Tajine with Lamb Shank, Ontario Lamb vs Welsh Lamb

My nephew Matthew and I had decided to make a lamb tajine together.  Matthew brought Ontario lamb shanks from the Stubbborn Farmer and I picked up some Welsh lamb shanks from Fiesta Farms. I typically buy Ontario lamb, but the butcher informed me that he was not carrying Ontario lamb anymore because he said his clientele preferred the Welsh lamb.   This was the perfect opportunity to do a taste test.  Two Welsh lamb shanks verses two Ontario lamb shanks cooked exactly the same way at exactly the same time in the same container.  It was unanimous -  the Ontario lamb from the Stubborn Farmer won hands down!

Lamb Shank Tajine

4 lamb ontario shanks
2 large onions
5 garlic cloves
2" of ginger finely chopped
4 large carrots chopped into finger sized pieces
1/2 tsp  peppercorns
1 teaspoon ras l hanout
1 teaspoon baharat
1/2 tsp sumach
2 cinnmon sticks
5 cardomon seeds
3 star anise
salt ot taste
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tomatoes
1 can of stewed tomatoes

I/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup of red wine
10 dried apricots coarsely chopped
olive oil

Season lamb shanks with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Brown in olive oil.
In large tagine, put chopped onions, garlic, ginger, and spices place lamb shanks in the bed of onions, and arrange carrots  and apricots around.  Add chicken stock and tomatoes and wine, put lid on tagline and cook in oven for a couple of hours at a low heat. 

Serve over couscous.

Poached Blood Oranges

I love blood oranges and they are in season for such a short time.  This year I was in Southern France at the beginning of the blood orange season, and was amazed at the intensity and juiciness of blood oranges fresh from the tree compared to those that I can buy at a grocery store in Toronto.   If I had stopped and thought about it,  I shouldn't have been surprised, because I always celebrate  the intensity of Ontario strawberries freshly picked from the field in the summer,  and tomatoes from the garden, still warm from the summer sun.

When I came home, I wanted to recapture that intensity, and so experimented with poaching the oranges.  Not the same as the freshness of the oranges from the tree, however this has quickly become  a favourite winter desert, dead simple to make with only three ingredients. 

8 blood oranges

4 meyer lemons

1/2 cup of honey

Peel oranges and remove all of the white pith and external membrane, being careful to keep oranges whole.   Set aside in bowl, to contain any juice that might bleed from the oranges.

Juice lemons, and put in non corrosive pot.  Add honey and bring to a simmer.  Carefully place oranges and any juice that may of accumulated in the lemon and honey mixture.  Turn oranges every couple of minutes until all sides have been in the poaching liquid for 2 or three minutes.  Do not over cook, being careful not to let the oranges get mushy. 

Remove oranges with a slot spoon to bowl, and reduce lemon and honey mixture by 50%.  It will be very red by this time.  Pour hot mixture over oranges and let cool to room temperature.  Serve with biscotti, and or ginger or vanilla ice cream.  

Holiday Squash

This year's Christmas dinner at our friends, Ruth and Mark, was in their new home up in the hills above Nice.  They designed a fire barbecue, which when not in use, looks like part of the planter, with mint cascading into it.

pumpkin on bed of coals in barbecue

We decided to make something for Christmas on the barbecue, and so pulled out my favourite outdoor cooking book - Seven Fires, by Francis Mallmann.  There was a picture of a squash filled with vegetables and meat that looked very festive and we thought perfect for Christmas.  Once we read the recipe, we discovered that it recommended cooking the squash in an out door oven, sort of like a pizza oven, and realized we had a challenge.  Ruth found a piece of zinc flashing to jerry rig their barbecue into an oven and the problem was solved. 

We made this recipe twice, the first time using corn as called for in the recipe, and the second without.  I think it was better without the corn, however it could be that corn in France is not what we are used to in Canada.

The markets in Nice have large squash in December, so rather than the smaller individually portioned squash, we used one large pumpkin like squash.

