These excellent chops were asking for a wine just as excellent, and that’s what we all enjoyed last night.
- four 5-ounce lamb loin chops, grass-fed and organic, from Shannon Brook Farm, located in the beautiful New York Finger Lakes, dried thoroughly, cooked on a very hot enameled cast iron grill pan for a total of 10 or 12 minutes, turning twice, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper after the first time, finished with a squeeze of juice from an organic lemon from Whole Foods Market, scattered with some chopped rosemary from Keith’s Farm, and drizzled with a little olive oil
- sweet crookneck yellow summer squash from Alewife Farm, cut into 2cm sections, sautéed in a little olive oil for a few minutes with 2 sliced garlic cloves from Norwich Meadows Farm inside a high-sided heavy tin-lined copper pan before 3 fresh spring shallots from Alewife Farm, halved lengthwise, were added, the pan removed from the flame once the vegetables had begun to caramelize, its contents seasoned with sea salt and Freshly-ground Tellicherry pepper, a very few very small red tomatoes from Eckerton Hill Farm stirred in with them until they had just begun to soften, everything arranged on the plates and garnished with nasturtium flower petals
- the wine, a gift from an artist acquaintance, Ryan Weston Shook, who had designed its label (and that of other wines from the same winemaker), was a California (Napa) red, 1849 Wine Company Anonymous Napa Valley Premium Red Wine Blend 2013, and it was much more than just a pretty label: It was a really wonderful wine and it a perfect pairing with the entrée.
- the music was the album, ‘Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector: Music of Terry Riley’, performed by the Kronos Quartet
[image of Saber, holding a bottle of ‘Anonymous’ and two spray cans, from #anonymousby1849winecompany medias]