Lamb and Roots

Wednesday 18 February

This sounds like something foraged by Scandinavian chefs at Noma, but in fact it was just a pan of sliced parsnips, turnips, and halved shallots, set in the 500º oven to roast before we threw in the rarer lamb lobe from Valentine's day to come to a more perfect medium-rare. 

Like having it fresh all over again.

Mardi Gras Red Beans and Rice

Tuesday 17 February 

Red Beans and Rice is so Old New Orleans, though we never got a chance to have it on our recent visit.  So for mardi gras, we began soaking the little red beans a day ahead, and they simmered in the famous Canadian Tire crockpot on the day itself.  No problem in leaving them to cook - we were at home anyway, as UC declared another snow day for no particular reason.

This time we were guided by this recipe from Coop's Place, especially regarding the spice blend; helped along by a couple of Kroger Brothers' hot andouille, it had the true N'Awlins flavor.  You can see our mise en place above; note the bacon grease for frying, which helps when you don't happen to have a smoked ham shank available.

Snow Day Lamb Shanks

Monday 16 February

The awful weather that's been beating up the rest of the country finally laid a paw on us.  It was a light paw - a couple-three inches of snow - but the wussies closed the University, and we were happy to stay home and run the oven.  (Our Apollo "high efficiency" boiler couldn't get the temperature above 67º - thanks, "older home experts"!)

The one big shank from Saturday's lamb went into the delicious Indian-seasoned lamb and lentil braise we learned in Australia.

Even the little lentilles de Puy we'd gotten at Jungle Jim's took an hour to get tender, but once that happened, we stripped the meat from the shank and shared out two platters of deep-umber savoriness.

Gnocchi alla Gorgonzola

Sunday 15 February

We were feeling slightly under the weather, and gnocchi alla gorgonzola is soothing without being too bland.

Valentine's Day Lamb

Saturday 14 February

We like to cook something indulgent for Valentine's Day, and judging from past blogs, it's usually veal or lamb.  This year we went for the latter, and took care to shop in advance: Charles Bare has huge legs of lamb for $4.99/lb., but they're always frozen solid, and take a week to defrost. 

Holt took knife in hand and butterflied juicy lobes from the leg, as well as setting aside the shank for braising and bones to roast for Scotch broth.  The lobes went in to broil-roast in our favorite Julia method and marinade, and when they came out to rest, we threw in a tray of asparagus to roast as a side.

A little rummaging in the cellar turned up a wine we've declared perfect for lamb: the last of the case of 2007 Strewn Cabernet Franc we acquired in Canada - in fact, on Holt's birthday in 2008.

Oh, and dessert.  For Valentine's Day, Holt gets Barbara flowers, and Barbara gets Holt chocolates, traditionally dark chocolate hearts from around the corner at Graeter's.  But Graeter's has now sold out its candy recipes to some outside jobber, raising the price and plummeting the quality.  So Barbara had to drive out to Aglamesis Brothers, where they still keep to traditional ways, to get Holt his perfect hearts. They made our dessert, along with the remains of all the Graeters' in the freezer (vanilla, coconut chip, and egg nog) - at least their ice cream is still all right.

Meatloaf Parmigiana and Mash

Friday 13 February

This is the end of the ground beef story that began two weeks ago (if you don't count the ten meatballs we've got stashed in the freezer for a desperate day). 

Two slim slices of that Saturday meatloaf each got cut in half, topped with the meatball-fragment-rich sauce from the following Tuesday, steam-baked in the combi-oven to reheat, and then steam-broiled to melt thick slices of mozzarella over them, not too unlike that Sunday's meatball heroes.

Amazingly, the tomatoey mounds didn't fall to pieces when lifted off the baking pan, and were adorned with a side of yukon golds pot-mashed with butter and cream.

To lighten things up, we made a fennel salad much like last Friday's, but with the single golden beet we had left diced and mixed through like little jewels, tossed with a squeezed half lime, a shot of white balsamic, salt, and then olive oil.

Another surprisingly harmonious meal of unaccountable leftovers.

Muhammara Chicken and Green Beans

Thursday 12 February

We had the legs, thighs, wings, and other tidbits from Tuesday's chicken; and we also had a batch of fragrant muhammara dip that Holt had made last Saturday with some of our own roasted red peppers and the pomegranate molasses he'd been dying to use.  

It made perfect sense to reheat the chicken in its own broth, and when it was good and hot, toss it in the muhammara, for earthy, spicy flavor.

In the meantime, we blistered some fresh green beans, then tossed in minced garlic to get crispy in the last minute or two.  Not the same ethnicity by any means, but they made good companions.