After two great appetizers and real champagne, what other delicacies were in store for us? A main course of Stuffed Trout and Spelt Risotto with Biscuits de Rose de Reims for dessert, and of course, more wine!
Stuffed Herb Trout with Red Wine Sauce and Spring Vegetables

the rich red wine sauce brings the ‘fishy’ trout together with the wine; the two mellow each other out
Spelt Risotto with Smoked Bacon and Peas
Bacon, mushroom, onion, garlic, white wine and chicken stock turn this pearled spelt into a very special risotto.
I see I gave the wine very high points indeed. 100% Pinot Noir and only $17, I have it described as medium body, low acid, smooth.
Biscuits de Rose de Reims White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
The sparkling wine was sweet with the aroma of ripe strawberries, and matched the dessert quite nicely.

the sparkling rosé added another tone of pink to the dessert, making this the most colour coordinated dish we had!
Class 1 of this series focussed on the ‘Food & Wine of the Loire Valley’.
Class 1 Part 1: featuring Frog’s Leg Soup, followed by two excellent appetizers: one of scallops served in the shell and the other of pork belly nibbles with mustard sauce.
Class 1 Part 2: a main course of light salad with hazelnut-crusted goat cheese plus the dessert of cookies with homemade Cointreau ice cream.
Class 2 of this series moved north and slightly east to the ‘Food & Wine of the Province of Champagne’.
Class 2 Part 1: appetizers of Belgian endives in a Béchamel sauce and savoury eclairs with smoked salmon, with Champagne, the real thing!
Class 2 Part 2: this blog
Chef Eric posts many of his recipes on his website: http://www.911cheferic.com/
I’ve been itching to try a spelt risotto. Was the cooking time similar to carnaroli/arborio?
Although I didn’t time it, it took forever to cook and still could have done with a bit more cooking when we finally ate it about 2 1/2 hours into the class…