Rebecca’s Table for Four – Part 1: Wine Actually, 100 wines 100 moments

from thenomadGourmand by rebeccasaw

Shaun Lee, of Wine Actually got me at ” I am a strong believer in marketing with a little bit of love, people and social media, & this campaign is probably just a direct manifestation of that” when I opened & read his email last month. A firm believer of the same principle, I was immediately supportive, & but I had to rack my brains for a way to “share ” this wine, since I generally avoid alcohol.

But I can stomach alcohol in food; as well as desserts so this provided the perfect opportunity to launch our monthly cookout idea that myself & cook-aholic friend Kevin has been discussing for months, but never got down to it.

I’ll let the video tell the story, it pretty sums up the whole evening.

White wine: sponsored by WineActually.com.
Sometimes chef: Kevin Tan.

Lucky diners: Rebecca Saw, Tian Chad, Keith Chong.

Honestly the video is pretty bad. Well, we did the best we could. Do watch it in expanded form (click the bottom lower right icon). It helps a lot.

Popout

Some pictures to save the day:

Tofu steamed with white wine…

…which was the Amuse Bouche.

The Butternut Pumpkin Risotto with white wine.

Pork tenderloin slightly season on the outside with pepper & herbs.

Which turned out beautifully pink & moist inside.

It was porky-licious with the caramelized onions & sauteed Dutch baby button mushrooms.

Slicing the pork tenderloin..

Dinner is served…

Nom noms!

Table for Four.

Sangria for dessert:

Concept: (as provided by Kevin)
g-RAPE-d tofu: Something that can showcase the extensive use of grapes, while maintaining the balance of flavors. Tofu can absorb any flavor, which works well with the multiple grapes- based liquids of the dish.

Pumpkin risotto: Standard risotto recipes have white wine as one of the ingredients, which was perfect to incorporate the white wine into. The choice of pumpkin risotto also shows progression from more grape (amuse bouche which used grapes juice & wine) to less grape (only wine in this dish) while maintaining the profile of using a lot of produce in the dish. Furthermore, the chicken stock which is generally classified as white stock gives the dish a hearty flavour, but not to overpower the white wine.

Pan-roasted Pork Loin: A white meat protein dish with more earthy flavors achieved using the light herb crust, and the mushroom ragout as the sauce. Kept the seasoning light as not to clash with the white wine, but rather to pair with the dish.

It was a fun dinner . We hope to do this every month! Any suggestions for the next Table for Four?

Note:

This is not a paid advertorial.
Objective is to help get the word out on WineActually & to humour a friend.
All expenses for the dinner is covered by Rebecca Saw except the bottle of white which was complimentary from WineActually.

PS: If you wish to join the next Rebecca’s Table for Four, drop me a comment & we may just choose you to join us. This little project is for fun & is based on both Kevin & my availability.