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September 22, 2006
Lamb - It's Not Just for Passover
We'll be celebrating at my brother's house. And I have the pleasure of preparing the meal . . . a favorite past time. On the menu, a marriage of tradition (at least, in our house) and modern.
We'll start with a quick round of apples and honey, followed by home-made chopped liver, warmed slices of a baggette, and Alsatian gewurztraminer. The chopped liver's not too smooth, not too coarse, hand chopped, with a nice dose of home-rendered chicken fat, and some hard-boiled egg (and a couple other ingredients). The chopped liver comes from a recipe of my maternal grandmother -- whose love of cooking I share, though not her ability to fill every dish with her love of family. Everything she made -- veal chops, sesameed potatoes, salmon, lemon chicken, apple crisp, crisp challah toast, and the most incredible poached eggs -- just said love. And nothing filled her heart more than to watch us enjoy her handiwork. The most amazing person I've ever known.
Second course -- chicken soup with feathery-light matzah balls. Also my grandmother's recipe. The key to the matzah balls is two tablespoons of ginger ale. The soup: one Empire kosher chicken -- cleaned forever. A parsnip, white onion, lots of parsley, carrots, celery, and pinch of salt and pepper. And lot's of skimming to keep the broth clear. We'll open a bottle of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.
Next up, a small salad -- straight from fresh heads of mixed lettuces. Romaine. Boston Bib. Raddichio. Very thinly sliced Bermuda onion, sweet red beats, and some crumbled Greek feta cheese. Topped with a balsamic vinigrette (the BV, salt, pepper, lemon juice, crushed garlic, fresh chopped basil, some white horseradish and parisian mustard, a bit of mayo, and olive oil -- then whipped with a hand-blender). Plus another baggette.
We'll also open our first bottle of Ridge Zinfandel. Ridge Vineyards is known for its blending of several grapes Bordeaux style. Great value.
For the main course . . .
a 6 lb roast leg of lamb with a madeira wine sauce. Pretty conventional preparation. Marinated overnight in a pulsed mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, mint, thyme, rosemary, onion, salt and pepper, and chopped prunes. I'll seer the lamb -- rubbed with olive oil, garlic butter, lots and lots of cracked pepper, sea salt, rosemary and thyme -- in the oven on 500 degrees for about 20 minutes, then lower the oven to 325 degrees and cook it until the meat thermometer says it's ready (about 2.5 hours). For the sauce, I'll mix the strained pan juices from the lamb with a roux of wholewheat flour and sweet butter, along with about a cup of Madeira that I've cooked down from a full bottle.
With the lamb, those sesameed new potatos a la my grandmother (rolled in melted butter then sesame seeds and roasted for about a 1.5 hours with the lamb at 325.) Jello mold -- which I confess my mother's making because I just never acquired a taste for it. A mix or roasted veggies: carrots, snow peas, chopped portobello mushrooms. Noodle koogle (no raisins).
After dinner, we'll open a bottle of port, and serve Granny Smith apples with some Gorgonzola, Reggiano-Parmigiana, and Camenbert cheeses . . . and more baggettes.
We'll also have a sweet dessert brought by our cousins, so I'm not sure what that will be.
All in all, I expect it to be a wonderful evening. And we'll be missing those in our family no longer with us. L'Shana Tovah Tikatevu to all.
Posted by shertaugh at September 22, 2006 2:38 PM