Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Iron Shepherd Recipes

And Finally, here's what I cooked (in detail).

Avocado Vinaigrette/Citron (or some other Fancy Name. Did I mention the secret ingredient was Lemon?)
halved avocados, various fancy greens (spinach, baby lettuce etc.) dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. The avocado is filled with a dressing of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, fresh dill, fresh thyme, and a touch of white wine (in other words, what I usually spread over salmon to grill or bake/as my mother has always instructed me to do)


Lamb, Courgette, New Baby Potatoes a la Citron (or something)
I began by sweating onions and garlic in a beautiful cast iron skillet. When they were all cooked down and fine I dumped them in a bowl and seared the lamb chops (let me just say that it was an awfully special treat to cook lamb, we usually do once a year, a lamb leg for Easter), and then put the onion back on top, poured liberally white wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, fresh thyme, I think that's it. I covered the skillet with tinfoil and put it in the oven along with my tartlette crusts. I honestly can't remember how long I left it in, but long enough for it to still be lightly pink but not overdone (I think). When I pulled it out of the oven I removed the chops and added feta, liberal amounts of cream, a touch of sherry and more salt and pepper. And then I strained it and finally, because the texture and taste just needed something, I added an inch of Caprices des Dieux (cheese). The courgettes I sauteed with zest, salt, pepper and olive oil. The potatoes were boiled, buttered, zested and lemon juiced. And then I poured gravy on everything.

Fussy Lemon Curd Tartlettes
I did this, of course, First, as soon as the time started. The pie crust is standard Joy of Cooking (2 1/2 cups flour, 1 t salt, 2 sticks butter, very little cold water, worked entirely by hand). I pressed the dough into individual pie plates (little, cute) and forked them liberally, having nothing to weight them down, and baked them for a while (again, no idea) until they were done. The lemon curd was egg, butter, sugar, lemon juice. I honestly can't remember the proportions. I whisked desperately but it Did Set Up, thank the Lord. I let it all cool and assembled it toward the end of the hour. I got, I think, kind of carried away with all the pretty fruit-thinly sliced strawberry, grape, and banana.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

BTW, what did you win - besides obvious, deep satisfaction?

Anonymous said...

Any way we could have comments from the judges?

Anonymous said...

Yum. Or as someone I knew years ago would say, oink, oink.

Anonymous said...

Now I'm hungry.

At A Hen's Pace said...

Anne--

I am so impressed!!!

How come so many Anglican couples that I know are such fabulous chefs who love being in the kitchen...and somehow that gift just didn't get bestowed on my husband and me??

I couldn't begin to think of trying these dishes without measurements of each ingredient. And instructions for what kind of lamb and where to get that cheese, etc...so much planning required.

My hat's off to you!

:)

Jeanne