Tag Archives: wine pairings

Hester Creek Cooking Class Dinner

For the past few years, Don has given me, for my birthday, two cooking class dinners at Hester Creek.  In a word….do not miss the chance to attend one (or more) of these dinners.

This night, 14 almost strangers (6 were friends) had a funny, enjoyble evening and were sorry when it ended. Jo, our server of great fame, was on hand to help Roger with serving plated courses, serve wine and keep the laughs coming.

Our menu for the night was an Italian theme and had 4 courses.

First course:  Seared Sable Fish, Saffron crusted Happy Days Goat Cheese, micro greens (fell  in love with these), and tilton-apicot ginger butter

Second Course: Spinach,  Pancetta and Ricotta Conchiglioni, Tomato and Basil, Parmigiano Reggiano Crisp

Third Course: Truffle Mushrom Crusted Beef Tenderloin, Wild Mushroom and Roasted Golden Shallot Risotto, local Rainbow Carrots, Cabernet Jus

Fourth Course: Local Honey and Lavendar Panna Cotta, Almond and Orange Biscotti

Whew! All courses were perfectly paired with their wonderful wines and wow I can hardly wait until next year and more birthday dinners.

Roger, Jo, Hester Creek…..thank you  for all you do for the City, those who travel from afar to attend and for us….we love it.

Also sorry for the short delay in getting this posted, but my computer had cold or something and took a few days off.

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2nd Hester Creek Cooking Class Dinner, 2013

There are so many benefits of living here in the South Okanagan and this is one of them. These dinners are fun, informative, tasty with  perfect wine pairings, and so darn glad we don ‘t eat and sample wines like this every day.  This is the second one in less than a week for us.

The theme to the dinner was “Gusto d’Italia” and our Chef, Roger Gillespie, did his usual outstanding job and this is what we had:

A Fall Squash Bisque with a dollop of Truffle Cream and a Parmesan Crisp on the side. This was paired with their 2012 Pinot Blanc and was lovely together.

Pan Seared Sable Fish with freshly made ‘at the table’ Lemon Ricotta Gnocchi with a Sweet Corn and Smoked Heirloom Tomato cream. The tomatoes are grown in Roger’s garden. This was delicious and was paired with their 2012 Chardonnay.

The third course was braised Lamb Osso Bucco with a Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta, Golden Beet Slice and baby carrots. Being paired with a 2011 Reserve Cabernet Franc really worked here.  I am not a lamb lover, but this literally fell off the bone, so tender and everyone all but licked their plate.

Dessert, however, was a real highlight. Poached Pear and Hazelnut Cream Pie with specially made Late Harvest and Hazelnut Gelato. Being paired with the lovely 2011 Late Harvest Pinot Blanc was brilliant.

These get-togethers are fun and, at times, very lively in conversations, laughter and also watching and learning the ins and outs of the various procedures with Chef preparing our dinner.

Also, our Chef was awaiting that special phone call to announce that his beautiful wife was going to the hospital to have their baby. Good luck with the birth of your son Roger and a sincere thank you to Jo, our fabulous server with a hearty helping of good humor.

We will be back again next year….we have a year to recover….yeah!

 

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