Spring Lamb at Wake Robin Farms

In 2015, I conducted a cooking class at Wake Robin Farms, which was hosted by Gail Lunsford and Steve Bardwell, my bread-making friends. It was the second time I have had a class there – the first was roasting fresh chicken in their wood-fired oven. The advertised class lesson was spring lamb from East Fork Farm, then owned and operated by Stephen and Dawn Robertson, in Marshall, NC.

My usual approach to this type of event is to see what is in season and plan the menu accordingly. As we are right at the end of asparagus and strawberry time, they were featured along with East Fork’s lamb. Like some of my other classes, I was teaching how to plan a menu based on seasonal ingredients. I call it “having a conversation with food, rather than teaching recipes” – instead, sharing tools, techniques and ingredients.

My “notes” to the class will be at the end. While I am cooking, I like to photograph the process, but when I am teaching, this is challenging. So, this morning as I was processing my pictures, I realized I really didn’t have any images of Goat Cheese Terrine with Ginger Pea Sauce, Roasted and Grilled Leg of Lamb Marinated in Mint, Cumin, Coriander and Cardamom or Lemon-Zest Shorbread with Strawberry Mousse, Oven Dried Strawberries, Fresh Strawberries and Strawberry Puree.

At first, I was disappointed – then I looked closer.

What I do have photographs of, turn out to be ones of the real essence of the event – the people who attended and what really happened yesterday for half the afternoon and the good part of the evening. It was a beautiful thing. In all, twenty-eight people attended, counting Gail, Steve and myself. There were two couples that came from Tupelo, Mississippi, as well as transplants from England, Louisiana, and San Francisco. One woman (author, chef and a student of one of my mentors; Irena Chalmers) rounded up six of her friends to spend the day at this beautiful, secluded farm in Madison County. (The farm has been in Gail’s family for two hundred years!)

The class was a combination of hands on and demonstration, with a meal made of the day’s effort at the end of it all. Teaching and cooking “on the fly” takes some energy and there were some pauses during class and getting ready for dinner. It was at those moments I was took my photos. They are revealing – people who had never met before were taking time to make connections – some of which will no doubt endure. At other times, friends who had come to the class together, were finding time to continue that friendship. And for me, there were a number of “students” that were old friends of mine and long term customers of all my restaurants, stretching back to 1972.

People joined together and drifted apart, worked together preparing the meal and formed new groups. Interestingly enough, earlier in the day, Steve and I were talking about an exchange he was having with a former baker/bakery owner, who now is cooking as an avocation. Our mutual friend says he cooks to “nurture, nourish and heal.” Steve’s own perspective was much different, having more to do with the personal satisfaction of doing something well and the recognition that brought. The conversations of the day ranged over all topics, food and wine; of course, but at one point, I heard the comment: “this really isn’t about cooking.” Which is exactly the point. Food and the table is only the medium for the expression of other things importantly human – things like friendship, sharing experience and knowledge, accomplishment, self-esteem and love.

It is not just about the cooking!

Oh, yes – the menu and the recipes…

The Menu

Terrine of Goat Cheese
with Garlic Chives, Roasted Beet Sauce and Puree of Peas
East Fork Farms Leg of Lamb
Marinated in Mint, Coriander, Cumin and Cardamom
Oven Roasted Spring Vegetables
Charcoal Grilled Vegetables
Strawberry “Fantasy”
Strawberry Mousse, Oven Dried Strawberries, Fresh Strawberries, Strawberry Puree and Lemon Flavored Shortbread

Note: With the exception of grilling the lamb, everything may be prepared in advance.

The Recipes

This first recipe is one I have carried around in my head for 25 years and only recently have I experimented with it. My dear friend, Darrel Broek, owner of Cafe Maxx in Pompano Beach, held a fund-raising event a long time ago – he was (and still is) on the cutting edge of food and wine in south Florida. Along with his chef/partner, Oliver Saucy, they brought together a stellar group of America’s chefs, including Todd English of Olives fame. As a first course to the evenings’ event, Todd served a Parmesan Terrine with Minted Pea sauce. It was delicious. He wouldn’t share the recipe, except to say, lots of butter and eggs. Thanks, Todd.

