Inderepentance Day Sacrificial Lamb

My sister Laundry Queen told me last week that my blog is "lame." I think mostly because I haven't posted. So I'll try to remedy that, at least in some part.

I don't recall the genesis of this idea, but I had a 4-lb boneless leg of lamb in the freezer left over from when Mavis bought the largest leg of lamb he could find at the farmers' market for Easter dinner, and it wasn't large enough for the crowd we would be feeding. I already knew that leg of lamb worked well when roasted low and slow, plus it's summer (finally!) and I hadn't dusted off the grill yet, so I decided we needed Pulled Lamb Sandwiches. Pulled pork sandwiches are made on soft rolls with barbecue sauce and buttermilk coleslaw, but that wouldn't work as well for lamb. I wanted Mediterranean flavors, and a quick web search turned up this recipe from the Food Network, from which I stole the mint pesto and the mascarpone cheese. Nick Zukin's evangelizing has converted me to the idea of balancing the other flavors in a sandwich with something sweet and tangy, so I tried this recipe for pickled red onion, using stick cinnamon, whole cloves, whole allspice, whole juniper berries, whole mustard seed, and whole peppercorns--basically most of the whole spices in my cupboard (no coriander or cumin). Add some lettuce for crunch (should have thought of thinly sliced cucumber!), feta for zing, assemble on ciabatta panini, and I thought I had a pretty great theoretical sandwich.

The pickled red onion. I have two jars of pink stuff in my fridge now--the other is almost exactly the same color, but contains rhubarb compote I plan to incorporate into experimental rhubarb macarons with rhubarb buttercream. Stay tuned for that one.


The meat, just after moving to the cool side of the grill. I browned it well, then moved it over and closed the lid for a couple of hours, until the temp on the grill started dipping. Then I moved it to a foil-covered roasting pan and finished it in the oven at 300 for a couple more hours.


After I moved the meat inside, I used the residual heat to brown the brown-and-serve rolls. The ciabatta panini from Delphina's (visible at the right, tucked underneath the other rolls) were perfectly what I had envisioned, but there was only one package of four left at Food Front when I was shopping. The other rolls are petit pains and dinner rolls (for the kids) from Marsee. I didn't try the Marsee breads, but they all got eaten so I guess they were acceptable. :)


Shredding the meat. Look at that beautiful caramelization!


Beginning assembly: mint pesto on one side, mascarpone, feta and chèvre (I added this to the mix after crumbling the feta and finding it Very Salty) on the other.


Add meat, pickled onion and lettuce.


Devour. (My left index finger is really not as deformed as it looks in this picture.)


Other food on the table (obviously not exciting enough to be photographed) included an arugula (from J&J's garden!) salad with dried Oregon cranberries and Bing cherries and almonds with marionberry vinaigrette, and watermelon.

Homemade Gyros

Another winner from Cook's Illustrated. Not a huge hit with any of the kids, but Mavis and I thought it was delicious. We bought ground,locally-raised lamb at the farmers' market, plus local lettuce and cherry tomatoes.

Homemade Gyros
adapted from Cook's Illustrated Jul/Aug 2007

4 large pitas (I made my own)
1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
4 t fresh lemon juice
1/2 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1 T minced fresh oregano leaves (mine dried up in the heat, so I used 1 t dried--from a jar, not from the backyard)
2 med cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press (about 2 t)
1 lb ground lamb
2 t vegetable oil
Tzatziki sauce (below)
1 large tomato, sliced thin, or 1/2 pt cherry tomatoes, halved
2 C shredded iceberg or romaine lettuce
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 C)

Preheat oven to 350. Cut top quarter off each pita bread, and tear into one-inch pieces (about 3/4 C total). Stack pitas and wrap tightly in foil. Process onion, lemon juice, salt, pepper, oregano, garlic and pita pieces in food processor until they form a smooth paste. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, and then mix in lamb with hands until thoroughly combined. Divide meat mixture into 12 equal pieces and roll into balls, then flatten to make 1/2-inch-thick mini-patties (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter).

Put foil-wrapped pitas directly on oven rack and heat for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add patties and cook until well-browned with a crust, 3-4 minutes.

Flip patties, reduce heat to medium, and cook another five minutes or so, until browned and crusty on the second side. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.

Using soup spoon, spread 1/4 C Tzatziki Sauce inside each pita. Divide patties among pitas, then top with tomato, lettuce and feta. Serve immediately.

