An Ode to Julia!

Happy 100th birthday to Julia Child! I remember watching her when I was a little girl. She would greet me with her unique "helloooooo" and then teach me something I didn't even know existed about cooking. I especially remember one episode, where Julia made a recipe that used raw eggs, but she wasn't planning on cooking those eggs at any point. My mom had always drilled into me that I shouldn't eat anything with raw eggs in it - no licking the bowl of cookie dough for me - and I just freaked out. "Julia's eating raw eggs," I yelled as I ran into the other room to find my mom and "tattle" on her. Little did I know that many things that are totally delicious are made with raw eggs - as long as they are fresh, you're probably good to go! Yea...probably, but usually, it's worth the risk!

Tonight, we visited Harvest, located in Harvard Square, for a delicious set menu honoring Julia Child's 100th birthday. I had purchased a Gilt City voucher a few months back for a great deal on a set three-course menu with wine pairings, and it just so happened that we hit the restaurant when they were offering a special menu. This was a three-course menu, plus an amuse, along with wine pairings and every bite/sip of it was absolutely delicious. First things first - the menu:

An amuse bouche is a small plate, consisting of a few bites, meant to "tickle" the palate before starting a meal. Today, we were offered a take on a Salade Nicoise, with a bite of tune conserve, a hard-boiled quail egg, a bit of anchovy, haricots verts, and some lovely heirloom potatoes. It was a very refreshing beginning to the meal, and I will definitely look for it as a dish on the menu next time I visit.

How pretty is this!?

For the appetizer, we received a delicious Sauvignon Blanc from Loire Valley, in France, which was paired with a yellow heirloom tomato, stuffed with bread crumbs, and floating atop a beautifully seasoned tomato water with sea beans and fine herbs. I don't think I've ever had sea beans before, but I know I've seen them on cooking shows, as one of those challenging ingredients that chefs don't know how to incorporate into the dish. I have to say, they added a wonderful crunchy texture to an otherwise soft consistency, and the tomato water was seasoned absolutely perfectly. The herbs added wonderful flavor to the dish, and it was really pretty to look at, as well!

I love the flowers that garnish the plate!

For our main course, our fabulous server brought us a beautiful plate, with four slices of duck breast, in a peach glaze. The duck was resting atop a potato gratin terrine with carrots, which was gorgeous to look at, but even more delicious to eat! Roasted root vegetables completed the dish, and every bite was as wonderful as the last! With the main course, we enjoyed a Grenache/Syrah from the Cote-de-Rhone, in France.

More flower petals!

As if I could eat anymore, there was still a dessert course to come, along with my favorite of the three wine pairings, a Semillon from Bordeaux. The richness of the cake was balanced by the fluffy lightness of the mascarpone, and complemented perfectly by the salted Dulce de Leche and the almonds. I love a little salt in my dessert and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect end to this fabulous meal!

That looks like ice cream, but it's really mascarpone! yum!

I've been to Harvest a handful of times aside from this visit. Before my parents moved here, they would come to visit me while I was at Boston University, and this was one of our go-to places. The food is always beautifully presented and delicious, and the service is impeccable! We will definitely be adding this one back into our repertoire after such a delicious meal tonight! Bravo to Harvest!

Harvest can be found at 44 Brattle Street, in Harvard Square. Call 617-868-2255, or go to OpenTable for reservations.

Roasting the Rack

Tonight, I came home to a houseful of chores that needed to be done, so I opted for a meal that I could put in the oven and "forget about." A rack of lamb is a good way to go in that situation because it takes awhile to cook and you don't really need to do much to it while it's roasting. For this occasion, I'm making a Rack of Lamb with Garlic-Herb Crust and Roasted Tomatoes...and at the last minute, I decided to make some whipped potatoes as well. Both recipes came from Stonewall Kitchen Harvest.

For my lamb, I didn't need a ton of ingredients so my mise en place came together rather quickly. Good thing too, because my puppy was hungry and I needed to get her food ready before I started cooking the lamb! I gathered garlic cloves, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, salt, black pepper, olive oil, breadcrumbs, a rack of lamb and 4 tomatoes.

At this point, I preheated my oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

I put my minced garlic cloves, along with half of my rosemary and thyme into a mortar, and used a pestle to mash it up along with some salt and pepper, until I had a chunky paste.

Once the paste was ready, I put it into a larger bowl, along with the breadcrumbs and olive oil, and then mixed until combined. The result is a granular, crusty type of paste.

At this point, my oven is preheated so it's time to start a-roastin'! I placed my rack of lamb into a roasting pan and tucked tomato quarters all around and underneath it. You want the bones to be propped up by the tomatoes. I packed the breadcrumb mixture on the top (fatty side) of the lamb, pressing it down so it molded to the shape of the rack. I also sprinkled the exposed tomatoes with the leftover rosemary, thyme and some salt and pepper.

And into the oven it goes, for 20 minutes. Once those 20 minutes are up (20 minutes that I used to put in a load of laundry, fold some dry laundry, feed the puppy, and even wrap some coins to take to the bank), you want to reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

...and continue roasting for another 35-40 minutes! I used those 40 minutes to get a second load of laundry in, and "whip up" some whipped potatoes! Once the timer beeps, take your lamb out of the roasting pan and allow it to rest for a few minutes before slicing it into individual chops.

I plated this meal by scooping some whipped potatoes onto each plate, and then placing the lamb chops on top of the potatoes. This was a small rack, so between the two of us, we finished it. I placed roasted tomatoes around the edge of each plate, and presto - a meal I didn't really need to "think about." That's a fancy Monday night dinner with not a lot of work, wouldn't you say!?