Posts filed under 'Mail Order'
My cousin Lisa and her husband Steve virtually introduced me to the folks at Lava Lake. Passionate about land conservation, Kathleen and Brian Bean bought the property in Hailey, Idaho. Over the years they have preserved not only hundreds of thousands of acres of unique terrain along the Oregon trail, but they are also producing some of the best grass fed lamb this flavorista has ever had. I love Colorado lamb too and have basically given up on imported lamb as I don’t like the flavor as much.
Lava Lake’s website is replete with information on the benefits of grass fed lamb as well as on their conservation efforts. You can order the lamb off their website and they offer up some recipes as well. They even have a blog.
I decided to use my tagine for the leg. Inspired by one of my favorites books by Paula Wolfert, The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, I created a very flavorful lamb. Stay tuned for a brillant mini lamb burger recipe.
Clay pot cooking is truly easy. As the original slow cookers, they trap the heat in and as a result are perfect for infusing flavors into meats and vegetables. Usually inexpensive cuts of meat are used in a tagine but the Lava Lake boneless leg of lamb was perfect. You can purchase fancy tagines that are twice as expensive as the authentic clay ones, but there is really no reason to as these have worked fine for centuries.
Leg of Lamb Prepared in a Tangine
This is a recipe that doesn’t take much work, but needs lots of time. You can make this a day ahead, store the meat and juices separately and then reheat the next day. This allows time to slice the lamb and reheat it in the sauce. This recipe will work with 5 pounds of lamb shanks as well.
1 (12-oz) can Muir Glenn Organic fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies
(These are spicy so if you don’t like spicy food just use 2 cans of regular chopped tomatoes)
1 (12-oz) can Muir Glenn Organic chopped Tomatoes
(The fire roasted ones work really well)
1/4 cup candied (or crystilized) ginger, chopped
(or you can use freshly grated ginger)
1 large onion, grated on the large holes of a box grater
1 1/2 cups of water
1 cups dried plums (aka prunes), halved
1 cinnamon stick
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. saffron threads
Finishing:
2 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, sliced
1. Early in the day, place the lamb leg in the tagine pot and sprinkle with the salt, place the tomatoes, ginger and grated onion on top and toss it all together to coat well. Allow to sit covered until the meat gets to room temperature for about 2 hours. You can do this in the tagine. Do not place a cold tagine on an open flame. They are designed to be used at room temperature. So if you are wary of leaving meat at room temperature (which you really don’t need to be as long as it is not for more that 2 hours) marinated the lamb in something else.
2. Add the water, ginger, cinnamon, prunes, brown sugar, salt and saffron to the tangine and stir to combine with the tomatoes. Place the tagine on the stove and heat over a medium/high heat and bring it to a boil. You should be able to smell the spices. Cover and lower the heat and cook for 3 to 4 hours. The juices might bubble up ou over the tagine so check it from time to time and make sure there is enough liquid in your tagine as it cooks. You might need to add more water as it cooks. Remove from heat.
3. If you want to brown your lamb to crisp it up, them remove it from the tagine and place into a roasting pan and broil for a few minutes or simply transfer it to a cutting board and let it rest while you finsih the sauce. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saute pan. Add the onions and cook until soft and golden. Add the sauce from the tagine and blend well. Adjust seasonings. Pour sauce over lamb pieces as serve.
We enjoyed this with a simple salad as it was very hearty and flavorful. This lamb really didn’t need much but a great loaf of bread and perhaps a nice bottle of red wine.
PS from Kimberly: If you do not own a tangine but would like to try to this recipe, marinate the lamb in a dutch oven and then bring everything to a boil. Once boiling transfer to a slow cooker and cover. Cook on High for 3 hours or on Low for 6 hours. Pick up the recipe again at step 3.
January 13th, 2010
Swooning for some great chocolate?
This magical gift arrived with my mail today. A beautiful box containing… I don’t even want to use the word "fudge" because that doesn’t begin to describe it. Lets just call it what it is: Swoonbeams.
The experience starts with an intriguingly elegant box that’s folded together like a puzzle and sealed with a princely band. Opening it is a ritual in and of itself. You carefully slip the band off and unfold it like a flower to reveal a poetic message on vellum paper about "Hedonism and Altruism." The swoonbeams sit on a gold board (It would be nice if they didn’t have to shrink wrap it but no way around that I suppose).
Classic flavors, dark and milk chocolate, were creamy and dreamy just as fudge should be. And then there are the cherry and peppermint barks. I loved the dark chocolate with real chunks of perfectly sized peppermints. The cherry was just as amazing – dark and intensely fruity. My kids snarfed the Sa’Mores so I’ll take that as an endorsement. And now comes the best part: Not only is this a great tasting candy delivered in a stunning package, it is Fair Trade and Organic! This is a product that pampers: A gift of sweet confection – and you can feel good about buying it. Perfect for Father’s Day!
May 20th, 2009
On a recent buisness trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan, I got to stop into one of my favorite delis - Zingerman’s. I was delighted by almost everything I bought.
The homemade graham crackers and freshly made chocolate marshmallows were appreciated by the kids and will make excellent gourmet s’mores later this week. I also really enjoyed their rugelach. Instead of being cakey and overly sweet, these were light and fluffly, with a delicate crunch and the perfect size.
