, the next seafood class won’t be until September.
Even though I haven’t been going to as many classes, I haven’t been starving by any means and have been going out quite a lot lately. I took a friend who was new to the St. Louis area to one of my favorite brew houses, Trailhead Brewery on St. Charles Main Street (http://www.trailheadbrewing.com/), and I finally got to try Iron Barley (http://www.ironbarley.com/). Great steaks, incredible beer selection, but super far away.
Earlier in the month, I went to visit a friend in Ames, Iowa so I also got to make stops at Dublin Bay, which I’m pretty sure is THE Irish pub of Ames (http://www.dublinbayames.com/), and Prairie Moon Winery (http://www.prairiemoonwinery.com/). At Dublin Bay, I had “Irish nachos” for the first time…all the usual nacho goodies on top of waffle fries! Hehe At the winery, I picked out a gouda, gruyere, and an aged cheddar to bring with me and we had their sweet white, Moon Beam White. Since most of Ames is surrounded by farmland, it was nice that we didn’t have to go that far to get to it! Hehe Definitely the highlight of my trip.

Gluten-Free class

Last week, Angie held a special “Gluten Free” class and I thought the menu might be interesting to see how she creatively came up with some tasty alternatives.

This class, the topic of aging wines came up and as usual I learned something new. For red wines, the higher the tannins, the better it will age. For white wines, the higher the acid, the better it will age.

Course 1:
Vegetable Stir Fry
2009 Kung Fu girl Riesling $16.99
Washington State

I definitely found a new favorite Riesling with Kung Fu Girl which is made by Charles Smith. This was paired with a vegetable stir fry so both food and wine balanced each other nicely but neither stood out. But it’s all about what you prefer.

Course 2:
Black Bean & Shrimp Tostada
2008 La Cana Albarino $14.99
Rias Baixas, Spain

Moving to a little more kick, the black bean and shrimp tostada was spicy enough to chill out the white wine that was paired with it. The wine had a mineral taste and was too dry for me. I think the wine would have gone well with a cream sauce too.

Course 3:
Parmesan Chicken & Quinoa
2008 G.D. Vajra Dolcetto d'Alba $16.99
Piedmont, Italy

The best meal of the night was the Parmesan Chicken and Quinoa...and definitely in the top 5 of meals I've had by Chef Scott. The chicken had such a creamy, cheesy sauce…WOW. It was so good that Chef Scott has won awards for this gluten-free number using a cheese coating instead of bread crumbs. The wine that was paired with it was low in tannins but still too dry for me.

Course 4:
Open Face Chili-Cheeseburger Polenta Cake "Bun"
2007 Rombauer Zinfandel $26.99
California

I was quite happy to see that for the third course in a row, cheese was a factor in the dish! And there was NO bacon OR ham throughout the whole meal! What a treat! The chili went great with the cheese on top and polenta underneath, almost like cornbread. The sharp cheese and spices held up great with a dry red!

Course 5:
French Vanilla Creme Brulee
2005 Le Tertre du Lys D'Or Sauternes $18.99
France
Dessert was also tasty and sweet (even though it wasn’t chocolate) but unfortunately the Crème Brulee was a little runny. Something creamy was definitely required to go with the dessert wine!

Angie is already planning her summer course schedule…BBQ is next, then burgers, and beer vs wine!

Beer class at Provisions 4/27/2010

Angie, STLwinegirl (http://www.stlwinegirl.com/), took a break from the norm this month and hosted a beer and food pairing for Craft Beer Week (http://www.stlbeerweek.com/). I was hoping the beer theme would get a few new folks out to a class and I managed to get a couple of newbies. Unfortunately, the class overall was pretty small. I don’t know if it’s a busy time or year or the wine drinkers refuse to branch out?

As usual, I always learn a lot from Angie since she always does her research beforehand. Germany has the largest number of beer drinkers per capita (40 gallons per person per year) and beer is the third most popular beverage behind water and tea.

I was a little nervous with this class because I’m not the biggest beer fan and there were TWO beers paired with each course. (Yes, you all really missed out big.) Angie’s goal was to introduce an old-style beer versus a newer craft beer, which I thought was creative.

The best part of the class was the food (of course) but more specifically, the combination of the beer and food REALLY stood out…more than any wine class.

Below is the menu:

BREAKFAST:
Crab and Cheese Frittata
Saison Dupont vs. Goose Island Sofie (http://www.gooseisland.com/)

LUNCH:
Chicken Mole Enchilada
Newcastle Brown Ale vs. New Hollands Mole Ocho.

