Yummy 2

Culinary writeup trial, you could call it. As stated in the tweet at that time, the menu for Valentine was (add good friends):

• Scallops with Salmon and Saffran
• Leg of Lamb
• Lemon Pie.

Starting with champagne and hibiscus flowers. Ending with Connemara. And you know what: I'll give away the ending: it was great. Satisfied? (so were we) So: on to the courses.

Setting the scene

One import aspect of any culinary evening is attention to detail. Don't skimp on details, they are the coathangers that will make your evening memorable. All evenings with great friends are great, don't settle for it. In this case, a nice themed wine seemed appropriate. miamor is a Malbec grape based wine from the Mendoza region in Argentina, and as often the case for such wines, very highly vinified. Open it up, let it breath and sparkle up front. And make sure your main dish is a match.

Last things first

Another import aspect is the dessert. While icecream will do for most occasions (and have some in the house always - you never know when some experiment will fail), nothing says "I love you" like homemade pie. Italian lemon pie in this case. You will want his made as fresh as possible, so start as late as possible while still allowing it sufficient (say, 4 hours) time to cool. The recipe came from "Il Cucchiaio d'Argento", the Italian Fanny Farmer, if you want. Forget about hotshot kitchen rods publishing X books on their view of the authentic kitchen - just get this one single book and save a ton.

Dead simple to make, the torta al limone consists of a baked shell of pasta frolla ("buttercrust"), filled with eggs (3-4) beaten with sugar (200g), with the rind of two lemons and the juice of half one added. Top with beaten eggwhites (3) mixed with powdered sugar (100g). 30 minutes in the oven and you're done. Don't forget to coat the crust with some beaten eggwhite to seal it before filling.

Loving the tender meat

Leg of lamb is mostly an exercise in patience. It really does not matter if you prefer it with garlic slivers inserted close to the bone (yes!), or peppered and thymed (yes!) or rubbed vigorously with rosemary (yes!), the important thing is to take your time when cooking it. Put your oven at a balmy 170 Celsius, allow for up to two hours for a full leg (no hot air fans, please), and have a timer that reminds you every 15 minutes to take the juices and baste it. Towards the end of the cooking time (last 10 minutes), that's when you go for the crustiness.

(To be continued)