In contrast, the church we attend while we summer in Montana is very, very small. Maybe 30 show up on a Sunday morning. We are at 7000 feet altitude over-looking the mountains and all the beauty of God's world. It is over the top also.
Easter has changed for me a lot since I was a child. It was always a family event with church together and a large dinner and then the Easter egg hunt for all the children. The Trout and I are always alone now, the children living in different states. They have their own traditions to establish and carry on.
So this year, no beautiful dyed eggs and not even a piece of chocolate within the walls of this home. But, we did have a beautiful dinner. Our outdoor temperature is in the mid-80's, sunny. Over the top!!
Grilled butterflied leg of lamb, grilled asparagus and wild rice. No dessert. It was a very lovely dinner embraced with a bottle of Chateau la Couspaude 2001, Grand Cru from France.
We eat lamb often because we like it so well. I have a grilled leg of lamb recipe where the lamb is marinated in yogurt. This time I tried a recipe I found on a German cooking newsletter. I changed it a little bit, but the meat was very, very tender and tasty.
Lammbraten
Grilled Leg of Lamb
1- 3 lb. leg of lamb
2 lemons
5 springs of rosemary
1 onion, diced
12 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper
A small amount of olive oil to help the marinade cover the lamb
Cut the lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a plastic Ziploc bag. Cut one of the lemons into pieces and add to the bag. Slide the rosemary off of the springs and add to the juice.
Butterfly the leg of lamb by cutting around the bone and then flattening the piece of meat until it is quite uniform in thickness.
Marinate overnight. We grilled on a gas grill though had thought about using the charcoal grill also. Flip it after one side has crusted nicely. Temperature at 140 degrees is medium rare and can cook longer to your desire. Let the meat rest before serving.
Happy Easter to you and the Trout, Susan! The lamb looks delicious. I wanted to make leg of lamb, but procrastinated and when I went to buy it they were out. So, we're having smoked ham. Quiet Easter here, too. No eggs, no Easter baskets. Life changes can be a little hard sometimes.
ReplyDeleteYour dinner sounds lovely, Susan. Holidays can be "over the top" even though they aren't the traditional ways of the past. I didn't dye eggs either and don't have a speck of chocolate in the cupboard. I hope you had a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteEaster with sunny skies, grilled butterflied leg of lamb, grilled asparagus and wild rice - it doesn't get any better than that Susan. Happy Easter.
ReplyDeleteSam
Greetings and Happy Easter! It's been a long time since I visited... I was without a laptop for weeks and I am finally getting a chance to catch up with blog buddies little by little. I see you had a delicious Easter dinner! I have fond memories of my my Mom making broiled Lamb Chops under the broiler for my Dad when I was a little girl -- his favorite. So your lamb dinner brought back good memories for me. :) And you are so lucky -- you and Mr. Trout ;) -- that you go from Florida to Montana; and what a difference in the amount of people at the church services! Amazing!
ReplyDeleteWell, I wish you a blessed Easter and thanks for sharing your recipe with us. I hope to try it one day!
Best,
Gloria
Hello and Happy Easter to all! Your recipe came from Stephen Block. A very nice guy if you ever talk with him. Not a know it all like some chefs can be. He has wrote a German cookbook named(Recipes from a German Grandma) He made a Apfel-Minz Geschmack to go with the Lammbraten.It goes very well with the lamb. He did not use olive oil in his recipes as it was German food! His cookbook will take you back in time. As it did my mom growing up in the 20,s-30,s Also if you like real German home cooking ,check out his web site(http://www.kitchenproject.com/german/german_food_recipes.htm) and also main page(www.kitchenproject.com) Have to go now as we are grilling Lammbraten seved with Apfel-Minz Geschmack today. As we enjoy this day.Try to remember what easter is all about. May God bless you all and fill your hearts with his love too!
ReplyDeleteYour dinner sounds lovely!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Hi Susan, You had a lovely day and wonderful food. We did have some chocolate. I love lamb, but Hans doesn't eat it now as he hates the thought of small, new lambs being killed to eat when we aren't in need of food. I do eat it now and again when the opportunity arises. I love it with an herb crust and we have had that in the past, both at home and at a Gasthaus here in Germany. We had "Beef Wellington" for Easter Sunday,which was superb. I shall be writing about it before long. We aren't church goers but enjoy that part of it all the same and we go occasionally. I love the story of Easter. Happy Easter and weekend!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like the two of you had a great day and a delicious meal. That's interesting with the difference in the churches, both unique in their own way. We had the traditional meal and while everyone else did all the work, I cuddled my grandbaby. That's a first!
ReplyDeleteHi Susan, it sounds like you had a lovely day and a fantastic meal. We had a very relaxing Easterversary at my sisters in NH.
ReplyDeleteMy family have been invited to a friend's home for Easter last several years and we always have ham. I think I will make this and take it to them next year! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a wonderful Easter, Susan, and so did I!
We have to adjust to life's changes. My kids are scattered too and my grandkids are too far away so I miss the egg hunts.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, this was a big day! Dad always got us corsages for church, and the Easter bunny always came with big baskets of goodies.
The only reason I had colored eggs this year was that my brother sent home 6 dozen tan and brown eggs with me! We did have plans to color but the teenagers deserted us! They all showed up for Easter dinner so it was a bit like it used to be but change is on the horizon. It sounds like you had a lovely dinner together.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a wondderful Easter amd What a beautiful meal Susan. I do love lamb and have never cooked it; not my husbacd's favourite thing.
ReplyDeleteRita
Barb, Lovely customs.
ReplyDelete