Grilled Lamb Leg Sirloin, Roasted Potatoes, and Spring Salad

For ground or stew beef and chicken, I generally visit Harris Teeter. They have decent meats that are hormone free and that you won't have to take out a loan to afford. However, when looking for something a bit more special, say, a decent piece of fish, a gigantic brisket, steak, or lamb, I try to visit a grocer where the meat is not prepackaged.

When Dan said he wanted to grill tonight, I knew I should head on over to Whole Foods to see what I could find.

In the end, shopping at stores with butcher counters saves, because I don't buy as much as we would get in a package. When it is only 2 people, you don't need much. Nice meat for dinner is generally under $10.

When I saw the boneless lamb leg sirloins being placed in the case, I knew precisely what we were going to have for supper.

Realistically, this recipe feeds 3-4. We only ate about 1/2 the meat, or about .4 lbs.

For the lamb:

2 lamb leg boneless sirloins, butterflied, about .8 lbs
about 1.5 TBS red wine vinegar. (I was out, so I used red wine and cider vinegar.)
1/2 large shallot
1 tsp chopped garlic
salt
white pepper
fresh rosemary (dried will do, but isn't the same)

Combine the above (except the lamb) in a blender, or crush it into a paste.
Place lamb in a nonreactive container and rub with paste. Allow lamb to come to room temperature before cooking. This is important with any red meat, as if the muscle is cold, it will seize up and make the meat tough. Do NOT let chicken, pork, or fish come to room temperature.

While the lamb is marinating, prepare a charcoal grill. Dump the coals on one side of the grill.

Once the meat is ready, cook over indirect, uncovered heat for the first 6 minutes (3 minutes on each side), and finish over the coals for 5 more minutes, covered (at least 3 minutes on one side, and 1 or 2 on the other). This will give you medium rare results - a warm redish pink center, depending on the thickness of your sirloins. For less, shorten direct heat time. I wouldn't cook much more than this, though, as lamb is most flavorful cooked no more than medium-rare.


For the potatoes:
Preheat oven to 450.

Dice red potatoes into bite-sized pieces. I used about 10 potatoes (I always choose small reds, as I love skin on the potatoes) which made about 4 servings.

Mix potatoes with 1/2 large shallot - diced, rosemary, salt, and 1.5 TBS EVOO. Toss well, and spread out on a non-stick cookie sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, turning once during cooking.


Salad:

This salad had baby romaine, diced basil, cucumbers, kidney beans, goat cheese, beets, and dressing.

Dressing:

2 parts citrus EVOO
1 part balsamic
1 part mustard


To make this meal:

1) Marinate meat. 1-2 hours is ideal.
2) 40 minutes before eating, preheat oven.
3) Prepare potatoes and start coals.
4) Assemble salad, minus dressing.
5) Put potatoes in the oven. Place lamb on grill.
6) Stir potatoes. Dress salad. Remove lamb from grill and potatoes from oven.
7) Enjoy!

Local, organic foods

This morning, for the first time in months, Dan and I ventured out to the Carrboro Farmers' Market. This is an extensive, year-round market that has everything from farm fresh eggs (for which there is no substitute... unless you have chickens...) to coffee and donuts. It is smaller than the farmers' market I grew accustomed to as a child living in Rochester, NY, but the quality is more intense. This market puts an emphasis on local, organic farming.

This morning we found such treasures as grass-fed, free roaming, organic beef, organic breakfast sausage (without casing), and a long-needled pine sappling one man was handing out for free, as part of a "support native plants of NC" inititive. I'm always happy to plant a tree.

We brought our delicious treats (and the pine tree) home, and planned what to do next. We traveled to Weaver Street Market to find the most perfect rolls (also local) for our soon-to-be burgers. In just forming the burgers I could tell it was going to be good. Meat that fresh smells differently than the stuff you buy in stores. Just the other day I bought a local poulet, and I have never smelled chicken like that. It was earthy and organic smelling, and not like what I have come to know chicken to smell like at all. If you've ever noticed how the freshest fish (sushi is the easiest example) doesn't smell fishy, you know what I mean.

The burgers were divine. I lightly seasoned the beef with some salt and fresh pepper. Any more would have been too much; the meat didn't need any help.

Why do I share this? Certainly not to brag about my fantastic burger experience, but to tell you how you can have your own fantastic foods.

One of my personal, major campaigns is to eat local and organic whenever possible. When it comes to meat, I prefer them to be free range and grass or grain fed, not corn fed, as are most animals raised for food in this country.

