Roasted Leg of Lamb

I once took a cooking class and part of that class was making a roast leg of leg.  Since there were about 8 students and one chef, we divided the recipes up, which meant I did not get to participate in making the roast leg of lamb.  I have had rack of lamb and helped prepared that, but I was thinking about things to cook for a Christmas gathering while walking through the grocery store.  I thought about all the mutton I ate in New Zealand.  Then I stumbled upon this awesome leg of lamb which I decided was what had to be made for my group of friends who were coming over in the not distance future.  They had all been to my house before, but their significant others had not.  I had never served lamb before, so it was decided; I would roast the leg of lamb as the center piece to the meal.  I served the leg of lamb with a variety of roasted vegetables which worked out very well in the end as it meant a bunch of preparing in advance, but then left little to be done once everyone arrive, with the exception of carving the lamb.

This is a simple recipe, which only takes time to actually roast the lamb and afterwards let it rest.  This is based off the Roasted Leg of Lamb from Richard Bertinet's cook Cook in a Class of your own.

leg of lamb (I think mine was about 6 pounds)
olive oil (4-6 tablespoons)
salt and pepper (about 1 tablespoon each)
garlic cloves, about 6, cut into quarters, but depends on how many slits you make
rosemary and thyme, fresh sprigs
red wine to make a gravy (about 1/2 bottle)

Take out lamb a little before roasting so it can warm up before baking.  I took mine out about 1.5 hours before roasting.  Preheat the oven to 375 F.  I usually do this 20-30 minutes in advance.  Rub with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  I sprinkle it on first to be sure I have enough salt and pepper, and then I add the olive oil.  Use enough to coat, but not drip off Cut into the skin and meat at an angle so that you can stuff a sliver of garlic and rosemary and thyme into each cut.  Place the leg of lamb into a roasting pan and place in the oven for about 2 hours (or 20 minutes per pound).  You can check the temperature so you don't over cook it (about 135 F for rare and 145 F for medium rare).  The last 30 minutes it is a good idea to cover so it doesn't brown too much.  Remove lamb from oven and let it rest on a warm plate or cutting board for about 20 minutes, covered with the foil.  When the lamb is resting, you can make the gravy.  Use about 1/2 a bottle of red wine and cook on the stove top until it has thicken a bit.  If you like a thicker gravy, you can add cornstarch.

Italian Potato Pie

When I first met my husband I discovered that he really loved Italian food.  Since I love to cook, I wanted to impress him with cooking good food for him, however, his family does not make Italian food from Italy, they make immigrant Italian food.  Once I realized the kind of food he loved I searched for a cookbook to give me ideas of what I could make for him that would be more similar to the food he was accustomed to eating.  I came across a recommendation for an out-of-print cookbook called Elodia Rigante's Italian Immigrant Cooking.  Never before have I read a cookbook that sometimes measures garlic in cups (see below).  However, everything which I have tried out of this cookbook has turned out very good.  Watch the portion sizes though as this states that it serves 6, but I really think it would serve 8 especially if you have other things to eat like a nice green salad.  This will also reheat well as long as your Parmesan or Romano cheese is thinly shredded instead of big pieces.

Italian Potato Pie

Crust: 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons water

In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt.  Work the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the flour mixture is in small crumbs.  Add the water and mix to form into a ball.  Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.  Roll out the dough and then press into a large pie dish.  Set aside.

Potato Layer:

6 cups potatoes, cubed

1 cup cream, 2% milk, half & half

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

salt and pepper to taste

Cover the potatoes with water in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and boil until tender.  Pour the potatoes into another bowl and whip them with the half & half, olive oil and butter until fluffy.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.   (As an alternative you can use an immersion blender and save a bowl.)

Tomato Layer:

6 cups tomatoes, diced

2 1/2 cups diced Mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon oregano

2 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Stir all ingredients together and set aside.

Bread Crumb Layer:

4 cups fine Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1 cup olive oil

1 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

1/8 cup minced garlic

1/2 cup parsley

2 eggs

In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients.  Set aside.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 375 F. 

