We had the crepes from #4 last week, but I still had the lamb, the gratin of Swiss chard, and the pineapple givres to do, and I did them on New Years Day. We used the first of the organic lamb we bought and it was really good. I'd fixed lamb with garlic slivers before, but the technique of adding carrots and onions to the roasting pan part way through was new to me. And it was great! I always use the technique of deglazing / reducing the pan juices for gravy, but usually I add wine or broth. Using the veggies and water was so simple and it produced wonderful gravy. I'll definitely use that technique in the future.
After straining the pan juices, I mixed the veggies with dry dog food for Sheba and she loved it. That felt good, too.
The pineapple sorbet was fun and I had a great time following the directions on getting the pineapple out of the shell. It went perfectly and I felt like a professional. The COG took a picture, which I'll attach later. It was a little too sweet, but still refreshing after everything else.
The gratin, was.... OK, not my best effort at Bechamel - all that butter adds yumminess, so leaving it out affects the flavor. However, I was thinking about the menu while I cooked. The vegetable - Swiss chard - is a lowly garden staple. It grows like a weed starting in cool weather and thrives through the hot weather and into autumn. The principle of taking chard (or eggs or a little bit of salmon) and adding milk, flour and butter to make it more important and to fill the stomach - well it's an interesting example of French thriftiness. I think I'm learning something here.
Of course, if I were to do it, or something similar again, I'd figure out a way of using fewer than 4 pans (counting the mushroom pan and the bechamel pan, as well as ones for the leaves and stems) 3 bowls (for the leaves and the stems and the grated cheese)& a gratin dish. Although I guess one could argue that it is just another way of making something insignificant into something significant.
I also served roasted potatoes and parsnips and Brussels Sprouts in a mustard-lemon butter.
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Interesting point--the thriftiness of taking of some lowly garden weed and making a belly-filling tasty dish from it. Eggs & onion & bechamel, chard and bechamel.
I'll be glad when we move beyond bechamel though. I find it a bland filler. Though I, too, have been cutting back on the butter which probably serves to minimize the blandness.
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