Happy Easter!

On Easter I like to make lamb.  I'd really like to make some amazing Enno Farms lamb, but this year we had to make do w/ a boneless leg of lamb from Harris Teeter.

For lamb, I adapt a recipe my mom made for many years - it was published in the "Heritage of Hospitality" cookbook, a Junior League cookbook published in 1975 and the first cookbook I ever owned:

The things that I keep the same: the amount of red wine.  Everything else, I amp up.  Two cloves of garlic?  No-  three or four!  1/8 teaspoon herbs?  No, handfuls of chopped fresh herbs, what ever you've got, but hopefully rosemary, oregano and thyme. 1/2 tsp worchestershire - what even is that?  A few glugs from the bottle.  A tbs or two of olive oil, not 1/2 cup.  I don't know why 1970's cookbooks were so afraid of spices  - and earlier ones - you can find recipes for spaghetti sauce in 1950's cookbooks that call for 1/8 teaspoon dried basil - you might as well just think about basil while you are making the sauce.

To cook, I light a chimney of charcoal and let it get white hot, pour it out on one side of the grill and cook the lamb leg over it until it's browned on both sides (about 5-10  min stop when it starts flaring up) then move it over to the cool side of the grill and cook until a thermometer tells me it's about 125°F in the thickest parts. Take off and let rest.

To serve with it I make this chimichurri from Serious Eats (I add 1/2 the amount of olive oil and whiz everything up in the blender or food processor).  I also make this potatoes gratin from Food52 (I use 2% milk and salted butter, it's fine) and finally grill up some asparagus tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper because it's the season.

Happy Easter!

Ribbolita

This is a delicious soup that has many versions - the one I use is closest to the one Giada de Laurentis published on Food Network several years ago.  What do I change?

You can buy the pancetta pre-chopped.  I don't use the olive oil (or only 1-2 tsp).  What I do is put the pancetta in the pot, add about 1/2 cup of water and simmer.  That renders out some of  the fat so by the time the water evaporates you can brown the pancetta in its rendered fat. Take the browned pancetta out and saute the onions and carrots in the rendered fat (adding a little olive oil if you think you need it).  Add the garlic and follow the recipe more or less as written.  I also add extra veg, adding more onion and carrot (1-2 cups each) and two of the boxes of chopped spinach rather than a 1lb bag.  If you do that you'll need to up the chicken stock a bit, and canned is FINE.  To serve I don't pour it over a toasted cibatta, but rather usually cut a baguette into slices (or that cool new no-knead bread I just made), spray with olive oil and toast until browned, then rub them with a garlic clove as described for the cibatta. and serve them on the side.  But it's darn tasty w/o the bread and freezes well.
A couple of pics - I got none.  Just imagine.