January 6, 2015 Lunch at Taj Mahal Dinner – Ratatouille and pasta with sautéed lamb and sautéed kale

January 6, 2015 Lunch at Taj Mahal   Dinner – Ratatouille and pasta with sautéed lamb and sautéed kale

I went to lunch at Taj Mahal with Aaron today.  The most interesting new item was Vegetable Pakora, which turned out to be onion rings battered in chick pea flour and deep fried to crisp.  It was delicious an Aaron and I returned for a second helping of it and spinach Saag and a fresh batch of tandoori chicken.   At lunch I met Mike Verhagen, who is back in town, and invited him to dinner.   

Mike said he had a barber appointment at 7:00 but would come after that.  

After lunch I drove to Sprouts to buy several items for dinner.  I called Suzette and she reminded me that we had an eggplant.  I was not sure if Amy and Nate were full vegans, so I decided to buy stuff for ratatouille.  I bought another eggplant ($.48), four zucchini squashes ($1.49/lb.), Roma tomatoes ($.48/lb.), yellow onions ($.48/lb.), a bunch of organic Kale ($.99) and about 2/3 lb. Brussels sprouts ($1.99).

I rode to Montano and back and when I returned I started the Ratatouille by chopping 2 onions, five or six gloves of garlic, and began sautéing them in 2 Tbsp. each of olive oil and butter, I then cubed the 2 eggplants and added them to the pot, then about 1 Tbsp. of dried Mexican oregano, salt, pepper, the 4 zucchinis, a red bell pepper, and finally four or five tomatoes and a cup of water to emulsify the mixture.  I gathered some fresh oregano in the garden but it was stunted by the cold, so I picked 5 or 6 sprigs of fresh oregano from the pot we keep in the window of our dining room and de-stemmed the leaves and chopped them and added them to the mixture.

Suzette heated water in a large enameled casserole to a boil and added 3/4 lb. of gemelli pasta.  Luke stripped and chopped about ¾ of a bunch of organic kale.

I then cubed the PPI lamb roast and when Luke had drained the pasta and put it back into the casserole and the ratatouille had cooked for about 30 minutes, Suzette sautéed the lamb in a large skillet in olive oil for a minute or two to heat it but not toughen it.  We served ourselves from the pots on the stove.

I fetched a bottle of 2010 Chianti Reserva (Trader Joe's $5.99) and a bottle of 2010 Marchesi Chianti Superiore ($4.99 on close out last Christmas at Quarter's) and poured the wine.  After we served ourselves and sat down I told everyone that we were going to do an experiment.  We were going to side by side taste the two chianti produced in the same year to see which we liked; the Chianti Reserva or the Chianti Superiore.  We all agreed that we liked the clean light flavor of the Marchesi Chianti Superiore.

The kale

the Rattatouille

the Gemelli

Luke, Nate and Amy

My plate (note sauteed lamb cubes on the Rattatouille)

 Mike arrived shortly after we served dinner at around 7:45 and joined us for dinner.

After dinner, Luke sliced an orange into wedges and served it with slices of chocolate cake and I gathered up several bottles of liquors, the bottle of Grappa Reserva Mike and Kathryn brought us from Italy, a bottle of Francoli grappa aged in wood three years from Ghemme, Italy, a bottle of VS cognac, a bottle of XO Calvados and the bottle of Trimbach Grande Reserve Poire Brandy.  Everyone seemed to like the brandies, except Luke who drank little wine and no liquor.  Mike liked the pear brandy.    

The next day when Nate and Amy left, they thanked us for the hospitality at our lovely home and I recommended that they visit northern California to see the coastal redwoods near Orick and visit Anderson Valley, Mendocino and Ukiah.

Bon Appétit