Monday, February 21, 2011

The Great Lamb Cook Off



     Last summer while I was on my way to the farmer's market, I ran into our downstairs neighbor and friend, Mark. During our conversation about unusual food items to be had at the market, we came up with the idea of having a Duck Egg Cook Off. Neither of us had ever cooked a duck egg, but were game to try. We would each make a duck egg dish and then come together for dinner. This would be a friendly cook off, not a hard core competition, and it was a great excuse to get together.
     It was a resounding success. (Mark poached his eggs in a variety of spices, and I made duck egg pasta from scratch topped with a duck egg carbonara!)
     It took a few months before we managed to set up the next one, but we eventually decided that the item to be cooked would be lamb. Neither of us had ever cooked lamb before.
     Another resounding success!

Mark, Nancy, and my husband.


Mark made a fabulous leg of lamb with tomatoes and bread crumbs, a la Julia Child.

At the Winter Farmer's Market, I found a free range rack of lamb!
     Everything was wonderful and it was a great feast, with Mark's leg of lamb and it's lamb gravy and my rack both turning out great. I'm sorry I didn't get a photo of Nancy's fantastic Lemon Merangue Pie that she brought for dessert, but by that time I was tipsy with all the wine and forgot to take a picture. Next time I won't miss the dessert, I promise. It was lovely looking and delicious.


     Our next Cook Off will be a little more open in terms of what get's cooked.We're planning a Seafood cookoff, with Mark perhaps cooking a lobster, which he's never done before. I'll have to put on my thinking cap, but I'm sure whatever I come up with will be fun to make and eat as well. Till the next Cook Off!

7 comments:

Sue said...

That's great and sounds like so much fun. My husband loves to cook and I could see you and him getting along for a food challenge. Though lately we haven't had much time to cook serious meals with two teenage boys. We have eaten at some of the best resaurants in NYC, Boston, Toronto, Maine, and Montreal. The last time we were in NY, we visited Anthony Bourdain's restaurant. My husband visited Chicago on business last August. I'll have to ask him the names of the restaurants he visited.

J.Tuttle said...

SM - It's loads of fun. We love to eat out at all kinds of restaurants as well. Curious what restaurants your husband visited in Chicago. We've got lots of good ones!

Anonymous said...

MA said
Your food looked fabulous and the photographs deserved to be published.If Ron were not a vegetarian, I would love the recipes.Perhaps your next cook off could be a veggie banquet.

Daniel said...

Delicious!

Dan.

J.Tuttle said...

MA - A vegetarian cook off is another good idea for a future cook off!

Dan - It sure was!

Sue said...

J, he ate out at a few restaurants, but he said one that was recommended to him, which was a bit more upscale was the Rosebud Steakhouse, which he liked very much. He was only there for three days and it was his first time in Chicago; he really liked the city and took a few photos. I recognized some of the places from photos I've seen in various blogs. Some photos were taken near is it Millenium Park?

Tabitha said...

What a beautiful table!!! Your pictures turned out fabulous. And yummy looking. :)