Well, this recipe is nothing like his, but that dish, was inspiration for my experiments. This recipe actually has very little butter in it, and only a modest number of egg yolks. What I am aiming for is a light, creamy terrine that melts in your mouth and says “cheese”. Essentially, it is a baked béchamel, enhanced with goat cheese, though my initial tests used Romano-Parmigiano.

Terrine of Goat Cheese with Garlic Chives

Yields 2 cups/8 portions
16 grams (1/2 oz.) a-p flour
2 of 6 1/17/19, 12:36 PM
16 grams (1/2 oz.) butter
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 tsp salt
54 grams (2 ounces) fresh goat cheese (if very fresh, drain over night in a piece of cheese cloth hung over a bowl or set it in a wire sieve)
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic chives
a little butter for greasing the mold

Pre-heat oven to 350°F

Method: In a non-aluminum saucepan, over medium heat, make a roux of the flour and butter. To do this, heat the butter until melted, then stir in the flour. Stir to completely mix the two and cook for about 3 minutes. Do not allow it to take on any color.

Using a wire whisk, stir in the milk and then the heavy cream. Whisk vigorously, making sure to blend the roux and liquid together into a smooth mixture. Using a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, cook the bechamel over medium heat, allowing it to thicken. Add the salt. Cook, stirring constantly for 10 minutes. Remove it from the heat, stir in the goat cheese and then the egg yolks. Stir in the garlic chives.

Butter a two cup ceramic or glass mold. Pour the bechamel/goat cheese into the mold. Set the mold in a baking dish, large enough to come up the sides by about 2/3. Pour boiling water into the baking dish halfway up the side of the mold and place in the pre-heated oven. Bake for approximately fifty minutes, until the terrine has set and the top is a light brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 1 hour. Your may serve it warm, or unmold it onto a plate, chill it and serve cold. Serve with a roasted beet sauce and a green pea puree. Accompany with an excellent loaf of bread.

Roasted Beet Sauce - A simple sauce

Roast some beets. Peel. Puree with a little bit of dashi (or chicken stock or water). Just enough to make a thick sauce. Pass thru a fine sieve. Serve on the side.

Pea Puree

Shell some fresh peas. Boil in salted water that has a little ascorbic acid added to it (vitamin C). Cook until just tender. Puree with a little salt, some dashi (or chicken stock or water). Just enough to make a medium puree. Pass thru a sieve. Serve on the side.

Grilled Lamb with Mint, Coriander, Cumin and Cadomom

Will graciously serve nine people. Lamb is one of my favorite meats, but it can be a challenge to cook properly. It is especially easy to overcook, or for it to be too fatty. Where the lamb is raised and how old it is can affect the flavor.

This particular recipe does require a bit of butchery skill. Unfortunately, there are not many places where you can ask the “butcher” to bone or butterfly a leg of lamb for you. In order to successfully grill a leg of lamb, you need to have the pieces of meat you are grilling to be more or less the same size and thickness, otherwise, the cooking times are difficult to manage and one part of the meat will be properly cooked, while other parts will be underdone or overdone.

There are two methods to achieve the desired result. Start with a bone-in leg, from which the shank has been removed (if you do this yourself, save it for braising). The lamb I get from East Fork Farms also has the sirloin removed, which is the piece around the hip. I like this cut, as I will end of with three equal sized pieces of meat for grilling and it is easier to bone. The first method is to bone the leg, while it is still raw. It is far easier to demonstrate this process and too confusing to write – but this is the reason for coming to a class – to see and learn.

The second method is one borrowed from Simon Loftus’ book A Pike In The Basement. In it there is a recipe for Bulcamp Lamb, which starts off by roasting the whole leg:

“Wrap a medim-sized leg of best lamb in masses of fresh rosemary (tying the bundle with string) and roast in a hot oven for twelve minutes per pound.”
“Remove from the oven and discard rosemary. Allow to cool until you can handle the warm meat comfortably and then use the fingers (with a little assistance from a sharp knife) to separate the part-roast leg into several sections of different size. This may sound complicated but is easy once you start. Discard the bones and trim the meat to remove any fat.”

