Happy Easter 2015

Sunday was such a fun day at the Lutmer Residence. We hosted Easter dinner for the Kubicki side of the family. The day was filled with lots of laughter and merriment. And, the FOOD! We utilized the lamb shoulder from the lamb we purchased at the 2014 Warren County Fair and it was amazingly delicious! 

Our menu included:

Heavenly Ham from Dorothy Lane Market
Roasted Lamb Shoulder
Potatoes au Gratin (Pioneer Woman Recipe)
Homemade Mac and Cheese (Pioneer Woman Recipe)
Pea Salad (Pioneer Woman Recipe)
Fruit Salad (Pioneer Woman Recipe)
Oven Roasted Asparagus
Rolls in a bread basket from Dorothy Lane Market
Lemon Supreme Pie (from Schwans)
Key Lime Pie (from Schwans)
Rose Sangria... Which then was just sangria with left over fruit after we went through the first bottle of Rose! 

Below are the recipes for you to enjoy. And, some fun pictures of our Easter at the Farm. 

Our lamb stuffed and ready for the oven.

Slow Roasted Rosemary Garlic Lamb Shoulder

When we realized that we would be hosting the Kubicki Family Easter Dinner at our house, the remaining portions of the lamb we purchased at the Warren County Fair immediately came to mind. We had previously roasted the leg of lamb, but we still had a lamb shoulder left in the deep freeze. So, the hunt for a great recipe for roasted lamb shoulder was on. I stumbled across a recipe on Pinterest from Recipetineats.com. We liked the fact that she slightly modified the traditional recipe from Jamie Oliver and it seemed pretty simple. And, it was! Now, we did not make the gravy that is in her recipe and it was still amazingly delicious. 

Ingredients

• 3.5lb / 1.8kg lamb shoulder (bone in)
• Olive oil, (her recipe calls for two tbs, we just used a generous amount.)
• Salt, (her recipe calls for one tbps, we just salted to our liking.)
• Black Pepper, (her recipe calls for one tsp, we just added pepper to our liking.)
• 2 onions, peeled and quartered (brown, yellow or white)
• 2 carrots, cut into chunks (her recipe called for 4 chunks, we made more than four chunks with our large carrots.)
• 1 head + 3 cloves of garlic, broken up into separate cloves
• Rosemary, (her recipe called for 8 sprigs. We just purchased a box of rosemary from Dorothy Lane and utilized the whole container.)
• ½ cup water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Rub the lamb with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Use a thin, sharp knife to make 12 incisions in the lamb, deep as you can but without piercing through the bottom of the lamb. 
4. Peel and quarter 4 cloves of garlic (vertically) and stuff them into the holes.
5. Cut 3 or 4 sprigs of rosemary into 3" pieces (12 in total) and stuff them into the holes.
6. Place the onions, carrot, remaining garlic cloves and rosemary in the base of a roasting pan. Place the lamb on top of this bed of vegetables. (We used the same roasting pan that we use for our turkey at Thanksgiving. At first we thought it would be too large, but it actually worked out perfectly.)
7. Cover with lid or tightly with a double layer of foil. Place in the oven, and TURN DOWN to 320 F.
8. Roast, covered, for 3 hours. Then remove the lid, add ½ cup of water into the roasting pan, turn up the oven to 425 F and roast for a further 20 to 30 minutes, until the skin is browned and crisp. By now, you should be able to part the meat with two forks.*
9. Remove lamb and carrots from the roasting pan and transfer to a plate. Cover loosely with foil then a couple of tea towels and let it rest for at least 20 minutes, up to a couple of hours (after this, you may want to reheat).

*We sort of deviated from this step. We forgot to raise the temperature of the oven. Our lamb ended up roasting for the additional 30 minutes at 320 F. And, then we realized our error, turned the oven up to 425 F and left him in there for a little while longer (probably another 25 minutes) until he was starting to turn brown. Despite our deviation, the lamb still turned out amazing! 

Odie helped by taking a nap in the kitchen.

Potatoes au Gratin by the Pioneer Woman

For the longest time, I heard from my friends and Chris' mom about the Pioneer Woman on TV. When I had a free moment, I watched one of her episodes on demand. She was amazing! Her recipes are simple and delicious. Plus, the fact that she is on a ranch makes her even more amazing in my book! When we knew we were hosting Easter, she was my go to website for recipes. (You'll notice that most of my sides are from her.) 

The first side dish we started preparing was the Perfect Potatoes au Gratin. Because we only have one oven, (I secretly hope one day to have a double oven like my Mom), timing the use of the oven was paramount. Since the lamb was already roasting in the oven, I decided to start preparing the potatoes au gratin. Because the Pioneer Woman stated that this recipe would serve 8, we doubled it. The recipe below is to serve 16 people. We put it in a 13 x 9 Pyrex baking dish, and at the end of dinner, there was barely any left! 