Allow a few hours to prepare this recipe, it is not something to throw together at the last minute.   It takes time to prepare a good bed of coals,  the pumpkin takes awhile to cook, depending on the size and the heat of the coals, and the filling takes a couple of hours as well, as you need to cook it long enough for the meat to become tender and allow for the flavours to meld.  We were able to get everything started, go for a walk and then come back and complete the dish.

• 1 large cooking pumpkin, about 10 to 12 pounds
• coarse salt
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig of fresh thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 6 black pepper corns
• 1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth

filling

• 1 small can of plum tomatoes
• 1 2/3 cups of beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 8 ounces of pancetta, cut into 1/3" strips
• 1.5 pounds of tender stewing beef, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
• 2 small onions, coarsely diced
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 3 carrots
• 1 cup of dry red wine
• 1 large potato
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 ripe peach or mango (frozen fruit works as well)

Prepare a fire to develop good bed of coals that will last at least an hour.

Cut the top out of the pumpkin to make a lid as though preparing for jack-o-lantern. Be careful to angle the knife so that the lid is larger at the top than the bottom, to ensure that the lid will not fall into the pumpkin later.    Clean out inside of pumpkin, removing all of the stringy bits and the seeds and discard.  If you are a gardner, you may want to save some of the seeds to plant next season.

Puncture the inside flesh of pumpkin with a fork being careful not to go through the outer skin.  Put the chicken or vegetable stock inside the pumpkin along with the butter, garlic, two bay leaves, and a sprig of thyme and rosemary. Set aside until coals are ready.  This could be done earlier in the day.

When the fire is ready, place the pumpkin on grill, including lid, slightly ajar,  and bake until tender on the inside and garlic looks soft and mushy.   It will take at least an hour.  If you don't have an oven type grill you will need to put some sort of cover over the pumpkin / fire to ensure the top of the pumpkin cooks.  

Meanwhile prepare the filling in a large heavy pot.  This could be done the day before.
Heat the pot and add pancetta.  Render until the fat is translucent.  Brown beef, then deglaze pot with with wine vinegar.  Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent.  Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer over low heat for at least an hour, or until meat is tender.  Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle filling into pumpkin, on top of the broth, gently stir.  To serve, scoop out filling and pumpkin flesh together.   Serve with a coarse bread.

My Dad's Caesar Salad

  

My Dad always made Caesar Salad for special occasions. It was a ritual.  He would start by making the croutons.  Then he would wash the romaine lettuce, and spread it out on tea towels to dry, never using a salad spinner "because the lettuce would bruise".  Next he would make the dressing, and grate the cheese.  Then, finally, he would take down the very special, very large, wooden bowl that my brother Jeremy made for my father one Christmas.  This bowl was only used for my fathers' Caesar Salad.  The inside of the bowl was rubbed with fresh garlic, and the lettuce leaves placed in the bowl, then the croutons and grated cheese.  Then lots of fresh pepper was ground on top.  It would sit like this until just before serving, when he would add the dressing and make a big deal about tossing the salad.  There were never left overs!   And it continues to be my gold standard to which I judge all Caesar Salads.

Croutons

4 slices of bread cut into squares

4 tablespoons of butter

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

Melt butter and add olive oil to heavy frying pan.  Add garlic and squares of bread and sauté until the croutons are browned on all sides. Spread croutons on baking sheet and place in oven on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they start to dry out.  Remove from oven and set aside. 

Salad

1 clove of crushed garlic

1 or 2 heads of cold romaine lettuce depending on size, washed and dried 

8 tablespoons of olive oil

24 anchovy fillets, diced

juice of 1 freshly squeezed lemon

freshly ground black pepper

1 very fresh egg, coddled 1 minute

1/2 cut Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Mix olive oil, lemon juice, coddled egg, and 1 anchovy together to make salad dressing. Set aside. Rub the the inside of  salad bowl with clove of crushed garlic.  Tear lettuce into bite size pieces and place in salad bowl.  Arrange croutons and anchovies and cheese on top of the lettuce. Add salad dressing and toss. Grind pepper on top to taste.  Serve immediately.  Offer additional cheese and pepper to taste at the table.  

