Easter Menus

[kayb]

Hi Ellen

Thanks form the welcome, I plan on being here for a long time, I really love this forum and I'm so glad I found it (hopefully I'll be able to post pictures soon)

As far as the lamb goes, my method is extremely simple

I usually get a leg of lamb and punch holes in it with a knife, I fill these with a mixture of black pepper, salt and oreganum and then push a clove of garlic into meat.(I make sure I make deep cuts.)

I usually fill about 8-10 gashes all over the leg, I rub the whole leg with the salt, pepper and oreganum mix and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

On Easter Saturday at about midnight I pop it in the oven in a covered dish, my oven temperature says 120, I assume this is Celsius, in any event it's a very low oven.

On Sunday at about 1.00pm my lamb is ready, it is moist, extremely tender, and literally falling off the bone.

Enjoy

Greg

Thanks for the recipe, Greg, and let me add my welcome to both you and BertaBurtonLake. It's a great forum, even for amateurs like me.

And that's a beautiful boxer, even if she does chew USB cables! (I have a Pug who does the same....)

My Easter menu, for just youngest daughter and me, is simple and has our favorites --

Ham (mustard and brown sugar glazed, in the oven as we speak, as dinner is tonight)

Asparagus (roasted, with Hollandaise)

Potato salad

Deviled eggs

Angel food cake with strawberries and sweetened creme fraiche for dessert.

[Doodad]

Ham in the oven with coca cola, mustard, pom molassas and cloves.

Cheese and mushroom grits casserole

Garlic brocolli

asparagus with meyer lemon butter

Cathead biscuits

and 'nana puddin'

[judiu]

Ham in the oven with coca cola, mustard, pom molassas and cloves.

Cheese and mushroom grits casserole

Garlic brocolli

asparagus with meyer lemon butter

Cathead biscuits

and 'nana puddin'

Any chance of a recipe for that grits casserole? As some chef once said of chicken breasts, "they are a blank palatte".

[ScoopKW]

So my in-laws said they wanted to come over for Easter.

"You're going to culinary school," they said. "Make something."

"What would you like?"

"Turkey."

Turkey?!? For Easter?!? You are freakin' kidding me.

"Turkey!"

OK. You want Easter turkey? I'll give you Easter turkey.

I brined the turkey in white stock, heavily salted, with rosemary and a pound of homemade PECAN BRITTLE. (I was out of brown sugar. So I boiled the brine, added the brittle, melted it, and chilled.

Then I trussed the brined bird, stuffed the cavity with garlic and an apple, and put it on a spit. I cooked it on a rotisserie outside. Problem was, wind was blowing 40 mph today, so it was very hard to keep the temperature constant.

At one point, a gust blew my fire out. So I said, "Screw it," and finished the bird in a convection oven inside.

The sugar from the brittle made the turkey skin basically the same as Peking duck skin. (And seeing as my in-laws are from China, this is a good thing.)

The skin was super-crispy, and I could easily taste the rosemary and pecans. Best damned turkey I've ever made.

I paired it with garlic mash, bread stuffing (all from scratch), and sauce supreme. The only veg was a salad made from romaine from my garden.

Not bad. But I'd still prefer ham for Easter.

[Doodad]

It really is too simple. Prepare the grits as usual then place in bowl to cool a bit mixing occassionally so they don't set. Sute the mushrooms to soften and then add them and cheese of your choice to the grits. Season as desired, add some beaten egg and a little milk. Into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes until it firms up.

[judiu]

Thanks, Doodad!

[FoodMuse]

This is my potential menu:

• Lamb shoulder roasted
  
• Scalloped rutabega with truffle oil
  
• Quinoa in chicken broth
  
• Nigella Lawsons coca cola ham
  
• roasted asparagus wrapped in bacon
  
• cold green bean and lemon zest salad
  

I'm interested in Lamb Shoulder recipes. Should I braise as I do almost monthly with pork shoulder, or can I roast it until it's just rare? I've never cooked that cut before, and we do love rosy rare lamb. I'm interested in the shoulder cut because it is a much better price than the leg.

[FrogPrincesse]

I've been hosting the Easter family meal for a few years now. I love it as lamb is more fun for me than turkey.

Last year I served an herb-stuffed deboned leg of lamb; in the previous years I made a 7-hour leg of lamb, and many other leg of lamb & rack of lamb variations. I was considering lamb shanks this year, but got a specific request for rack of lamb and am happy to oblige.

I haven't finalized my menu yet but here are my ideas so far:

• Small nibbles- smoked trout with golden beets, duck carpaccio
  I will serve a punch of some kind with this. I just put my hands on a few bottles of Batavia Arrack that I will put to good use.
  
• Ravioli - TBD. Last year I did Babbo's mint love letters with lamb sausage, and I would like to make ravioli again (feeling ambitious!).
  
• The main course (by popular demand) will be a mustard-crusted rack of lamb, very traditional.
  
• The side vegetable dish will be based on whatever I will receive in my farmers' market bag that week. Maybe some sautéed artichokes, baby potatoes & leeks.
  
• Dessert - most likely a baba au rhum and something with chocolate (truffles?).
  

I cook lamb quite frequently but never the shoulder, so I won't be able to help you FoodMuse.

[FoodMuse]

Duck carpaccio? Please explain FrogPrincesse.

[FrogPrincesse]

Duck carpaccio? Please explain FrogPrincesse.

I meant, of course... duck prosciutto!!

