The Last Supper

So, here I am on the first leg of my 6 mouth round-the-world trip.  Yes, it will be an exciting time.  Yes, I will see and experience many strange and beautiful things.  Sometimes not so strange and at times downright ugly and morose (gotta love the third world).  But in the end, it will be an experience.

 

But now to the important stuff, food and alcohol.  You see, earlier this week, while I ran around the halls of the HQ building in Esquimalt getting ready for this trip, I turned the corner and there was Toblerone himself strolling down the hall, sporting his pomodore and canoe tickler (it does suit him well).  And of course he had his newest edition with him.  And, since we haden’t seen each other since Xmas and as of Saturday morning I probably wouldn’t see him for at least several years, we decided that it might be a good idea to see each other one last time for a good round of exquisite food, fine wine and home-made beer.  And so on Thursday Toblerone et al. came over for a typical evening of libations and such.

 

Menu was free from frozen philo pastry entrees, followed by Agneau au jus de carrottes and followed with Tiramisu in a beer glass made with … you guessed it, beer and served with … now think hard … home made mocha-beer (now who could possibly come up with that).

 

I can’t relate the entrée recipe for you but for $15 bucks at Save on Foods you could find out for yourself.  Toblerone will have to pass on his Tiramisu recipe through Mrs. Toblerone’s blog (don’t forget to send me the link) but I can say that it was fantastic.  Who would have ever thought that mocha-beer, espresso and chocolate make a great dessert?  Well, most probably would have except for me. No, my brain was set on the Agneau au jus de carrotte…

 

This recipe came about accidentally.  One day not so far back I was intent on making Osso Buco but when I got home I realized that I had no tomatoes, no oregano, no rosemary, etc.. ad infinitum.  What I did have was meat with bone, celery (lots), and carrots (lots of lots!).  So:

 

Meat with bone (such as lamb ribs)

Two lbs of carrots

1\2 lb of celery

One large onion (Spanish, red or white if you want a bit of sweetness)

3-5 cloves of garlic

2 Peppers with colour

Fennel or fennel seeds

Fresh thyme

1 lb of small potatoes

Pine nuts

Figs (preferably fresh)

 

Chop carrots, celery and garlic into chunks and boil in 2L of water for 30 minutes.  Remove and let cool.  Strain keeping all the water.  Once cool (unless you like burning your hands) put a portion into cheesecloth and squeeze to get every last ounce of juice out of it. Repeat until all boiled veggies resemble baby food which can be thrown away (unless you have a little tyke).  Kinda like a Salsa Espanola, if you’ve every made that.

 

Dice, slice or chop onions and peppers any way you like and add fennel seeds and thyme in frying pan with olive oil until onions are sweetened (a.k.a., clear).  No need to fry until golden because you still have 2 hours of cooking ahead of you.  I used about 8-10 shakes of fennel seeds (more or less if you prefer) and 4 medium size thyme twigs (yes, I stripped the leaves from the twigs and no I didn’t add the twigs themselves).

 

Once onion is sweet, add the meat and fry at low temp for 5 minutes per side.  Add the carrot-celery broth and bring it to a boil and reduce.  Cover and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours.  If the broth boils away, add a bit more water.

 

When 1\2 hour of cooking time is left, add the potatoes which have been neatly cut into bite size pieces.  Recover to let the steam cook them.

 

Once ready, serve and garnish with pine nuts and sliced figs.  If you can do it decoratively, good for you. I for one have a bit of trouble in that department.

 

We served it with ’06 Nero d’Avola (Sicilian red) and a bottle of ’03 Shiraz Cabarnet that Toblerone brought over. The name escapes me but it was really good. 

 

Incidentally, I typed this while at 33,000 ft eating a reheated chicken burger and an iceberg lettuce salad … all on the same seat tray!  Now that is an accomplishment.

~ by barbagallo on April 27, 2008.