First of all, eating local supports your local farms. In this economy, keeping the small business in business belongs to everyone.

Secondly, many local farms (especially if you go to a farmers' market and ask the growers) are USDA approved organic. This means they do not use pesticides or growth hormones. This is especially important when dealing with tubers, thin-skinned fruits and vegetables, and meats. Each of those absorb chemicals, and no amount of washing, scrubbing, or cooking will eliminate these harmful chemicals. Some of the most popular chemicals used to promote vegetable growth, mancozeb, and chlorothalonil, have been labeled as known carcinogen.

Third, the quality is superior. A farmer who cares more about raising food like we used to, and not all for mass profit, picks their vegetables when they are ripe, and doesn't overload them with growth chemicals that dilute the flavor. If you've ever had a garden, you know this to be true. Nothing tastes better than a homegrown strawberry or a perfectly ripe tomato.

Like myself, you may not be able to afford organic all the time, especially when these foods are not in-season locally. If you must pick and choose, go for grass-fed beef over organic, free-range chicken (you can generally find chicken without growth hormones or nitrate for the same price as other chicken), and organic tubers (beets, carrots, potatoes) and thin-skinned fruits and veggies (tomatoes, grapes, berries, peppers, celery, apples, pears, summer tree fruit) over those with thicker skin (melons, onions, and tropical fruits such as avacado, mango, papaya, and bananas).

Join a co-op (csa, farmshare). This will not only ensure healthy, local food at an affordable price, but give you a wide variety of food week to week. To find a csa close to you, check out this website.

Check out your local farmers' market. The above website will also help you find a local market.

Research. See what eating organic can do for you.
There are many decent books explaining the benefits of eating local. A good place to start is The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It is dense and technical, so if you are looking for a summer read, there is a Young Reader's addition that does not detract from the main idea of the original.

If you are interested in seeing the ramifications of the way we eat, particularly our children, check out Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Sign the campaign. Get our country on the right track to eating healthy!

Happy eating!

Scones for a serious crowd.

In the spirit of the breakfast that comes before our monthly equity meeting at work, I tried to come up with something delicious and simple enough to whip up in mass quantity. I originally considered croissants, which, thankfully, a co-worker talked me down from.

After throwing around ideas of rice pie and eggs, I settled on scones. But only only ONLY if I could have clotted cream. And tea. Let's face it; scones are nothing without tea and clotted cream. Additionally, these will be served at 7.30am Eastern time. That means in England it will be 12.30pm. An early tea time, if you will.

Clotted cream is easier to find in Chapel Hill than one would think.

This recipe made 32 homemade-looking scones. Don't make these if you are concerned with appearances. Do if you are concerned with authentic, delicious tasting scones that are not from a mix.

This dough will freeze. In the case of freezing, I would cut, lightly flour, and then freeze the scones. All you will have to do is pop them out of the freezer and into the oven. Delightful!

Here is what you will need:

6 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 TBS baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp salt, which I forgot until it was way too late. (agh!)
1.5 cups unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces. Do not let them get soft!
1 c. sour cream
1/4 c. Greek yogurt (you can use sour cream for this as well if you prefer)
3 eggs

add-ins:
nuts, berries (frozen or dried), extracts, zest

Preheat the oven to 400.

In an extremely large bowl, blend the first 5 ingredients. Next, add in the butter. Now for some fun. Use your fingers to work the butter into the dough. It will be chunky, like rough cornmeal.
In a seperate bowl, blend the next 3 ingredients until smooth. Add the cream mixture into the flour mixture, first mixing with a fork, and then your fingers, until a sticky dough forms.

Turn the dough out on to a floured surface.

At this point, I divided the dough into thirds, reserved 2, and made one batch of plain scones. The next two batches I made were blueberry (petite, frozen berries) and orange cranberry pomegranate (orange extract and berry mix from Trader Joe's). The quantity you fold in is completely preference. Remember, frozen, melt-y, and liquid add-ins will make your scones more loose. You may need to add a little extra flour to the cutting board.

For each batch, form dough into a rectangle that is about 3 inches across, 1-1.5 inches high, and however long you need it to be to reach the other two measurements.

Cut from the bottom of the first corner up, at about a 45 degree angle. You will have one triangle scone. continue cutting at a right angle and then at a 45 degree angle until you have reached the end.

Move the scones to a non-stick or parchment-lined baking sheet. If you are using a higher and lower rack (as opposed to one in the center of the oven), rotate scones half way through cooking.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes (checking after 12), until golden brown around the edges.

Serve with clotted cream, jam, marmalade, and tea.