Caldo Da Morire

We had company this weekend, and went to John’s birthday on Friday; I’ll post about that out of order because I’m waiting for a photograph. Today was pretty Italian in spirit, if unconventionally so: arancini (supplì) for breakfast, and penne for dinner. I took the leftover risotto from the other night and formed it into balls around fat, crispy lardons of our homemade bacon (think that phrase is one I’ll tire of soon? Stick around and find out.) Then I rolled them in an egg wash and flour seasoned with curry powder and fried them up in canola oil enriched with the rendered bacon fat. Homemade bacon fat. To accompany, omelets with fresh herbs and some local caraway-studded cheese that I forget the name of, and a salad of whichever unlucky greens looked most tasty when I went a-pickin’.

Our guests departed, and we finessed lunch with bits and pieces, so come dinner time I put together something primal and gluttonous. Last night we had burgers and sausages (merguez and bratwurst) we bought at Fleisher’s. I have to say that their brats are good, even very good, but their merguez is kind of wimpy; when I make it it’s intensely flavored and I make my own harissa to season the meat, and the results are more like the much-missed Pascal’s. The burgers were an alloy of their bork (beef and pork ground together) augmented with more beef so the resulting ratio was more like 1/3 pork. Seasoned and grilled, they made for pretty awesome burgers, especially with green mash and our first all-garden kimchi of the year. But there was meat mixture left over, so I used it for the base of a pasta sauce, that also included a jar of our own tomatoes from last summer, garlic, plus peas and copious herbs from the garden. And steamed broccoli on the side; the heads are not so big, but we’ve never had sweeter or more flavorful broccoli. It also gets this flourescent green when steamed, and keeps it for a long time; served perfectly tender it’s still an unreal gorgeous color.

We continued our rosé tour (last night 2007 Châteaux du Rouët (Côtes de Provence) and de Campugets (Costières de Nîmes,) tonight a Domaine de Laure Côtes de Thongue. In lieu of any tasting notes, let me just say that well-made rosé from Southern France does not disappoint, with any food- or without- especially when it’s this hot and humid. It’s just perfect. (Domaines Ott notwithstanding, because it’s WAY overpriced.) Other, new world rosés, well, if you like them, then enjoy them. To me, too many of them taste either like fresca or watermelon jolly ranchers.