Variations on a theme

I've always said that you never cook the same dish the same way twice. It's true. You have a recipe, you cooked it many times and you probably know it by heart. But you'll be amazed to know that in reality you never cook it the same way every time. Why? There are many reasons: you may not have all the ingredients, so you substitute, you try to improvise or give it a new twist, or even you get lazy and use what you have at hand. This is what happened this week-end when I was preparing the leg of lamb. You may remember that I gave you my secret recipe for lamb a couple of month ago; and now that I had to cook it again, I didn't quite follow my own recipe to the letter. It still came out perfect. So here it is:

MY TWEAKED SECRET RECIPE FOR LAMB

                                                

                                          

When I was preparing my menu for the family dinner I opened my spice rack to get some inspiration, and I found it. I came up with a new way to flavor the chicken cubes, and thought of a new way to spice up the leg of lamb. Instead of the usual spices, I found out that I had a container of Montreal Steak seasoning that had a couple of spoonfuls left, so I decided to try it in my recipe. It worked. You'll need:

1 (6 lb) boneless leg of lamb

4 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

3 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning

1/4 tsp each: nutmeg, cinnamon, ground clove

3 bay leaves

6 to 8 whole cloves

2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 to 3 tbsp plain yogurt

Remove all the visible fat from the meat. This will help you later on when you use the drippings to make the gravy. You may separate some of the pieces of the leg, since sometimes they are held together by the fat, it's no problem, you'll slice the meat any way when it's done. Put the meat in a baking dish, preferably a non-stick metal pan (you'll use it for the sauce). Rub the onion/garlic mixture and all the spices on the meat, add the bay leaves, and put a slice of garlic and one clove in between the chunks of the lamb. Add the yogurt and rub it all over the meat to coat. Cover the pan with foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to overnight. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, put the leg of lamb, still covered, in the oven, and let cook for at least 30 minutes before you remove the cover. This way you are sure that the meat will be fully cooked on the inside. You'll notice that there is a lot of liquid in the pan. Continue cooking until the surface is well browned, then turn the meat on the other side. When this side is browned, your meat is done. Remove it from the pan, and keep it covered until you're ready to slice it.

I made a delicious mushroom sauce to go with it. You'll need:

MUSHROOM SAUCE

                                              

1 (24 Oz) package each: white mushrooms and brown mushrooms, cleaned, stem removed 

4 to 5 scallions, thinly sliced, white parts and a little green

1 tbsp canola oil

2 heaping tbsp flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Slice the mushrooms. In a non-stick skillet cook the sliced scallions in the oil until translucent. Add the mushrooms and let cook turning once in a while until they wilt. Add salt and pepper and cook until all the liquid rendered from the mushrooms is absorbed. Sprinkle the flour and stir to combine. Fish out the garlic slices, the cloves and the bay leaves from the lamb pan and add the liquid to the mushrooms stirring frequently to avoid any lumps. If you feel that the sauce is too thick, add some boiling water to the original lamb pan and add some of it to the sauce. Keep stirring until you get the right consistency. I serve it on the side, but you can drizzle some of it over the sliced meat if you prefer.

SAUTEED ASPARAGUS

                                             

I served Brussels sprouts (recipe in November 25 blog) and sauteed asparagus. This is the easiest way to cook asparagus. Sometimes I roast it, but I feel that roasted veggies is a somehow a "grown up taste" for children. So I opted for sauteing it. You'll need:

2 lb of asparagus, ends trimmed                                                  

3 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced, white parts and some green        

1 tbsp canola oil                                                                           

 Salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE SAUCE:
2 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp sour cream

In a non-stick skillet cook the scallions in the oil until translucent. Add the asparagus and turn once or twice with heat resistant tongs. Sprinkle salt and pepper and turn the asparagus again to make sure that they all cook evenly. If you feel that you need to make them more tender, add 1 or 2 tbsp of boiling water and keep cooking, uncovered on high heat, until all the liquid is absorbed. The whole process will take about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the asparagus to a serving dish with the tongs, to leave any leftover scallions in the skillet.  Add the mustard and stir, then add the sour cream and stir to incorporate. Pour the sauce in a small bowl and serve on the side.

For dessert we had already the birthday cake, so I sliced a delicious Honey dew and serve it with some strawberries for color and flavor.