Tzatziki Sauce

1 C plain whole-milk yogurt (Brown Cow is best!)
1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced fine (about 1/2 C)
3/8 t salt
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 med garlic clove, pressed through garlic press (about 1/2 t)
1 T freshly chopped mint or dill (I used mint)

Line fine-mesh strainer set over deep bowl with 3 paper coffee filters or 3 layers of paper towel. Spoon yogurt into lined strainer, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine cucumber, 1/8 t salt, and lemon juice in colander set over bowl and let stand 30 minutes.

Discard strained liquid from yogurt and cucumber. Combine thickened yogurt, drained cucumber, remaining 1/4 t salt, garlic and mint in clean bowl.

Repurposing Leftovers

Even though spring has fully sprung now, I haven't fully satisfied my craving for hearty soups. The leftover meaty lamb bones from Sunday provided a perfect opportunity to try something new. Instead of looking through my collection for a suitable recipe, I just punted, and it turned out great.

I started with a thinly sliced onion, two peeled and sliced carrots, and one rib of diced celery. I sauteed them in a little olive oil (with a little salt and pepper) until the onion had softened and started to brown, and fond was accumulating at the bottom of the pan. Then I deglazed with some homemade chicken stock (a little less than a cup), added the meaty bones and water to just cover (3-4 quarts, I'd guess), a bit more salt and pepper, and a pound of French green lentils.

I simmered for about two hours, then pulled out the meat and bones and picked through it to remove the bones, gristle, and random oogy parts I didn't think the kids would like if they happened upon them in their bowls. Then I adjusted the saltiness, tossed in two russet potatoes (peeled and cut into one-inch pieces), and simmered until the potatoes were tender. At this point the lentils were fully cooked and lending some of their thickening power, augmented by the starch leaching out of the potatoes. A final check of seasonings, the addition of two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and the last quarter-cup or so of the wine-onion reduction from Sunday, and voilà! I heated the last few leftover rolls in the oven in foil packets at 300 and served them alongside. Number Two ate two whole bowls full of soup!

Palm Sunday Feast

Typically this would have been an Easter Feast, but with our hideous 3-6 pm church schedule (2-6 if you count choir practice, pretty mandatory for us), I knew there was no way I could make it work for Easter. Today was General Conference, so no regular church meetings => stay home and cook all day and eat dinner at an earlier, holiday hour.

The meat was the same as last year, except that I thought ahead and purchased a locally-raised leg of lamb before the end of the farmers' market last fall (last year I was scrambling and ended up with one from New Zealand--the Australian ones were too big to fit in my roasting pan!). I added a vegetable recipe that appeared in the paper (some time in the undetermined past--it didn't show up when I searched the paper's website), par-for-the-course orange and green mashed potatoes, a fruit salad provided by my sister-in-law, and rolls (those ultra-buttery ones that separate into flaky layers) from my great-grandma's recipe made by my mother.

Menu:

Slow-Roast Leg of Lamb with White Wine Reduction
Orange and Green Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Asparagus with Thyme, Blood Oranges and Pine Nuts
Salad of Kiwi, Strawberry and Pineapple
Buttery Flaky Rolls with butter and homemade marionberry jam
Rhubarb Cupcakes with whipped cream, diced roasted hazelnuts and crystallized ginger chips (repeat from last night)

I used rainbow chard for the greens in the mashed potatoes, chopping and adding the stems at the same time as the onions, and the leafy parts when the onions had softened and started to brown.



For the roast asparagus, clean a bunch of asparagus, snap off woody ends and snap remainder into two-inch pieces. Toast a handful of pine nuts in a dry skillet, and zest a blood orange, and set aside in a small bowl. Section three blood oranges, chop the leaves from a few sprigs of fresh thyme, and add them to the asparagus in a large bowl. Add salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil, and toss to distribute evenly. Roast in a single layer in a parchment-lined pan at 475 degrees for 10-15 minutes (10 was perfect for me), then toss with reserved pine nuts and zest. I prepared the pan of asparagus and oranges and set it aside until I pulled the lamb out of the oven. Just be on the lookout for kitchen "helpers" who steal raw asparagus (hi Mom! She's actually a really great sous chef, but she does have a weakness for snitching, as you can see below).



The potatoes just before transferring to their serving bowl:



Simmering the lamb sauce to reduce it further:



My plate, just before digging in (lookit all the pretty colors!):