Time for my monthly Casa SaltShaker round-up! Standout dishes from each dinner, mostly in my opinion, but also those we got great feedback on! Also, note our new table linens in the cover photo – handmade by Henry who decided we needed an update to our longtime and well-worn olive green napkins.

I think this was my favorite dish for the whole month, and the one I had the most fun coming up with. These are caramelle pasta filled with a mix of fresh ricotta, smoked blue cheese, and caramelized shallots and chilies. Bathed in a brown butter spiked with merquén chili flakes, and garnished with herring roe and chives. Served with Monteviejo’s “Festivo” Rosé 2020, a 100% Malbec pink.

This one brings in some classic French technique. We’ve got a simple fillet of besugo, or sea bream, sautéed in a little butter and lightly dusted with salt and white pepper. A hasselback potato, beautifully golden outside and creamy inside. And, a classic beurre blanc sauce that’s tinged with a little ají amarillo puree, dill fronds and seeds, and red and black roe. Served this one up with an unfiltered Pinot noir from Fernando Ravera’s “Turbio” line, the 2022.

Another pasta, because, well, pasta. Here, langanelli, a sort of long trapezoidal shaped pasta made from a mix of whole wheat, semolina, and pasta flours. It’s dunked, and bathed, and slathered with a bagna cauda thickened with a little roux, so it has an intense garlic and anchovy flavor, and then topped with diced green beans that were sauteed in the bagna cauda, some fresh ricotta, and a dusting of tajín spice. This one I went for a 100% Syrah rosé from Alpasión.

And, for our final dinner of the month, our take on a classic Peruvian lomo saltado, using rib-eye, sautéed with mixed bell peppers, onions, chilies, and garlic. It’s served with mashed potatoes flavored with ají amarillo and a touch of lemon. For this, a bold 2022 Cabernet franc from Catena’s Nicasia Vineyards selection.

And that’s a wrap on January! Henry’s off to Peru for February, so there will likely be fewer dinners and I’ll combine them with March for the next round-up post. But, there will be more restaurant reviews coming, particular from restaurants that aren’t his cup of tea!