Today was not as warm, but the sun was out, and there was a nice breeze, and after a morning spent cleaning the studio (including scraping tons of rock-hard paint off the glass tabletop that I use as a palette) I was fed up and ran outside to get some exercise. This involved turning all the lovely composted manure into those beds which were to have hardier things planted in them. Pre-turning, I dug up the last dazed, haggard leeks and green onions that had somehow kept going with no protection at all. I added a few parsnips and some salsify from the root bed as well, and cut a mighty salad of early greens.
So a couple of lamb shanks anchored a good stew of our roots & leeks with a splash of wine, rosemary, garlic, spices, and finished with our last bag of frozen peas and shredded sorrel. I couldn’t resist adding a carrot for color, but everything else in this stew is local and we grew all the vegetables; the lamb and polenta both come from nearby. Even the rosemary is ours, from the plants I dug and brought in last fall. I chose a 2001 Carver Sutro petite sirah to go with this, and it did well; it’s a sexy wine with buxom California fruit on a strong tannic chassis that still has a lot of life left in it. I will try to keep away from our others for a few more years in the hope that the two halves combine more seamlessly over time.
Good title. And we love lamb shanks. We are lucky that we live close to a restaurant that does them really, really well. No waiting.
hi peter…i’ve been lurking here for awhile, and now i’m beginning to think that if moving to the country means i’ll have enough time to garden, cook and make art….maybe it’s time to pull up the stakes! You should look up dal baat (sp?) the national dish of Nepal–I just spent 2 weeks eating many variations! what would your riff on that be?? xo
Z: They do take a little time; these could have cooked a bit longer but I lost track of time and the kid was seriously hungry.
Hey Amy, thanks for reading. You all should absolutely move up here; it’s a great time to buy. There are more hours in the day up here, or at least it seems that way. Say hi to Mike and the kids, and come visit us when it gets warmer. We’ll make dal baat or something (I’m going to look it up right now.)