June 22 is my 61st birthday. I am taking over a local restaurant and all the guys (about 12 of us) will meet at the restaurant at 2:30 and prepare (with direction from a chef) all the food from scratch. The gals will come at 5:30 and we will serve them what we have cooked up. There will be 24 for dinner.

What wines should I serve?

I have Champagne, lots of California reds and whites, some German Rieslings and many sweet/dessert wines including Port, Banyuls and Sauternes. The only Oz I have is the '97 Grange. I have Champagne but only a few assorted other Froggie stuff; not enough of the same bottles to serve for 24 guests.

We will have about 45 minutes for before dinner wine.
Hors'douvres include:

Steak Tartar on a home made potato chip
Prawn and lobster puree on endive
Blue cheese infused puffs

The dinner menu:

Potato Gnocchi with a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Parmesan Cheese
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Sautéed Prawns with Butter, Garlic, white Wine and Herbs, served with a Grilled Risotto Cake
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Honey and Dark Beer glazed Breast of Chicken with a Café de Paris sauce and fresh Vegetables
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Orange Surprise with Chocolate Mousse
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So I need something for every course as well as a before dinner wine.

Probably don't need anything after the dessert as it is a Sunday night.

Have some fun with this

With the hors'dvoures I'd go for a big Champagne. Krug would probably top my list. The Grande Cuvee would do well as would the 1985 Krug. 1990 Cristal should also do all right.

I have no idea on the Gnocchi

With the Prawns I'd serve White Burgundy (Grand Cru from a good year). However it sounds like you don't have any so subsititute a Kistler Vine Hill or Durell, preferably with a couple of years on it.

With the Chicken I'd go with a pinot. Probably something from the Sonoma Coast.

You and I have the same birthdate, david, but I'm four years younger.

I'd have Champagne with the hors d'oeuvres. Then I'd switch the order of the next two courses and have a Chardonnay with the prawns, since you don't have sufficient white Burgundies. I'd have a moderately sweet German Riesling with the Gnocchi. Then some dry red with the chicken, a PN if the sauce isn't sweet, or a Merlot, Cabm Syrah, or even Zin, if it is. Port ith the dessert. Where's my invitation.

board-o,

I lied. Trying to make myself younger I guess. My birthday is June 20th. The party will be June 22nd.

Make it out here and it will be my pleasure to host you!

Here are the ingredients for the Honey and Dark Beer glazed Chicken Breast with Café de Paris Sauce.

Glace Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cup honey
1 1/2 Bot. dark beer
6 Ts. apricot preserve
3 Ts. tomato puree
3/4 Cup sherry vinegar
Boil and then simmer to a thick viscosity.

Ingredients for Café de Paris Sauce::
3 Ts. butter
3 Ts. chopped shallots
6 Tsp. Madras curry powder
3 Cup. dry white wine
6 Cup demi glace
to taste salt and white pepper
Warm and serve over the chicken.

Factoid: The Mountain State of West Virginia officially became a state on June 20th, 1863 during the height of the Civil War. It will celebrate its 140th Birthday on the 20th. My Grandmother (no longer with us...) shared that birthday as well.

I was bar mitzvahed on your 17th birthday.

Champagne is fine with the passed appetizers (nothing works perfectly)

With the Gnocchi, I would serve a Northern Italian White such as a Jermann Sauvignon Blanc. If you want to stay in California, an Araujo Eisele Sauvignon Blanc or Peter MIchael L'Apre Midi would work well.

The Prawns are easy and give you lots of options although the grilling of the risotto cake is a bit of a pain. Big and white but with enough acid would be perfect. A Young Chave White Hermitage or a Cuvee des Generations white from Chateau de la Gardine would be great. Chardonnay is fine here as well.

A Pinot Noir with some animal nuances would be perfect with the chicken as would a French Syrah or cool climate new world Syrah. Chambertin/Griottes Chambertin/Mazis Chambertin would be my first selection.

Your favorite Sauternes with the dessert.

Quote:

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Your favorite Sauternes with the dessert.

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The dessert has a chocolate mousse. Sauternes would be a no-no IMO.

I am thinking about changing that chocolate to maybe a vanilla or peach mousse of some sort. Maybe changing it completely because the oranges are a pain to scoop out.

It really wouldn't be a davidn hi-party without Sauternes .

Hold the horses! I've changed my mind.

I went down and talked to Chef Emile today and we decided to "kick it up a notch or two" with the menu.

Here is the new menu:
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Sauteed prawns with butter garlic, white wine and herbs, served with a grilled risotto cake.

Roasted rack of lamb with a ratatouille tower and lamb jus.

Filo flower pot with creamy blue Castello, a bouquet of breens in a thyme vinaigrette, red wine poached apple and walnuts.

Fresh berries with a Champagne and Grand Marnier Sabayon.

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Now I can have some Yquem with the dessert.

But what else?

This is going to be fun. All the guys are getting together in the early afternoon and we are going to make the meal from scratch with the help of Chef Emile. The gals will arrive at 5:30 and we will sit and take turns serving for the night. The restaurant is closed on Sundays so we will have to whole place, including the kitchen, to ourselves.

I think ratatouille is best suited for rats. Never liked the stuff.

The ratatouille is delicious. We start with sheet pan of potatos. The potatos are fried kind of like hash browns but then spreat in the sheet pan about 3/4" thick. Then it is refrigerated for a day.

Then you take something like a tin can open at both ends and push it down into the potato carving out a circle of the potato. You need a separate "can" for every serving.

Now you have 24 or so cans all sticking out of this potatoe pan. Drop and little spinach into the can and then fill it up with ratatouille. Then you cook the things.

Pull the cans off and voila, you have a tower.

Of course the instant you touch it with a fork the damn thing comes tumbling down.