Delord wins by a nose! (and a cedar barrel)

I'm not capable of posting as frequently as my partner in kitchen crime, so for up to the week happenings in our kitchen stadium you'll have to check her blog.
But here's the latest on my new Armagnac obsession. In my last post we met Delord, a luscious woody, slightly caramel-sweet Armagnac, which helped us with our Riedel glass test. A very scientific and rigorous series of tests to determine if glass selection really makes all that much difference in the quaffing of your favorite beverage. OK, maybe not scientific, but definitely rigorous.
So now we're back from holiday shenanigans where we proved that once and for all, WE are the Top Chefs! I'm hankering for some more Armagnac, so I trot over to D&M on Filmore, but quell horror! They have no Delord in stock! What am I to do? I know, we'll find some other stuff.


So I purchase a slightly more expensive bottle from the Bas-Armagnac region, a 1979 Château de Ranignon from the Bas-Armagnac. At first I was not too satisfied with this one, it was more agressive than the Delord and had little of the caramel, smokey cedar-ness of my beloved Delord (are you sensing a theme here?). But after a couple of days, and a few more tulips full, I've warmed up to it. It now exhibits some of the sweet plum that Charles Neal talks about on his site. Not my Delord, but it'll do.



Now I know that this site has seemingly become all about booze. Well, it's just that I'm a less than regular poster and most of the food hijinks is better viewed on the eats pages of my lovely partner in the kitchen. And I'll say it again.. WE are the Top Chefs! Not those whining competitors from the Bravo show. We, the 2 of us, cooked a reception for 60 people! 13 different dishes for 60 people! Yes, we conscripted a few serving assistants, but we did all of the planning, prep, and cooking in our little 4 square kitchen. Then we do a donor brunch for 20 (complete with whiskey cured gravlax), then go to New York for our traditional birthday time for ME, only to find out that we literally have to cook an exciting tasty Christmas/New Years/Good luck dinner with - a small pot, a medium non-stick skillet, two dull knifes, a cork screw, and a spatula (and an herring, or in this case, a red fish).



Yes. There they are. Let's see you handle that. Top Chefs... feh.












This is what we made. What do you think the "Top Chefs" could do? Top it off with a nice Viognier and a fine meal was had by all. Top Chefs indeed.