Date: January 18th, 2013
Host: Christine
Served: Chop block bread, Butternut Squash Lasagna, Dijon-Walnut Spinach Salad, blondies
Bonus bottle (from the host's personal inventory): 2011 Rosemount Traminer Riesling
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| Domaine de la Terrière Beaujolais; Wollersheim Prairie Fumé |
Christine says (16.5): Very pale, with slate edges. Pears, grassiness, lime and green apple in the bouquet. Taste was surprisingly honeyed, with a rich mouthfeel. This would be great with a variety of foods! Andrea said this is Wollersheim's most popular wine, and I can see why.
Kim says (16): an odd, pale silver color... almost clear. While my olfactory perception is not half as discerning as Christine or Andrea’s, I could smell pear, grass, honey and lemon (usually I am the one that just smells “dirt” or “fruit”). Based on just the taste, I would say this wine has good appeal and paired well with the bread.
Andrea says (18.5): I really enjoyed this wine! The bouquet was awesome, and it really tasted like it smelled. Tart at first, like lime and green apple but also like honey, pear, and apricot. Great with the bread!
Kim says (16): an odd, pale silver color... almost clear. While my olfactory perception is not half as discerning as Christine or Andrea’s, I could smell pear, grass, honey and lemon (usually I am the one that just smells “dirt” or “fruit”). Based on just the taste, I would say this wine has good appeal and paired well with the bread.
Andrea says (18.5): I really enjoyed this wine! The bouquet was awesome, and it really tasted like it smelled. Tart at first, like lime and green apple but also like honey, pear, and apricot. Great with the bread!
Christine says (15.5): Hmmm. This wine really had me stumped from the outset. It smelled like vanilla and pop tarts to me (sweet and toasty, with sugar icing). Maybe like a glazed doughnut, too. It tasted like red berries and cherries, and had a long, lingering finish. Did I also taste woodsy/wet leaves/smokiness? Yes, but I'm not sure which one. This was not your typical Beaujolais. Too many surprises! Also check out how translucent this wine was...it almost looked like colored water!
Kim says (11.5): my own score surprises me because I have a bit of a soft spot for Beaujolais. It was the first varietal that I came across that I consistently liked... steady and dependable. As Christine says, Beaujolais is a good “gateway” wine! While this particular Beaujolais scored well in the categories of tannin, acid, finish and body (interesting, given its extreme translucence), I thought it came up short in aroma and appeal. And I smelled something I never detected in a wine before... while I like the smell of a campfire, this just made me think of wet ash in the fire pit after it had been pouring rain all night. That being said, funny thing is throughout our entire meal, my glass of Beaujolais is the one I kept reaching for as it paired extremely well with Christine's amazing lasagna!Andrea says (13): I was surprised by my score as well, I'm usually a fan of Beaujolais. The color was nice but surprisingly transparent for Beaujolais. For me, the down side was the aroma, which is how I best experience wine. All I could seem to smell was alcohol, dirt, and some how fish? The taste was nice, raspberry, cherry, and smokey. I thought it went best with the salad which had cranberry and toasted pecans, yum! I gave it a good score, but not my usually great score.
My riff on the lasagna from Vegetarian Times was a success! I decreased the squash, used cooked lasagna noodles, and added mozzarella, eggs and herbs.
8 lasagna noodles
2 eggs
15 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried rubbed sage
1/4 tsp. each dried basil and chervil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1. Cut squash in half, seed, prick skin with a knife and roast at 350 in 1/4 inch of water for 1 hour or until tender. Cool.
1/4 tsp. each dried basil and chervil
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1. Cut squash in half, seed, prick skin with a knife and roast at 350 in 1/4 inch of water for 1 hour or until tender. Cool.
2. Boil lasagna noodles and drain.
3. Combine 1 egg, ricotta, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a bowl.
4. Scoop squash pulp into a second bowl and beat until smooth. Add 1 egg, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper and the herbs; mix well.
5. Spread 1/2 cup squash mixture into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Top with two noodles (having cut one noodle in half to make a single layer three noodles wide). Top with half of the remaining squash mixture.
6. Layer with two more noodles, half of the ricotta mixture, 1/2 cup mozzarella, two noodles, remaining squash, remaining noodles and remaining cheeses (ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella).
7. Cover and bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 35-40 minutes longer or until golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.
3. Combine 1 egg, ricotta, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a bowl.
4. Scoop squash pulp into a second bowl and beat until smooth. Add 1 egg, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper and the herbs; mix well.
5. Spread 1/2 cup squash mixture into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Top with two noodles (having cut one noodle in half to make a single layer three noodles wide). Top with half of the remaining squash mixture.
6. Layer with two more noodles, half of the ricotta mixture, 1/2 cup mozzarella, two noodles, remaining squash, remaining noodles and remaining cheeses (ricotta, Parmesan and mozzarella).
7. Cover and bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 35-40 minutes longer or until golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.
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| Awww...Valentine blondies |
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| Sun-dried tomato chop block bread |
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| Pretty keeps us all in check! |
What do pop tarts, wet ashes and fish have in common? Apparently, this Beaujolais! I think it's noteworthy that Christine, Andrea and I picked out distinctly different smells in the same wine. So did we really smell fish, pop tarts and wet ashes, or was it something else that we just happen to associate with those things? After all, they say smell is the sense most closely linked to memory...
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