Spread one half of the whipped potato mixture over the pie crust.  Add half of the tomato mixture, then one half of the bread crumb mixture.  Repeat the layering in the same order with the second half of each mixture.  Bake the pie until the crust and the bread crumbs are golden brown, which should be about 30 minutes.  Slice and serve hot, though this does reheat well.

Serves 6

Quinoa Salad with Leek, Bacon and Parsley

I have an obsession with collecting cookbooks.  Therefore, every Christmas there always are a few cookbooks on my wish list.  I love to read through them, learn new ingredients, and to give me inspiration to try even more different types of things and to think of new flavor combinations.  This past year I have also come to love farro a lot, but I went to buy some this summer and strangely enough there were problems with the supply, so instead I turned back to quinoa.  So with more quinoa in my cupboard and my mother-in-law wanting to try something with quinoa in it while she was visiting, I found this recipe based off of one in Homemade Winter by Yvette Van Boven.  My husband was a little bit cautious as he thought there were too many things going on, but I disagreed and the flavors seemed like they would go well together with the hearty quinoa adding some filling to otherwise not very filling salads.  In the end, it was a hit and the topping of bacon made everyone happy.

Quinoa Salad with Leek, Bacon and Parsley

Salad:

5 smaller leeks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 cup dry white wine

salt

2/3 cup quinoa, soaked

5 oz. bacon

2-3 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 bunch parsley

arugula (3-4 cups)

Dressing:

juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves garlic, pressed

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a non-stick skillet, fry the bacon.  Remove when crisp and let cool on a plate covered in paper towels.  Reserve the bacon fat to cook the leeks over a medium heat heat.  When they are hot, but not yet browned, add the white wine and lower the heat and braise with the lid on the pan for about 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil.  Add the quinoa and a pinch of salt.  Cook the quinoa for 10 minutes.  Immediately drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.  Make sure quinoa is well drained.  Check on the leeks.  If they are done, place on a plate to cool.  In a medium bowl, combine the quinoa, leeks, sesame seeds and most of the parsley.  (Leave a little parsley for garnish.)

For the dressing, whisk together the lemon juice and garlic.  Continue whisking as you add the olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour over the quinoa and leek mixture.

Arrange the arugula in a bowl, then place the quinoa and leek mixture over the top.  Finally, garnish with the rest of the parsley and bacon.

Creamy Garlic Potatoes - Gratin Style

I love gratins.  Simply put, but they are so easy to change and as long as your combinations take into consideration how thick it is, how much fat there is and liquid as well, you can make nearly anything into a gratin of sorts.  I first remember eating gratins when I was a child.  My mom called them scalloped potatoes, but I later learned of them as gratins.  My mom used to make scalloped potatoes with ham chunks in them.  I used to search for the crunchy top and the little chunks of ham.  I loved the while dish, but those two things made eating the scalloped potatoes so much more fun and interesting.  She also served them piping hot.  To this day food and drinks are not hot enough if I am unable to burn my tongue on them.  Of course I let them cool down, but I can stand quite a high temperature and those first few bites aren't always about the taste, but about the heat.

Later I remember making gratin potatoes when I lived in Germany.  I was visiting a friend of a friend and she was making them for dinner.  I helped out and remember the oodles of cheese and cream which were added to the potatoes with a touch of nutmeg.  It was such an interesting place to cook as it was an old farmhouse, heated with fire burning stoves.  The kitchen was huge, but had few work spaces, so the kitchen table became the place to put everything together, which made for a very social area for chatting while helping to cook.

So with those memories in mind, this gratin tends to be quite sweet with all the cream that is used.  The garlic also sweetens up in the roasting, so I would recommend a bit of cheese on top as the salt helps balance everything out.

Creamy Garlic Potatoes - Gratin Style

(based on Cook in a class of your own by Richard Bertinet)

8 medium potatoes

5 cloves garlic

parsley

4 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups heavy cream

sharp cheddar (shredded for sprinkling on top)

Preheat oven to 400F.  Use a mandoline and thinly cut all the potatoes.  Press or chop the garlic.  Chop the parsley.  Heat olive oil in a sauce pan.  Once hot add the potato slices and make sure all are tossed with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Once coated in oil, add the garlic and pour in cream to cover the potatoes.  Let thicken over low heat for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the parsley and place into a large baking dish.  (I used my oven roasting pan as I like a thin layer so the potatoes cook quicker, but you can use any size.)  Bake until golden brown.  Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese over the top.  Return to oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.  Remove from oven and let cook for a few minutes before serving as everything should be very hot.

