#37 - Leg of Lamb

By Ryon - We were fortunate enough to have my very good friend Bryon and his wife Lindsay visit us over the 4th of July weekend. They made the drive down from Albany, NY and stayed with us for a few of the hottest days we've had in Charlottesville in recent memory. We did not let the heat stop us from enjoying the finer things that the Shenandoah Valley has to offer, however. On top of Fridays After Five, golfing, breweries, wineries, tubing on the James River, and lighting off a fireworks arsenal that you could use to invade a small country, we were able to squeeze in some time to sit back and enjoy a few home cooked meals and many a libation. This is the first of many meals from the cookbook that we tackled over the long weekend.

When planning the menu for the weekend, one thing was a given: I had to include leg of lamb. Without hesitation, when asked what his favorite meal is that my dad cooks, Bryon will answer "leg of lamb" every time. I'm not inclined to argue with him. With this in mind, I paid a visit to The Organic Butcher. They just so happened to have some beautiful pieces of deboned leg, which I made sure to snatch up so that I could feed my friend's lust for lamb.

I had originally planned to cook this on the first night that Bryon and Lindsay were in Charlottesville, but the beer truck at Fridays After Five (a free concert/social gathering put on by the city every Friday evening during the summer months) had other ideas. We settled for an evening catered by Five Guys instead. I did manage to stay lucid enough to make this on Saturday night.

The recipe in the cookbook actually is for roast lag of lamb, but there was no way I was roasting a lamb on a 100 degree summer day. The grill handled this one. Everything else in the recipe remained the same. After liberally spreading salt, pepper,

garlic, and fresh chopped rosemary on both sides of the lamb, I rolled it and tied with cooking string. I got my fire going well in advance to make sure it was not burning too hot when I put the meat on. It took about 30-40 min to cook and I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of the final product. You'll just have to believe me when I say that it looked even better than the uncooked version. And the taste... well... let's just say I got a lot of meat and was expecting left-overs... and that did not happen.

I served this up with the Midsummers Night Beans (see #5) and a garden salad with the Maple Syrup Dressing (see #35). Add to that some drinks and great company and what we had was nothing short of an amazing evening.

Rating: RHC

#36 - Bread

By Caitlin - Pan. Pain. Bröd. Xлеб. No matter how you say it, bread has not only been a staple in a just about every culture throughout history, but this magical doughy-crispy-crunchy-chewy delight also happens to be a perfect accompaniment to a variety of cheeses, meats, and spreads. I am a simple person, you say? Well you are in luck, bread also is conveniently delicious on its own. Barry's bread is one of the first recipes that I remember eating after meeting him and Sarah (aka Mrs. Barefoot Gourmet, aka Ryon's mom). We ate oysters cooked over an open fire and Vermont cheddar cheese atop the most delectable white baguette that simultaneously was soft and delicate in the middle and crisp and flaky outside. It is amazing how his fresh homemade bread can transform any appetizer into something truly spectacular. This recipe also doubles as a pizza dough, which traditionally has been used to hold our toppings at the Clarke Christmas eve dinners.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about how this was going to work. It very likely could have been our first blog fail. As simple as it seems, there are several places where things can go horribly wrong (I know from experience; this was not my initial foray into the depths of this recipe). I provide this warning so that if you are to attempt bread and things go awry, do not fret! Run to your nearest grocer (or, as I did, have a spare baguette from the store) and try again later. The BFG mentions in the recipe that the dough is "alive" and that every loaf is different. What he fails to point out is that these aspects combine to create a very mercurial product. Two out of three times I have been able to create delicious home-made bread. We shall leave it at that for today.

As I have pointed out in my previous posts, I have learned that it is very important to read the recipe in its entirety while accounting for enough time to make said recipe. Bread is an all day adventure. I began around mid-day and had a finished product around supper time. So the recipe... mixing up lots of flour, water, yeast and salt. I always have some difficulty deciding on the appropriate utensil to mix ingredients with, which typically results in a large spoon, wisk, spatula, mixer, and fork needing to be cleaned at the commencement of my day's adventure in cooking. That is all to preface the fact that the BFG provided me with the utensil to use! A stainless steel cutting fork! No questions and significantly less cleanup. To be honest, this recipe likely has some of the most detailed directions in the book (even telling you when to wash your hands), so it really is a mystery how I messed this one up so badly that time we are not talking about.

