Icy rain smothered Rhode Island yesterday. Brrr!! But, chills disappeared in the evening when Lesley R,, HG/BSK’s gifted daughter, hit the culinary bullseye with one of the best cold weather dinners HG ever enjoyed. Meal started with steaming bowls of chickpea soup. Inspired by the late Marcella Hazan’s recipe, Lesley R. gave it originality by adding herbs, spices, tomato paste, etc. HG topped the HG bowl with a splash of fruity olive oil and a dusting of parmesan. Main dish was a phyllo leaf pie stuffed with chard, cheese, garlic, onions, herbs and spices. Resembled a Greek spinach pie. However, the Lesley R. chard/cheese pie was much better. Robust, savory, lush. Dinner ended with ripe Comice pears, an array of cheeses, fig jam. No pause in drinking copious glasses of red wine. HG went on to HG’s usual after dinner pleasure: Rye whiskey. Overindulgence in alcohol (HG preceded dinner with a vodka and Aperol cocktail) ?? Possibly.
In this post, and a few preceding, HG references comice pears. Decades ago, in company with a former girlfriend who also follows HG, I arrived at the apartment of Marcella and Victor Hazan with an offering of a bag of brown-blotched comice pears. Not very attractive, but they had smelled good at West Side Market. A day or two later, I got a call from Victor. He oohed and ahhed over those pears, and I believe he even said they were the best he’d ever had. To this day, I keep an eye out for brown-blotched comices. With almost any cheese–blue, Comte, or Parmigiano Reggianno–it is a dreamy match. I should have known that HG is my comrade in bending the knee to this noble, if homely, fruit!