Lemon Honey Polenta Torte

I offered to bring a desert to a garden party, thinking I would have lots of time to make something - and then my flight was delayed. After being away for a week, and an hour before I was to leave for the party, I arrived home to an empty fridge.  There were a few lemons from the week before and some whole almonds.  I turned on the oven, threw the almonds in the food processor, and processed them into a fine grind and I was able to make this and only be a  few minutes late for the party, and the torte disappeared before I had a chance to taste it!

Lemon Honey Polenta Torte

Torte

• 1 cup of soft unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 1/2 cup of honey
• 2 cup of ground almonds
• 1/2 cup of fine cornmeal
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
• zest of 2 lemons

Syrup

• juice of 2 lemons 
• 1 whole lemon
• 1/4 cup of honey

Preheat oven to 350F

Beat butter and sugar together until soft and creamy.  slowly add honey while beating.  Add one egg at a time and continue beating until smooth and a pale yellow.  

Mix ground almonds, cornmeal, lemon zest, and baking powder together.

Fold in dry ingredients 1/3 at a time.

Line the bottom of 8" spring pan with parchment paper and butter the sides.  Spread batter evenly over bottom of pan and bake for about 40 minutes.  The cake  is ready when it has pulled away from the edge of the pan and is golden.  Take cake out of oven and cool slightly.  Remove from spring pan and place on plate.  

While the cake is cooking combine honey and lemon juice over low heat on stove top.  Slice the remaining lemon into thin slices, removing any seeds,  and add to the  honey/lemon mixture. Simmer for 10 minutes. 

Prick the top of the cake with a fork, and  pour 1/2 of the lemon and honey mixture over the top.  Arrange the lemon slices on top, and pour the remaining honey mixture over the top.  Cool and serve.

I have substituted oranges for the lemon, with equally good results

Chicken Cacciatorie, on the Stovetop or in the Slow Cooker

I first made Chicken Cacciatorie in grade eight.  My mother was often out and about, with her many activities, and when she was not home after school, it was my responsibility to make dinner for the family.  Coming home from school, and finding chicken in the fridge, I wanted to make something other than "Shake and Bake", so, I pulled out my cook book, and looked for something that we had ingredients for.  There were frozen carrots and onions in the freezer, and canned tomatoes and spaghetti in the cupboard.  We didn't have any garlic, but we did have garlic salt.  Chicken Cacciatorie looked like it would work.  I thought cacciatorie sounded Italian, so, substituted my Uncle Dave's  Italian Herb mixture for the seasonings called for in the recipe.  Chicken Cacciatorie became and instant family favourite.

Over the years, this recipe has evolved, as have my cooking skills.  It continues to be a staple comfort food for my family, so when Claire, in her last week before crits and exams, was grumbling about the quality of take out food available in her university town, it was Chicken Cacciatorie that I prepared and dropped off as a care package.

Chicken Cacciatorie

6 chicken thighs with bone in
2 medium onions coarsely cut
1 shallot finely cut
3 or 4 cloves of garlic depending on size
olive oil
2 cups chicken stock for stove top, or 1 cup for slow cooker
1/2 cup of red wine
1 28oz can of stewed tomatoes, preferably San Marano tomatoes
2 or 3 large carrots, peeled and coarsely cut
2 parsnips, peeled and coarsly cut
1/2 cup of dried black olives
a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme
1branch of rosemary
2 or 3 bay leaves depending on size
1/2 teaspoon of pepper corns
1/4 teaspoon of dried chile flakes
salt and peper
parmigiano reggiano shavings

Heat olive oil in large cast iron pan.  Cook onions, shallots and garlic until soft. Set a sisde.  Brown chicken, and add onion mixture back into pan.  Add chicken stock, tomatoes and wine. Add herbs, carrots and olives and pepper corns and chile flakes.  Bring to boil, turn down heat, cover and simmer for about an hour.  Spoon off any oil or fat that is on the surface.  Remove chicken and vegetables and reduce liquid by half over medium heat.  Replace chicken and vegetables in liquid.  Taste and salt as required.