Ingredients

• 8 whole Russet Potatoes, Scrubbed Clean
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• 3 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 cup Whole Milk
• 4 Tablespoons Flour
• 8 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
• 2 teaspoon Salt
•  Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
• 2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Freshly Grated

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Smear softened butter all over the bottom of a baking dish.

Slice potatoes, then cut slices into fourths.

In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, milk, flour, minced garlic, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potatoes.

Repeat this two more times, ending with the cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and really bubbling. Add grated cheese to the top of the potatoes and bake for 3 to 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Putting both stock pots in use!

Macaroni and Cheese by the Pioneer Woman

A week ago, Chris' mom called and let us know that Kroger was having a fantastic sale on cream cheese, butter, Ore Ida potatoes and Barilla Pasta. We stocked up! When it came time to make the macaroni and cheese for Easter, it was so nice to just go into the pantry and pull out a couple boxes of elbow macaroni. And, since I'm a huge fan of macaroni and cheese, there probably will not be a family dinner at our house without this amazing side dish. 

The Macaroni and Cheese by the Pioneer Woman was fantastic. Next time, we are cutting back a little on the dry mustard. We also tripled the ingredients of her recipe in order to have enough to feed everyone and have left overs. The best part, I was able to utilize both of my stock pots by Le Creuset! My sister gave me the blue one for my 30th birthday, and the black one I purchased at the Le Creuset outlet for $40.00! 

Ingredients

• 2 lbs Dried Macaroni
• 3 whole Egg, Beaten
• 3/4 cup Butter
• 3/4 cup All-purpose Flour
• 6.5 cups Whole Milk
• 6 teaspoons Dry Mustard
• 3 pound Cheese, Grated
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

Directions

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.

In a small bowl, beat egg.

In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.

Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.

Add in cheese and stir to melt.

Add salt and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.

Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine. Pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top. 

Pea Salad by the Pioneer Woman

This super easy Pea Salad by the Pioneer Woman was a hit at our Easter Dinner. Chris always states that we must have something green at every meal. When I saw this recipe I immediately thought, this is our something green! It was super simple to make and we were able to utilized some of the smoked bacon his parents gave us to make it extra delicious! The great thing about this recipe was that it didn't need time in the oven! We prepared it and put it back in the refrigerator until it was time for dinner. 

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup Sour Cream

• 1 Tablespoon Mayonnaise

•  Salt And Pepper

• 1 Tablespoon White Vinegar

• 4 cups Frozen Green Peas, Almost Totally Thawed

• 8 slices Bacon, Cooked Until Crisp And Chopped

• 1/2 whole Small Red Onion, Halved And Sliced Very Thin

• 1/2 lb Cheddar Cheese, Cut Into Small Cubes

• 3 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Parsley

Directions

Fruit Salad by the Pioneer Woman

My sister Laurie is a vegetarian. We wanted to make sure that we had enough food for her to eat since she wouldn't be having the lamb, ham or pea salad. I came across the Pretty, Yummy Fruit Salad by the Pioneer Woman. My father has been raving about this salad all morning. It is delicious. The only thing we probably would change is, we'd put less blueberries in and add some raspberries. But, that's because we love raspberries! 

Ingredients

• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Water
•  1/3 cup of Orange Juice
•  Zest Of 1 Orange
• 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 4 pints Strawberries, quartered
• 2 pints Blueberries
• 2 cups Red Grapes
• 2 cups Green Grapes

Directions

Place the sugar, water, orange juice and orange zest into a small saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 to thicken slightly. Set aside to cool, then store in the fridge until cold.

Mix together all the fruit in a large bowl and pour the syrup over the top, tossing gently. Garnish with mint leaves and serve.

Oven Roasted Asparagus

Realizing that asparagus is one of my sister's favorite side dishes, we included this in our menu as well. Our favorite way to make asparagus is to roast it in the oven with some olive oil and sea salt. I always defer to Chris to make the asparagus because he has it down to a science. (Well, except for that one time....)

It's pretty simple. Preheat the over 425 F. Then, we line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread the asparagus spears onto the baking sheet and coat with olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt and pepper to taste on top. We bake it for about 10-15 minutes, or until Chris states that it is finished. And, it's pretty simple and delicious! 

Rose Sangria with Raspberries and Mango

It's a tradition in our family to have a drink with every family dinner. Christmas was slightly a disaster with a Malbec/Bourbon drink I tried to replicate from the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. So for Easter I wanted to do something simple and light. Voila! The Rose Sangria with Raspberries and Mango was simple and delicious! We went through 2.5 pitchers! 

Ingredients

• Bottle of Rose Wine
• 2.5 Cans of Sprite
• 1 bag of frozen mangos
• 1 large tub of fresh raspberries, frozen
• 1 shot of Vodka

Directions

Mix all of those ingredients together in a pitcher and you have the perfect spring drink!