It’s been a while since my last post, and I’ve covered a lot of ground since then, but I will keep this entry brief by concentrating on the highlights, and the pleasure of having had other people cook for me for much of the last ten days. In Chicago last week, Jeff and Eve- with whom our tradition of mighty dinners really got rolling during grad school there in ’94- made a simple yet perfect dinner of grilled duck breast, asparagus, couscous salad, and fruit for dessert. They will be here tomorrow for a night; I’m looking forward to reciprocating with some much-awaited home cooking of my own.
The following night, Rick (who first turned me on to sous-vide cooking at home) made some monster T-bones in his water bath, plus roasted potatoes and braised carrots. He’s got a superb wine collection, and we drank a 1981 Kathryn Kennedy cabernet that tastes much younger than almost 30 years old, followed by a 1991 Dujac Clos St. Denis that is still a baby. The more wine I drink, the more I come back to the simple truth that age is everything with well-made wine.
Last Monday, we had the pleasure of attending the wedding of some dear friends up here, and the subsequent reception at their house. The groom is French, and they roasted a whole lamb on a spit in the back yard; there was much goodness to go with it. A couple of other noteworthy flavors from these last few days included a 1997 López de Heredia rosé that had wonderful sherry and port notes underneath the elegant acid, the late dinner I had with my Brother at the Fatty Crab in NYC, and the later Korean barbecue post-opening in Williamsburg last night- complete with an open container citation (for a quarter inch of wine in a plastic cup I absentmindedly had in hand) on the way over as an appetizer.
What wedding is complete without a didjeriduet?
Busted! That is such a kid move, getting popped with an open container citation. I love it.
We’re roasting a whole pig next week. The lamb looks much more manageable.
Welcome back, btw.
Welcome back! I’m sending you a blog award today, “You Make My Day.” Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy reading your blog!
A dumb question for you. I have not seen a roasted lamb with that much neck left on. Why not just leave the head on too?
Heather: It was my proudest moment in recent memory. Pig sounds good. Want.
Zoomie: You like me? You really like me? Thank you.
Genevelyn: I don’t know; that’s how they did it. The neck is good eating, but they probably didn’t want to freak out the more sensitive of the guests by leaving the head on.
Hey Peter, how is your brother doing anyway?
That is SOOOoo totally awesome! Animal on a spit makes any wedding real. I love lamb but I have more experience with pig. Every year the men in my family BBQ a whole pig for my family reunion. the younger ones do a fish fry. They can’t handle the spit.
Dave: He’s doing well. Moved to NYC last fall.
Nikki: I love both lamb and pork, but I think that lamb is best with little meddling, while pork improves with sophisticated modification (read: bacon.) Whole animals on spits are win/win either way.
Sweet. We do a whole lamb every year for our annual Big Fat Greek Party. There is not much better than fire-crisped lamb fat!
Hank: Not much except bacon.