We had an eclectic group over for dinner tonight – no two Cab Francs are the same!
Our guests included our new friends, Sara and Juan, who will be renting our house next (!), Eileen and her husband, and John, who is a blog reader and Twitter friend refugee from Virginia Beach here in Cville escaping the storm. After he came to Great Harvest for two lunches in a row, we deemed him a true foodie and therefore, a friend : )
Another reason to celebrate: 3 Jefferson Vineyards wines for the fall wine club! Which means..a new recipe to make.
We started the evening with a triple Cab Franc tasting – the 2009, which we had on our wine rack, plus the 2007 and the 2007 Reserve, both for my freelance recipe work this quarter
The 2009 was young and slightly jammy – it had a little bitterness on the side of the tongue that I suspect was its youthfulness
The 2007 was much more complex with peppery spice and raspberry fruit
And the 2007 Reserve was the most complex, most spiced and most Cab-Franc-ish (you know what “cab-fran-ish” means if you live in Virginia!)
My favorite was the middle of the road – the 2007!
For dinner I whipped up a gumbo-ish dish made with Andouille Sausage, peppers, okra and spices served atop a pillow of Cajun-spiced millet. I love using millet in place of grits! And this is so not shrimp + grits, but I like to blend all of my deep south favorites into one dish ; )
The sausage was rich and fantastic – and perfect pairing with the spiced wine!
On the side we enjoyed Eileen’s zucchini stir-fry and Sara’s figgy goat cheese summer salad.
For dessert, we popped open the 2009 Johannisburg Riesling and paired that with a Pear Dark Chocolate that Sara brought that I melted on top of some of the Attune New Morning graham crackers [from the Healthy Living Summit] sprinkled with coconut. 5 minutes in a 400* oven was all it took to get the “S’mores” melty.
If only I had marshmallow!!!
LOVED this invention and can’t wait to do it again! I think I had 4 squares – melted chocolate is the best!
The Riesling was gone way too fast, but we all enjoyed the taste.
So fun to hang out tonight. Thanks to Matt for doing all the dishes!
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
Love that s’more dessert idea! Nothing better than graham crackers and chocolate
Wine AND s’mores… you are a girl after my own heart
YUM!
Looks spectacular! How do you prepare your sausage? Cut it up or cook it whole? I’m always a lil skeptical of my sausage cooking technique.
I sliced it, browned it, removed it and then added the veggies. Added back the sausage at the end
WIne AND smores! Life is good on your side of the states!
….Glad you had such a great night, those melted chocolate smores are looking pretty heavenly with the coconut on top!!! 
I really like those graham crackers! I made a s’mores peanut butter out of them- it was divine
I love melted chocolate too- I don’t mind if my chocolate bar hangs out in my warm pocket a while before I eat it
He did the dishes? Does he do them at the bakery too?
Nice dessert. I have a “Smores” muffin recipe that actually has no marshmallows either – but tastes just like smores!
I’m interested in that muffin recipe…
SO GOOD! It’s on my blog here: http://bakingnbooks.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/graham-cracker-chocolate-chip-smores-muffins/
And it is low-sugar and can be GF if you use GF graham crackers (I didn’t though).
Thanks! Yum
Delicious! I’ve been craving s’mores for so long, but we haven’t had a campfire. I guess we can just make them in the oven!
What a fun party
You and Matt are fab hosts!
Sounds like such a fun evening! We had people over as well but dinner was candle lit due to Irene!
Are you and Matt moving?
Nevermind, just saw your recent post about house hunting!
sounds like fun! isn’t it funny you the peeps you meet via the blog?
I had “S’mores” in my post title as well tonight! Great minds and all…
I love s’mores! We recently had an outing with some friends that ended with marshmallow roasting and s’mores over a fire we built in their firepit. It was great
My husband and I are starting to take our wines more seriously…I’m curious, how do you know so much about wine? Any tips for a newbie?
We’ve been going to wine tastings since we were in college – from small ones at our local grocery store to big ones in Sonoma and wine festivals. The more you taste, the more you learn!
Looks like a great mix of people! And that gumbo looks good too – where did you get the sausage?
Whole Foods (I asked if it was humanely raised and she said yes)
Very gourmet
Grown-up version of s’mores…I like it
What a great way to spend your Saturday night!
That dinner looks fantastic. If you ever read my blog, you’ll see that most of my meals are eaten out of a bowl. I find it so comforting and you totally can’t go wrong with sausage and pepper anything!
I make oven s’mores all the time…great quick & easy dessert! yours look great!
If I lived by you I’d probably stop in your bakery for lunch every day, lol!
The sausage + millet dish looks fab. Love your dessert. Very creative
I hear ya with the melted chocolate. I seriously have no control when a chocolate fountain is around. My high school had it at the prom, so good! I’m also in Fair Trade Club and we set up chocolate fountains for some events with fair trade chocolate! So good with strawberries, marshmellows, graham crackers, bananas!
Gumbo and millet! I doubt the first creators of gumbo ever imagine it could be served with that
Yum! It all looks great.
I had such a gorgeous wine last night – 2007 Rioja. All gone now
I could’ve sworn that was dark chocolate dreams on those graham crackers haha
Figgy goat cheese salad sounds divine. It looks like you had a fabulous Saturday evening. Enjoy the rest of your weekend
I have a recipe coming out tomorrow that you would love…I am finishing editing the pics but it has to do with grahams, chocolate, and baking things. And I managed to add marshmallows to it, too
The whole post has me drooling..the wine, the food, the time with friends….awesome!
That is a really good dessert idea! Simple and amazing haha
Gah! Everything looks so good!!! Pear chocolate sounds like pretty much the best thing ever – add graham crackers and toasted coconut to that and I’m sold.
Glad you had a fun night – I was worried your power might have gone out (like ours literally just did!!)
I like how EASY the dessert looks….just right for this rookie chef! Marshmallows would have put it over the top!
I was searching for healthy lifestyle blogs and stumbled on your blog. I have a passion for food and cooking but this has lead me into a not so healthy lifestyle. I am taking my first steps towards health and I find your blog an inspiration. I really do want to strike a healthy balance between my passion for food and a healthy lifestyle. I hope it is ok if I add you to my blog role as I can’t wait to continue reading.
Welcome Katie! Yep, I’d be honored to be added
I love how the dish looks plated! I want to work on artful presentation.
Yup you definitely need marshmallows but other then that they look delicious.
Yum – that meal looks delicious.
If you wanted to try it with marshmallows, maybe add a couple mini ones on top and let them melt on top as well?
I love that ‘art’ above your fireplace!! Where did you get it? I always love your home from all angles! Can’t wait till you move
I think it’s from Pier 1 like 5 years ago
(And thanks!)
Everything about that meal looks delightful. And what a fun twist on S’mores! Gonna have to try that.
What a brilliant s’mores idea! I have marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate so I might just have to try this for dessert tonight. Yum!
Love the graham crackers and chocolate idea! I never think to do that, because when you think of graham crackers and chocolate, campfires come to mind
http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/
Mmm I’ve never had a Cab Franc! Your dinner and dessert looks fantastic.
Looks like another great meal with good wines and friends. I really like Cab Francs, yet another reason to go visit VA.
Ya! Had a wonderful night with you guys….food/wines/company were all fab! Thanks for being such a great host.
thanks again for having us over! everything was delicious! and I’m glad I got to see your cute place before you move out