Their online site is great for sending food baskets, although not everything I ‘ve had from these baskets is superb. I don’t care for their chocolate cherry bread and their brownies and cookies are just a tad too sweet for me. I do love their candy bars, Zzangs, while very sweet, they were extremely fresh tasting and clearly made from quality ingredients.
I also stumbled upon one of the founder’s books, Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating, by Ari Weinzweig. This is a great resource for understanding the differences between olive oils, cheeses, vinegar, spices, condiments and more. With a few recipes mixed in, this book makes a great gift to the emerging foodie wannabe.
If you ever get a chance to go to Ann Arbor, (and it’s a great University town with gourmet beers, great book stores and some decent eateries) make sure to stop into Zingerman’s. They make wonderful sandwiches and have tastings of all sorts of things scattered around the store. It is certainly a Flavorista must see!
May 1st, 2009
This year, spoil mom with some seriously outstanding chocolate. Made with local ingredients like Smiling Hill Farm cream and top notch ingredients like rich European-style butter and chocolate from far away places like Tanzania and Venuzuela, Sweet Marguerite Chocolate is sure to please.
According to owner Meg Swoboda, the best way to store chocolate is to keep it at a constant temperature between 60 and 70 degrees, out of direct sunlight. So my method of squirreling away my chocolate stash in the pantry (aka hiding it form my husband and children) is perfectly acceptable.
The chocolate maker at Sweet Marguerites is "having the time of her life" making her chocolates and developing new flavors based on customer feedback and consumer trends. Meg Swoboda is a definite flavorista and the proof is in her chocolate.
Peanut Croquant: The bottom of this stepped-up peanut butter cup is a croquant layer of dark chocolate, mixed with bits of peanut brittle, topped with a creamy ganache of milk chocolate and all-natural peanut butter. Each square is dipped in our signature dark chocolate and topped with a roasted peanut and Maine sea salt.
My absolute favorite is Cafe Au Lait, a layer of espresso-flavored, dark chocolate ganache is topped with a layer of white chocolate cream. The square is enrobed with a Venezuelan milk chocolate and topped with cocoa nibs. OMG - sooooooo good!
Irish Creme Mousse is Sweet Marguerites’s version of Irish Crème. It has a very light and lively mousse center, made with ©Baileys Irish Cream and wrapped in dark chocolate.
April 30th, 2009
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We’ve been having some really dry, warm weather here in Boulder. Then the temperature drops and clouds form and I think, "Oh please snow!" While the rest of the country has been experiencing winter, we here have been eerily deprived of winter. Thus the title of the menu.
My sister-in-law came to dinner and I needed a meal that I could make while we chatted. We were heartily served and had great conversation. With this meal, the vegetable takes center stage and the meat and potatoes are the accompaniments. The menu includes: Grilled Lamb Sirloin Steak with Limnos Lamb Rub, Broccoli with Sicilian-Style Sweet and Sour Tomato Sauce and Roasted New Potatoes with Capitol Hill Seasoning.
For the Brocoli Sauce:
You can make this in 30 minutes and let sit until you’re ready to steam the broccoli.
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 red onion, diced
1 small fennel bulb, diced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/3 cup Sicilian olives, pitted
1/3 cup dried currants
1 (12 oz) can of diced tomotoes, with juices
2 Tbsp. red wine viengar
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
Heat the oil in a large skillet and saute the onions and fennel until soft. Add the dried spices and mix well. Add the canned tomatoes and dried currents. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the olives, vinegar, tomato paste, parsley and pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat. Steam 2 lbs of broccoli florets. Once tender, place into the Sicilian sauce and toss to evenly spread the sauce over the broccoli.
For Lamb: Place lamb in a glass bowl and pour on a little olive oil. Add enough of the Limnos Lamb Rub, salt and pepper to coat the lamb well. Allow to sit at room temperature. Grill on medium about 7 minutes per side. Cover with foil on a platter and allow juices to collect.
Serve with mint jelly. I highly recommend Rosebud Farms Mint Jelly from England. As my sister-in-law said, "it really does taste homemade" but if you really like the bright green jelly, by all means go for it. I bought mine at Whole Foods Market.
Roasted New Potatoes
5 lbs. small red new potatoes, sliced in half
Olive Oil
Capitol Hill Seasoning - 3 to 5 Tbsp.
Salt and Pepper
Preheat the oven to 425°. In a large bowl place the potatoes and coat liberally with olive oil (Be generous, but potatoes should not be swimming in oil) . Sprinkle on the seasoning and make sure that each potato has a nice coat. Place on a large cookie sheet flat side down and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Place in oven and cook unitl potatoes are easily pierced with a sharp knife and the flat sides are nice and golden.
March 18th, 2009
I read about these reusable sandwich bags in Boston Globe Magazine. Ever since our bags arrived in January, they have been in the lunchboxes daily. We have saved 140 resealable plastic baggies!
The SnackTAXI bags are totally styling and totally washable. I actually run mine through the dishwasher and let them air dry on the dish drying rack. Thirty patterns are offered in the sandwich bag size and twenty-five are offered in the snack bag size. Both grown-up and child-friendly patterns are available. The SnackTAXIs close with a simple velcro tab. What a great idea!
February 26th, 2009
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