Our "Bh.D." in lamb

"Did he mean Ph.D.?" you might ask yourself. Well you'll just have to keep reading to find out!

Our day started with a trip to the local ski lodge so Mario and his friends could celebrate his AB honor roll. Way to go champ! As Angela and I waited for their session to expire we discussed the week's events and caught up on all the gossip. Afterwords we headed to he grocery store to pick up a few more ingredients for the Torta di Arancia ed Olio - Olive Oil and Orange Cake (page 468), the white, red and moscato d'asti wines for dinner and dessert. We arrived home and Angela and I began the prep work for the menu. Mario was still entertaining his friends and gave Angela the okay to step in and wear the orange crocs!

The recipe for the cake moved along flawlessly and before I knew it was baking in the oven. Angela and I moved on to preparing the final ingredients for the lamb. The boys went outside to do some additional tubing on the ice covered hill outside our home. Out of no where Mariesa screams for us to come downstairs as one of the boys has fallen hard and is now bleeding profusely from his nose. We rush downstairs to help, consumed with helping Joey, Angela did not see the steaming divot in front of her and the orange crocs lost their virgin sole. Unfortunately for us we did not notice until Angela and Joey had rushed up the stairs to get some ice. In all the chaos the cake stayed in the oven about 5 minuets longer than specified. I quickly removed the cake and prayed for the best. Fortunate for us, it was perfect!

As Angela cleaned up and Joey held his head back, I finished the task at hand and placed the Coscia l'Agnello alle Prugne - Leg of Lamb with Green Olives, Prunes and Roasted Shallots (page 385) into the oven. Not long after the boys had left and we were ready to serve. Whew!!!

After waking Mojo up we started to carve, serve and eat. Wow! I know you have read this before, but this dish has set the bar. When we created our croc rating system we agreed that we would only share 5 croc meals with invited guests. Well this is our first 5 croc meal. The lamb was so juicy and tender that it just melted in your mouth. The combination of shallots, prunes and olives was delectable. I must mention, as we were preparing the meal we had planned on serving a risotto, but with the distraction of bloody noses, de-virginized crocs and a house full of boys we neglected to look into the pantry to make sure we had risotto to cook – we didn't. Our stand-in sous chef had a great idea! Take the marinate from the lamb, saute it over low heat and then combine with blanched potatoes and finish them off in the oven. Genius!

As we crooned over the meal the conversation turned to Roald Dahl and his epic poem Lamb to the Slaughter. Now you may think that Angela or I would have brought up this story, but you would be mislead. Mariesa and Mario connected our meal to the classic story of a woman who murders her husband with a frozen leg of lamb. I was familiar with other classic Dahl stories like Willy Wonka and The Fantastic Mr. Fox, but not with this story. We pulled out the Mac and googled Mr. Dahl. As Angela read us the story, I quickly knew this was one of those magical nights where an intelectual connection was made between parents and their children. They both loved the story and the irony that it depicted. We were coming to the conclusion of the main course and Mario suggested that we look up to see if there were any videos on YouTube. Lo and behold, Alfred Hitchcock's movie comes up as the top search!

As Angela sliced and served our dessert, we turned out all the lights and gathered around the Mac. Mario selected full screen and we enjoyed Mr. Hitchcock's interpretation of Mr. Dahl's story. Where else could have Mario Batali, Alfred Hitchcock, and Roald Dahl (Bh. D.) all come together to create such a memorable night? Only at The Three Tocayos!

As always, we wish you were here and leave you with Alfred Hitchcock's movie.






Ciao,
Mario & Mario