Wednesday, July 27, 2005

NARC ~ Cajun Day 2

I think I am getting a little too comfortable working with Rachel and Mary! Once again, our day went fairly smoothly, and I kind of missed that adrenaline burn. but our food was good!
First course: Mirliton and Chicory (actually, frisee) Salad

This salad got mixed reviews from me. The dressing itself was so good ~ roasted yams and onions blended with dijon, red wine vinegar and olive oil. The salad I wasn't so sure about. I am not sure if we had bad squash or what, but I found it had a faintly musty after taste. The crispy yam bits seemed slightly out of place, but maybe I just have something against deepfried things... Rachel did a beautiful job of turning her squash into a flower, but I figured I shouldn't post it as it is HER work.
On to the next course, something new ~ a palate cleanser

This was a granita made with rum and whisky, lemon and sugar. Mary got to flame off a cups worth of booze. Which, surprisingly, takes a fair bit of time. If I hadn't been up to my elbows in lamb carcass, I would have taken a picture of the pretty blue flames. After the flaming, freeze the mix and scrape it as per a regular granita recipe. Its best served in little melon ball scoops in martini glasses, but we only had narrow glasses available. Finish with a sprig of mint and you have a delicious and refreshing course.
Finally, the main. Lamb stuffed with mussels, spinach and rice served with Macque Choux and Braised Swiss Chard. Chef Christopher showed us how to debone a lamb shoulder and offered the opportunity for two people in the class to try it. Apparently, I was the only one who was really gung-ho to do it! I am always eager to learn new things like this ~ I may never need it, but it is nice to know. The lamb was stuffed with mussels, which I was a little dubious about. Rachel gamely prepared the stuffing and then rolled and tied the roast as well as making the sauce ~ funny how the vegetarian always ends up with these tasks. She made the chicken livers yesterday. Anyway, we served with two delicious sides, the swiss chard and the Macque Choux. (read creamed corn with diced tomatoes). I ate so much

Next week ~ Tex-Mex. Can't wait.
Editing to add: the lamb wasn't nearly as obnoxious as I thought it would be. In fact, it was quite tasty, with no discernible fishy~ness.

3 comments:

Traveling Em said...

So how did the lamb stuffed with mussels turn out? Your burn looks painful! Ouch!

Unknown said...

Thank you for reminding me emily. I forgot to mention that part....
Burn is much less painful now. Just really itchy and irritating.

Erika W. said...

I can't believe that everyone else wasn't jumping up and down to de-bone the lamb. What kind of cooking class are you taking? It should be like 1st grade "pick me, pick me!"