Sorry for the delay...
So, the final savoury course to come out was the roasted porterhouse with puree potatoes. This was wrapped in alfoil and cooked for 12 hours at 65°C so the meat would be pink all the way through and without losing any mass i.e. not being dehydrated.
Now you heard me sprout on about having to cater for dietary requirements in the first instalment of Erin’s birthday. One of these was for Sharon Mitchell who is vegetarian – or should I say was vegetarian. That’s it, we brought her back from the dark side with this beautiful piece of meat. Sharon had never had steak before this day, and one bite has ensured that she will be savouring beef for a long time to come. She loved it that much; she polished off half of another from her table. I love stuff like that – fair dinkum.
The wine that was served with this was the Yannick Amirault ‘Le Grand Clos’ Bourgueil Cabernet Franc 2006 from the Loire Valley in France. This is a wine that I had used quite often in the past at both Vue de monde and also recently at The Point. Wonderful and intense colour with absolutely no translucency whatsoever. This wine is perfect with rare meat because it has a savoury backbone of chocolate rather than ripe fruit that an Australian Cabernet Franc will give off. The tail of this wine was very long, with a grainy, soft acid finish.
With the last savoury course done, Erin’s BFF (not the other ‘f’ word as I found out) Sharon Clements got up and made a great speech about all of the things we didn’t know about Erin; there were a few eyebrows raised let me tell you!! After this I also got up and said a few words about my Erin; it’s funny how much you love someone isn’t it.
The day was progressing perfectly, with some hard and soft cheese coming out to the tables. There was no wine match for this course as I thought that there would be plenty of Yannick Amirault left for everyone, and there was. This was followed by a pre-dessert of semi freddo white and milk chocolate dish which was accompanied with Mount Horrocks ‘Cordon Cut’ 2008 Riesling – a sweet wine that is not too cloying or large in the mouth.
And now for the cake. From the ‘French Lettuce’, Erin got a lemon chantilly cream dynamo of a cake – spankingly good I tell you! With this we finished off the Mount Horrocks and just sat around and soaked it in.
The day was coming to an end and we really didn’t what it to finish. A lot of our guests started their farewells; hugs and kisses all round. It was the type of day where you could have just kept going and going with new courses coming out at regular intervals, but baby sitters had to be relieved, and it was a school night as well. With pleasantries being made, a decision was made to head to Atticus Finch on Lygon Street to finish off the day. About a dozen headed up there with plenty more wine, beer and scotch consumed (just what I heard of course, I also had to relieve a babysitter you see).
I honestly cannot think of a better lunch or dinner with family and friends. The whole day was perfect; the food, the wine, the restaurant and the company. Since then, all of the people who attended have asked when are we going to do it again (something Erin says everyday as well), and you know what, it was fantastic, and if it wasn’t for the expense, yes we would do it every weekend, because that’s the way you should eat and drink – lots of courses over a long period of time – that’s what savouring is all about.
And just think, there is only about 18 months until my 40th.....
So, the final savoury course to come out was the roasted porterhouse with puree potatoes. This was wrapped in alfoil and cooked for 12 hours at 65°C so the meat would be pink all the way through and without losing any mass i.e. not being dehydrated.
Now you heard me sprout on about having to cater for dietary requirements in the first instalment of Erin’s birthday. One of these was for Sharon Mitchell who is vegetarian – or should I say was vegetarian. That’s it, we brought her back from the dark side with this beautiful piece of meat. Sharon had never had steak before this day, and one bite has ensured that she will be savouring beef for a long time to come. She loved it that much; she polished off half of another from her table. I love stuff like that – fair dinkum.
The wine that was served with this was the Yannick Amirault ‘Le Grand Clos’ Bourgueil Cabernet Franc 2006 from the Loire Valley in France. This is a wine that I had used quite often in the past at both Vue de monde and also recently at The Point. Wonderful and intense colour with absolutely no translucency whatsoever. This wine is perfect with rare meat because it has a savoury backbone of chocolate rather than ripe fruit that an Australian Cabernet Franc will give off. The tail of this wine was very long, with a grainy, soft acid finish.
With the last savoury course done, Erin’s BFF (not the other ‘f’ word as I found out) Sharon Clements got up and made a great speech about all of the things we didn’t know about Erin; there were a few eyebrows raised let me tell you!! After this I also got up and said a few words about my Erin; it’s funny how much you love someone isn’t it.
The day was progressing perfectly, with some hard and soft cheese coming out to the tables. There was no wine match for this course as I thought that there would be plenty of Yannick Amirault left for everyone, and there was. This was followed by a pre-dessert of semi freddo white and milk chocolate dish which was accompanied with Mount Horrocks ‘Cordon Cut’ 2008 Riesling – a sweet wine that is not too cloying or large in the mouth.
And now for the cake. From the ‘French Lettuce’, Erin got a lemon chantilly cream dynamo of a cake – spankingly good I tell you! With this we finished off the Mount Horrocks and just sat around and soaked it in.
The day was coming to an end and we really didn’t what it to finish. A lot of our guests started their farewells; hugs and kisses all round. It was the type of day where you could have just kept going and going with new courses coming out at regular intervals, but baby sitters had to be relieved, and it was a school night as well. With pleasantries being made, a decision was made to head to Atticus Finch on Lygon Street to finish off the day. About a dozen headed up there with plenty more wine, beer and scotch consumed (just what I heard of course, I also had to relieve a babysitter you see).
I honestly cannot think of a better lunch or dinner with family and friends. The whole day was perfect; the food, the wine, the restaurant and the company. Since then, all of the people who attended have asked when are we going to do it again (something Erin says everyday as well), and you know what, it was fantastic, and if it wasn’t for the expense, yes we would do it every weekend, because that’s the way you should eat and drink – lots of courses over a long period of time – that’s what savouring is all about.
And just think, there is only about 18 months until my 40th.....
...Okay, I need to learn some blog layout from you. Love the columns and placement of photos. I laughed over the Sharon conversion.... no doubt she'd go and taste beef elsewhere and be let down by the comparison of what esposito had to offer.
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