I also cook this in my slow cooker, reducing the chicken broth by half.   The night before, I  brown the chicken and sauté the onions.  I put the chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker,  carrots next, and then everything else on top.  I leave the crock from the slow cooker in the fridge overnight, and then the next morning, before leaving for work, take it out of the fridge, place the crock back in the slow cooker and set it at low for the day.  If for cooker has a timer, set it for 6 hours,  however I have found an extra couple of hours still works.  When I get home, I remove the chicken and carrots, turn the slow cooker to high, remove the lid  and reduce the fluid to half.  Adjust seasoning, return chicken and vegetables to crock and serve.

This is good on it's own, or served over pasta. Finish with cheese shavings.

Pomelo Salad with Grilled Shrimp

One of our favourite neighbourhood restaurants is Thai Basil and it was here that I first encountered Pomelo Salad.  It became an instant favourite.  After a multiple of attempts, and much coaching from Denis,  I have landed on this version of Pomelo Salad.  While it varies from the Thai Basil version, the use of bean sprouts, rather than the more traditional toasted coconut, is borrowed from Thai Basil.  I like the freshness and crispness of the bean sprouts as a counter balance to the soft texture of the pomelo.  

Pomelo Salad with Grilled Shrimp

The pomelo is a yellow or green skinned citrus fruit that looks like a grapefruit on steroids.  It is the pomelo, crossed with an orange that gives us the grapefruit.  It has a thicker skin, is sweeter than the grapefruit and not as acidic   

.

Serves 4 - 6

3 mid sized shrimps per serving

1/2 inch of grated ginger

1 clove of garlic finely minced

zest of one orange

salt and pepper 

1 large pomelo ( about 3 cups of fruit pulp)

1 cup of bean sprouts

1 handful of cilantro leaves

1/4 cup of raw cashews

1 large or 2 small shallots

1 blood orange ( a normal orange will also work)

1 lime

2 tablespoons of maple syrup (honey or brown sugar are suitable alternatives)

1 stalk of lemon grass, cut in half length ways

a pinch of dried chili flakes or 1/2 tsp of finely chopped Thai pepper, with the seeds removed

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Combine shrimp, ginger, garlic, orange zest and salt and pepper. Cover and set aside in fridge for at least an hour. 

Peel pomelo, and divided into sections.  Remove membrane from sections and gently separate cells of fruit.  This may seem labour intensive, but is worth the work.  Place fruit, in bowl, on top of bean sprouts.  Place cilantro on top and set aside.  

Spread cashews on tray and brown in oven, being careful not to burn. Remove and set aside to cool.

Cut shallots into thin slices.  Sauté in vegetable oil, and then place pan in oven, removing from oven when crisp.  

Make dressing, combining orange and lime juice, soy and fish sauce, maple syrup, chili flakes, and tender mashed core of lemon grass.  Mix and salt and pepper to taste.  

Grill shrimp on a hot grill until pink, or fry in hot frying pan in butter. 

Dress fruit mixture and plate.  Sprinkle cashews and shallots on top.  Arrange shrimp on top of salad and serve.  

Note: everything can be prepared ahead,  and then the shrimps grilled and salad tossed at the last minute. 

Revitalizing Ginger and Chicken Soup

This has been a long and cold winter in Toronto, and a bit of a shock, because for the past few years, winter has been relatively mild.  There also seems to have been more colds and flues than usual this winter and so far, I have avoided them all. I have been relying on variations of this ginger chicken broth as a solution to the winter, adding different ingredients, depending on what is available.  Sometimes just greens, and maybe some chicken or not, other times frozen shrimp, mushrooms and greens. After a bowl of soup with this ginger broth as a base, I feel better almost instantly.

