Julia Child's Louisiana Boil

I use to love watching Julia Child's TV shows on PBS.  Well, also Chevy Chase's take on her on SNL.  So, when a cook book came out on the Cooking With the Master Chef series, I had to have it.  One recipe I do over and over is the Louisiana Boil with Emeril.  I've adapted it to meet more southern sensibilities.  Not quite so hot and, depending on what's available, leave out the craw dads i.e. crawfish. Growing up near Houston in the 1950's you could still find oysters, clams, crawfish etc and still be able to eat it fresh without the lubrication of oil.  Crude, that is. You'll need a Louisiana Rig, which is basically a low propane fired stand that holds a very large and deep kettle, with a removable basket insert and tight fitting lid. It can also be used to deep fry your Thanksgiving turkey (I'll wait to read about the inevitable turkey fire or blow up). This can also be done stove top with a large kettle and pasta insert.  But that would be for less than 4 people.  You can buy a "rig" at Home Depot or Lowes.  You'll also need a sheet of plastic and a large piece of butcher paper to cover your table.  This is best done outdoor because it can be messy.  Have a few trash cans around in which to throw the remnants. So, here's my modified version of Julia and Emeril's Louisiana Boil.  Serves 8  
Louisiana Boil

5-6 gallons water1 1/2 to 2 cups salt
2 tbls black pepper
2 packages dry crab boil
1 cup liquid crab boil
2 tbls tabasco
2 tbls creole seasoning
16 red skinned 2inch diameter potatoes
4 large artichokes
4 or more ears of corn, shucked and halved
2 ft. piece andouille sausage cut into edible sizes
6 lemons cut in half
4 med sized yellow onions cut into quarters
4 heads garlic, halved
2 1/2 pounds asparagus
12 live blue crab
5 pounds live crawfish,
2 pounds fresh whole shrimp (not peeled)
bowls of melted butter
plenty of cold beer, iced teaSet the kettle on the rig, insert basket and pour in water, and turn to high heat.  Add the seasoning, cover kettle and bring to a boil.  Taste the stock and adjust seasoning to as salty or as spicey as you want.  The longer the food steeps in the liquid, the spicier it becomes.  With the stock at full boil, add the potatoes and the artichokes.  Cover and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the corn, sausage, lemons, onions, garlic, and asparagus.  Cover, return to boil and cook 5 minutes.  Taste the stock again for spices.  Add the crab and the crawfish.  Tuck down into the stock with a wooden paddle.  Cover and return to boil and then add the shrimp and turn off flame.  Let steep 5-30 minutes depending on how strong you want the flavor to be.  Place the bowls of butter around the table, lots of paper towels, the beer and the iced tea.  NO UTENSILS!  This is primitive eating!  You eat with your fingers.  Lift out the basket and suspend it a few minutes to let it drain.  Then dramatically pour the food onto the plastic and butcher lined table.  Dig in!

Roasted Lamb Inspired by the Renaissance

 I have been using this recipe since THE Julia had her PBS series, In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs.  And, the master chef who created this dish is Lynn Rossetto Kasper.  This leg of lamb is so good and relatively easy to make.  By using the whole leg,  you put on one heck of a display. You will need to budget a 24 hour time period for marinating.  So, here's is

Roasted Lamb Inspired by the Renaissance
Agnello Al Forno Serves 6-8

For the Marinade:
A whole bone-in leg of lamb, about 10 lbs (shank bone left in tact: sirloin and hipbone removed)
The shredded zest of 4 large firm skinned oranges (if you don't know to not use the piths, then yuck, yuck, you're in for a surprise)
6 large garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
3 anchovy fillets (rinsed and boned if they were salted) I use canned but have the salted.
12-14 large leaves of fresh basil
3 tbls EVOO
1 tbls fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt

Preparing the marinade:
Drop the orange zest into a strainer and then submerge in a saucepan of boiling water for 3 mins.  Drain.  With the processor running, drop the garlic through the feed tube and then the orange zest, anchovies, basil, and when roughly mixed, pour in the olive oil.  Process for 2-3 mins until the mixture is chopped and blended but not pureed.  Turn off processor and add lemon juice, salt and pepper and then blend for a few for seconds.

For roasting the lamb:

Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good dry red wine
1 cup pitted brine cured black olives such as kalamata

For the sauce:
1/2 cup fine strong lamb, veal or chicken stock
2 tbls best quality tomato paste


Pierce the meat all over on both sides at 2 inch intervals with the tip of a sharp knife, making incisions 1 inch deep and wide enough to accommodate the tip of the index finger.  Using your fingers, push teaspoonfuls of the marinade deep into the inch deep incisions.  Rub whatever marinade is leftover on the outside of the meat.   Place the lamb in a glass platter and cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate over night or for 24 hrs.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  season the meat generously with salt and pepper and set it best side up in a roasting pan.  Do not use a rack.  Roast for 20 mins., then pour a cup of the red wine over the lamb and continue roasting.  After another 15-20 minutes, rapidly strew the olives around in the pan, and baste the meat with the pan juices, adding a little more wine if the juice threatens to burn.  Continue roasting, rapidly basting every 15 mins or so-add a little water to the pan if you run out of wine and the juice is evaporating.  After a total of 1 1/4 hrs. start testing just to be sure-a large leg of lamb this size should take 1 1/2 hrs., but much depends on the thickness of the meat, how cold it was when it went in, and how much the oven cooled off during the frequent basting.

Insert your instant read meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, not letting it touch the bone.  Let the tip penetrate 1 inch.  Watch as the needle rise just until it stablizes-about 5 seconds.  If the thermometer is left in longer, the temp will rise about 10 degrees .

130 degrees= blood rare
135 = rare (the meat is a good red)
140= med. rare (this is the best temp for lamb)

Transfer the lamb to a warm platter and slip it into a turned off oven leaving the door ajar for 15-20 mins. to let it rest.  If the wait is longer, tent with foil.  Meanwhile, skim the fat from the juices in the pan.  Set the pan over two burners on the stove top and turn the heat to high.  Stir in the stock and the tomato paste and boil over high heat to deglaze the pan, scraping up the good stuff from the bottom of the pan.  Let the liquid reduce about half.  Correct seasoning and transfer sauce and olives to warm bowl.