February 19, 2011 new recipes

This was a fabulous dinner! I continue to be amazed by Mario Batali. I've really liked pretty much everything in Molto Italiano, which is the source of these 2 dishes. We started with Eggplant Bruschetta . Since we did not find Italian eggplant, we used 2 small regular eggplants, which worked just fine. We enjoyed that while we were making Duck Ragu. The original recipe was Garganelli with Duck Ragu. Rather than handmake the garganelli, we substituted penne. And this evening we used chicken legs instead of duck legs. We will certainly do this again with the duck!

The wine was a Santa Margherita 2006 Chianti Classico. This wine was a gift and if I could remember who gave ti to us I would be thanking you again!! It is a rich wine with the flavor and aroma of dark cherries, cocoa powder and oak, with gentle tannins. I am definitely going to look for this wine. It was a wonderful match to the food.

We finished dessert with homemade Profiterolles, which Anne showed Carl how to make. Time to go for a run!

February 14, 2011 new recipe

Valentine's Day! We both had to work, so this was a simpler dinner. Carl made Spanish Rice, which he has made many times before. He used the Peanut Mole we had left from the quail awhile back and prepared boneless chicken thighs in it. It is still a fabulous mole! The new dish was tostadas with the Bacon-Tomato Guacamole recipe from Rick Bayless' Fiesta at Ricks.

The wine was Este from Bodegas Alta Amazora 2007. It is a deep red fruity wine, without a lot of tannins--nice match with the rich spiciness of these dishes.

January 16, 2011 new recipes

Dinner on 1/16/2011 was a team affair. I made Chicken with Wild Mushrooms and Roasted Garlic. Carl made Farro with Artichokes and Herbs. We had it with a Mâche Salad with Edible Flowers, and the usual dressing.

The chicken and the farro were both new recipes, and both came from Food and Wine Magazine.

The wine with this meal was a 2007 Patton Valley Pinot Noir, brought by our friends Kris and Tony.

January 9, 2011 new recipes

Here is dinner on 1/9/2011--a Moroccan Lamb-Chicken Stew, served over pearled couscous. It was delicious, and made many days of wonderful leftovers!

I need to dig back through our recipes to remember where this one came from.

Don't recall the wine.

We don't often have dessert, but this evening we had a chestnut cream, with vanilla ice cream and bitter chocolate. Anne found the recipe in French online and made it. Roasted chestnuts have a flavor that is really unlike anything else, and it is wonderful! Here is a recipe from Yankee Magazine.