Because the broth takes time to make, and I never know when a I am going to need a pick-me-up, I like to keep single portioned containers of frozen broth in the freezer for emergencies. 

This past weekend I had guests in the country and dressed this basic soup up with chinese greens, poached eggs, and enoki mushrooms.  I served it with some of my red river bread for lunch.  

Revitalizing Ginger Broth with Greens, Chicken and Eggs

Ginger Chicken Broth

1 hand of fresh ginger,
2 sticks of lemon grass
1 large onion
1 head of garlic
1 stalk of celery, cut into a few large pieces
1 tablespoon of pepper corns
4 organic chicken backs, 
salt to taste

Additions to Broth

fresh green chinese vegetables, such as yu choy or bok choy and snow peas
chunks of pre cooked chicken
fresh eggs
fresh cilantro
hot peppers depending on your heat tolerance
cherry tomatoes
enoki mushrooms 
Sobo noodles

Wash the ginger and cut into about 1/8 inch slices.  There should be at least a half cup of ginger slices.  Slice the onion and smash the garlic cloves.  Cut lemon grass sticks lengthwise and smash.  Place all of these aromatics into a large pot, add the pepper corns and the chicken backs.  Cover with at least 4 quarts of water.  Bring to boil and then reduce heat to allow broth to simmer for a half hour.  Remove chicken bones, and take any chicken off of the bones, and set aside. Place bones back in broth and continue simmering for another couple of hours.  The liquid should have reduced by about half. Salt to taste.

Strain broth and discard bones, ginger, etc. 

Prepare sobo noodles. Rinse in cold water. 

Cut chinese greens into bite size pieces. coarsely chop cilantro, and finely chop hot peppers.  

Heat 1 cup of broth per person and poach eggs in the broth.

Place some noodles in the bottom of a large soup bowl.   Arrange some of the chicken pieces, a hand full of chinese greens and the mushrooms on top of the noodles.  Carefully place the poached egg on top.  Ladle the very hot broth used for poaching the eggs over the ingredients in the bowl.  Place cilantro, a few cherry tomatoes and chopped peppers to taste on top.  Let stand for a minute or two until the greens become a vibrant green and serve.  









  

Thanksgiving Roasted Capon

The first year that Claire was away for Thanksgiving, I was a bit lost, until I made Thanksgiving dinner for some of my friends who's children were also away.  This has become a ritual, and this year, with Claire home for Thanksgiving for the first time in a few years, I continued with the tradition.  Claire asked for a traditional turkey dinner including, stuffing, fall vegetables, cranberries, apple pie and pumpkin pie made from from a pumpkin  she picked from the garden. I compromised andI bought a large free range capon from the 100Mile Store, since I have never been a fan of turkey.

Last year, Claire made a turkey with friends for American Thanksgiving that she raved about, and so we applied what she remembered to this oversized capon. Bacon and apricots in the stuffing, but more interestingly, the stuffing squeezed between the skin and the breast, rather than in the bird cavity.  We had extra bacon and so wrapped the capon with a blanket of bacon.  The combination of the bacon clad bird with the stuffing under the skin resulted in a delicious and very moist capon.

Claire's Roasted Capon and Roasted vegetables as it came out of the oven

In addition, because one of our friends is celiac, we used gluten free bread for the stuffing, and potato flour for the gravy. A fabulous feast for all. 

9 to 11 pounds free range capon
1/2 pound of thinly sliced bacon
1 large organic orange
a selection of root vegetables including carrots, potatoes and onions
juice and zest from one orange

stuffing

2 shallots,
3 cloves of garlic
6 dried apricots
4 slices of bacon
2 tablespoons bacon fat
1 tablespoons of olive oil
juice of one orange,
zest from one orange
salt and pepper
a sprig of thyme
4 slices of gluten free whole wheat bread

stock/gravy

organs and neck from capon
onion
carrot
bay leaf
sprig of thyme
sprig of sage
4 cups of water

2 tablespoons of potato flour

Preheat ovem to 450F

Cut bacon into 1" pieces and cook until crisp in the frying pan.  Set cooked bacon aside and sauté finely chopped shallots and garlic in bacon fat.  Add olive oil if more fat is required.  Finely chop apricots, and crumble bread.  Mix all ingredients together in large bowl, and season with salt and pepper, and fresh thyme.   

