Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Five

[mysty]

Myster makes delicious lamb burgers served with Tzatziki, cucumber and mint.  One of my favourite dishes!

[clo]

1 hour ago, englishusa said:

Spins: Try mint sauce instead. A lot better!( Chopped mint in malt vinegar)

I'll take the rosemary/garlic. Mint sauce is British and rather old fashioned.

[clo]

2 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

Roasted leg of lamb on the BBQ with plenty of garlic and rosemary served medium rare with spanokopita and roasted potatoes...

 

Something we haven't made in years is a butterflied, boneless leg served just like you describe.

[lincslady]

Mint sauce is very British, and very old fashioned.  But made with a lot of mint and a small amount of sherry or wine vinegar, plus a bit of sugar, IMO delicious with lamb.  It goes back, I believe, to when you had to disguise meat which had gone off a bit with a sweet sauce, hence mint for lamb and apple for pork.  We have improved a bit since those days.  My abomination is the garish mint jelly normally served on cruise ships, bright green and horrible.  Or  bottled mint sauce.

[spinnaker2]

3 hours ago, englishusa said:

Spins: Try mint sauce instead. A lot better!( Chopped mint in malt vinegar)

O that sounds lovely. Fresh mint is good plus the malt vinegar.

Yummy

[jpalbny]

1 minute ago, lincslady said:

Mint sauce is very British, and very old fashioned.  But made with a lot of mint and a small amount of sherry or wine vinegar, plus a bit of sugar, IMO delicious with lamb.  It goes back, I believe, to when you had to disguise meat which had gone off a bit with a sweet sauce, hence mint for lamb and apple for pork.  We have improved a bit since those days.  My abomination is the garish mint jelly normally served on cruise ships, bright green and horrible.  Or  bottled mint sauce.

 

I'm with you 100%. Real mint sauce, and that green stuff, don't belong on the same planet. The latter reminds me of toothpaste. 

 

Chris doesn't like lamb at all (too many bad experiences with cheap old mutton as a kid) so I never cook it at home. So it's something that I order out if I want it. Works well for me.

[spinnaker2]

Getting very hungry.

 

Making some very slow roasted beefsteak tomatoes with fresh oregano, basil, salt, pepper,  a little honey, EVOO and lots of garlic.

 

Next up an apple caramel tart.

 

This morning made fresh and healthy granola with seeds, nuts, honey and oats. 

 

Cucina Spinnaker day.

 

 

[Tothesunset]

2 hours ago, clo said:

... Mint sauce is British and rather old fashioned.

Can we compromise with "traditional"? 

[Fletcher]

The other British 'traditional/old-fashioned' accompaniment to roast lamb is onion sauce.  Lamb is expensive in the UK - my local butcher routinely charges £30 for a locally-sourced shoulder cut, much more for a leg.  A supermarket charges about half that and in the winter most lamb comes from New Zealand.  There is a myth that spring lamb is a delicacy.  It's true the meat is milky-looking and tender but it lacks flavour.  British lamb is best around now.  Older/winter lamb sells as something called hogget which needs to be slow-cooked. 

 

Personally, I don't have much use for leg of lamb.  I much prefer shoulder which has far more flavour but a lot more fat.  I usually serve it with ratatouille or with a classic French dish of haricot beans, onions, celery, carrots and tomatoes.  My absolute fave is a casserole of neck fillets served with flageolet beans and tomatoes cooked in lamb stock.

 

Oh, and then there's Lancashire hotpot with dumplings!  

 

French-trimmed loin or rack of lamb is for fancy restaurants.   It's nice with a herb and breadcrumb crust, pommes dauphinoise and a green veg.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Fletcher

[SteveH2508]

I usually make onion sauce with ham (along with a maple syrup/cinnamon glaze) - never heard of it with lamb as a traditional accompaniment. Every day is a school day!

Lancashire hotpot with dumplings - now that is proper grub!

[Lois R]

5 hours ago, mysty said:

Myster makes delicious lamb burgers served with Tzatziki, cucumber and mint.  One of my favourite dishes!