Spinach Quiche

I was baking so much the past few weeks, so I needed a break from all the sweet stuff and have added some savory recipes to balance out all of the high sugar content recipes.  Recently, I have been craving some nice greens.  Therefore, I went out and bought some spinach with is useful in so many ways.  It is such a versatile green that it is delicious eaten raw, but equally delicious chopped up and cooked.  This recipe is from my family in New Zealand.  It was one of the first things I learned to make when I was there, and I still go back to it when I am craving a piece of spinach quiche.

Spinach Quiche

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Crust:

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

4 tablespoons cold butter

ice cold water

Mix dry ingredients and then rub in the butter.  Add cold water by the tablespoon until dough comes together.  Roll out dough and place in a pie or quiche plate.

Filling:

4 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (less if you want the flavor more subtle)

3/4 cup milk

1/2 large onion

spinach to taste, though at least 1.5 ounces

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

In a food processor with the cutting blade place the eggs, salt and pepper, nutmeg and milk.  Blend in and add the onion and spinach leaves.  Finally, mix in the grated cheese.  Pour the filling into the pie plate.  Place in oven for about 45 minutes or until gently set.  (It should not be liquid in the middle so judge the time based on how wiggly the middle is.)

Makes one pie plate (about 8 servings)

Red Bean, Tomato and Beef Chili

There are as many types of chili out there as you can possibly think of to make.  Actually, I went to a chili cook-off this year and I was quite surprised at some of the combinations people used to make chili.  This basic red chili started from a recipe a friend gave me.  I never made red chili often as my husband loves my white chicken chili.  I was never very thrilled to make this recipe as I thought just throwing stuff in a pot wasn't all that great and the flavors weren't coming through like they should.  Since then I have made this chili and started to change things up to it is more to what I like in chilli.  The flavors have started to come out which has turned this chili from a bland, canned chili to one much more outstanding.  I think I will continue to tinker with this recipe until it has the perfect union of spice, bean and meat.

Red Bean, Tomato and Beef Chili

1 pound ground beef

2-3 cloves minced or finely chopped garlic

3 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper powder

1/2 teaspoon spicy Hungarian paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1 15 oz. can red kidney beans (drained)

1 15 oz. can pink kidney beans (drained)

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with celery, onions and green pepper

1 10 oz. can tomatoes with green chiles

12 oz. tomato paste

2 cups water (more if too thick)

Brown hamburger with cumin and minced garlic.  Once browned drained the fat and add to a stock pot.  Add the 5 canned ingredients, 2 cups water and additional spices to the stock pot.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low.  Let simmer for at least 30 minutes over low heat, though this is better the longer it has to simmer as the flavors will come together better.  Serve with corn bread or corn chips.

Peanut Butter Kisses

As you probably can imagine, this recipe gets it's name from the lovely combination of a peanut butter cookie topped with a Hersey Kiss.  These are also a simple cookie to put together.  I think the longest most laborious part of these cookies are unwrapping the Hershey kisses to place on the top.  Of course you could also just pipe some chocolate on top, but I like the way the chocolate kiss just melts slightly as they are baking.  These beautiful little cookies are just a nice Christmas twist on your typical peanut butter cookie.

Before baking...sugar coated and a Hershey kiss on top.

 Fresh from the oven.

 This recipe makes enough cookies for one bag of Hershey kisses.

Peanut Butter Kisses

1 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 bag Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Cream together butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and white sugar.  Mix until light and fluffy.  Once creamed add in the eggs, one at a time, vanilla and mix until incorporated.  Finally, mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Refrigerate dough for about 30 minutes.  Remove dough from refrigerator and roll into balls and dip into sugar.  Place them on a cold cookie sheet.  Please a Hershey Kiss in the middle of each cookie and bake for about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand 1-2 minutes to cool before moving to a cookie rack to cool completely.