Easter Feasts

[AlohaDawg]

Not counting candy, what else did we eat this Eastertide?

We had folks over for dinner and it was a small but fun affair. The menu included  leg of lamb and rack of lamb, risotto, a Provencal squash and tomato dish that was excellent, grilled portabello mushrooms, zucchini, and onions. And a couple of bottles of decent wine. We've been drinking this Australian wine called Yellowtail, it's reasonably priced here and hasn't totally sucked yet.

Here is the leg of lamb recipe: I started wth a boneless butterflied leg. I had used about half for Irish stew on St Pats and this was the other half. It probably weighed about 2 1/2 pounds or so, but the exact size is not too important.
This recipe also works for lamb shoulder.

Ingredients:

Rub for the lamb

2 tsp fresh rosemary, ground
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp olive oil (does not need to be extra virgin since you are cooking it)
2 tsp fresh marjoram or 1 tsp dried marjoram
4 cloves of garlic, crushed

Mix this all together, and rub all over and into the meat. You can double it but don't double the salt unless you don't plan to make the sauce or know how to fix oversalted sauces (check link).  Another way to do this would be to salt the meat first, then rub it with the rub mix minus salt., this could save you from inadvertently oversalting the drippings as well.

Set the rubbed lamb aside.

Sweat 1-2 sliced onions (sweeter is better IMHO) in 3 Tbsp of olive oil, again, not the good stuff. Cover the bottom of an ovenproof, lidded casserole dish with the onions. Add a cup of Brandy, a cup of water, and four bay leaves. Put the lamb atop the onions, cover, and put them in an oven no more then 300 degrees. 250 is good if you have the time. Use a temperature probe in a thick part of the meat and take the meat out of the oven when the probe is 150 degrees or so. Take the meat from the oven, put it on a plate and cover in foil. It will continue to gain in temperature, as much as 15 degrees. It should be slightly pink but not red in the middle and the juices should be clear to brown.  Let it rest at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Pour the contents of the casserole into a sauce pan and deglaze the pan with a cup of red wine. I used Merlot, Shiraz and Zinfandel also have strong flavors that stand up well to lamb. Scrape any bits of lamb left in the baking dish and return all to the sauce pan. Using a stick blender (or your margarita blender if necessary) puree the onions and sauce base together. Add two pinches of thyme and 5-6 peppercorns and  reduce by simmering. When  half of the volume is gone, strain the solids from the sauce base using a strainer and cheesecloth. Return to the stove and add 1 cup of brown stock. Further reduce. Just before serving, add 2-3 Tsp butter, whisk well and decant the sauce with a gravy separator. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the lamb in slices, chunks, or rib chops with sauce over. Enjoy.

[AugustWest]

We are definitely a lamb family.  My favorite cooking method involves a rub very similar to yours.  Rosemary, marjoram and olive oil rubbed into the surface.  I handle the garlic a little differently, though.  I poke a bunch of holes into the meat and shove slivers of garlic about a half inch under the surface.  I try to concentrate the holes on the fat side.

I like to cook the lamb on the Weber using the indirect heat method.  I sear the outside first, then let it gently roast on the side opposite the coals for a couple hours.  Good stuff, dude.

I don't know why lamb and mutton isn't more popular.  It's so much more flavorful than beef.  Barbequed Mutton is especially appreciated in Western Kentucky, where I grew up.  BBQ'ing in Western Kentucky means no sauce, sloooow smoking over hickory.  I want some now.

[sjlimmer]

Easter dinner was nothing much around these parts.  I just made a simple pot roast and salad, for my gf and I, but it was pretty good.  I might have to try some of these lamb suggestions, though.  I've never cooked lamb before, but I'm curious to try it.

[AlohaDawg]

Do try lamb, it's awesome and a great alternative. The Whole Foods store in Evanston had these lamb kebabs in the meat department, marinated in this awesome rosemary and mint marinade....if you have a Whole Foods near you, may be able to find the marinade in a jar. Have the butcher cut a shoulder or leg into kebab-size pieces, marinade and grill them. This is how I started on the lamb kick, it's close to fool proof...now I grill, roast, stew, kebab, grind for meatballs, curry, and every other use imaginable. It's a great addition to the meat rotation and doesn't cost much more than beef.

[andalucia]

I'm half my family and I don't eat meat, so if I hadn't been too hung over to eat, t'would have been all tofu all the time at my household this Easter.

[CortJstr]

I don't know why lamb and mutton isn't more popular.  It's so much more flavorful than beef. Barbequed Mutton is especially appreciated in Western Kentucky, where I grew up.  BBQ'ing in Western Kentucky means no sauce, sloooow smoking over hickory.  I want some now.

