ottawa foodies

We are changing it up this year. Both of us were raised in Christian households with a ham dinner and lots of chocolate. Since we love food and are non religious, we decided to take a crack at some passover favorites this holiday, which are kind of foreign to us. We are trying our hand at brisket, carrot-walnut tzimmies and noodle kugel. Potatoes and green beans will round out the meal. We won't be observing strict religious dietary rules, but it will be fun to try some of these Passover favorites. We will blog about it...

Zym is taking care of the meat (ham, brined and done on the Egg, I imagine ;)).

I'm handling the veg: steamed beet greens and broccolini, oven roasted fingerlings, mashed parsnip and carrot, boiled pearl onions, beets, and probably some sort of cucumber/bell pepper salad.

I like lots of holiday meal leftovers. ;)

Yup, took one of krusty's hams out of the freezer a couple hours ago and will be dropping it into the brine in a bit.

Beer Beer Beer Can Chicken on the Egg ..Peanut oil covered garlic roast potatoes/Salad/Corn Muffins and a few beers ..selection was a Family vote and won out over Oven Roasted Turkey and stuffing ...woo hoo !!!

Bacon cheddar beef meatballs, mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. Zzzzzzzzz...

Brunch...so leftovers for dinner.

Maple glazed ham
Poached salmon (served cold)
asparagus
caesar salad
scalloped potatos
foccacia

English Trifle
Peanut butter Squares
Maple cake

It'll be smoque shack early, then a shrimp risotto at home later on.

Last night was Passover in our blended Jewish-Christian household. I made lamb shanks - with lots of herbes de Provence and root vegies, plus red wine, stewed tomatoes. Seared the lamb shanks on the grill (cuts on stovetop mess!) and then baked slow for many hours till the meat fell right off the bone. Delicious!

Hey Chimichimi, can you smell that ham smokin' ?

:-)

I could smell SOMETHING smoking last night, not sure if that was you or not! I'm totally jealous as I can't grill or smoke at this place. C'est la vie! I do have a hardwood smoked maple glazed ham, mashed rutabaga, carrots, scalloped potatoes and green bean casserole on the menu. YUM!

Homemade lasagne and meatloaf lol.. Not typical Easter fare.

Honey glazed ham, asiago topped scalloped potatoes and asparagus for two!

Looks like prime rib (with what I find is really the best method: www.seriouseats.com) with mashed potatoes, yorkshire puddings, gravy, and some root veggies.

I ended up by myself, so I whipped up some mushroom risotto to finish the wine and veg broth I had. Nummy.

Here is a more complete video up to wrapping it to let it rest more in the kamado for 90 minutes or so ... if you already watched the above you can skip ahead a bit in this one

We made stuffed baked french toast for Breakfast. Ended up at a Royal Oak for lunch (tried Pho Thu Do on Hunt Club, but learned nearly everything on the menu would kill my hubby, without much willingness by the chef to accommodate). Came home and made a boiled dinner - corned beef (purchased at Price Chopper in Watertown), cabbage, potatoes, and a side of peas to please the toddler.

We had a nice leg of lamb with potatoes baked in the pan, with a side of baked onions and baby peas. This is why we have friends over. They aren't likely to cook a nice meal, but they would really like to have a nice dinner. We love to cook, but find it hard to make a nice meal like that for two.

The best part of that meal is the next day when I cut up the rest of the lamb into tiny pieces. While I'm doing that, I fry up some onions in the same pan with the rest of the fat and some curry paste. I toss in a cup and a half of rice to toast, then the rest of the potatoes (diced) and as much of the lamb as I think it needs (putting the rest in the freezer to do this again later). Add 3 cups of water and put it into the oven to bake for 45 minutes or until the rice is done. Throw some frozen peas in at the last minute and it's done.

Yummy!

As a follow-up we just posted on our attempt at a Passover meal for "Easter".
New Post: Other Springtime Traditions - Dabbling with a Passover feast! happymouth.ca/?p=6466