The lunches are slowly beginning to catch on. Not unexpected that it would take a little time for word to percolate around. For this lunch we only had two folk come, but it was fun, and gave me a chance to spend more time chatting with them. Still haven’t seen any of the folk who avowed that if we started offering lunches they’d be first in line. Just sayin’….

I was feeling a bit Roman, and I’ve been doing all those fun southern Italian pasta dish recipes. I thought we’d start with Rigatoni all’Amatriciana. You can see how to make the sauce here. Although most classicaly made with bucatini, it’s also common with rigatoni, and, it was my lunch, and that’s where I went. It, also, went over big. Sometimes classics are the best!

La Liga de Enologos “El Regreso” Semillon-Chenin 2021

Since I was headed down the Roman road, I went with my version of Pollo Ubriaco, or Drunken Chicken. Not at all like the Shanghainese dish of the same name, I used chicken thighs, dusted in salt, pepper, and flour, and browned them in olive oil, then set them aside. In a Dutch oven I sauteed chopped onion, garlic, celery, and red bell pepper until softened and starting to color. Then I added in tomato paste and stoneground mustard, and a couple of tablespoons of flour, toasting it off for a couple of minutes. A bouquet of herbs – rosemary, sage, and thyme got tucked into the pot. Nestled the chicken thighs into the mixture and then covered the whole thing with red wine and a splash of marsala for sweetness. Covered the pot and braised the chicken and vegetables for about an hour and a half. Removed the chicken and reduced the braising liquid and vegetables until thickened enough to use as a sauce. Served with sauteed wedges of zapallitos redondos, or globe zucchini with a little garlic, and some Andean papines, small potatoes, boiled, halved, and then tossed with a little huancaina sauce – okay, that’s not Roman, but I don’t think many Italians would object to topping potatoes with a cheese and walnut sauce with a hint of a kick from chili in it.

I’d forgotten how good this dish is. And I’d put it up against the Chinese dish (which I also like), anytime!

Salentein “Killka” Corte de Tintas 2021

One of our favorite quick desserts for ourselves here at home involves the trend of “microwave brownies”. We’ve played around a bit with various recipes and settled on one that we like – it creates a dense, gooey brownie with a deep chocolate and coffee flavor – Mocha Brownies – topped with some lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Next lunches with spaces still available… mid-November!