Flaming beef

Mr. Ho invited a few of us over for dinner tonight.  I've always enjoyed Mr. Ho's cooking, and my last visit produced some fond memories of his leg of lamb tagine as well as the rotisserie chicken.  There would be more yummy food to look forward to.

We nibbled on some foie gras paté spread on baguettes while we waited for everyone to arrive.  After we sat down at the table, Mr. Ho started us on some red cabbage salad.  Few of us were fans of red cabbage, but the chef threatened to withhold the choice meats from our plates unless we took our share of the veggie.  We ended up kissing up to the chef by feigning enjoyment...

As the chef shuffled back and forth between the grill and the dining table, we could see intermittent bursts of flame shooting up from the grill, as the fat from the meat dripped down and added fuel to the fire.  That was sure to make for some tasty meat...

Finally it was time to serve the meats.  There were some very juicy and tender pork chops, which were delicious even without the strip of fat down one side.  The côte de boeuf was also nicely done, and I asked for the pieces in the middle which were a little more saignant, as well as taking a slice of fat and cartilage close to the bone.  A lovely piece of meat.  Did not get a chance to try the T-bone.

The beef was good on its own, but also delicious with the caramelized shallots in red wine sauce.

There was also a good amount of mashed potato, which had the nice fragrance of truffles.

We ended with some deliciously ripe and sweet pineapple, as well as a wonderful apple and pear pie.   There were raisins in the filling, and the crust was flaky and crispy.  I would have loved to have a second slice, had I been able to accommodate it...

1998 Leeuwin Chardonnay Art Series - I took this out after cellaring for a number of years.  It drank beautifully.  Very floral, with minerals, lemon, woodsy, ripe, sweet and buttery.  I think I'm gonna keep buying Leeuwin Chards young and cellar them for 10 years or more...

2008 Descendientes de J Palacios Petalos - this was an interesting wine made from Mencía, with nose of forest, pine needle and tarragon.  Spicy, a little sweet and very concentrated on the palate.

1997 Penfolds RWT - this bottle was freakin' corked... I was really, really upset, as this was my second-to-last bottle of this very first vintage.  I don't run into corked wines that often - maybe it's my lack of sensitivity to TCA - but this makes 2 nights in a row.  Too corked to be saved by plastic wrap or more aeration...

2000 Sociando-Mallet - what a beautiful, classic claret!  Lots of smoke, minerals and earth in the nose along with some fruit.  Very lovely.