AFTERNOON SNACK:
Ham and Potato Croquettes, Meatballs, Cheese Straws
O'Haras Irish Red vs. Moylans Danny's Irish Red

DINNER:
Smoked Beef Brisket with Onion-Tomato Au Jus
Aecht Rauchbier vs. Haandbryggeriet Norwegian Wood

DESSERT:
Caramel Cheesecake
Young's Luxury Double Chocolate Stout vs. Boulevard Smokestack Dark Truth Stout

I think breakfast was one of my top favorites because like wine, I prefer lighter beers. Not that I would drink one for breakfast, but it was light enough to go well with eggs. The Saison was still too spicy for me so I prefer the milder Goose Island beer. (I normally drink the 312 so I was definitely biased there.)

I don’t know that I’ve ever had an enchilada (I’m a quesadilla kind of girl) but it was quite tasty and it made sense to pair the fuller flavored beers with it. The Newcastle was way too plain but the Mole Ocho definitely goes well with spicy foods. Woah!

Another top pairing was the smoked beef brisket with smoked beers. These two beers caused me to make the “bitter beer face” by just SMELLING them! I could barely stand to taste them! The Aecht Rauchbier actually had a bacon flavor to it! (Just when I thought I was safe from bacon on the menu!) As for the Haandbryggeriet…it tasted like leather.

Luckily both these beers tasted SO much better once paired with the food….definitely tolerable so I could swallow at least but those both immediately were handed over to my friends.
My favorite pairing probably had to be the dessert one since the cheesecake was phenomenal (and a huge slice!) to begin with. I’m not a dark beer drinker so I had my doubts about the stouts. It was a little strange that the Chocolate Stout was better by itself and yet when paired with the dessert, the Boulevard Dark Truth actually was better because it could stand up to the creaminess of the cheesecake.

This is the first class where I wasn’t able to finish my neighbor’s leftovers either! I even tried not to drink too much beer.

I still don’t have any other classes lined up since I still have a couple more months of football left, but unfortunately, there is no more monthly cheese class at Whole Foods. Luckily, the Wine Merchant still has some cheese classes but they are on the same nights at football practice. So hopefully I can pick up my class attendance in the second half of the year.

The New Chez Leon

Unfortunately, Chez Leon has closed.

I got to try out the new Chez Leon in Clayton for my Dad’s birthday earlier this month. Really it just moved from the Central West End. We selected the prie fixe meal option for $40 so we got to select courses from three different sections. (http://www.chezleon.com/Chez_Leon/__Dinner_Menu_~.html)

I decided to start with the cheese plate as an appetizer while my stepmom got escargot. The cheese plate included six or seven slices ranging from soft to hard and included quite a few crackers and dates on the side. I would have preferred larger slices myself but enjoyed the fruit. The escargot doesn’t do anything for me since it has a chewy texture like mussels.

I opted for a salad course instead of a dessert course because the cheese really could have been dessert by itself. I didn’t share any cheese, while I still was able to steal a bit of the chocolaty dessert!

The hardest part was deciding on the main course. I was torn between the filet and the veal. Luckily, my Dad ordered the veal and it was just as delicious as I had imagined. They both were excellent choices so I couldn’t go wrong.

I was a little disappointed that the restaurant really crammed the tables in and we were seated by another early table. There wasn’t much privacy or quiet but it did help for scoping out the food on the other tables. But by the time we left, there were only two small tables left so I guess it’s smart to get in as many tables as they can.

Creole Cuisine seafood class March 23rd

The theme for this month’s seafood class was Creole Cuisine so I knew I was in for some spice. We started out with oysters (paired with a sparkling wine) that came with a side of tasty jalapeño sauce - a flavorful upgrade from just tossing hot sauce on ‘em.

Next came oysters wrapped in bacon, also known as “angels on horseback”. Not sure why. I wasn’t sure which one was the angel and which one was the horse either. I was thinking maybe it should have been “angels on a piggy”? Anyway, I took the bacon off so as not to ruin the oyster part but everyone else seemed to love the combination. Luckily, my friend Ellen was there to rescue me and took my bacon away!

We finally moved on to some meatier courses after that and I have to admit that I had a hard time picking my favorite from the last three courses.

The etouffee was delicious and had quite a kick and was paired with a refreshing Riesling.

After that we took a spice break with a simple salmon filet. So soft it melted in my mouth! Michael was a little daring and paired it with a pinot noir (a red!) from Australia.

And the last course was Shrimp & Sausage gumbo. The spice was more manageable in this course and it was paired with a strong Chenin Blanc from France.