We went to Costco this morning and, among 27 other bottles of wine, picked up one for “Christmas in March” (ok, it’s April, but I had a tooth problem then). Then we had to make a meal to go with it, which we proceeded to do. Just a standard lamb thing, but it sure is good.
I defrosted 12 kebab chunks from a boneless New Zealand lamb leg we got on a previous Costco trip (I chunk the legs right away, which is a major pain, but oh so helpful later!). I got thyme from the garden, and made a mix of a bit of fresh-squeezed lemon juice and olive oil, and tossed both on the defrosted lamb. I let this sit in the fridge till a half hour or so before cooking, when I skewered the lamb, and then salted and peppered before grilling on our Viking range. D suggested roasted asparagus with feta, which was a great addition. We had some Bulgarian feta left over, which we used, but I think French or Corsican is the optimal choice for this particular dish. I like roasting the asparagus till it starts to brown up quite a bit. It’s amazing how different some veggies taste when you roast them!
I made a pilaf using a cup of Thai jasmine rice, which I stirred in melted butter (about 2T); I added 1 2/3 cups boiling water and one chicken boullion cube, then let it simmer slowly till done – about 15 minutes. I usually use basmati rice, but we are out. This worked fine.
Here’s the wine that inspired all this. It was great. I found it especially liked the asparagus with feta, but it also went great with the lamb and rice.
We even had special water: San Pellegrino sparkling water, which we also get at Costco. Perhaps I should just call this a Costco meal and be done with it 
