Dinner with my family
Dinner with my family: Spice City with Sweet Treats
On Monday, March 6, 2023, I had a dinner with my family that would test our spice levels and my cooking skills. My dad, my mom, my fiance, and I were in attendance for this dinner. The original plan was to go to a restaurant and have dinner there but with me being on a budget and trying to find places that have lactose-friendly and diabetic-friendly meals that are not too pricey was challenging. I decided to take my cooking skills to the next level.
For our first course, we had pepperoni, salami, and vegan cheese on crackers. I got the block of salami and cut it and I did the same with the pepperoni. The vegan cheese was hard to find but I was able to find some at Kroger on sale. This was just spicy enough to start the night. Pepperoni is naturally spicy but not enough to knock anyone out. We paired it with Barefoot Bubbly Moscato Spumante California Champagne. This was more on the sweet end and paired surprisingly well. I was expecting more tannins to be pulled out and for the flavors to completely change. First, we tasted the wine without food. We all got similar notes of tree fruit such as peach and apple. I got notes of apricot as well. Everyone liked the pairing as well. My mom got notes of more sweet fruits such as oranges and other citrus fruits. My dad and my fiance got the same notes as my mom and I.
For the main course of the night, I made buffalo chicken alfredo with lactose-friendly ingredients and the pasta was vegetable based. I had never made anything buffalo before and this turned out well. This is spicer than the first course and was paired with Barefoot California Reisling. We tasted this wine first without food and I got notes of tree fruits such as pear and peach and notes of citrus such as orange and tangerine. My mom tasted notes of apple, orange, pear, and honey. She liked this one better as it was sweeter on first taste. When paired with the food, the tannins of the wine were brought out but the sweetness of the wine balanced it out and paired exceptionally well.
For the last and final course of the night, we had tiramisu cake from Kroger. I decided to not try and bake this as it seemed too complicated for a novice baker like myself. We paired this with Barefoot California Sweet Red Blend. We tasted this wine on its own first. I got notes of cherry, blackberry, plum, raspberry, and some citrus. My mom and the rest of the attendees got similar notes as well. They were surprised that this was less sweet than the white wines we had earlier in the night. This was the least favorite wine of the night even though I could drink multiple bottles of this. When paired with the tiramisu, the tannins were really brought out and it made with wine taste almost bitter. As sweet is paired with sweet that will happen. I did not get a picture of the dessert as we demolished it as it was put on the table.
Overall this was a good night and I found pairings that I will definitely make and consume again! All of the wines were in the $5-$15 and the ingredients were in the $2-$10 range each. I think I would definitely have a wine night with my family again!
Personality Pic with the Fam
Comments
Post a Comment