Thursday, October 02, 2008

d.i.y.

Typical. I fall in love with something (a butterflied, marinated lamb leg to be precise) and decide to invite friends around to share it and... yep, not in the store. Dayum. So I've just gone to the butcher, asked them to butterfly a leg, and I've made my own marinade. About a cup of olive oil, the juice and zest of one whopper of a lemon, around a quarter cup of fresh oregano, a big head of garlic and lashings of fresh black pepper. It's in a zip lock bag and I smooshed it all around and I'll leave it for a couple of hours before smooshing and turning again. Then it's going on the bbq, lid down, for around 45 minutes, resting for 15, and then being laid on a bed of mesclun, watercress, fresh mint, roasted quarters of beetroot and some chunks of goat cheese feta. I'll dress it with a simple red wine vinegar and garlic dressing and serve it with hunks of baguette.

The summer puddings are in the fridge with tins of tuna weighing them down. I did them in individual ramekins and they look dead cute. I've yet to track down any Cassis LJ, but I did drizzle some Violette syrup over the top. I decided against mascapone, and went for a vanilla bean yoghurt from King Island in Tasmania. I'm determined to try out my ability to make quenelles tonight when I serve it. Oooh, best dash off and pop some champers and rosé in the fridge. Hopefully I'll find that Cassis and a Kir Royale will have my name on it around 5pm...

7 comments:

  1. Now that dinner party would out rate any of the top restaurants around Linda!
    Please do NOT buy Batz Cassis - its shocking .
    Maybe a "fancy" bottle shop , a touch "upmarket" will have a Real french cassis.Some cassis brands have to be put in the fridge for they have no preservative - so check the label or as the guy in the shop (who will prabably look at you like your some space alien and say "huh?)

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  2. Thanks for the tip (and the compliments - aw shucks). There's a Vintage Cellars down the road and the owner is fond of french wines and champagnes so I think I'll need to sweet talk him into importing some real cassis. Alternatively, we're actually, wait for it, importing some duck confit with friends from france, maybe there will be some space in the case! (I know how that sounds, but they've researched the best brand, we've tried them out, and it works out way cheaper to ship them than buy them here!)

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  3. Oooh , I love duck confit . I was in Paris this May/June and they just know how to cook duck! I have tried but I get this fatty mess.
    Linda, there are good french brands with preservative too (that baitz brand is like dettol) so just check if you have a bottle that has no preservatives. I must say - the ones without are wonderful.

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  4. I love duck- last year for Thanksgiving I roasted two ducks and they were marvelous! Duck confit is a delicious little treat as well, as is cassis. I doubt I will be able to find any cassis in my little town, a trip to a larger and more impressive liquor store will probably be in order for that! You are making me crave lamb desperately, I think a nice, large, impressive rack of lamb will make a superb Thankgiving treat!

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  5. You girls are making me hungry and it's only 9.50! Now I've got a hankering for some duck - how good are you Sara roasting two of them!

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  6. Well I am afraid that it's not that I am so technically superb that I roasted two of them with no blood, sweat, or tears. It just so happened that the butcher didn't get in for me the big fat huge duck he was promising me and his side of lamb was most sad, so I took two smaller ducks for the price of one. Roasted them up, leftovers made amazing peking duck on mu shu pancakes with a cilantro/cucumber/cabbage slaw, then the carcasses and bones got boiled and boiled and boiled some more for me to have duck stock to freeze. Instead of doing the typical orange sauce that people usually do with duck I did a beautiful balsamic fig rosemary glaze- the results were out of this world. Now I want duck too! LOL!

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