Yesterday was gorgeous here in Ohio, but I didn’t cook out at all.  My wife and I ran around doing some errands for a bit, and ended up at a great local market chain.  If anyone is in the Dayton, Ohio, area, make sure to try out Dorothy Lane Market.

It’s kind of a specialty market with both a good and bad reputation.  The good reputation is that they have the best of everything they can get.  Top quality beef, lamb, pork and chicken; wild game; restaurant quality seafood; a GREAT bakery, making Killer Brownies (they even ship these); and the freshest produce around.  They also have a very good wine department and a better variety of soft drinks that aren’t just more soda pop than anyplace close by.  The bad rep is that they’re considered very expensive.  And they are!  Lamb chops are something like $22 per pound.  Actually, regular groceries are about the same as anywhere else, and they started one of those card deals pretty early, giving very good prices on some items.

I think some people get intimidated there, though they stay very busy.  Another area they beat everyone local in is their cheese department.  It’s as good as I’ve seen in any market that’s not a huge farmer’s market, like Harry’s in Atlanta, or Jungle Jim’s in Fairfield, Ohio.  Their service at DLM is great, and all you have to do is ask for the already-portioned cheeses to be cut down some more to get the portion you want.  Just ask, and they’ll do it.

So my wife and I went in to get a freshly baked baquette, some pears and cantelope, and some cheeses.  I also picked up some kalamata olives.  The cheeses we got included a really creamy French brie, some Tilamook sharp cheddar from Oregon, an English huntsman and some St. Andre cheese from France.  I opened a bottle of Sonoma County pino noir from Magnet.  It was a nice pinot… Very drinkable, not expensive (under $20).  I prefer David Bruce for California pinots, but this went well, having some metalic hints to it, but being a good, strong pinot that finished very nicely with some peppery flavors that went well with the variety of cheeses.

We put in Glory Road in the DVD player, and sat back and enjoyed the meal and the movie with our dog, Woody.  Sorry it’s not a great picture… we were settling down, and he knew he’d get some bread or crackers, and he’s a fool for sharing our food with us!  He’s about 14 years and 8 months old now, and still going pretty strong.

Next time you’re trying to figure out what to have for dinner, try a couple of good cheese varieties, along with some good, chewy bread and a glass of wine that balances it.  For me, those include the bigger reds, along with burgundies, and sometimes a chardonnay if I can find one that’s not over buttery or oaky, but that’s tough to do anymore.  Things you could add would be some thin slices of proscuitto or some sauteed mushrooms.

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