We hosted our first wine dinner of 2009 with a tour of Spanish Food and Wine. Chef Paul Stevens cooked up a fabulous dinner. Here are some of the highlights:

Spiced Meatballs with an Almond Tomato Sauce – The meatballs had bits of blanched slivered almonds and the tomato sauce was lightly seasoned with cardamon, cloves and nutmeg. The pairing with the 2005 Nora de Neve Albarino worked really well. Even with the strong tomato flavor, the almonds tied the meatballs back to the white wine.

The Tuna and Potato Tortilla were another favorite. Probably best described as a frittata, Paul dressed the tortilla with canned tuna that he procured at the local farmer’s market. It is freshly caught and canned and the canning process cures it.

We are all waiting for the regrowth of winter greens from the local farms due to the unseasonably harsh snow and ice we had in December. So we felt lucky that we could procure some local pumpkin from Blue Moon Farm in Waldron Island for our soup course. The combination of the pumpkin and chickpea with a bit of smoked paprika made a really interesting soup.

The blood orange sauce on the pork was to die for. Reduced with a bit of red wine, sugar and lemon juice, the blood orange sauce was a wonderful visual contrast to the white pork as well as a fabulous taste counterpart to the lightly brined pork tenderloin. We use an all natural pork product from Carlton Farms that is so tender and wonderful.

You can’t have a Spanish dinner without a paella. The paella had a northwest twist with salmon, mussels, clams shrimp and chorizo. The arborio rice was richly flavored in lobster stock and saffron. We paired the pork and paella with two bold and full bodied reds -2004 Finca Allende Tempranillo and a 2004 Celler Can Blau Mas de Can Blau.

While I have to take responsibility for making the dessert which was a walnut cake with roasted pears and freshly whipped cream, my dessert was upstaged by the 1927 Alvear Pedro Ximenez Solera. We served the wine as a pre-dessert and could have easily ended the meal there.

We are putting the final touches on Valentine’s Day dinner which will include 6 courses ending with 7 deadly sins for two for dessert – a combination of white and dark chocolate favorites. Hope to see you there!