Friday Night Dinner

Flavor's also has a Friday Night Dinner--5 courses with wine pairing for $49.95. The dinner is served family-style and it's a much smaller gathering. On this particular night, there were just 8 of us and we got to have a great conversation while sharing fabulous food and wine.

 

Gateaux De Crabe--Sauteed Dungeness Crab Cakes Served Atop Crispy Pasta Wafers Garnished with Organic Arugula, Pesto and Saffron Aioli served with 2007 Iron Horse Ocean Reserve, Green Valley of Russian River Valley. The crab cakes were full of crab and had little filling--just the way it should be. The aioli was garlicky and delicious.

 

Gnocchi De Patate Douce--Served in Crispy Sage Butter, Roasted Local Organic Mushrooms & Parmigiano-Reggiano served with 2011 Zuivire Sauvignon Blanc from Dry Creek Valley

 

Canard Cannelloni--Pasta Cannelloni Filled with Duck Confit Topped with Garlic Herb Veloute & Bechamel Sauce with 2010 La Follete Pinot Noir, North Coast. This was the best dish of the evening. The pasta was amazing and the La Follette Pinot was delicious. It's so smooth and was a perfect pairing with the pasta.

 

 

Steak Frites--Marinated Flat Iron Steak Served in a Lyonnaise Sauce Garnished with Garlic Pommes Frites and Three Cheese "Pot de Creme" served with 2007 Hall Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley.

 

Poire Napoleon--Chardonnay Poached Pear Layered with Bittersweet Chocolate Phyllo Wafers and Vanilla served with 2010 Novy "Oley" Late Harvest Viognier, Russian River Valley

2012 09 07

Thursday Night Dinner--9/6/2012

Sorry for the lack of posts the last few weeks. I had a computer glitch, which was finally fixed by my sister--I'm so fortunate to have an in-house IT expert.

This was the dinner line-up for September 6, 2012.

 

Gamberoni Con Couscous--Grilled Marinated Jumbo Prawns Garnished with Citrus-Herb Couscous and Garlic-Lemon Extra Virgin Olive Oil served with 2010 Louis Jadet Macon Villages from Burgundy, France. I just love the shrimp--it's perfectly cooked, so flavorful and works well with the couscous.

 

Ravioli D'Anatra--Duck Filled Ravioli Served in a Sugo D'Aglio Flavored with Tomato-Olive Confit served with 2007 St. Francis Merlot from Sonoma County. So good! Flavor's does an amazing job with their pastas and I always wipe the plate clean.

 

Agnello Alla Griglia--Grilled Marinated Lamb Loin Chops Served in a Cannellini Bean Ragout Flavored with Sweet Basil Pesto and Garnished with "Mediterranean Chips" served with 2010 Artezin Zinfandel from Mendocino. Mediterranean Chips are deep fried garlic pieces.

 

Bomba Di Bianco E Nera--Italian Style "Ice Cream Float" with Homemade Vanilla & Chocolate Gelato Topped with Espresso, Chantilly Cream and Chocolate-Almond Gremolata served with 2010 Ceretto Moscato D'Asti from Piemonte, Italia

2012 09 06

Tahoe Brunch

This is an easy egg recipe and everyone loves how light the egg is.

 

Mix all ingredients and let sit for at least an hour before baking.

 

The final product.

Tahoe Brunch

8 slices white bread, sliced, crust removed

3 Tbs. olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

½ lb. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

Salt and pepper

1 ½ lbs mild Italian sausage

½ lb grated cheddar cheese

5 eggs

2 ½ cups low fat milk

1 tsp Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning

2 Tbs. chopped parsley

Spray 13 x 9 inch casserole with oil. Place bread in single layer. In skillet, heat oil and brown onions and mushrooms. Season to taste. Set aside.

Brown sausage and add to mushroom/onion mixture. Layer on top of bread. Add cheese.

In bowl, mix eggs, spices and milk. Pour over casserole and refrigerate at least an hour. Sprinkle with parsley.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.



2012 09 02

Anderson Valley

Anderson Valley on Hwy 128 is gorgeous. It includes the tiny communities of Yorkville, Boonville, Philo and Navarro. There are so many wineries to explore. This time, we visited just 3 of them: Husch, Navarro & Handley Cellars. All 3 had complimentary tastings and Handley's had food and wine pairings.

Adorable tasting room at Husch.

The vineyards at Navarro.

Each of these wineries also have picnic tables. It's nice to stop, sample the wine and have a nice picnic.

 

 

2012 09 02

Cap'n Flint's

Fort Bragg is the largest city on the Mendocino coast. We were there running some errands and got hungry at lunch. We thought we'd try Cap'n Flint's but we should've waited until we got to Mendocino. Fried food is the specialty.

 

Popcorn Shrimp for $8. The breading was standard--nothing too flavorful.

 

Large Clam Chowder for $6. This was on the thin side, skimpy on the clams and needed more flavor.

 

 

2012 09 01

Ledford House

We went to the Mendocino coast for the weekend and had dinner at the Ledford House in Albion. It sits right at the water's edge and has a nice view of the ocean. The sunsets are spectacular.

They have a nightly Bistro Speical--3 courses for $30. Whenever chicken is on the menu, I order it because it is always so moist and tender. Tony, the owner, makes the bread. Tonight, there was seeded bread and sourdough. They're so good I usually go through 2 baskets of them.

The first course was Fennel Salad with Olives. It needed a little more flavor.

 

Roast Garlic Chicken Breast with Duck Fat Potatoes and Basil Aioli. This was so moist and flavorful. I love the aioli--very garlicky and tasty.

 

Dark Chocolate Pudding.

 

 

2012 08 31

Monkey Bread

I love Monkey Bread and it's so easy to make.

 

Cut refrigerated biscuit dough into quarters and roll into a ball.

 

Final product. Peel off and enjoy!

Monkey Bread

2 (16 oz) packages refrigerated biscuit dough

1/3 cup white sugar

1 Tbs ground cinnamon

¼ cup butter

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan.

Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into quarters. Shake 6-8 biscuit pieces in the cinnamon sugar mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan. Arrange nuts and raisins in and among the biscuit pieces.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over biscuits.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Do not cut! Pull the bread apart and enjoy.



2012 09 02