Originally, I was going to teach this recipe in class, but once I started thinking about it, this recipe is a fall recipe – one for older lamb, the rosemary being such a strong flavor. Instead, if you first roast the meat, skip the step about wrapping in rosemary.

Once you have the lamb separated into three pieces, then marinate it for at least 4 hours in a combination of olive oil, fresh mint leaves, and coriander, cumin and cardamom all ground together, in equal portion.

When you are ready to grill the meat, build a brisk charcoal fire, remove the meat from the marinade, allow it to drain a bit, season with black pepper and salt and grill to medium-rare. Allow the meat to rest for twenty minutes before slicing. Serve with some yogurt seasoned with the same mix of herb and spice that you used to marinate it.

In the fall, use rosemary.

Roasting and Grilling Vegetables

All things seasonal: Asparagus, Spring Onions with their tops, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Baby Turnips, Totsoi.

To prepare:

Asparagus: grab the stalk by the root end and about 1/3 the way towards the top. With a quick motion, snap the asparagus – this will remove the tough part of the stalk. Set aside.
Leave the onions whole.
Cauliflower and Broccoli: cut into small flowerets, about the size of a golf ball. Set aside.
Turnips: cut the greens from the turnips, reserve. Cut the turnips in half. Set aside.
Totsoi: remove the root end of the stalk with a sharp knife, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, individually toss the vegetables with some good olive oil and season with salt and pepper. In a very hot oven, in a roasting pan, roast some of the asparagus, some of the onions and all the cauliflower and broccoli, until crispy and browned. Arrange on a serving platter. Over the hot grill, grill the remaining vegetables, arrange on a serving platter.

As these are the first vegetables of spring, I do nothing more in terms of seasoning – the idea is to enjoy the new, fresh taste of first emerging produce.

Strawberry Fantasy

Lots of Strawberries (at least 3 pints), what you don’t eat today, will taste good tomorrow

3 pints fresh strawberries – dry one pint the day before
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Special equipment: silicone baking pad – “silpat”

Method: The Day Before: Pre-heat oven to 250°F. Slice one pint of the strawberries, place a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking pad. Dry out the strawberries in the oven for about 2 hours, with the oven on, then turn the oven off and let sit overnight. They should be completely dry and a brilliant ruby red. Peel them from the baking pad and store at room temperature.

Day Two: Puree one pint of strawberries, flavor with the orange zest. Set aside.

Make Shortbread

Lemon Flavored Shortbread
2 – 9′′ pans
1# butter, at room temperature, but not too soft
1 cup light brown sugar
3 cups, sifted, all-purpose flour
1 cup rice flour or corn starch
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest

Method: Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Line two nine inch cake pans with a piece of baking paper. Either by hand or in a mixer with a paddle blade, cream the butter. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly. Sift and then measure your all purpose flour. Sift together the flour and the rice flour or cornstarch. Add the salt. In three batches, add the flour to the butter sugar mixture. Divide into the two cake pans, smooth out evenly, prick all over with a fork and bake for 30 minutes, until a light golden brown. Allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes and then turn out. With a sharp knife cut one of the shortbreads into 8 pieces. Reserve the other shortbread for later use.

To serve: Slice the remaining pint of strawberries. In a chilled bowl, (or in a mixer) beat the heavy cream with two tablespoons of powdered sugar. When stiff, fold in half of the strawberry puree. Place a piece of shortbread on a plate, garnish with an ample dollop of the strawberry mousse, arrange the fresh and dried strawberries and drizzle with the remaining strawberry puree. BE SURE to tell your guests that some of the strawberries are indeed DRIED are supposed to be that way. (In class, I forgot to tell the class this, and some people initially thought they were rotten – however once I pointed out they were intended to be that way – they were delighted by the intense, chewy strawberry essence!)

-Mark Rosenstein

It is not just about cooking