Labor Day 2008

Wine:

Vi D’Agulla aVinYo 2007
Cruner Le Colture Prosecco Di Valdobbiadene
W Schwartz 2004 White Table Wine
Copain Grenache 2003
Lombardo VinSanto Di Montepulciano 1998

For Memorial Day we decided to cook a lamb recipe from the new Mario Batali cookbook: Italian Grill. Bea had purchased the book and we decided to cook from it. We purchased a butterflied leg of lamb. One of the interesting things about the meat, is that when it is butterflied it has different thicknesses. This is great for grilling because you can with one piece of meat grill it and have very rare to charred ends. It makes life easy!


We started with Guacamole and Chips on the deck with lots of great wine!
We also had Prosciutto and Figs.
We tried a new creation from The Cheese Store of Silverlake. They created an absolutely delicious Goat Cheese with Candied Ginger. We served it with Crackers. It is a great combination. I am glad they came up with it!

For the first course we had Papa Al Pomodoro. This tomato / bread soup is from Italian Country Cookbook. It is a summertime favorite of ours. We make it several times every year. I published the recipe in our blog on: Aug 2, 2006. Click the date and scroll to the recipe.

With the meat we made a dish we often serve with lamb: Baked Eggplants and Tomatoes with Bread Crumbs and Basil. This provincial style dish reflects ALL of the tastes of summer!

Because figs are still in season and we love them, and because it is easy to make we once again made a Fig Upside Down Cake. I published the recipe in our blog on: Aug 4, 2007. Click the date and scroll to the recipe


Butterflied Leg of Lamb With Garlic, Rosemary, and Mint
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SERVES 8

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vin santo
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
18 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed a bit with the side of a heavy knife
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
One 4J/2- to 5-pound boneless leg of lamb, butterflied and trimmed of excess fat (or one 7-to 8-pound bone-in leg, boned, butterflied, and trimmed)
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
COMBINE THE OLIVE OIL, vin santo, mint, 6 of the garlic cloves, the salt, and the pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
Make 12 small incisions in the fatty side of the lamb and insert one of the remaining bashed garlic cloves and some of the rosemary into each slit. Put the lamb in a large baking dish and pour the marinade over, turning to coat. Let stand at cool room temperature for 1 hour, or cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, or overnight; turn the lamb occasionally as it marinates.
If the lamb has been in the refrigerator, bring it to room temperature. Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.
Remove the lamb from the marinade, draining it well, and pat dry. Pour the marinade into a small bowl. Place the lamb on the grill and cook, basting several times with the reserved marinade, for 10 to 12 minutes, until well charred on the first side. Turn and cook, basting several more times, for 10 to 12 minutes longer, or until well charred on the second side; the internal temperature should register 130 for medium-rare. Transfer the lamb to a carving board and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Carve the lamb into1/4 -inch-thick slices and serve immediately.
The vin santo in the marinade helps the meat develop a tasty char on the outside, like a steak. Cook it medium-rare, or even medium; unlike a butterflied beef tenderloin, for example, a butterflied leg of lamb always has some thicker and some thinner parts, which is actually a good thing—it means that when the meat is cooked, there will be something for everyone, some medium-rare, some medium, some a bit more done.


Baked Eggplants and Tomatoes with Bread Crumbs and Basil
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From Chez Panisse Cooking by Alice Waters and Paul Bertolli
For 8
At the restaurant, where large numbers of people are served at definite times, the success of any dinner, from the standpoint of the kitchen, depends upon how well prepared we are. Timing is critical, and accordingly, many dishes that would be impossible to assemble and cook to order are designed so that they can easily be finished and served. This logic and organization is valuable at home as well and can often help to simplify the work of the cook, particularly just before mealtime, when many tasks need to be attended to simultaneously. This eggplant dish may be prepared well in advance of being served.
I have never liked to cook eggplant in oil as it acts like a sponge and becomes heavy and indigestible. So before even assembling the ingredients for this dish, the eggplant is salted and peppered and baked in a little water. Precooking the eggplant also releases its brown, sometimes bitter juice and insures that the raw tomatoes, which will later be layered with the cooked eggplant, will finish cook¬ing at the same time. The bread crumbs are also precooked for proper texture. An important part of this recipe is the reduction that occurs in the final mo¬ments. As the vegetables cook they release their juices, which mingle with the vinaigrette, basil, and garlic. Serve this dish with grilled meats, lamb, in partic¬ular. It is also excellent with grilled chicken, salmon, sea bass, or cod.

3 globe eggplants (2 ounds)
Salt and pepper
3 large beefsteak tomatoes (2 pounds)
12 ounces sourdough bread, to yield 2 1/2 cups bread crumbs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For the vinaigrette:
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Put a pot of water large enough to hold the tomatoes on to boil.
Peel the eggplants with a sharp knife. Slice the eggplant into ½ inch rounds, discarding the hard end piece near the stem. Lay the eggplant out on a cutting board and salt and pepper one side. Then turn them over and arrange them, slightly overlapping, in a non-corroding baking dish approximately 16 by 10 inches. Pour over enough water (about 1/8 inch) to come barely up the sides of the eggplant. Lightly salt and pepper the other side of the eggplant. Cover the dish and bake about 1 hour, until the eggplant is soft but not mushy.
Core the tomatoes and drop them into the pot of boiling water for 15 seconds. Remove from the water. When cool, remove the skins and cut the tomatoes into ½ -inch slices.
Cut the crust off of the bread, break the bread up into small chunks, and grind into coarse crumbs in a food processor. (If you have no processor, pull the bread apart and break it up by hand.)
Melt the butter, add to the bread crumbs, and mix well so that all pieces are coated. Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet. Put into the oven with the eggplant and bake for about 1 5 minutes until golden brown. Turn the bread crumbs over with a spatula every so often, so they will brown evenly.
Prepare the vinaigrette: Whisk the garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper together until the salt is well dissolved. Add the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the basil and whisk until blended.
When the eggplants are ready, remove from the oven, transfer to a plate to cool, and discard any juices remaining in the pan.
Cut the eggplant and tomato slices in half, making half-moon shapes. Layer them, by alternating and overlapping them in the same pan used for baking the eggplant. Fit any extra pieces into the cracks. Stir the vinaigrette again and spoon it over the slices, distributing the basil and
pepper. At this point, the vegetables can be covered and held for 3 hours before being baked.

To finish: Scatter the Parmesan. over the top. Put the dish in the oven, reduce to 350°F, and bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top and bake 1 5 minutes more. Let cool slightly, garnish with the remaining 2 tablespoons basil, and serve.