April 3,
2015 Dinner Party with Barry , Kylene, Ricardo and Cynthia Baba Ganoush, Roast leg of lamb, Tzatziki, Roasted root vegetables tossed with garlic and fresh mint, sautéed Curly Kale, sautéed Asparagus tips and red bell pepper, and Apricot
tart
We had a
dinner party for six tonight. I made
tzatziki yesterday and let it blend its flavors overnight, which is important
because it takes time for the raw garlic to meld into the dish. I also
marinated the two small ends of legs of lamb I bought at Sprouts last week for $2.99/lb.in red wine, rosemary oregano and
garlic overnight.
At around 5:00 I cubed and filled a pyrex baking dish with 1 cubed parsnip, 1 onion and several potatoes. Suzette tossed the vegetables with olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper on them and cooked the vegetables in a 350 degree oven for about an hour, while I chopped three cloves of garlic and about three Tbsp. of fresh mint to be tossed with the roasted vegetables after they sat for a few minutes after roasting. I then made baba
ganoush using a can of prepared baba ganoush (roasted eggplant and tahini) to
which the instructions said to add lemon juice, garlic and salt and then a
drizzle of olive oil. I did not have any
pita so Suzette thinly sliced Challah that we then toasted to spread the baba
ganoush on. Suzette also bought crumbled feta that we put out to sprinkle on the
baba ganoush. Suzette also stopped at
Total wine and bought several bottles of wine including 2 bottles of Santiago
Station Sauvignon Blanc, 2 bottles of Santiago Station Cabernet Sauvignon
($3.99 per bottle), a bottle of Cotes du Provence rosé and a bottle of 2012 Le
Cep Côtes de Rhône red wine ($10.99 at Total Wine). Cynthia and Ricardo brought a bag of curly chard and chopped onions and a plastic container of asparagus tips and chopped
red bell pepper and a bottle of 2012 Lohr Silver Oaks Estates Cabernet
Sauvignon.
I opened a bottle of the
Santiago Station Cabernet Sauvignon first.
Soon Barry and Kylene arrived and brought a freshly baked apricot tart made
with apricots Barry picked from Robert Reck’s tree last year and a whipped
cream flavored with a dash of Kahlua and a bottle of Concha y Toro 2012
Xplorador Malbec from Chile and a bottle of 2010 Franciscan Estate Napa Valley
Cabernet Sauvignon.
When Barry and Kylene
arrived we poured glasses of red wine and Suzette put the lamb on the grill
but in a few minutes the gas ran out so we put the lamb in the oven to finish
roasting. We did no time the lamb, but instead
we used a thermometer and cooked it to an internal temperature of 160˚, which worked out
to between medium and medium-rare depending upon the meat’s thickness.
 |
| Suzette, Kylene, Ricardo and Cynthia |
 |
| Barry, Suzette behind candelabra, Kylene and Ricardo |
We served
dinner in the garden by the pond. First, we put out the Baba Ganoush with crumbled feta and toasted bread.
When the lamb was cooked to 160˚, we let it rest for few minutes and then I sliced it. We carried the
sliced lamb, tzatziki, and Cynthia’s sauteed curly kale with onions and sauteed asparagus tips with red bell pepper to the garden and
served wine and the food in the garden.
We finished the Le Cep, the Lohr Cab, the Santiago Station Cab and most of the
Xplorador Malbec with the appetizer and the meal.
We then sat
and talked for a bit. Then Barry and Suzette went to the kitchen to serve Barry's dessert. Barry served slices of apricot tart garnished with dollops of Kahlua flavored whipped cream and I served glasses of
Cognac, Grappa D Brunello and Grapefruit flavored vodka with the dessert.
 |
| a beautiful apricot tart |
The wind picked up, so we moved into
the living room and had a few more small glasses of after dinner liquors and
talked a bit more.
It was a lovely cool evening with a fire
in the horno fireplace by the pool and a nearly full moon in a clear sky.
 |
| the full moon |
Bon Appétit
No comments:
Post a Comment