Sunday, September 23, 2007

Under the Saratoga Moon


Now *this* is the way to cook a whole pig/lamb/ox/water buffalo: on a sturdy grill with a rotisserie that actually turns and an experienced pro standing nearby. (Contrast with the lamb-on-the-beach July entry on this blog.) The resulting roast pork was just one course of a splendid wine harvest dinner I attended Saturday evening in the Saratoga hills.




Before dinner, some of the guests actually picked grapes. Seeing this little cutie pick a few, eat a few, pick a few, eat a few was the best kind of pre-dinner entertainment. As the sun set, we sat at long tables on an outside terrace and dined on the splendid fare of San Francisco caterer Paula LeDuc. (When I know I'm going to be eating a dinner prepared by LeDuc's crew my mouth starts watering about breakfast time.)


The Tuscan-style dinner began with passed platters of calamari salad, marinated cauliflower and heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella. Next came moist cod, followed by platters of the spit-roasted pork. A trio of chocolate desserts completed the meal -- although some of us wandered over to an outdoor fire pit where ingredients for s'mores were laid out -- including incredibly delicious home-made marshmallows. An American classic proved the perfect ending for a meal inspired by Italy.

2 comments:

Katie Zeller said...

Now that's a proper 'vendange' dinner! What a cute little picker!
We had one about that age pick with us the first year - and she worked soooo hard!

lmc said...

beautiful, all of it. i admit though, your beach lamb is a story i will remember!

how was the cod cooked?