COVID cookery
Impromptu Lamb Stew - Saute two fistfuls of frozen and chopped garlic scapes and one large onion chopped with a little olive oil or bacon grease. When aroma releases and softening begins, add in chunks of farm fresh lamb (about 500 g) and mix well. Brown the meat and sprinkle all with salt and rosemary. Crush two handfuls of dried puffball mushroom from the hayfield. Add in one litre of home canned quartered tomatoes. Grind some peppercorns into the pot to taste. Mix it all together and let it simmer for a couple hours to make sure the scapes are good and tender if you tend to harvest and freeze them all, even when you can tell some of the scapes will be a little woody. If you have some red wine or dark beer to splash in, so much the better. We served the stew alongside some carrots from the root cellar and some brown rice. Bon Appetit!
Cream of Tomato Soup - comfort food elevated. Grab a litre of home canned tomatoes from the pantry and puree in the jar. Using a soup pot, carmelize a small onion, chopped fine and throw in a couple cloves of garden garlilc. Add 1/4 c flour to the carmelized onion and mixed well. Add in the tomato puree and throw in a few dashes of italian herbs dried or fresh, parsely, basil, rosemany, oregano and salt to taste. Let this all simmer until soup is thick enough to handle a cup of fresh sheep milk. Stir in the milk and ladle into bowls.
Beer Bread Grilled Cheese - make a loaf of spent beer grain bread and then take thin slices (1/4 inch) for two sandwiches. I use a bread machine following a multi-grain bread recipe on setting 5 and add in 3 cups of spent grain. This recipe includes 1/4 cup of olive oil and one egg. Beware of excessive moisture from spent grains and reduce liquid in recipe if grains are super moist. We grill our sandwiches in a cast iron pan with plenty of butter and use whatever firm cheese we have in the house. Cheddar pairs great with the tomato soup.