Mysty, that sounds fantastic🙂

[QueSeraSera]

Although I no longer enjoy them, I feel it is my duty to speak up for Oreos, particularly the Double Stuff variety, as I have probably consumed a thousand of them over my lifetime (hence shortened).  Young taste buds can taste the chocolate in the wafers.  Most kids do not need or like 70% cocoa bars; the taste is too strong.  But in an Oreo, it is just right to drive the urge for another.  The cream filling is delightfully sweet, with just a hint of dairy tang.  The crisp and creamy texture mix is fun, and can be changed to gooey by dipping in milk.

I'm a bit confused by the endorsements for a "Digestive" as a treat, chocolate or not.  We have chocolate flavored Ex-Lax but I think that is probably quite different.  😉

[spinnaker2]

42 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

Although I no longer enjoy them, I feel it is my duty to speak up for Oreos, particularly the Double Stuff variety, as I have probably consumed a thousand of them over my lifetime (hence shortened).  Young taste buds can taste the chocolate in the wafers.  Most kids do not need or like 70% cocoa bars; the taste is too strong.  But in an Oreo, it is just right to drive the urge for another.  The cream filling is delightfully sweet, with just a hint of dairy tang.  The crisp and creamy texture mix is fun, and can be changed to gooey by dipping in milk.

I'm a bit confused by the endorsements for a "Digestive" as a treat, chocolate or not.  We have chocolate flavored Ex-Lax but I think that is probably quite different.  😉

Q

The challenge is getting the middle out of the Oreo without removing the top and bottom cookies.

 

And I remember when evil classmates put ex lax in brownies.

I never participated in that type of baking.

 

But Alice B. Toklas?

 

[spinnaker2]

[zqtchas]

[FlyingScotSailors]

Mysty, we accept your travel challenge.  Southeast of you, across Lake Ontario.

 

[mysty]

26 minutes ago, FlyingScotSailors said:

Mysty, we accept your travel challenge.  Southeast of you, across Lake Ontario.

 

 

Nicely done Flying!  Hope you enjoy the trip!  😁

[jpalbny]

@FlyingScotSailors, Syracuse counts as a stop too. We will hopefully be in some of those towns the first week of October. 

[rosepark]

5 hours ago, Fletcher said:

The other British 'traditional/old-fashioned' accompaniment to roast lamb is onion sauce.  

 

 

I roast chicken on a few thick onion slices which become imbued with the flavour of the bird. Whizzed up with the chicken juices, this makes an instant and tasty sauce. And the left overs go straight into a risotto with the left over cooked chicken a day or two later. Yum scrum. 
Now can someone please tell me why I am discussing recipes at 2:46 am?

Rp

[lincslady]

I think we both  know he answer to that,  rosepark.

 

The other accompaniment for lamb (and  I prefer shoulder too) of course is redcurrant sauce or jelly.

 

Lola

[FlyingScotSailors]

JP, that was the maximum number of stops google maps would allow for one trip.

 

We did pass by Cairo today, on our longest trip since March, to visit friends in Rifton, NY.  Nice outdoor visit, and we brought subs from DiBella's, which was the first take-out food we have had.  

[Camillus112]

9 hours ago, mysty said:

 

Nicely done Flying!  Hope you enjoy the trip!  😁

 

Hello friends, should you need to take a detour between Ithaca and Syracuse (and not take the highway), you would need to pass through VENICE.   I understand that the surveyor in charge of naming these lands was a classicist.  All this lovely area I call home, and all we need to make it perfect is an ocean to cruise through it.

[Tothesunset]

Anyone else think it's time for a doggy picture the brighten up the day? You don't? Well, you're getting one anyway:

 

[lincslady]

Thanks, tts, just what we need today.  And not forgetting Davey wavey's cat Rosie - the absolute epitome  of superior arrogant better-that-humans catness, if ever I saw it.  These two pix just show up the huge personality difference between the cats we live with , and the dogs!

 

Lola

 

 

[zqtchas]