2nd 1st XMAS in AMS

Dang. Using Sugar's pix & descriptions. Better'n mine.

Course 1: Scallop carpaccio surrounded by a coulis of red paprika peppers with cream and parmesan.

Course 2: A rocket salad with vinaigrette dressing and blue cheese, topped with flambeed pear, sunflower seeds, and almonds.

Wait? What? Flambe? You didn't call us to watch! You know how I loves my flambe! Especially when you're using my armagnac!

Sugar & NIN paired this with an astringent white.

OoooOOoooOOooh. The sauteed pears, the bitter greens, the sweet nuts, the creamy bleu cheese, and the crisp white wine. A perfect Pairing. We talked with NIN about his skill in pairing. Apparently he used to be sort of a sommellier at a Swiss restaurant -- a difficult position, but one that would focus ones attention, no?

8^D

Course 3: Sweet potato soup, topped with a garlic and ginger sour cream sauce.

Course 4: Chateau briand with a freshly made stroganoff sauce (flambeed with vodka), served with snowpeas and baby carrots. What a chef! Flambe' with two different licquors . . . 8^D

At least this time they let us watch them flambe' . . .

Don't realize how small Sugar's Kitchen is until there is 4 of us in there cringing away from the fireball . . . 8^D
We had a nice rioja with the ChateauBriand. Perfect Pairing, again.

Course 5: Rudolf the red-nosed brownie. Brownie with pecans, served with two sauces: a white almond cream sauce, and a cranberry puree.

So I hadda have a snifter of Armagnac, y'know, to "cut the trench" . . .

dang this stupid blogware that doesn't rotate my photos like I want, even after I rotated them in the photo-editor. Montal XO. The only one I can really find in a bottle shop near Sugar's . . . not bad, but not the best. I think it must be a Haut Armagnac based in Auch, rather than a Bas Armagnac, but it is in the Labaude / Tariquet league, anyway: sorta peculiar, if not particularly interesting, if you see how I mean . . . 8^) . . . but then, I read recently that the Dutch have imported Armagnac from the earliest of days, but mainly as a fortifier of wine . . . what about a fortifier of MEN, that's what I want to know! . . . so. . .