Good wine, food and friends...

... what more does one need. Since living on my own I haven't cooked much (it is really boring to cook for oneself) so I was worried that I have lost my cooking mojo (I had Andrea and Anita over recently and made a boondoogle of the food) so I decided to grab the bull by its horns and give it another try. So I invited Caz, Jan, Anita and Andrea over last Monday. I wanted to keep it low key as it was the start of the week and I didn't want my friends to be overstuffed. I greeted my friends with a lovely Prosecco Colli Trevigiani from Treviso, light fresh and just the right tipple to get us started.

For a starter I made marinated goats' cheese (marinated in oil, garlic, rosemary and thyme) on a leaf salad with pears and walnuts. Plates were cleaned spotless (I could have put them back in the cupboard). For a main I opted for chicken thighs as I wanted to slow cook the chicken and was worried if I used breast that it might dry out (and it save me a buck as well). I pan fried the chicken until browned and put them into a slow cooker (trust me, it is an investment well worth), made a gravy out of the juices with flour and white wine and poured it over the chicken. Added pan fried button mushroom and slow roasted baby onions. Put the lot on high for about 1 hour and then turned it down to slow and left it in the cooker for around 5 hours. Just before serving I poured in double cream and let the sauce thicken a bit. I served the chicken with mashed potatoes and garlicky carrots. For dessert I made individual white chocolate cheese cakes with mixed berry coulis. It was a very rich dessert and I might have to tone it down if I want to make it again.

Since I had quite neutral food, I decided to stick to white wine and served La Chasse du Pape Cotes du Rhone 2008. A well balanced wine, slightly floral (but not overpowering) with a fresh medium long finish. This bottle was emptied quite quickly and since I had an Italian at the table (and I know Anita loves her Pinot Grigio) I opened a bottle of Pinot Grigio which went down nicely as well. A bit less impressive than the Cotes du Rhones but still going well with the rest of the meal.....

Thanks God, I haven't lost my mojo just yet. Apologies for the poor quality of the photos (seems my little camera is giving up on me now) and for the lack of the main course and the dessert.