March has ended and April is upon us! And the first full month of spring has brought Easter with it! I’m very excited, because this year (for the first time!) I will be cooking Easter dinner for my fiance’s family here in Dallas. Normally this would be a task undertaken mostly by my mother down in Houston, but this year it’s all me. At first glance the task might seem a little overwhelming and daunting, but I won’t panic! Instead I’ve pre-planned a delicious Easter feast of lamb leg, creamed greens and macaroni and cheese.
The braised leg of lamb is going to take me the longest to prepare and cook, so that’ll be the best place to start.
- 1 (2 to 4 lb) bone-in leg of lamb, thawed/fresh
- 2lbs red potatoes
- 4 large carrots
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 2 cups dry red wine (a Zinfandel or Pinot Noir work great)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup honey
- Juice of 1 small-medium orange and it’s zest
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 3 garlic heads
- 1 fresh rosemary sprig
- 2 bay leaves
First, make sure to turn your oven to broil or if you don’t have a broil option, turn it up to 475 degrees. While the oven is heating, create the braising sauce. In a medium sized pot combine the chicken broth, wine, honey, orange juice and zest. Cook over medium-high heat while whisking until honey has completely melted into the mixture, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place to the side.
In a small bowl mix salt, pepper, oregano and cilantro. Rub olive oil on lamb and sprinkle with seasoning mixture. Place the lamb in a large roasting dish fat side down. Roast in the oven until it begins to brown, about 25-30 minutes depending on if you have a broil option, so I’d watch it closely. Don’t want it to burn, just brown!
While the lamb is roasting, wash and chop onion, carrots and red potatoes and set aside. Cut the garlic gloves in halves or thirds depending on how large they are and pull rosemary leaves from the stalk.
When the lamb has finished browning remove it from the oven and surround it with potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, rosemary and bay leaves. Pour braising sauce over everything! Lower the oven to 350 degrees, cover the lamb in foil and cook the for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, you’re waiting for the meat to become very tender and easily pull away from the bone.
When the lamb is tender enough remove the foil and cook for another 30 minutes until the sauce begins to bubble, remove and place the veggies in a serving dish and let the lamb cool a little on a rack.
But while the lamb and veggies are roasting it’s time for the sides dishes! Luckily, the mac and cheese has to be baked at 350 degrees as well, so if you don’t have two ovens (one day I’ll have double ovens and it will be glorious!) don’t sweat it!
For the mac and cheese:
- 4 1/2 cups of fresh shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 cups of raw macaroni
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup soft breadcrumbs (just some fresh bread torn apart)
- 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
- 1/4 cup all purpose flower
- 1 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain and set aside. Combine flour, milk, onion salt and black pepper in a large bowl and stir well. If you have a mixer, then use it! When flour mixture is thoroughly mixed, add in 3 1/2 cups of cheese and macaroni. Stir until macaroni is evenly covered in cheese and flour mixture, then pour everything into a greased 13 inch by 9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle breads crumbs, the rest of the cheese and the melted butter over macaroni and bake for 45 minutes or until top begins to lightly brown. I would place the macaroni in the oven when I remove the foil from the lamb, to try to time everything properly. However, don’t stress if things cook differently than planned, we all have to sit back and make room for life sometimes.
Once the mac and cheese is in the oven the work isn’t over yet! Prepare yourself for the joys of creamed collards with bacon.
- 4 pounds fresh collard greens
- 1 pound bacon (pork or turkey)
- 1/2 quart of heavy cream
- 2 yellow onions
- 3 gloves garlic
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
First, wash the collard greens and cut off the thick stems at the end. Make sure to chop/shred the collard greens very thinly so they cook easily. Bring large pot of water to boil and parboil greens, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Chop the bacon into small pieces and cook in skillet over medium high heat. It’s easiest to cook the bacon in batches (that’s a lot of bacon to cook all at once). When the bacon is as crispy as you like, put it on a paper towel placed over a plate to catch the grease as the bacon cools.
Chop the onions and mince the garlic; set aside. In a large skillet melt the butter or margarine over low-medium heat and add garlic and onions. Saute until the onions become translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add in cream and simmer until liquid is reduced by half, about 25 minutes. Stir occasionally. When the cream is reduced, add in handfuls of collard greens a little at a time. Cook each handful for a couple minutes, the add in more. When all the greens are cooking add in salt, pepper and bacon. Cook for another 5 minutes until everything is thoroughly heated.
And serve everything! Have a glass of left over cooking wine and toast to your Easter dinner success!
As the Texas summer starts creeping up on us, my thoughts turn to ways to avoid the heat of the oven. I have long been a fan of the crock pot to stew a chicken in for soups but did you know you could roast a chicken in the crock pot? OK, technically it is probably a braise but by just leaving the lid off for the last 30 minutes of cooking time, the skin gets closer to a crispy roast than a flabby stew. By placing the chicken on top of a bed of vegetables, the juices are used to add flavor to the veggies without submerging the bird in too much liquid. It is ok if it comes part way up the bird but you want it mostly out of the broth for the crispiest skin.
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