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Recipes - Main & Side Dishes

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Front-Ranger:
My leg of lamb came out beautifully yesterday. I obtained it from a specialty meat shop and it was 11 pounds...the whole leg as well as the thigh. The butcher explained to me that the "leg of lamb" you buy in grocery stores is really only the thigh and they sell the "shanks" separately. This thing was as long as my refrigerator is wide! I brined it in a cooler for about 18 hours and then rinsed and dried it and stored it in the fridge overnight. Early on Christmas morning I oiled it with olive oil and stuck the slivers of garlic and rosemary in slits cut in the meat in a diamond pattern. I put it in a 325 degree F oven for about 1 1/2 hours until the meat thermometer registered 145 degrees. After taking it out of the oven, I let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. The meat was slightly pink near the bone and medium at the ends, well cooked but still tender. Even my toothless mother could eat it! And, I have plenty of leftovers and am making shepherd's pie for my friends!

CellarDweller:
My meatballs turned out great, everyone raved about them.

I used to use my mom's recipe, but I decided to change some things up and see how it would go.

Instead of ground beef, I used a mix of beef, pork and veal.  For each pound of meat you add: 

1/2 cup Progresso™ Italian-style bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg
A few shakes of Italian Seasoning.

Heat oven to 400°F.  Line 13x9-inch pan with foil; spray with cooking spray.   In large bowl, mix all ingredients. Shape mixture into 20 to 24 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs.  Place 1 inch apart in pan.   Bake uncovered 18 to 22 minutes or until no longer pink in center.

Front-Ranger:
Friend Chuck, that is a very authentically Italian way to prepare meatballs. No wonder everyone raved!

Review of my Christmas dinner...it was, in one word, successful! There wasn't a single dish that I wouldn't rate either very good or outstanding! I was so pleased!! First, to talk about the main event, the leg of lamb was magnificent. Instead of buying it at a supermarket, I went to a meat store. Now that I live in a cosmopolitan area of Denver, it's easy to go to specialty stores. I first selected what I thought was leg of lamb from the freezer and brought it to the counter. The people there informed me that I was not buying leg of lamb, but lamb shanks instead. They showed me the one leg of lamb that they had and it seemed huge. It was 11 pounds of meat. I looked at it, took a big breath and said "I'll take it" even though I didn't think it would fit in my refrigerator or oven. But it was such a magnificent piece of meat that I couldn't resist!

I got the LOL home, all protected in its plastic wrapper, and it just barely fit across the lower shelf of my fridge. On Tuesday evening, I plopped it in a salt brine in a cooler and put it outside where it was just below freezing overnight. Then, late on Wednesday (Christmas eve) I rinsed off the LOL and put it back in the fridge to air dry. On Christmas morning, I rubbed olive oil over it and stuck it with slits in which I placed slivers of garlic and dried rosemary. I placed it in a 325 degree oven in late morning and by 1 pm it had achieved 145 degrees Fahrenheit. I took it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then, I warmed a ladle full of Pernod over a gas flame, dipped the ladle to set the liqueur on fire, and poured it over the LOL. The rosemary popped and exuded its fragrance while the flame danced. I then carved and served the lamb with horseradish and mint jelly. The gravy came later....

Jeff Wrangler:

--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on December 28, 2014, 11:03:30 pm ---But it was such a magnificent piece of meat that I couldn't resist!

--- End quote ---

A line spoken by many a gay man "the morning after."  ;D

CellarDweller:
:laugh:

that's just wrong, Jeff! 


back to food, I was at an 'after-Christmas' party on Saturday that two of my bowling friends hosted.  I never saw so much food.  Granted, with the amount of people it was warrented, but damn!

appetizers included meat patties in puff pastry, cocktail franks, buffalo chicken dip, assorted chips and veggies and dips.

then the table was cleared, and the main dishes came out.  Fresh baked ham, fresh baked roast beef, a chicken dish.  Roasted pork with rosemary, gourmet Mac & Cheese, baked ziti, Shrimp scampi.

clear that away, and make way for the desserts!  three different types of cakes, christmas cookies, chocolate raspberry torte.

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