New Year’s resolution: I’ll take pictures of my cooking!  Until then, I paired this meal with a fine wine from Kunde, one of the Pick’s in my book.  Here’s a picture of the VIP Pass that you get when you purchase the book. Cheers!

Absolutely love this recipe.  I served it at a dinner party and it was a huge hit.  You can also cut it into little squares and serve as fancy appetizers.

Lamb & Goat Cheese Phyllo

• 1 lb lamb sirloin (you can use ground lamb, but sirloin is a bit more gourmet)
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 5 oz packages of goat cheese
• 2 tbls milk or 1/2 & 1/2
• 2 tsp shredded lemon peel
• 2 tsp each salt & ground nutmeg
• 10 oz of fresh chopped spinach
• more salt & pepper to taste
• 10 sheets thawed phyllo
• 1 stick butter melted

1. Preheat oven to 400. Chop the onion & garlic, medium.  I like the onion to be noticeable, not too finely chopped. Chop the sirloin into small pieces like you were giving it to a toddler. In a non-stick pan, saute the first three ingredients on medium heat until the lamb is medium rare.
2. Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl.  Mix in the cheese.  Add enough milk to make it a bit creamier.  Add lemon peel. Set aside.
3. Melt the cube of butter in the microwave and arrange the phyllo on a clean work surface. Take one sheet of phyllo and using a basting brush, generously cover it with melted butter. Be sure and go all the way to the edges. Continue adding layers one on top of the other, basting each one. Stop at 5 layers.
4. Put the lamb mixture back on the stove in the frying pan, turn on low-medium heat.  Stir in the salt and nutmeg.  Place the fresh spinach on top and add a little more salt & pepper to bring out the flavor. Cover for a few minutes until the spinach wilts. Return to the mixing bowl and stir.
5. Put the filling on top of the phyllo evenly. Layer the last 5 sheets of phyllo over the filling, basting with butter in between each sheet.  Finally, cut into 4 equal pieces. close the edges by pinching them together and using butter if necessary. Move the strudels to a non-stick cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes , depending on your oven. They should be golden brown on top and not burned on the bottom.  Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

*Note: the lemon peel creates a nice little surprise.  I don’t recommend skipping it.  You can also add wild mushrooms to this dish.

Wild Rice with Dates & Dried Apricots

• Trader Joe’s wild Rice Medley
• Chicken broth
• Fresh dates (Dromendory’s in the bag are great.)
• Dried Apricots

Fix 2 cups of rice according to instructions using chicken broth rather then water.  Chop the dates and apricots and stir in after the rice is down.

Serve a Mediterranean Salad on the side.

Serves 4.

Pairing

I served a 2006 Kunde Barbera, Block 3BB04, Sonoma Valley and it was wonderful.  It’s a hearty, earthy yet fruity variety.  Kunde’s is beautifully rich, not too light.  You might try any Italian wine that has some depth to it.  I also tried it with a Hawley Viogner just for fun.