A LAMB SALAD TO SUIT THE SEASON
By Wolfgang Puck
Many years ago, when I was still a relative newcomer to California but
had already made a name for myself as a chef in Los Angeles, I was
invited to present a weekend of classes at the Napa Valley cooking
school established by winemaker Robert Mondavi and his wife, Margrit.
It was deep into autumn. Since I had lived and cooked for a while in
France's Burgundy region during my early years as a chef, I assumed
that the weather in California's wine country would be cool and damp,
just like Burgundy. So I planned that my lesson for the lunchtime
class on Saturday would be French-style stuffed roast lamb, which I
would serve with a hearty potato gratin and sauteed autumn vegetables.
Of course, my weather assumption was incorrect. That weekend,
California had a typical fall heat wave, with the temperature well
above 90 degrees F. I knew that no one attending my class would really
want the heavy meal I'd planned, and that if they ate it they probably
wouldn't stay awake during my afternoon lesson. So I quickly changed
my plan, but not all of it. I still roasted the lamb, but with a
light, fresh-tasting stuffing of basil leaves and toasted pine nuts,
along with garlic cloves that I blanched in boiling water to make them
milder. Instead of the potatoes and vegetables, I decided to accompany
the lamb with a salad. I used robust seasonal leaves including chicory
(also called frisee or curly endive) and radicchio, which stood up
well to the meat. I tossed the salad with a dressing that included
nutty-tasting Sherry vinegar, an excellent complement to the other
ingredients. My students loved the combination, with the warm slices
of roasted meat draped over the salad. And both they and I learned an
important lesson that day about cooking with the seasons. It's a
simple lesson: Seasonal cooking doesn't just mean using ingredients
available during a particular time of year. Often, the best seasonal
cooking also responds to the weather on a particular day, whether it's
a bowl of soup that comforts you when it's raining or snowing, or a
salad made with cold-weather ingredients on a day that's unseasonably
warm. Of course, serving a main-course salad like Roast Lamb Salad
with Sherry Vinaigrette offers other advantages, too. Even on a really
cold day, it's still sustaining, while eating it can help you imagine
that it's salad weather outside. And stretching out red meat by
serving it over leafy vegetables is a healthy way to jump-start the
most common new-year's resolution. Whatever your reason to make this
salad might be, I'm hope you enjoy it as much as my cooking students
did on that hot day in autumn. ROAST STUFFED LAMB SALAD WITH SHERRY
VINAIGRETTE Serves 6 to 8 1/2 head garlic, cloves peeled 2 tablespoons
pine nuts, toasted 1 boneless lamb shoulder, 2-1/2 to 3 pounds total
weight, in one piece Salt Freshly ground black pepper 6 fresh basil
leaves 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 head chicory, leaves separated
1 bunch red-leaf lettuce, leaves separated 4 bunches arugula, lamb's
lettuce, or a mixture, leaves separated 2 heads radicchio, leaves
separated 2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar 2 tablespoons mixed minced
fresh basil, chives, Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, or other fresh herbs
8 oil-packed sun-dried tomato pieces, cut into julienne strips 1
tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese Preheat the oven to 450
degrees F. Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to a full boil. Add
the peeled garlic cloves and boil for about 45 seconds, then drain and
rinse under cold running water until cool. Set aside. Spread the pine
nuts in a single layer in a small baking dish. Put them in the
preheated oven and toast until golden, 7 to 10 minutes, checking to
make sure they don't scorch. Remove, transfer to a small bowl, and
leave to cool. Leave the oven on. Season the inside part of the lamb,
where the bones were removed, with salt and pepper. Arrange the basil
on top. Scatter the pine nuts and garlic along the center. Fold the
meat over this stuffing to form a compact roll. Tie the roll securely
at intervals with several pieces of kitchen string. Season the outside
all over with more salt and pepper to taste. Heat an ovenproof saute
pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and,
when it is hot enough to flow freely in the pan, add the rolled lamb
and brown it all over, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to the oven
and roast until the lamb is medium-rare, about 145 degrees F. on an
instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat.
Remove the pan, cover the lamb with aluminum foil, and leave to rest
in a warm part of the kitchen for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse all the
salad leaves thoroughly with cold running water and dry thoroughly in
a salad spinner or with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Tear
any large leaves into bite-sized pieces. Put all the leaves in a large
salad bowl. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining olive oil
with the vinegar and minced herbs, seasoning to taste with salt and
pepper. Toss the leaves with enough of the dressing to coat them
evenly. Divide the salad among individual dinner-sized serving plates,
arranging it into neat beds. With a sharp knife, carefully cut the
rolled lamb crosswise into slices 1/2 inch thick, removing and
discarding the strings. Arrange the lamb slices overlapping slightly
on top of the salads. Garnish with sun-dried tomato strips and a
sprinkling of Parmesan. Serve immediately. Tribune Media Services
This news arrived on: 01/02/2008
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