In and Around New York»The Original Cooking Monsters»Cooking Monsters #8, In Snow

Gina must've been looking into a crystal ball, when back in December, right on the heels of our first snow storm of the season, she named this meeting of Cooking Monsters "In Snow". We have a lot of snow out there! We have so much snow, we are running out of places to put it. Cars are starting to look like mounds lined up along the streets and, right in front of Gina's house, some teenagers were attempting to sled them last night! There go the windshield wipers...

So, with all this winter wonderland outside, inside we had a very warm and toasty evening of new world wines and old world Mediterranean delicacies.

The inspiration, as usual, was set by the hostess. A Slow-Cooked Leg of Lamb. What could be more perfect in this weather! For starters, Yana made delectable, if painstaking, Phyllo Dough Purses filled with sauteed eggplant, chickpeas & tomatoes and seasoned with cumin. Just as tasty good looking ;) were the Olive Tapenade Toasts with Bruschetta toppings. These were paired with a wild and expressive Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, picked out by Jenny.

The main course of Leg of Lamb was accompanied by roasted seasonal vegetables, such as turnips & rutabagas (leave it to Gina to find the most extravagant vegetables any time of the year) and an elaborate Green Salad that was meticulously put together by Marina from green and purple lettuce, button mushrooms, tomatoes, individually peeled and grilled mandarin sections!, un-chopped *gasp* toasted pecans (we interfered) and homemade shaken, not stirred, dressing. The wine pairingS by Jenny were - a nosy organic California Zin, a big and elegant California Cab and there was one more, but it escapes me now ;)

For dessert moi made Stewed Apricots with Dried Cherries in a Lemon-Cinnamon Syrup served with Vanilla Soy Ice Cream and individual Galaktobourekos (Greek milk pies).