Splendid Table Soirée

A few weeks ago, WKNO, our local public radio station, brought Lynn Rosetto Kasper to Memphis for a fun filled weekend. If you listen to her weekly show, the Splendid Table, you will be truly jealous to know that I was blessed to play sous-chef to her cooking class at the Viking Center. here in Memphis on Friday, and then on Saturday evening, we did a private, WKNO members only dinner at Mantia's.

If you have ever met "famous" people, you have learned that sometimes they can be distant and condescending...and others are every bit as warm, charming and knowledgeable as you would have thought. Lynn is truly one of the latter. After a few bites of each course, she was up and mingling from table to table, chatting, answering questions, and socializing. As far as the questions go, I listen regularly to her show (and in fact, am an underwriter for her show...which is Public Radio's term for "sponsor"). At the tail end of each show, she invites folks to call in with questions. I had always envisioned her sitting in front of a computer with all the search engines going full blast, and a staff of several sitting around her with tons of resource books. Not so! She fielded some pretty obscure questions with an enormous amout of knowledge...I was impressed and I don't impress easily!

She's written two books, The Splendid Table, which won a number of awards, and The Italian Country Table. Both are delightful to read for the background stories, as well as to cook from. Our dinner came from her cookbooks, and just to let you know what you missed, here is the menu, with the wines, selected by Elizabeth Mall of Delta Wholesale, a house here with a great list of Italian wines:

Aperitivo e Crostini
Little toasts with amusing toppings
Zardetto Prosecco Brut

Antipasti Misti
A plate of tantalizing bites
Cusumano Insolia Sicilia IGT 2004

Fusilloni con Salsa di Porcini con Pomodori
Spiral pasta with Piancenza's Porcini-Tomato Sauce
Cusumano Nero d'Avola Sicilia IGT 2004

Pollo a Due Tempi Il Vecchio Molinetto
Erminia's Pan Crisped Baby Hens
Fagliolini alla Bolognese
Sauteed green beans bolognese
Palladio Chianti DOC 2002

Budino all'Emiliana
Cinnamon and Clove Custards
Vigna Moscoti d'Asti Piemonte 2003 DOC