Next, kneading the dough. This may be my favorite part. I love feeling the dough begin to have some spring to it; it reminds me of bubblicious bubble gum. After coating the bowl with oil, grab the ball of dough like a bowling ball (see pictures) and flip it. I had to watch the BFG himself to understand what the heck this meant. Basically you want to make sure that both top and bottom are covered in oil so that they do not stick to the bowl.

Next, wait a loooong while for the dough to rise. Ryon confirms that the actual amount of time differs on your location, temperature and, well, the climate in general, but the BFG says around 90 minutes. After pushing it down, flipping it, you let it rise for another 45-ish minutes. Shape some loaves (we chose to do 2) and then stick them in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Now clean up that huge mess of flour all over your floor :o)

The loaves were a little more flat than we had imagined, but they tasted like bread, and that is the important part.


Rating: SECCDI 2/3 times

#35 - Maple Syrup Dressing

By Ryon - I'm actually surprised that I have not written about this one already. I've probably made it 10 times since we began this blog. The maple syrup dressing is an absolute staple in my fridge. I can honestly say that I have not purchased a single bottle of salad dressing in the last 5 or 6 years, since I learned how to make it. There is no need. All dressings pale in comparison to this recipe. My siblings and I (among others) have been pushing my dad for years to bottle this and sell it. It's a million dollar dressing. I am hoping, now that the catering business is up and running, that this will actually happen. Do it, dad!

I think this dressing single-handedly made me appreciate salads. Salads, for a long time, were an attractive addition to a plate for me... nothing more. You could not drown a leaf of lettuce in enough ranch dressing to make me really enjoy it (actually ranch is kind of gross, too). But then along came the gateway drug of salad dressings and I've come to appreciate salads in a whole new way. Ok, I may be over-dramatizing this a bit, but seriously, this stuff is good.

Being a dressing, there is no cooking involved. So for those of you out there who would rather use a stove-top as a place to keep your incoming mail, you can breath a sigh of relief. You can do this. Just combine apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and olive oil. Add garlic, salt and pepper. Shake. Enjoy.

This goes well with just about any meal. I particularly like it as a salad dressing to use with the pastrain recipe (see #3). When the pastrain mixes together with this dressing on the plate, it is sooooo good. However, my all-time favorite is when this dressing makes an appearance with beef tenderloin cooked on an open fire and mopped with a red wine herbal tisane (recipe to come), salt potatoes (recipe to come), and fresh mesclun from Crossroads Farm in Post Mills, VT. This is a regular on the menu rotation when my dad is entertaining large crowds at Echo Camp on Raquette Lake. And it was during one of these meals that I saw one of the more impressive things in my life: Ian Gowan eating his weight in beef. It was awesome. Thanks, Ian.

Rating: SECCDI

#34 - Asian Salsa

By Ryon - This is the first of many salsa recipes in the cookbook, and by far the simplest. When my dad would make this, I always thought that there had to be more to it then just two ingredients. The flavors seem much more complex than that. But really all you need are a few Thai peppers and some soy sauce. Chop up your peppers, throw them in soy sauce and enjoy! You can adjust your heat preference by adjusting the number of peppers you use.

While this can be enjoyed right away, the recipe points out that the salsa really gets better with age as the peppers marinate in the soy sauce. Make this in advance, if you can. I love to have this with steak and I made up this particular batch to have with a flank steak a did on the grill with some veggies. A birthday dinner for Caitlin!

By the way, I'm not sure if you can tell, but she is showing off a new ring in this photo... because we got engaged!!! We both could not be happier. :) :) :)

Rating: SECCDI

#33 - Hash Browns

By Ryon - Over the course of my life, I have had an interesting and ever-changing relationship with potatoes. When I was a boy, my interest in the vegetable mostly ended at anything beyond the french fry. If it was not cut into strips and fried to a golden crisp, I couldn't much care for it. Slowly, I have come to appreciate potatoes in all of its many culinary forms... most recently ending my 27-year boycott of mashed potatoes.

Hash browns may never have made it onto my "don't eat" list, probably because of their close resemblance to the french fry. The hash browns that come out of this recipe, however, are not your typical hash brown. You don't end up with a shredded pile of browned potato or the cubed version served with onions that you will see at most diners. This is more like a potato pancake or a latke. Whichever name you'd like to give it, what you end up with is potato at its finest. The big thing that separates this recipe from a latke is that the only seasonings you are introducing here are salt and pepper.

