Barbecue Lamb at Sudan Farms

This weekend was the Portland Culinary Alliance’s annual barbecue out at SuDan Farms. For those of you who are not familiar with SuDan Farms, they supply some of the best restaurants in Portland with fresh gorgeous lamb. I had a great time talking with Dan of SuDan Farms about breeding, feeding and butchering lambs. I watched carefully as he skillfully broke down an entire barbecued lamb. I even got to see where my favorite cut of meat “the Hanger Steak” came from on a lamb. I also got a chance to talk with Sue about raising ducks and virtues of raw milk.

I am really enjoying the Portland Culinary Alliance. Its members cover every aspect of the culinary world from nutritionist, to chefs, to food marketers. Every time I go to a meeting I end up meeting some very interesting folks.

Salt and Pepper Squid

I have a long list of foods that I am dying to make, but never quite get around too. Someday I will conquer duck confit, cassoulet, apple charlotte etc. Well Salt and Pepper Squid has been on that list for a couple of years, but this weekend I took it off the list and moved it over to the “look what I made” list.

Down the street from my house is a dingy little Vietnamese restaurant with fantastic food and their Salt and Pepper Squid is light and crisp with a spicy sweet and salty crust. The squid is cut into rings and then lightly coated in heavily seasoned cornstarch and then deep fried. I think the key to this dish is explosion of flavor between the salt, Szechwan pepper and the sweet tender meet.

The dish is very simple, but I have never worked with squid so I was a little scared. Last week I saw some beautiful squid at the market so I picked up a pound and went to work. Conveniently the squid had been cleaned so all I had to do is give them a good rinse and cut them in to rings. I asked the fish monger to include the tentacle because those are my favorite part, but if the tentacles freak you out then just toss them out.

Strawberry Lemonade / Lemon Drops

I had two extra pints of strawberries this weekend and I didn’t want them to go to waste so I decided that making some sweet strawberry lemonade would be a great way to use them up. First I simmered the strawberries in with sugar and water. Then I pureed the strawberries and strained the seeds out. Then I just added the lemon juice and water.

Peter discovered that when you add vodka and shake it over ice it makes a great lemon drop.

Burrata with Romesco

I came across a really special cheese this week. Burrata is a ball of fresh mozzarella filled with a soft creamy center. My cheese shop gets Burrata flown in from Italy once a month. This month I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of them. I wanted to make something simple that would show off the cheese so I make a romesco sauce and served it on crusty bread.