A Festive Night in

Last night, I finally opened the lovely gift sent to me on Friday by Jacob’s Creek.

In addition to a bottle of 2004 St. Hugo Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, they sent me a lovely wine bottle stopper and recipes for food pairings including a recipe for lobster sliders which I hope to incorporate into our New Year’s Eve seafood feast. The whole package was really beautiful, and it made my week.

We opened the wine while making last night’s dinner and let it breathe on the counter for about 45 minutes. The nose of this wine was of subtle cedar, and the the color a deep, beautiful red. My husband called it a confident wine, and he is right. It would be perfect for a holiday dinner or other special occasion. Flavors of ripe juicy fruit mingle with that same gentle cedar that came from the bottle when opened. I slowly drank two small glasses, enjoying the lingering finish. A very satisfying wine, and one that would probably be even better a year or two for now. I honestly have not purchased Jacob’s Creek wine before, but the St. Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon has me wondering why! Thank you again to Jacob’s Creek for such a great new wine experience!

While sipping on the wine, we put together a last minute meal, starting with an easy side that included one of my favorite all time vegetables: Brussels sprouts!

Whether made in the amazing Namu fashion, a la the Foodbuzz Festival or simply tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted as I did last night, I love these green globes of goodness.

I also wanted to make something with shrimp and had a tub of Greek yogurt available, so I pieced together ingredients from a few online recipes with these ingredients and came up with a creamy, garlicky shrimp. I started with a whole lot of garlic, sautéed until golden with olive oil and cracked black pepper.

Then I added cracked coriander seeds, a big spoonful of cumin, a dash of curry, some sea salt, and 1/4 cup of water, thoroughly blending the spices in for a rich, red broth-like liquid.  

I stirred the raw, cleaned shrimp into the mixture and let the shrimp cook until  fully pink. Then I spooned in 1/2 cup of Oikos 0% Greek yogurt. Turning off the heat first, I blended the yogurt into the mix until it was a lovely orange color and a uniform, creamy consistency throughout.

Served with the caramelized, sweet and salty Brussels sprouts and garlic naan, this turned out to be a delightful dish made from some random ingredients I wanted to use up. Next time I would add more spice, maybe some habanero oil, but I really like my food spicy.

Once dinner was done, we started in on the Christmas tree while watching Home Alone 2 and eating leftover cannoli from Joseph’s Bakery in South Boston. I have no idea how they survived in our house so long!

Our tree came out just perfect:

I love turning out the rest of the lights in the house and sitting around with just the white lights of the tree on. What a magical time of year!

Unfortunately, this morning after a killer workout, I started to feel a little eh, and by lunch time I was in the throes of sore throat, congestion, chills, and zero attention span. Off to bed early tonight, hoping to beat this thing before my holiday work party tomorrow and a 9 or 10 mile run Friday night.

Have a great night everyone! Its almost the weekend.