Menu for a Romantic Dinner at Home

On Saturday night, I made a simple, yet elegant, dinner for Lou and me for a quiet night at home.

I made an easy recipe I found in a Bon Appetit a couple of years ago. Here's the recipe, but all you do is brush a rack of lamb with olive oil, sprinkle it with salt (I used rosemary salt Joey and Brad gave us not long ago), pepper and chopped rosemary. Then, you toss some cherry tomatoes in a bowl with more oil and rosemary, arrange them around the lamb on a baking sheet and cook for about 30 minutes uncovered at 450 degrees. The lamb came out of the oven rare--perfect for us--with the tomatoes soft and almost melted, and the flavors of the lamb, rosemary and tomatoes were spectacular.

I also roasted brussel sprouts in the usual fashion, sliced with salt, pepper and olive oil, although I mixed in pine nuts this time around. The pines nuts were a nice touch, and I like the light nuttiness they add to the dish.

Best of all, we opened a bottle of 2005 Unti Segromigno, which is a blend of Sangiovese, Syrah and Barbera. Unti is a small family run vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley, just to the northwest of Healdsburg, California, that mostly specializes in making Italian style wines. We visited the vineyard in October when my parents came out to see us, and we tried several wines, including the Segromigno, though it did not stand out. It was unbelievably good on Saturday. Lou and I were struck, actually quite shocked, by the wonderful flavors of fruit, especially strawberry and fig, along with hints of licorice and leather in the bouquet and by the licorice finish. It was a delicate, complex and delicious wine. We finished off the whole bottle, and I highly recommend it.