Carefully lift skin at breast and stuff in as much stuffing as possible on both sides of the bird making sure that the bird remains symmetrical.  Take orange and puncture with a fork, and insert into the empty chest cavity of bird.  Cover breast of capon with strips of bacon, making a tight blanket for the bird. 

Place capon in roasting pan and surround with root vegetables.  

Place in oven and reduce heat to 350F.  Cook for 15 to 20 minutes per pound.  If the bird is particularly large, you may need to protect legs and wings  and vegetables with foil during the final half of the cooking time.  Remove from oven when done, and the juices run clear.   

While bird is cooking, make stock with neck and organs of bird. 

Remove vegetables and bird from pan. Tent bird with foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.  Place vegetables in bowl and stir in orange zest and juice. 

Separate fat from juices in bottom of roasting pan and return juices to roasting pan.   On Stove top, add 2 cups of stock  and or white wine and deglaze roasting pan.   Slowley mix about a 1/ cup of stock into the potato flour.  Wisk potato flour mixture into degalzing liquid in bottom of roasting pan and bring to boil. Cook until gravy thickens.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Fire Roasted Red Peppers Preserved

Roasting the peppers

Every fall, baskets of peppers appear at all of the Italian markets in town.  I first began roasting peppers with my friend Cathy on the roof of a building on Queen Street in the eighties.  Cathy had been introduced to roasting peppers by a friend from one of those Mediterranean countries that have such great food traditions, and suggested we try preserving roasted peppers.  The first year we made our best guess, and by the second year we had the process down, and began including our friend Sean in what became an fall ritual for a number of years.

I had an old Weber barbecue that we would load up with charcoal and then spend the evening roasting peppers and drinking wine.  At the end of a long night we would have a counter full of bottles of red peppers that we would split up and use for the winter.

Fire Roasted Peppers in Olive Oil

I now make the peppers in the country over coals from an open fire.

1 case of red peppers
1 litre of olive oil
6 organic lemons
24 - 250 mm preserving bottles
lots of old newspaper

Build a fire a couple of hours before you are ready to start.  Build a deep bed of coals.  Keep at least one log on the edge of the fire so that there is a constant source of new coals to complete the job.

Place grill close to the coals. Arrange peppers on the grill, making sure that there is room around each pepper.  Allow the skins to become black and then rotate the peppers, so that all sides of the pepper are black.

Remove peppers from the grill, and wrap groups of 4 to 6 pepper in newspaper to allow to sweat.

Meanwhile, sterilize bottles.

Wash lemons and cut into sections.  Place one section in each of the sterilized bottles.

Peel the blackened skin off the peppers and remove the core and seeds.  Discard skins and seeds.  Tear peppers into strips and pack into the sterilized bottles to about a half inch from the top.

Fill bottles with olive oil to about a !/4 inch from the top.  Tap bottles on counter, and run sterilized knife around perimeter of bottles to dislodge any air bubbles.  Seal jars and process for 15 minutes.

Because the peppers are preserved in olive oil, the oil is fabulous to use as well.

Honeywood 100 Mile Salad

Hoenywood 100 Mile Salad

I love summer and being able to go out to the garden to pick vegetables.  This summer has been less than stellar, colder than usual, too much rain, and everything is very late.   I am only now able to pick a very few cherry tomatoes. Currently, I am picking lettuce, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, peas, swiss chard, kale, and scallions and shallots.    OK the olives are a stretch, but I did get them from the 100 Mile Store in Cremore.   

