Viva Italia! four paws up for lamb ragu and Splendido!

Since there was a break in the heat Mom decided to pull out a great fall recipe from Wine Spectator magazine.


Being that I am a border collie (or mostly border collie) the idea of lamb naturally appeals to me. And this dish starts with ground lamb, browned and then combined with carrots, onions and celery and cooked until the veggies are tender. Add a touch of tomato paste and a few cups of dry red wine. She let the wine cook away completely, then added some broth, canned tomatoes, and spices such as rosemary, oregano, cumin, thyme, coriander, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. She let that simmer for a few hours, then tossed it over some pasta and covered it with a bit of chopped mint and parmasean cheese.

Amazingly, this dish has not one clove of garlic but the spices blend together to provide a glimpse into what is probably a local favorite in Tuscany. I can imagine local farmers setting down to steaming bowls of this once the day's work is done. Tired and hungry, the noble border collie comes to the kitchen for a pat on the head and a bowl of leftovers.

While I am not a drinker, I did taste the Poggio Alle Sughesi's 2001 Splendido that was served with the meal. The vines for this wine grow within a grove of olive trees. The dense rich plum flavors and dry finish blend well with the ground texture of the lamb and the rosemary and thyme. I can see why humans would want to drink a sangiovese-based wine with the dish. I had a bowl of water with mine, which also went well with the main course.

So I give the meal 4 paws up, which is what I was once my belly was full!

That's all I have to report for now folks.

Bone apetit!

Welcome to the Epicurial Dog Blog

Hello!

Welcome to the Epicurial Dog blog!

I am Sammy, a border collie mix that decided to adopt a human, Delynn about six years ago. Dee and I adopted Callie, another border collie mix, about a month later. Soon after Callie Delynn started dating a "coyote" named Chris, but he looks like a human to me. We have now added a lab/pit bull terrier mix to our pack, Sophie. She's a good enough considering she's not a border collie, after all.

Well anyway, to the point of this blog. My mom and Chris went to Paris in 2005 and since then they've been really into cooking good food. Not "haute cuisine", but good food. Like fondue, some great French recipes from Joel Robeshon's cookbook "Simply French" and other recipes they have found either online or through magazines such as "Wine Spectator" or "Food and Wine" magazine.


Now I was a stray for the first part of my life, so I can appreciate the idea of sampling something before you eat it. When I was a stray it was to avoid eating something that would make you sick later on. Now that I have a home and a mom who loves to cook, I am given the luxury of sampling to appreciate the delicate intricacies that is human cooking.  And who better to pass judgment on human food than an animal whose sense of smell is exponentially greater than that of a humans? After all, 90% of tasting something lies within the nose.

As a way of introduction to the blog, I will give a review of my first dish that my human Delynn ever served me: Brazilian Pizza


Actually, she didn't mean to serve it to me, but she left it out on the stove and Callie and I helped ourselves. We are dogs after all. get over it.


Basically, it was delicious! Although the crust was store bought, it was thin as to not interfere with the flavors of the pizza. Let's move onto the sauce, which was white - Alfredo based to be exact. This mild, creamy and heavy sauce paired well with the two spicy meats, hot sausage and raspberry-chipotle braised chicken. It was topped with layers of mozzarella, provolone, and Parmesan cheese. The creaminess of the cheeses and the sauce balanced the spicy meats. Plus, it was consumed along side some excellent South American Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons whose extremely fruity and lush flavors paired beautifully with the pizza.


I give it four paws up!