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Author: vscson

Slow-Cooked Lamb Shoulder with Boulangere Potatoes

Slow-Cooked Lamb Shoulder with Boulangere Potatoes

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Yield: 6 servings
Recipe courtesy of Tom Kerridge

This is a great dish to cook when you have guests for Sunday lunch – just stick it in the oven and forget about it. The slow cook allows the meat to tenderize slowly and evenly, and you could cook it for even longer than the recipe states if you prefer.

  • 1whole lamb shoulder
  • 1head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
  • 6large waxy potatoes (such as white boiling potatoes or red potatoes), peeled and thinly sliced
  • 3medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
  • 1bunch thyme, leaves picked off from stems
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2cups chicken stock


Preheat the oven to 275°F.

Prep lamb:

Place the lamb on a cutting board and make a small slit in the top using the tip of a paring knife. Insert a garlic clove into the slit, pushing it down so it is completely tucked in to prevent it from burning while the meat cooks. Repeat with the remaining garlic cloves.

Prep veg:
Place the potatoes, onions and thyme leaves in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine. Shingle the potatoes and onions in the bottom of a roasting pan, overlapping them slightly so you fill the pan with an even layer. Set the lamb on top, skin-side up. Pour the chicken stock over the lamb.

Roast:

Roast until the potatoes are crisp on top and soft inside, 4 to 5 hours.
Remove the lamb from the roasting pan and set it on a cutting board. Loosely tent with foil and set it aside to rest for 20 minutes before slicing into pieces.

Serve the lamb, onions, and potatoes with French beans (or any green vegetable of your choice).

Bacon Candy

Bacon Candy

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Yield: 20 Strips
Food & Wine

Crispy, sweet and salty, this three-ingredient snack is the ultimate cocktail party hors d’oeuvre.

  • ½cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1½tsp chili powder
  • -or-ground black pepper to taste
  • 20slices of thick-cut bacon (1 ½ lb)


Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with foil. In a small bowl, whisk the brown sugar with the chili powder. Arrange the bacon strips on the foil and coat the tops with the chili sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until caramelized and almost crisp. Transfer the bacon to a rack set over a sheet of foil to cool completely; serve.

Make Ahead

The bacon candy can be made earlier in the day; store at room temperature.

Italian Winter Greens with Pear-Walnut Dressing

Italian Winter Greens with Pear-Walnut Dressing

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Yield: 4 Servings
Tyler Florence / Food Network
  • 2medium shallots, finely sliced
  • ½cup grapeseed oil, plus more for pan
  • 1Bosc pear, cored (¾ diced and ¼ thinly sliced, for garnish
  • 2TBS verjus or ½ lemon, juiced
  • 2TBS honey
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1bunch kale
  • 1bunch rainbow chard
  • 1bunch beet greens
  • ½cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1cup toasted walnut pieces

In a medium-sized sauté pan add the sliced shallots with a drizzle of oil and slowly cook over medium heat until well caramelized, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the diced pear and cook down until pulpy.

Carefully add the pear mixture to a blender along with the verjus, honey, 1/2 cup grapeseed oil, salt and pepper, to taste. Puree until smooth adding a little water to thin if necessary; it should be the consistency of a thick vinaigrette. Set aside in the refrigerator to cool.

Wash all the greens and remove the stems. Tear the leaves into bite-size pieces and dry well. In a large bowl or platter add the leaves and toss. Pour the dressing over the salad, and toss gently. Garnish with Parmesan, toasted walnuts and pear slices

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Pasta Seafood DiScottio

Pasta Seafood DiScottio

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Yield: 2 Servings (can be doubled)
Scott Nowell

Pasta Jay’s in Boulder serves a dish called Seafood DiStefano on their Friday night specials list. Shrimp, crab and scallops, served over linguine with white clam sauce.
This is my version, modified to be a one-pot dish. You can change the seafood items to include some fish, lobster, etc. Be sure to add them in the appropriate order to get them cooked through.
Also note that the ingredients have been adjusted to serve two. Double, triple, etc. as needed. This dish cooks very quick, so it is important to cook the pasta and any optional vegetables first.

