Austin Food Journal

For my wife’s birthday, I made rack of lamb. She hasn’t been a fan of lamb. I usually get loin chops, but she thought they were too fatty. Whole Foods had racks on sale, so we were off to the
races. I love lamb and was looking to get it back on our home menu.

It was a hit! A bone-gnawing good time. I served it up with roasted vegetables and pan juice.

Not to worry, just kidding. I have still been eating. Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that I have been preoccupied with a new business venture (not food related, but hopefully that will be coming around soon). I miss posting and hope to be doing regular installments soon. Thanks for tuning in and don’t give up on me. More food may-ham to come, I promise.

Patriotic dinner of roasted chicken, braised leeks and potato salad with chives and house mayo.

That’s right, just like the movie! Except nobody dies. The frying quiets the tartness of the under-ripened tomatoes nicely. We dipped them in a little Oka’s.

Spinach salad with chopped egg, bacon, red onion, feta and a honey vinaigrette.

Rolled, stuffed pasta. Think of it as an Italian sushi. The only trick is that you need fresh sheet pasta to make the rolling part work. This one is filled with roasted squash, spinach and two different ricottas. Topped with parmesan and clarified butter.

You need to roll the whole thing up in a dish towel and have a vessel large enough to boil it in. I used a deep roasting pan, sitting on two burners of my cook top. The good news is that you can make all of this ahead of the time, so it would be great for a dinner party.