Lamb on Fire

Wine: Chateau Maris Minervois 2003

We had the leftover Zucchini Pasta as an appetizer.

For the main course we made Mark’s Peels Rosemary Lamb from Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton Cook at Home. We harvested a lot of rosemary from our back yard. The lamb is studded with garlic. Then it is left in the refrigerator tightly covered with plastic wrap. When it is ready to cook, the lamb is completely surrounded by rosemary (lots of it!). The lamb is roasted in the oven, uncovered, untill it is done. The roasting pan with the lamb and rosemary are taken outside. With a match you ignite the very hot and crispy rosemary in the pan, and poof, the entire pan explodes in flame as the rosemary ignites. When it is flaming and smoking (in about 10 seconds) you put the cover on. That extinguishes the flame, and keeps the smoke in the pan to flavor the meat. It is quite a show, and an easy excellent preparation.

We made Pea Puree with Mint and Parmesan from The Babo Cookbook by Mario Batali. I must have spent an hour shelling fresh peas from the Farmer’s Market, but it was worth it! The peas are par boiled, then blended with Mint and Parmesan Cheese. Another dish that is easy to prepare (if you have an hour to shell peas!) and features fresh market ingredients.

Once again we had Cherries from the market. The cherry season is only about a month, so we eat a lot of the in Late May / Early June.