Jimenez Family Farm from Santa Ynez is bringing in fresh goat and lamb meat. Their animals are raised on 100% grass. They recommend non-premium cuts of lamb like the shoulder, breast or neck meat.
Greek Lamb Stew with Fresh Green Beans
2 lbs Lamb (breast, shoulder, neck or stew meat)
1 can tomato paste
2 lbs green beans
2 cups water
Olive oil
2 onions
2 leeks
2 - 3 cinnamon sticks
Salt & pepper
In a heavy casserole or Dutch oven, brown lamb in a small amount of olive oil over medium high heat. Drain fat. Coarsely chop onions & leeks, add to lamb, cooking until slightly browned. Season with salt & pepper. Add tomato paste and water. Stir gently. Add cinnamon sticks. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours, checking once to stir. Clean and snip stem end from green beans. Add to stew. Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until beans are tender. This goes great with mashed potatoes.
Chef Mark Peel of Campanile loves to make Potatoes a la Boulangere this time of year. It's a no-recipe dish but we found one online adapted from a French food cookbook. You can put in any vegetables you like in addition to the potatoes. Mark likes to add sliced savoy cabbage and wild mushrooms. He cooks his at 250 for 3 hours but other recipes turn up the heat and cook it much faster. He uses a 2 inch deep Pyrex dish.
Boulangère Potatoes Recipe
(Adapted from The Food of France Cookbook)
Serves 6
2 lbs potatoes
1 large onion
2 Tablespoons finely chopped parsley
16 oz hot chicken or vegetable stocks
5 Tablespoons butter, cubed
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Thinly slice the potatoes and onion with a mandolin or sharp
knife. Build up alternate layers of potato and onion in a 2 inch deep
dish, sprinkling parsley, salt and plenty of black pepper between each
layer. Finish with a layer of potato. Pour the stock over the top and
dot with butter.
3. Bake, covered with foil, on the middle shelf of the oven for 30
minutes, then remove the foil and lightly press down on the potatoes
to keep them submerged in the stock. Bake for another 30 minutes, or
until the potatoes are tender and the top golden brown. Serve piping
hot.
Music Break: Wandering Star by Quantic And His Combo Barbaro