These take a little bit of babysitting. I remember, my senior year of college, I tried to make these without first getting the recipe from my dad. The end result was a total disaster because I had no idea that you needed to pay so much attention to the pan heat and cooking time. My thought was, "They're hash browns. How hard can they be?" Not hard. Just a bit finicky. Pay close attention to the times and stove top settings that my dad lays out in this recipe. And it is crucial to have a fry pan with a lid so that these cook properly. If you don't have a lid, use aluminum foil to fashion a makeshift cover. Remember, "What you are aiming for are hash BROWNS... so adjust your heat accordingly."

These are a perfect match for a nice NY strip steak... or eggs, if you're wanting hash browns for breakfast.

NOTE: When grating potatoes, be careful not to grate your fingers along with them. (See below)

Rating: RHC

#32 - Rice and Beans

By Ryon - Our first recipe on the new house! Caitlin and I made the epic 1.2 mile journey across town to our new location by Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville. While we were sad to leave our old house, we are very excited about our new place and the kitchen we now have. What an upgrade! We hope you will enjoy the food that comes out of here as much as we do.

The inspiration for this dish comes from our family vacations with the Gowans in Virgin Gorda in the late 90's. The only thing that rivaled the pristine beaches and breathtaking sunsets that we were privy to was the amazing food we had while we were there. Most of it was prepared by my father, naturally, but there were several memorable meals that did not come from his kitchen. This rice and beans recipe is an adaptation of a dish purchased from some locals who were selling meals from a stand on the beach.

I love rice and beans in any form, but the addition of nutmeg in this recipe gives it a very earthy and exotic flavor. Just be careful not to overdo it with the nutmeg because it is a very powerful spice. Also, be careful not to overcook the rice. It can give you a mushy final product. I made both mistakes here and, although it was still great, it was not anywhere close to the incredibly satisfying dish my dad makes.

I served my rice and beans up with BBQ chicken and a garden salad: a perfect summer meal. Even though I messed this one up, I'm still giving it a rating of "RHC" because this really is a simple recipe. Just make sure you pay attention to what you are doing.

Rating: RHC

#31 - Pannekoek

By Ryon - Chapin, my younger sister, is crazy about this dessert, and after one bite you will understand why. A traditional Afrikaner desert, pannekoek (pronounced PUNNA-cook) is much like a crepe and, like a crepe, can be filled with strawberries, blueberries, bananas, etc. The traditional method involves nothing of this sort, however. Simply cook the "pancake", sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, roll, squeeze lemon over it, and top with cinnamon and cream/ice cream. It is beautifully light and simple. A real crowd pleaser.

I chose to use strawberries this time around because they are my favorite addition to pannekoek. Get crazy and experiment with your favorite toppings.

Rating: SECCDI

#30 - Macaroni and Cheese

By Ryon - For much of my childhood, Mac 'n Cheese meant the stuff that you pour out of that little blue box, add lots of cheese powder, milk and butter to and voila!... you have a creamy, mixture of processed goodness! Don't get me wrong, I still think that stuff is delicious, but my palate has thankfully grown to appreciate the real thing. And this, my friends, is the real thing.

Yes, this recipe calls for making a roux and I'm always a little intimidated by the prospect of making a roux because I feel like it can be so easy to screw up (especially when it comes to gravy). Not to worry, the roux for this recipe is hard to screw up and is on the easy end of roux-making. Once that process is out of the way you can enjoy building the dish, which consists of layering breadcrumbs, pasta and cheese until you are left with a mountain of gooey deliciousness. Bake for 30 min at 350 and you're done.

We brought this over to Stephen and Jess' house for a dinner with them and Jess was very excited about it. Jess is a mostly-vegetarian, part-time cook, full-time mom of Italian heritage and she has a few opinions when it comes to anything involving macaroni. Apparently she's a huge fan of macaroni and cheese. I had no idea what I would think of this meal since the last time I had it was when I was a kid and I categorically refused to believe that anything was better than Kraft, but I'm happy to say that I think this exceeded both mine and Jess' expectations. It got demolished. Everyone raved about the little bit of kick that the cayenne pepper gives to this dish.

Our hosts looked at me like I had five heads when I used ketchup as a condiment, but I must say that my dad was on to something with this suggestion. It just works. Try it if you are not a mac n' cheese purist.

Rating: RHC