We had a different kind of a day on Sunday. I've just joined a book club with my friend Lauren and since club was meeting Sunday afternoon at 2 at her place we decided to make a day of it. A day with David and Lauren always, always, consists of great food and fabulous wine. After church we had lunch at this great, little Vietnamese place on 118 Ave in Edmonton, T&D Vietnamese Noodle House. Their ginger beef is out of this world! By far the best dish on the table. Instead of the usual breaded and fried stuff it's cooked and served with julienned pieces of ginger and the sauce is the perfect consistency. Yum, yum, yum!
After lunch we went our separate ways. The girls stayed at the house for book club while the boys went and played billiards. Part of the mission for the men was to bring forth bacon, figuratively, they were responsible for bringing home wine and a main course to go with risotto for supper. It turns out the bacon wasn't so figurative after all, David decided on pork tenderloin, a beautiful decision really. Perfectly spiced with just the right amount of cumin and excellently cooked it was a lovely compliment to the minted pea risotto that Lauren made. She really needs to give me risotto lessons, I've unofficially dubbed her 'The Risotto Queen'. The men also made excellent wine decisions. They went to Bin 104, one of the wine Candylands in Edmonton. Bin 104 is the first place in Edmonton we've found that carries Steele, so excited! It's one of our favourite wineries, but until now we've only found it at the Banff Wine Store. They brought home Steele's Pinot Noir to go with the tenderloin and it was a perfect compliment. It's big enough to work with the cumin, but not so big that it drowned the risotto. The wine was lovely with the mint flavours in the risotto, too; it would probably work really well if you like lamb with mint jelly.
After lunch we went our separate ways. The girls stayed at the house for book club while the boys went and played billiards. Part of the mission for the men was to bring forth bacon, figuratively, they were responsible for bringing home wine and a main course to go with risotto for supper. It turns out the bacon wasn't so figurative after all, David decided on pork tenderloin, a beautiful decision really. Perfectly spiced with just the right amount of cumin and excellently cooked it was a lovely compliment to the minted pea risotto that Lauren made. She really needs to give me risotto lessons, I've unofficially dubbed her 'The Risotto Queen'. The men also made excellent wine decisions. They went to Bin 104, one of the wine Candylands in Edmonton. Bin 104 is the first place in Edmonton we've found that carries Steele, so excited! It's one of our favourite wineries, but until now we've only found it at the Banff Wine Store. They brought home Steele's Pinot Noir to go with the tenderloin and it was a perfect compliment. It's big enough to work with the cumin, but not so big that it drowned the risotto. The wine was lovely with the mint flavours in the risotto, too; it would probably work really well if you like lamb with mint jelly.
We also had the opportunity to try Stymie, a Merlot also produced by Steele. A delicious reserve Merlot that was big enough to follow the Pinot Noir nicely. From the Steele website: "One of 2 "reserve" wines made at Steele, Stymie Merlot reveals a rich, well-structured wine with layers of ripe red currants, anise, chocolate-covered cherries, a peppery mid-palate, and just a hint of coffee."
All in all a fine night of food, wine, and friends! We're looking forward to doing it again, soon.
All in all a fine night of food, wine, and friends! We're looking forward to doing it again, soon.