[FoodMuse]

I figured, but with this crowd you never know.

[suzilightning]

i am about to pull my hair out about this... i love to cook but everyone i the hubs family are sooooo pain in the neck - or lower!!!

i grew up with lamb, roast potatoes, asparagus.

my husband, and all inlaws but the mother-in-law hate lamb.

mil used to serve ham but she hates ham but will eat it if i cook it.

husband and mil like asparagus, everyone else hates it.

so far the menu is a roasted brined turkey breast, potatoes of some sort(small new roasted?), green and yellow beans that have been blanched then frozen - with garlic and olive oil, some portugese sweet bread for sandwiches later?

[FrogPrincesse]

What is everybody doing for Easter this year?

I am starting to plan the menu for the family Easter lunch that I am hosting. As in previous years, I want to do a stuffed pasta as the first course. For the main, most likely I will do a rack of lamb as it seems to be everyone's favorite. Maybe I will try the version from Lucques this time. If I can find flageolets, Sunday Suppers at Lucques has a recipe for flageolet gratin that seems very good. And we will have some kind of decadent chocolate dessert to finish the meal...

[Lindacakes]

A one pound bag of jelly beans, minus the black ones.

[FrogPrincesse]

A one pound bag of jelly beans, minus the black ones.

You must really like jelly beans!

[SylviaLovegren]

A one pound bag of jelly beans, minus the black ones.

You can just package up those black ones and send them to me. They are the whole point of jelly beans!

[SylviaLovegren]

If I were cooking an Easter dinner, which sadly I'm not, I would have:

Small buttered rounds of pumpernickel with rounds of hard-boiled egg slices or shrimp on top, with a dab of mayo and a sprig of dill -- these with drinks

Baby lettuces with a light vinaigrette dressing, topped with some warm goat cheese (our cheese people have fresh milk after a couple of months of aged cheeses only, and the new cheese tastes so good!)

Roast lamb with a little garlic but not too much

Roasted potatoes, Greek style with lemon, or orzo

Asparagus

Coconut layer cake with lemon filling and jelly beans dotted around the top for silly decoration.

[heidih]

If I were cooking an Easter dinner, which sadly I'm not, I would have:

Small buttered rounds of pumpernickel with rounds of hard-boiled egg slices or shrimp on top, with a dab of mayo and a sprig of dill -- these with drinks

Baby lettuces with a light vinaigrette dressing, topped with some warm goat cheese (our cheese people have fresh milk after a couple of months of aged cheeses only, and the new cheese tastes so good!)

Roast lamb with a little garlic but not too much

Roasted potatoes, Greek style with lemon, or orzo

Asparagus

Coconut layer cake with lemon filling and jelly beans dotted around the top for silly decoration.

Well if you can't have it I think someone like myself should steal the menu

[TheTInCook]

Used to make eggs goldenrod for Easter brunch. Family tradition.

Take hard boiled eggs, dice the whites and fold into warm bechamel, spoon over buttered sourdough toast, and top with the sieved yolks.

[Kim Shook]

Sylvia – will you cook for me, if I come? I want everything except the asparagus. But I will eat it to be polite !

This year, for the first time in my life, that I can remember, we are hosting a potluck! I am too much of control freak to really enjoy hosting potlucks (though I like attending them, show off that I am). But since I quit work, we really do need to dial back the expenses. So I am biting the bullet. It’s probably good for my character anyway. We are having:

Baked ham

Smoked lamb with minted goat cheese

Potato salad

Scalloped carrots

Green bean casserole

Deviled eggs

Fruit salad

Green salad

Yeast rolls

Cookies

Carrot cake bars

Gluten free brownies

Lemon cake

Mr. Kim is smoking the lamb. I am doing the ham, yeast rolls, cookies, carrot cake bars and GF brownies.

[annabelle]

Mine is a work in progress. So far:

Stuffed eggs

Roast duck (I'm waffling about what kind of a sauce to make)

Asparagus

Pommes Anna (requested, I find them too rich)

Cloverleaf rolls

Coconut cake and french vanilla ice cream

[sculptor]

I'm going to keep things simple.

Sous vide leg of lamb rubbed with fresh lavender, rosemary and sage.

Sautéd asparagus drizzled with a little pumpkin seed oil.

Mashed potatoes with caramelised onions.

Pannacotta with a peach and ginger compote,

[sculptor]

i am about to pull my hair out about this... i love to cook but everyone i the hubs family are sooooo pain in the neck - or lower!!!

i grew up with lamb, roast potatoes, asparagus.

my husband, and all inlaws but the mother-in-law hate lamb.

mil used to serve ham but she hates ham but will eat it if i cook it.

husband and mil like asparagus, everyone else hates it.

so far the menu is a roasted brined turkey breast, potatoes of some sort(small new roasted?), green and yellow beans that have been blanched then frozen - with garlic and olive oil, some portugese sweet bread for sandwiches later?

When I was a kid I used to strongly dislike lamb. I've found the trick to making people like lamb is in its seasoning. I suspect your in-laws wouldn't even be able to tell what meat was used in Chinese style red cooked lamb. ;-)

[ChrisTaylor]

I ordered a beef brisket. Looks like something Texas BBQ-themed is on the menu.

[rotuts]

very interested in the SV lamb results:

temp? time?

i did this once and the lamb came out mealy. I guess it was in the sv bath too long.

I like lamb tender and Rare!

do fresh herbs matter in this SV technique?