It was a stay at home weekend; no plans to go out.  But that didn't stop us from having three great home cooked meals with some great wine.  I think that counts as a hat trick.
 
Friday started us out with Tuscan tuna skewers (marinated tuna, fennel, tomato and onion) roasted to perfection.  Ang fell in love with the marinade -- olive oil, zest and juice of one lemon, garlic and rosemary.  It was served with a lovely shrimp risotto.  We thought a Pinot would work with these dishes so I opened one of our last bottles of 2008 En Route.  It's a great food wine.  The black cherry and raspberry flavors worked well (especially with the tuna).  Long live the Russian River Valley!

Saturday, I got inspired to attempt homemade gnocchi.  I've really gotten into making fresh pasta lately and gnocchi (potato dumplings) is a favorite from a long time back.  Ang  added a nice sage brown butter sauce to the pasta and a leek, Brussels sprouts with bacon side dish.  Add a sauteed pork chop (after a bath in Ang's favorite marinade) to the mix and all that was needed was a good wine.  Our good friend Michele brought over a bottle of Bodegas Inurrieta Sur ( grenache and graciano) blend to complete the meal.  Cherries and a little chocolate with easy going tannins accented every bite.  

The final day of our foodie spectacular made use of some leftovers from the previous meals, but also added another flavor level, shrimp on the barbie.  I was a little nervous grilling marinated shrimp (there's that marinade again), but a couple minutes on each side and they came out great.  We also added some grilled vegetables, reprising the fennel, tomatoes and red onions with an added treat of mushrooms.  Ang spiced up the seafood risotto with tomatoes, onion and fennel and some red pepper flakes, and the leftover gnocchi got sauced with homemade pesto.  With all the different flavors and textures, we went with a selection from this month's Wine 101 club offerings, 2007 Heron Hills Winery Eclipse.  This beauty is a blend Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris from New York State.  Good acidity, great flavors of pears and peaches, and light oak made this wine a winner in all categories.  We will be revisiting it soon.

Ang hadn't gotten much opportunity to cook lately, but really got to strut her stuff this weekend.  The food and wines were fantastic.  The only loser was my waistline.  Back to bread and water for the rest of the week. Sure...your milage may vary.