Blog Appetit edition#02 - peas & lamb

How very exciting to participate in the very impressive, if somewhat daunting Blog Appétit. Although I feel very un-Canadian to admit this –my ability to write in the French language is absolutely appalling! I hope that I didn’t inadvertently give someone terrible and nasty directions in the french version of this post!!

I don’t think there is a more wonderful way to celebrate the food of spring than with lamb and petits pois. Alas, it is too early here for fresh peas. I have been lurking around the Strathcona Farmer’s Market for weeks now, waiting for the first spring peas, only to be told that they are still weeks away.. not even planted yet! I sheepishly resorted to using the best and sweetest frozen peas I could buy and I do think that the gelato would not have turned out as well with fresh peas, even if they were well blanched.

I felt the theme of the menu should reflect the fresh green tastes of spring and evoke thoughts of grass, shooting up through damp soil, and that lovely fresh, awakening-earth smell that you can only experience in a land blanketed by snow for at least part of the year (in some places, most of the year!). In order to remain true to the crispness, cleanness, freshness and sweetness that spring is about I prepared:

Crispy skin roast lamb

with

mint, cucumber and vodka jelly

and

minted pea and ginger gelato

The gelato was so good, both my husband and I snuck into the kitchen for a late night bowlful all on its own, well after dinner. It was mystifyingly brilliant. It was sweet, without being desert-y and creamy-smooth when rolled around on your tongue. Both the gelato and the jelly complemented the salty seared meat divinely and I fell in love with both. By macerating the mint leaves in vodka and by adding the slightly cooled gelatine mixture to the fresh cucumber juice and mint-infused vodka, the flavours remained delicate, green and fresh in a way that couldn’t have worked had either the mint or the cucumber been heated. The taste was fresh and cleansing and delicate in contrast to the warm, rich organic lamb.

I will definitely be adding this to my repetoire!

Without further delay, I give you…

Mint, cucumber and vodka jelly

½ cup vodka

¼ cup tightly packed fresh mint leaves

½ cup cucumber juice

½ cup plus 2 Tbsp boiling water into which is dissolved:

15 grams gelatine and

3 ½  Tablespoons sugar

Crush the mint leaves in the bottom of a ceramic or glass cup and pour the vodka over. Let sit for 4 hours, stirring and further macerating occasionally.

Pea & Ginger Gelato

2 cups sweet green peas (frozen, or if fresh, then thoroughly blanched)

2 teaspoons finely grated ginger

4 medium mint leaves

½ cup water

¼ sugar

¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

¾ teaspoon sea salt

1 cup heavy (43-45% m.f.) cream

Heat water in small pan on stove and dissolve sugar into it. Puree peas in blender along with ginger, mint leaves, salt, pepper and sugary water.

Whip cream in a cold bowl until thick and stiff.

Fold pea puree into cream and process in ice cream maker. If you’re not using an ice cream maker, spoon mixture into loaf pan and freeze until ice crystals form around edges and centre is firmly slushy, but not frozen. Remove to chilled metal bowl and whip with mixer on high speed for a minute or two to break up ice crystals. Return to pan and freeze. Remove from freezer 10 – 15 minutes before serving to thaw slightly.

Crispy skin roast lamb

Boneless lamb shoulder roast

Salt

Pepper

Oil

Garlic cloves, cut into 4 wedges or slivers each

Poke holes in lamb with a sharp knife and insert garlic slivers into meat. Rub meat with salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat 2 or 3 inches of oil in wok until just about smoking. Quickly deep fry lamb roast on all sides for 60 or 90 seconds per side so it is evenly browned and crispy. Remove to roasting rack over pan and roast in a dry oven at 400f for 13 minutes per 500 grams. Remove to counter, cover with foil and let rest for 10 minutes or longer if your roast is larger.

Comments

[Stephanie]

Oh, my...now I understand! My husband would *love* this. And such a beautiful presentation!

[Ana]

What a beautiful dish. Very elegant. I also like the combination of flavours. Definitely a recipe I want to try myself. Congrats from a fellow Canadian.

And I find it a lot easier to leave the comment here in the English version.

[Lyn]

I know! I have no idea what the heck I even said in the French recipe! How embarrassing, but I must admit I relied heavily on Google translate and my 20 year old copy of Becherelle and I'm sure it shows!

I really think it'd be great with parmesan crusted lamb chops as well (which I will try next weekend!)

I see you're another renovator! My husband and I moved to edmontn so we could buy and renovate houses. We're on our third now (since last july). the first two were pretty 1970's, this new one is 1940's and pretty cute - we just sanded back and satined the hardwood a dark cherry colour and it looks great. I'd like the next one to be early 1900's and two stories! OUr aim has been mostly to renovate to rent and then eventually sell, but I'd really like to do one for use in the not too distant future.

You can check out some of our reno photos if you follow the link on my food blog to my second blog "Lex Suburbia"