Because a lot of people have problems eating young animals like lamb and mutton has a reputation for being tough.

I voted for lamb because I hate pork/ham and because I find it fun to eat an animal sometimes used to represent Jesus on Easter.

Oh, and where I grew up (western PA) BBQ means anything with sauce on it. In fact things like "BBQ chicken" are ususally just grilled with some sauce then more added when served.

[Carlos del Vaca]

We didn't do Easter dinner this year.  Between the baby, and moving preparations, it would have been a hassle.  My aunt had us over for dinner; we just brought wine.

Ham, mashed taters, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and a nice salad.  Pecan pie for dessert.  Good stuff.

[linnea]

My fiance and I have such huge extended families, that we always end up driving all over town and visiting dozens of people for each holiday. On Easter, we narrowed it down to three households (my parents, his foster parents, and some close friends).

My mother cannot cook worth a damn, so thank God we didn't have to eat at her house. My best friend Jennifer and her family are something of gourmands. They adore food, and the meal that she prepared was absolutely, stunningly awesome. Roasted lamb, lemon-butter potatoes, fresh green beans, feta and spinach in phyllo dough (spanikopita?), kalamata olives, ham, braided Easter bread, Greek salad, and an abundance of wine. And an appropriately springtime dessert, a lushly gorgeous fruit salad with homemade lemon bars.

It was quite a contrast in the meal we attended later that day at the home of my fiance's foster parents. Bless their hearts, they eat very simple foods.

Lots of casseroles with french-fried onions on top. Not one, but THREE different kinds of Jell-o salads, one of which had green-tinted Cool-Whip incorporated into its hellishness. An au-gratin casserole made with hash browns and with weird crispy stuff on top. Ham. Tinned green beans, mixed with tinned cream of mushroom soup, and baked in a casserole with more of that mystery crispy stuff on top (I think that they were the french-fried onions from a can?). Martinelli's sparkling grape juice. Food that is not food, but BALLAST. And another incarnation of Jell-o and pudding for dessert.

*blanch*

So thankfully, we filled up on quality fare at Jennifer's, and then I had every excuse to pick at the Jello-ballast that was served later.

[V-Adore]

Er, um...

We had dinner at Friendly's. I would have lobbied for something else, but we were in the middle of nowhere and the driver was hungry. I ended up having a bacon/tomato/cheese melt which was astoundingly palatable.

[Asherdan]

I voted ham because easter is a holiday we give up to our extended families, who have the same reaction to eating lamb as Lisa.

Left to our own devices however, Little Bo Peep loses a couple of sheep to us each year.  Dawg & West sum up very nice ways of doing it up.

[arkabee]

ham.  i don't know why, it is just the way it is, for years and years and years.

which might be why it is the Pork Product that does not make me ill.

i've been told by The Man(tm) and His Media that BaaBaaBlackSheep is greeeezy and will make my tummy hurt, so i've never tried it.  Every time i've looked at it, though, live and in person, it seemed greeezy.

that and the mint julip stuff.  i don't trust mint as a condiment.  if it tastes bad enough that you have to have a motuhwash flavoured sauce, maybe i shouldn't be eating it.

of course, it's more than likely that i'm completely wrong about the whole thing.

[wombat]

Lamb is not fatty, and there is no need to eat mint with it.  Have a wonderful Indian lamb curry or a nice rare lamb chop.  Enough of this mint nonsense.  Mint is for drinks and candy and toothpaste.

Open your heart and mouth to the pleasures of the sweet little baby lambie.  Anyone who can consume a pig, which is the most personable and intelligent (and delicious) of livestock, can get over the Bambi thing about dopey little sheep children.

I love mammals alive, but they are also so tragically good to eat.

[AugustWest]

But mint jelly can be so good with lamb...

Which reminds me, I've still got a shoulder and a leg in my freezer.  Time to fire up the Weber!

[CortJstr]

Lamb is not fatty, and there is no need to eat mint with it.  Have a wonderful Indian lamb curry or a nice rare lamb chop.  Enough of this mint nonsense.  Mint is for drinks and candy and toothpaste.

See this why I can't go more than a couple weeks without heading out to Banjara for a nice mirchi ka ghost (sp? it's not on the menu any more but they'll still make it if you ask).

[AlohaDawg]

But mint jelly can be so good with lamb...

Which reminds me, I've still got a shoulder and a leg in my freezer.  Time to fire up the Weber!

Sounds like AW is halfway into the freezer and posting at the same time...