TWD Chocolate Souffle

There's dessert and then there's DESSERT, souffle falls into the latter category. The magic of eggs and sugar whipped and folded together to create a puffy dessert that must be served immediately. Fun to make, serve and especially to eat. Thanks to Susan of She’s Becoming DoughMessTic for choosing this recipe. You can find the recipe for the chocolate souffle on her website.

Souffle's are amazingly easy to make. Some people find them nerve-wrecking, but as long as your ingredients are room temp, and you can whip your whites properly; it's a piece of cake (or souffle in this case). The only change I made to the recipe was I halved it because I was making it for two. I also added a pinch of salt to the egg whites and reduced the overall sugar by 1 tablespoon to bring out the chocolate flavor.


(Souffles as soon as they came out of the oven)


The souffles were just lovely. Airy and very chocolaty. Joe liked them so much he ate two! We pair the souffle with Schweiger Port VII which was perfect with the souffles.





For dinner that night we made a simple risotto with just a bit of finely chopped asparagus topped with an asparagus bacon garnish and buttery seared scallops. We paired our risotto with Patrick Bouland Chiroubles 2006, which was a perfect wine for this dish. Though most people wouldn't pair a red wine with a scallop dish we chose it because it was a nice light Beaujolais. We prefer reds to whites in general, so we frequently drink Beaujolais with meals that are more white friendly. As far as meals go, our scallop risotto and chocolate souffle night will go down as one of the top 10 meals of 2009.

Buoncristiani Dolcetto di Nonno 2006

Joe went to California last month, and I've been fortunate to experience his trip via the wine he brought home. We've already drank some wine from our favorite wineries such as Unti and Michel Schlumberger, but last night we had something special.

Joe opened a bottle of Buoncristiani Dolcetto di Nonno 2006 from Dry Creek Valley. I find it hard to describe this wine because I was so impressed by it. It was smooth and floral with structure that's not biting. Really it was one of the best wines I have had in a long time.

I did a little research, and Buoncristiani is owned by 4 brothers. This wine is named after their Nonno (grandfather). I'm sure he would be proud if he tasted this wonderful wine. For more information check out their website here.

1 Ostrich Egg, 6 friends and a whole lot of wine

1 ostrich egg, 6 friends and a whole lot of wine equals a whole lot of food and good time had by all.

Last week Mike and LT became the proud parents of a very big Ostrich egg's days were numbered.

Mike told Joe about the egg over the weekend and they immediately "hatched" a plan of attack.



Take said egg, take drill/knife; make countless egg dishes. That folks, is exactly what happened.




We arrived at Mike and LT's with dessert, wine and some "sides" for the egg. Mike just about bought out the grocery store with items that might go well egg. With ingredients combined we had the makings of 3 very delicious frittatas, as well as hash browns and some roasted cauliflower.


But first, how to crack the egg. When we arrived, LT plugged her drill charger into the wall "just incase we needed it." After reviewing a YouTube video, and 5 people giving advice; Mike decided to go the old fashion way; knife and mallet please.

The egg contained an enormous amount of egg substance. Apparently, one ostrich egg is the equivalent of 2 dozen chicken eggs. We had a lot of egg to work with.



Our first frittata contained tomatoes, basil and mozzarella. After cooking it on the stovetop till almost set; we topped it off with some more mozzarella and some delicious pancetta. It turned out great.










The next frittata was vegetarian (but certainly NOT vegan). It contained broccoli, peppers, onions, mushrooms, goat cheese and a little mozzarella. Before we put it under the broiler we added some cheddar cheese to the top. The resulting frittata was loaded with veggies and 3 cheeses.



Though we were all getting full, the wine was starting to kick in so we decided to make one more. The last frittata contained bacon, potatoes, goat cheese, green onions, tomatoes and thyme. It was delicious as well. After eating that, we were all full.



But then there was dessert:

Before:



After:



(Clearly we found room for dessert, though we forgot about the ice cream)


We drank 3 bottles of wine, but I only got the names of two. Both were from Schweiger Vineyards (where Joe works). We had Mr. Pink (an amazing Rose) and 2004 Cab (great as always).



Cheers!


Thanks to Mike for buying such an interesting ingredient, and for sharing it with us.