Funghi Porcini Alla Griglia

Bosa Foods is not that easy to get to, but is always a welcome reminder that one must return to Italy as soon as possible.

They have some beautiful funghi porcini in the freezer. We doubted that the best Italian porcini would be frozen and shipped off to Vancouver, but since we hadn't had a really satisfying taste of them since Italy in 2007, we decided to risk the expense.

As the "piglets" thawed slowly on the counter, the kitchen started to fill with a deep, earthy tang that promised good things.

 Thawed and worryingly damp.

Halved, with three out of four looking okay. While wet and floppy, they were holding together well at this point.

On a very hot grill, the smell of cooking mushrooms was pronounced and fantastic, reminding us of dinners at the villa in S. Lucia.

Auspicious stripes appearing.

At this point the sounds and smells had us nearly drooling with anticipation.

With a little olive oil, black pepper, and big grains of sea salt, these were indescribably delicious. Every bite was just intense flavour; earthy, aromatic and deeply satisfying.

What wine, you wonder?
Why, this one: Sandhill Small Lots Single Block Chardonnay. (PDF link).
The mushrooms calmed the apple-lemony fruitiness down a little and let the warm, caramel-oakiness come forward. Just spectacular.

Standing Rib Roast

Aya rubbed a big rib roast with rosemary, garlic and olive oil last night and threw it in the oven. It came out beautifully. We had never carved a rib roast before and in all the excitement we forgot to take any photos. But you can bet it was soft and red inside and that the drippings were used to make the most amazing Yorkshire puddings. The ribs came off in one slice and were gnawed on happily. It was a gorgeous feast, made even more so by the inclusion of this delicious Amarone by our treasured dinner guest. Long cherry and leather flavours, with all kinds of aromas as it opened up more and more. Plum skins, raisins (a sign of a successful Amarone), roasty-cinnamon-spice... it was all there.

And speaking of wine, we had an unusual sensation on Saturday night. We had a bottle of Sandhill's Small Lots Petit Verdot 2005 and it was excellent, full and fruity, lots of black currant flavour and a long, long finish. We had heard the word "chewy" used to describe a wine, but always thought it was one of those ridiculous words that reeks of pomposity. The feel of this wine instantly popped that word into our heads, however, and we laughed as we realized it was the perfect description of the sensation. A little poking around (well, one quick Google search) revealed more references and definitions of this term.

For the record, Aya made her first classic tourtière, with all the heady spices (she also made a bunch of small ones in tartlet tins for afternoon munching).