As much as I enjoy the company of my girlfriends, I am still sometimes surprised by how much. Poker Night, no matter what it is, is simply about good friends getting together to… well, be friends. Lucky for me that the company I keep just so happens to like good wine and good food – and probably in that order. With careers and active lifestyles, a two-bottle night is a big night for us. Wednesday we managed three. No one complained. The wines were too enjoyable.
We started off with Fontana Candida’s 2002 Frascati. As soon as this bottle was opened and my glass poured, the delicate floral aroma was apparent. Nicely followed by bright ripe citrus notes, this wine reminded me of how early spring should feel – sharp and crisp, refreshing with a clean finish. Noted as a best buy (for under $10), this is the perfect wine to start off any night. After the Frascati, it was back to the Nobilo that I have reviewed before. A fave now among the Poker Girls, this wine never fails to please. Classically Sauvignon Blanc – green and grassy – this medium-bodied wine complemented the spread of food, breads, cheeses, olives and nuts.
We finished with one of my favorites, the richly complex and full-bodied Iron Horse Cuvee R 1999. It was dessert. For that matter, it could have been our meal.
If the Frascati is reminiscent of early spring, then the Cuvee R is the dead of summer. Lush and full, this blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Viognier lingers deliciously on the palate with flavors of orange, caramel and toast. It has a mouth-coating texture, and an endless finish that is reminiscent of dried apricots. It is August in a bottle.
Since we can’t drink all that wine without something to eat, we indulged in as many cheeses as we could find, including one from Guidette – our baby sheep. A sharp, stinky Pecorino made in Abruzzo, Italy, where our baby grazes on lush grasses and roams the countryside in herds reminiscent of traditional sheep farms, which continues today with the help of the adoption program. The meal was simple: a chopped salad with a delicious sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, and gemelli pasta with smoked bacon, asparagus, cherry tomatoes and mozzarella.
The sun-dried tomato vinaigrette was created with Gazebo Room Dressing – a Greek styled salad dressing that is unctuous and heavily seasoned. One of the girls let the sun-dried tomatoes and Feta cubes marinate in the dressing, and just before serving tossed this in with chopped lettuce – perfectly and lightly coating each leaf with the right amount of dressing.
The gemelli pasta is an old Martha Stewart Living Recipe that never fails to get ohs and ahs. It plates beautifully and for entertaining, is a snap to whip up.
Gemelli with Asparagus, Mozzarella, and Bacon
Adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook, © Copyright 2000 by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.
Serves 6
12 ounces peppered smoke bacon, chopped
Kosher salt and Sea Salt
1 pound gemelli pasta
1 ¼ pounds medium asparagus, tough ends removed, but on a diagonal into 1-inch pieces
1 pound ripe cherry tomatoes cut in half
2 tablespoons fresh marjoram or oregano leaves
12 ounces fresh buffalo or plain mozzarella cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes
Freshly ground black pepper
- Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until it is crisp and all the fat has been rendered, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on paper towels. Remove skillet from heat.
- Cover a large pot of salted water, and bring to a boil. Drop the pasta into the boiling water; stir to keep the pasta from sticking together. Cook until al dente, about 12 minutes; drain, reserving a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid.
- Meanwhile, discard all but ¼ cup of the rendered bacon fat, and return the skillet to medium heat. Add the asparagus to the skillet. Cook until the asparagus is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the skillet, season generously with sea salt, and toss to heat the tomatoes through. Add the pasta to the skillet with the crisped bacon and the marjoram. Adjust seasonings. Toss together until combined and heated through.
- Add the mozzarella; toss to combine, adding some of the cooking liquid if the pasta seems too dry. Turn out into a pasta bowl and serve immediately.