I use Kozlik's Mustard made in Toronto, with Ontario mustard seeds.  I have written about their incredible selection of mustards a in the past, my favourite being the Double C, but I  also love Amazing Maple and the Fig and Balsamic Mustard.  For oil I use the organic, virgin soy oil, which has  a very nutty taste, also from Ontario.  

salad

• mixed lettuce greens, from my garden
• zucchini, from my garden
• hard boiled eggs, from my neighbour
• cherry tomatoes, from my garden
• smoked rainbow trout, Georgian Bay
• peas from my garden 
• boiled new potatoes, from my garden
• olives, from the 100 Mile Store in Creemore

dressing

• mustard
• virgin soy oil
• apple cider vinegar
• finely chopped garlic
• salt  and pepper to taste

Don't think we need directions for this one. 

Leg of Lamb over an open fire

Leg of lamb roasted over an open fire

I had guests for the weekend, and so reserved one of the two legs of lamb that The 100 Mile Store receives on a weekly basis.  As a  result of some miscommunication, I ended up with a boneless leg, which turned out to be one of those happy accidents.  It allowed me to place whole sprigs of rosemary and crushed garlic into the bone cavity resulting in a very tasty leg of lamb.  

Denis was visiting and made me a basting brush of branches of herbs freshly cut from the garden.  It looked great, was fun to use and contributed to the flavour of the crust of the lamb. 

I cooked the lamb over an open fire in a hand crafted Mexican fire bowl my friend Paula, who imports high end crafts from Mexico, gave to me.  It is fabulous because the overlapping joints of the diamond shaped metal pieces draws in just the right amount of air under and around the fire to support the fire while providing a large cooking surface.  It is  easy to move,  and the fire is at a good height for cooking. Perfect.

Paula's fire pot

Lamb Leg

1 - 6 to 7 pound leg of lamb, bone removed

3 large cloves of garlic, crushed into a paste

5 sprigs of rosemary

Rub

1/2 cup of coarse sea salt

1 tablespoon smoked hot paprika

1 tablespoon of pepper corns

Basting Brush

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 sprigs of summer savoury

1 sprig of oregano

Lemon Baste

1 lemon

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 sprig of thyme

1 sprig of rosemary

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

salt and pepper

Two hours before starting to cook, build a fire with hardwoods.   Establish a strong bed of coals that will last at least an hour.  I like to have some logs to the side, burning, so that coals can be added to as needed.  

Open up leg of lamb, and rub garlic paste into interior of lamb. Lay rosemary branches down the centre of the lamb, in place of bone.  Role lamb again into shape and tie  tightly with butchers string.  

Pulse sea salt, paprika, and pepper corns in a spice or coffee grinder until a fine consistency.  Pat mixture over exterior of the lamb until completely covered,  the moisture from the lamb will make a paste.  Cover and let rest for at least an hour. 

Prepare the basting brush by bunching the sprigs of herbs around a stick, and tying tightly with butchers string.  

Prepare the basting liquid, wash lemon and grate peel, being careful to only use yellow layer, leaving white pith on the the lemon.  Cut lemon in half and juice.  Add lemon peel, garlic, thyme and rosemary  leaves, and finely chopped garlic into mortar and mash with pedestal, thoroughly blending. Combine the lemon and herb mixture with olive oil and lemon juice.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.    

Place lamb on hot grill over very hot coals.  Turn every 5 minutes or when exterior sears.  Using herbed basting brush, baste lamb with every turn.  Once the exterior is completely sealed, turn every 10 minutes until lamb is done, being careful not to over cook. This could take anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour depending on the heat of the coals and the degree of rareness you prefer. I like my lamb to be closer to red than pink.   

Take lamb off the grill and let rest for at least 20 minutes before cutting. 

Pickled Heirloom Baby Carrots

Market Baby Heirloom Carrots

I have never managed to grow carrots in my country garden, so when I saw these beautiful baby carrots at the market this Saturday I bought them immediately.  The reds and yellows and oranges of the heirloom carrots were so vibrant that I wanted to preserve them and save some for the winter.  

