Lunch in East Hampton
On a perfect Fall afternoon, we sat on the back deck with a view of the garden at the home of friends in East Hampton.
For a starter to our lunch, our friend had made her mother’s classic recipe for chicken livers, cooked with onions and mashed with hard cooked eggs, which we ate on toast.
For my birthday in August, our hosts had given me a bottle of Dom Perignon. I brought it along so that we could enjoy it together. It went great with the chicken liver toasts.
Champagne the DP 2008 made from equal amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The grapes come from five Grand Cru villages and one Premier Cru village. This is very impressive champagne with great balance, elegance and complex aromas and flavors.
The day was cool and we decided to move indoors for the rest of our meal.
We started with a salad of fresh spinach with pine nuts, apples and flakes of Parmesan.
There were roasted potatoes with rosemary.
Our host, ready to carve the crisp Roast Chicken from a local Long Island farm.
The chicken was roasted with thyme and garlic, and there were green beans and crusty roast potatoes. With it, we drank
Gigondas 2003 Domaine Les Pallieres made from 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah, Mourvédre, Cinsault and Clairette. The vineyard is 25 ha and the vines are 65 years old on average. The soil is red sandy clay, limestone and scree. Fermentation is in tank and then the wine is aged in foudres for 20 months. This is a full bodied wine with hints of black fruit, licorice and a touch of raspberry and cherry. It has along finish and pleasing aftertaste.
Dessert was the always delicious and very famous Original Plum Torte from the New York Times.
We had it with vanilla ice cream.
Sunday lunches like these are so special, aren’t they, not just for the good food and great wine(s) but for the atmosphere … I can just imagine the chortling, the exchange of banter, maybe even a bit of ‘serious’ talk but after a while .. it’s all good. Love Sunday lunches!