1/31/04 Richard cooks Mint Ricotta Pasta and Lamb with Amaretto Glaze; Brian passes:

Richard, in apron, ready to go again in the kitchen.

This is one of my favorite things he has made yet. It's a mint leaf and ricotta with oil over pasta. You mix it all together before you eat it, and it has the fresh minty taste coming through the light creaminess of the ricotta, on each bite of pasta. Mmmm.

Richard was a big fan as well. It's a great primo (first dish) and its not that hard to make.

The main attraction was lamb.

He did a serious amaretto-based sauce.

He stacked it vertically as part of the presentation. It was succulent. The meat was tender and tasteful. The sauce was an excellent combination.

Richard demonstrates one of the steps in making the sauce, using a double boiler.

Brian came over, but passed on the opportunity to eat Richard's creation. Brian feels that he won't like most of the things Richard makes, and he doesn't like waiting around for each course to come out, which, as Richard is the only one in the kitchen, is spread out over the course of 2 hours, usually, from antipasto to segundo (main course). So Brian usually brings over his own fast food, sandwich, or pizza. Here, Rich shows Brian his coffee grinder and all of its' settings, from coarse to fine.

After Brian left, Rich and I made a deli run. Richard had a sweet tooth this evening (when doesn't he?) and he couldn't decide which milano to go with. So he bought all three! Raspberry, Mint, and French Vanilla. The French vanilla are really good, but nothing is better than old-fashioned mint.