Al Fresco Summer Feast
I live next door to my mom and she entertains a lot in the backyard, which I find really inspiring. She sets a beautiful table. I collect ceramics and she collects textiles. Together, we tend to the fire and feast. This is a little nod to the future and opening Minifactory in Vergennes where we'll cook food that celebrates preserves.
Friday's Menu
Skillet potatoes with Cherry Fennel Sherry Jam, mustard vinaigrette, chives
Chicken Wings tossed with Peach Bulgarian Pepper Tomato Jam, butter, crunchy salt, cilantro, lime
Preserved lemon, orange & chili pepper - braised leg of lamb swaddled with Apricot Jam and served with frying peppers, roasted fennel & summer squash
Salad of heirloom iceberg & radicchio leaves tossed with a green garlic aioli dressing
Dark chocolate brownies with Raspberry Redcurrant Geranium Jam cream
Growing up, if we cooked outside, we fashioned a fire pit from bricks and stones, slung an old refrigerator rack over top and waited for the wood underneath to settle into coals. For Friday night's feast I used our Weber and the fire pit gave bonus light and warmth as the sun set and the evening cooled.
Potatoes. Room can be an issue on the grill, but if space opens up I like to put my cast iron skillet right over the coals to soak up some of that smoke.
On the bottom of the skillet, place slices of butter and then a little olive oil to bring up the cooking oil smoke point. I crack and smush my boiled potatoes, laying them over the butter. Place the skillet onto the grill and let it go.
That solid wall of fat on the bottom of the skillet produces a beautiful crisping and caramelization on your potatoes. Peek under the spuds to scope the browning process. Once both sides of the potato are deliciously browned, pull the skillet from the heat.
Let's break it down. You'll find a lot of mustard dressings contain honey. We don't need that sweetness in our dressing because we get that balance from cherry jam. We want an extra bright vinaigrette to meet the fruit and balance our rich skillet potatoes. Omit the honey in this recipe. The shallot and lemon provide the assertive push we need.
Building your platter, lay a base layer of Cherry Fennel Sherry Jam. Scatter your skillet potatoes over the jam. Drizzle the vinaigrette on top of the potatoes. I wished I had parsley for this, but I forgot to ask Amy to harvest some. The dish works great without fresh herbs too.
Chicken wings. Here's my set up for tossing the Chicken Wings as they come off the grill. I've marinated my wings for about an hour in salt, olive oil and cayenne pepper.
This is enough butter for about 2.5-3 lbs of wings. I'll empty a 6 oz jar of Peach Bulgarian Pepper Tomato Jam. The hot wings melt the butter. Over top the wings I dab in my spoons of jam.
Let the butter, wings, and jam sit in a bowl for a moment. Gotta get that butter melted! Slap a plate on top of the bowl and shake! Do a dance.
Arrange the wings in a lovely serving bowl. Squeeze lime juice all over the wings and finish with some crunchy salt. Last, sprinkle chopped cilantro over top and serve.
Lamb. Swaddling is what I call this fruit preserves cookery method (used here for braised lamb). Earlier this winter I preserved Meyer Lemons with salt, coriander, peppercorns and chilis. For the lamb braising liquid, I blended together 1 preserved lemon, orange juice, and garlic for an assertive, aromatic mix that matches the Apricot Jam used for finishing the dish I assemble this dish by
1) fanning out slices of braised lamb
2) nestling my oven-roasted veggies in between
3) now keeping up that fan shape, tuck spoons of jam between the meat and veggie stacks
4) finally, spoon your braising liquid over the assemblage for about a quarter inch of liquid in the pan.
Set your skillet on the grill and let it heat on your dying coals. Give the pan a little shake to get all the parts rubbing on each other, saucing each other. Folks can serve themselves straight from the skillet.
Brownies. One of my outdoor cooking hacks (especially when attending potlucks) is using jam to stiffen whipping cream. No whisk necessary! The ratio of cream to jam is up to you, but I generally do 3 parts cream to 1 part jam.
More jam means more acid and a stiffer cream. Pictured here is Raspberry Redcurrant Geranium Jam and I love using Cherry Rosehip Hibiscus Jam for this as well.