21-Apr-20, 22-Aug-20, 30-Oct-24

Pasta:

  • 4-6oz linguine, fettuccine, spaghetti
  • 1medium head of broccoli or other green vegetable (optional)

Aromatics:

  • 1TBS olive oil
  • 1TBS butter
  • ¼cup minced or thinly sliced garlic
  • ¼cup red onion, chopped, minced or sliced
  • 2tsp flour
  • pinch of red pepper flakes

Sauce:

  • ½cup white wine
  • ½cup pasta cooking water
  • 1generous tsp chicken Better Than Bouillon

Seafood/Finish:

  • 110 oz can of baby clams, NOT drained
  • 6peeled and deveined shrimp (16/20 or 21/25)
  • 6sea scallops
  • 6oz lump crab meat
  • ¼cup Parmesan cheese, shredded/grated
  • 1TBS fresh chopped parsley


Pasta: Add the pasta to one gallon of boiling salted water and cook to barely al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water. Remove pasta to oiled bowl and set aside. 

Optional Green Vegetable: If adding and a green vegetable like broccoli, cook it to al dente in the pasta water. Drain and remove to the bowl with the pasta. Return pasta pot to medium high heat.

Aromatics: In the pasta pan add 1 TBS olive oil and 1 TBS butter over med high heat until butter is melted. Add ¼ cup garlic and ¼ cup red onion and sauté for a minute. Sprinkle over about 2 tsp of flour. Stir to tighten. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Sauce: To the aromatics, add ½ cup white wine, reserved ½ cup of pasta cooking water, generous teaspoon of Chicken Better Than Bouillon and stir to dissolve Better Than Bouillon. Boil for a few minutes until reduced to about ¾ cup. Add the undrained can of baby clams, scallops, shrimp, crab and/or other seafood as desired. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes until the shrimp and scallops are almost cooked.

Finish: Return the cooked pasta and optional green vegetable to the pot. Stir to mix well and coat pasta with sauce. Add the Parmesan and stir. Mix in 1 TBS fresh chopped parsley. Check and adjust seasoning.

Plate, top with additional parsley and Parmesan and serve.

Simple Scones

Simple Scones

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Yield: about 6 to 10 scones
Adapted from Becky Coan
adapted from Perfect Recipes for Having People Over, Pamela Anderson.

Becky makes these often for church meetings.  These are an above average scone.  She says she also likes to add some finely ground nuts for additional texture.

  • ½cup sour cream
  • 1large egg
  • 2cups all-purpose flour
  • ⅓cup sugar
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • ½tsp salt
  • ¼tsp baking soda
  • 8TBS unsalted butter, frozen in ½-inch pieces
  • ½cup blueberries, raisins, Craisins, chocolate chips, etc.
  • demerara, sparkling or other course sugar for topping.

Optional Glaze:

  • 4oz confectioners’ sugar
  • 1tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 3-4oz milk


Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400°F.

Use half-sheet pan with Silpat.

Whisk sour cream and egg in a small bowl until smooth.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and fruit/chips in a medium bowl.

Grate butter into flour mixture, using large holes of a box grater or grind the frozen butter with the grating disc off a food processor; toss to combine. Stir in sour cream mixture until large clumps of dough form. Use your hands to press dough against side and bottom of bowl to form a ball. (There may not seem like enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)

Dump dough into bowl.  Mix with your hands until it mostly holds together. Turn dough out onto a floured surface.

Roll or press the dough out thick rectangle.  Cut in half lengthwise and then cut the halves into quarters or any suitable size.  Place on pan about 2 inches apart and press to about an inch thick.

OR: Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and pat into a 7½ inch circle about ¾ inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles. Place about 2 inches apart on pan.

OR: Roll or press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12x3x1¼ inches. Cut the rectangle in half then cut the pieces in half again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in half on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape.

OR: Drop into 6 to 9 plops on pan.  (I find this too thick to plop).

Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes, depending on size.

Remove from oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

Optional Glaze:

In a small bowl, mix the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and tablespoons of milk until you reach the desired consistency.

Drizzle or spread on the scones.