Dinner for a New Year

Greetings from the Hoosier Table

A Dinner for a New Year 2008

Indiana lamb may be difficult to find at times. The state ranks about 28th in lamb production, with about 50,000 head per year. Our farmer's markets are the best bet for fresh lamb during the warmer months, and local meat markets often process local lamb. I have found excellent lamb chops from county fair winners at Archer's in Fishers, but they don't stay in stock for long. If you get to know your butcher, he'll let you know when local lamb is available.

Our son was home from college over Christmas break, and returned for a few days of work at the 21st Amendment Wine Gallery where he did an internship last summer. His favorite dinner is lamb, and even though I am not an enthusiast, I picked up a nice boneless leg of lamb at O'Malia's market, on sale, for a holiday dinner. Elliott immediately rose to the occasion by bringing home an Australian Shiraz he has wanted to pair with lamb; McLaren Vale's 2004 d'Arenberg "Footbolt" Shiraz, named for the race horse whose winnings provided the seed money for the South Australian winery.

I received a boxed set of the 1961 Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Berthole and Simone Beck for Christmas, and used Volume I's roast leg of lamb recipe, fused with Julia's later recipe found in my dog-eared copy of From Julia Child's Kitchen to prepare the lamb. I must say it made a delicious roast, and the spicy wine was a perfect compliment.

Our menu:
Boneless Roast Leg of Lamb
Potatoes Roasted in Cream
D'Anjou Pear Salad
Popovers with lamb/beef au jus
D'Arenberg's 2004 The Football Shiraz
Crème de Menthe Parfaits

The recipes:

Roast Leg of Lamb

3- 4 lb. boneless leg of lamb
1 large clove garlic, peeled and slivered
2 tsp light olive oil
½ tsp tamari or soy sauce
1 small onion sliced thickly
1 stalk celery or 1 carrot, halved
1 cup of beef stock or broth

Move an oven rack to the to third of your oven and pre-heat to 450 degrees. Use a bit of the olive oil to film a metal roasting pan and rack. Pat the lamb dry and trim fat in excess of 1/16th inch. Use a sharp knife tip to make small pockets to hold the slivers of garlic all over the roast, and then oil the entire surface. Sprinkle with the tamari sauce (a richer form of soy sauce) and rub over the surface to facilitate browning. Place on rack in pan, fat side up, and roast in a pre-heated oven for 15 - 20 minutes, turning half way through so that entire roast browns nicely. Remove from oven, lower rack to the middle of the oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees.

Add the vegetables to the pan and return roast to fat side up position on the rack. Return to cooler oven and roast to an internal temperature of 140 degrees for medium rare and rosy. This will take 50- 80 minutes depending on the size of the roast. Check it with an instant-read meat thermometer often and do not overcook.

Remove the roast to a plate, keep warm, and let it rest for 10 -20 minutes while you remove the vegetables and visible fat from the pan. Add 1Tbs. flour to the drippings and stir till smooth on top of the range until bubbly. Add the beef stock and stir to a simmer. Remove from heat and pour into a measuring cup to let fat rise to the top so it can be skimmed. Reheat if necessary before serving. Serves 4

(When roast is removed from oven, remove potatoes and immediately turn heat up to 450. Place popovers in the oven as soon as the higher temperature is reached.)

Potatoes Roasted in Cream
(Place potatoes in the oven after you turn the heat down to 350 when roasting the lamb - remove during initial high heat period while popovers are baking. You can return the potatoes to the oven for the last 10 minutes while finishing the popovers at 350 degrees.)

6 - 7 medium potatoes, cut into large cubes
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp dry mustard (Coleman's)
½ tsp salt
cayenne pepper
paprika

Butter a 9x6 glass baking dish and cut 6 medium Idaho potatoes in to 1 inch cubes into the dish. In a measuring cup, pour ½ cup of heavy cream, 1 tsp Coleman's dry mustard and ½ tsp salt. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper if desired and use a wire whip to mix. Pour mixture over the potatoes and stir to coat. Sprinkle with Hungarian paprika and bake for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven, stirring every 20 minutes until golden and crispy. Serves 4

Popovers

2 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
½ tsp salt

Grease 8 large muffin tins and pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, break eggs and stir just until yolk mixes with whites. Stir in milk, then flour and salt just until smooth. Do not over beat. Fill tins ¾ full and bake at 450 until lightly browned and puffed, about 12 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and turn tins around for even browning. Bake another 10 minutes until deep golden brown. Immediately remove from pans and serve warm with au jus or gravy. Serves 4


D'Anjou Pear Salad

Romaine lettuce leaves
2 ripe pears, cored and sliced
matchstick slices of brie
toasted walnuts for garnish

Place bite-sized lettuce leaves on salad plates to cover and arrange pear slices in a pin-wheel design on top. Scatter brie slivers and walnuts over plate and serve. A raspberry vinegar-olive oil dressing may be added, but is not recommended if served with wine.
Serves 4

Crème de Menthe Parfaits

Vanilla ice cream
Green crème de menthe
Dark chocolate syrup

Pour a few drops of crème de menthe in the bottom of a parfait glass. Spoon a layer of good quality vanilla ice cream over it to cover the bottom of the dish and drizzle with chocolate syrup. Add another layer of ice cream, more crème de menthe, more ice cream and more syrup, ending with crème de menthe. Place in the freezer for at least half an hour so that the syrups thicken. Serve with a cherry or mint cookie garnish.