2 bunches of baby carrots
2 small cloves of garlic
2 small Thai hot peppers
1 1/2 cups of cider vinegar
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tsp of pickling salt
2 tbsp of finely chopped fresh oregano

Cut tops off of carrots leaving about a half inch of the green stem on the carrot.  Carefully scrub the carrots clean with an abrasive cloth.  Sterilize 2 - 8oz jars.  Place a pepper, a garlic clove, and half of the oregano in each of the jars.  Carefully pack the jars with the scrubbed carrots with the point down.

Bring vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a boil.  Pour over carrots, filling jars to 1/2 inch from the top.  Seal the jars and process in boiling water for 15 minutes.   The red from some of the carrots bled, resulting in the pink pickle juice.

Zucchini Flower Frittata

The zucchini are flowering again and I have a bounty of flowers and baby zucchini in my garden.  I plant the zucchini primarily for their flowers and any zucchini that manage to grow are an added bonus.  So Sunday morning, with a houseful of guests, zucchini became the star ingredient for brunch.  

Zucchini Flower Frittata

8 fresh eggs from the market
4 or 5 zucchini flowers
2 or 3 baby zucchini, less than 2"long
1 small onion, about 2 tablespoons when chopped
a handful of fresh herbs from the garden
1/4 cup of freshly coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/4 cup of olive oil

Serves 4 to 6 

Break eggs into a large bowl and whisk eggs until smooth.  Wash flowers, making sure that no bugs are hiding inside the flowers, and dry.  Remove pestle from the inside of male flowers.  Cut baby zucchini in half length wise.  Finely chop onion.  Clean herbs and coarsely chop.  Dip the flowers in the egg mixture, then dredge in flour.  

Heat oil in heavy cast iron pan, until very hot, but not smoking. Fry dredged zucchini flowers, until golden, on all sides.  Remove flowers and rest on paper towels to remove excess oil.  Turn down heat on stove, remove most of oil from bottom of pan, and saute onions until soft, and baby zucchini until until golden.  Mix half of herbs into remaining whisked eggs.  Turn oven broiler on. 

Spread onion and zucchini mixture evenly over bottom of pan.  Add eggs, arrange zucchini flowers in eggs, and sprinkle the remaining herbs on top.  Cook over medium heat until eggs are firm around edges.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and put on middle rack of oven to cook top half of eggs.  Watch eggs, and when the  eggs puff up they are done.  Do not over cook.  Remove from oven and serve either hot or at room temperature. 

Orange Humus

Orange Humus

I first started making this recipe back in the early eighties. I had recently graduated from university, and was asked by a vegetarian friend to bring humus to her party.  I didn't  know what humus was at the time and of course this was long before the internet.  I had three cook books at the time, Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book which my grandmother gave me when I was eight, The Joy of Cooking which I bought in university and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest which I bought to so that I could feed my vegetarian friends.  Better Homes and Gardens didn't have a recipe, The Joy of Cooking required me to buy 3 ingredients, chick peas, tahini ( I didn't know what tahini was either) and black olives, and the Enchanted Broccoli Forest didn't require the black olives.  Being on a tight budget, the Broccoli Forest recipe was the one I opted for.  It was a huge success and I continue to make orange humus to this day.  My version of the recipe has evolved since then, and continues to be a crowd favorite.  It is incredibly easy to make and is always better if made the night before.

1 540 ml (19 oz) can of chick peas

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander

1 teaspoon of dry ginger

1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

1/2 teaspoon of smoked hot paprika

1/2 cup of concentrated frozen orange juice

1/4 cup of tahini

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of cider vinegar

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of chopped of onion

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until almost smooth.  Adjust the consistency as required by adding more of the concentrated orange juice if required.  If I have a fresh orange I will grate some of the orange peel into the mixture.  Place in a container, seal and store in the refrigerator.