While lamb stew is a Foodie Tots favorite during the cold winter months, roast lamb is one of my favorite celebrations of spring. In my inter-faith household, lamb is one of the rare shared culinary traditions and is frequently served for our Easter supper. Easter has a tendency to fall during Passover, which can pose a menu planning challenge as leavened breads and such are forbidden. Fortunately, some investigation of Sephardic Jewish cooking traditions has led to delicious discoveries – like the spiced dried fruit charoset that I’ve used here as a stuffing for my leg of lamb. (Sephardic Jews typically eat rice and other grains during Passover, though since Israeli couscous is technically a pasta, it’s not exactly kosher. Close enough in our household, but you may want to check before serving to more observant Jewish guests.)

With the spring-like winter we’ve been having this year, I’ve been day-dreaming of planting my herb garden and had mint on the mind, so I added a lemon-mint pesto crust to the lamb. All we need are some daffodils in the garden and we’ll be set for spring.

I created this recipe as part of the DC Lamb Pro-Am – 13 local bloggers are competing for the best leg of lamb recipe, and a chance to cook our dish with DC chefs at the March 4 event. I’d be honored if you’d take a moment to vote for FoodieTots — thank you!

Let’s get started. First, take your leg of lamb out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature while you prepare the pesto and filling. Start with the pesto — fresh mint, parsley, lemon zest, half a shallot and pistachios are finely chopped, then add butter to form a thick paste.

For the filling, we combine dried figs, apricots, shallot, and a Middle Eastern-inspired spice blend: coriander, cumin and cinnamon. A little red wine is the finishing touch. (I used a Coteaux du Languedoc, Cotes du Rhone or another medium-bodied red wine would be fine.)

Next, press the stuffing into the lamb. Roll it up, press the pesto on top, and into the oven it goes… Voilà!

Recipe: Lemon-Mint Crusted Leg of Lamb with Spiced Fig Stuffing
Lamb sustainably-raised on Border Springs Farm in Southwest Virginia

Ingredients:

1 (4.5-5.5 pound) boneless leg of lamb
kosher salt
lemon-mint pesto (below)
spiced fig filling (below)

Lemon-Mint Pesto

1/2 shallot
1 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
1 cup fresh parsley leaves, loosely packed
1/3 cup shelled pistachios
zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons butter, cold

Place all ingredients except butter in food processor and process till finely chopped. Add butter and grind to a thick paste. Remove from processor and set aside.

Spiced Fig Filling

1/2 shallot
6 ounces dried apricots
7 ounces dried figs
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup red wine

Place all ingredients except wine in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Remove to a bowl, pour wine over and toss to combine. Set aside.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Rinse lamb and pat dry. Trim of any excess fat. Unfold leg and make a cut into the thicker side so that lamb can open flat (or, ask your butcher to butterfly the leg for you). Press fruit mixture into lamb in an even layer. Roll back up and place seam side down on rack in roasting pan.

Season lamb with kosher salt. Press pesto mixture over top. Cover loosely with foil and roast for 1 hour 45 minutes. Remove foil and cook an additional 30 minutes (total cooking time 2 hours and 15 minutes, or until meat thermometer reaches 145 degrees for medium rare). Remove and let stand for 15 minutes before carving.

Note: I had a hard time slicing my lamb without the crust crumbling. I’d suggest slicing it part way, then transferring the remaining leg to the serving platter to display to your guests before slicing the rest. Serve with Israeli couscous, garnished with mint, and roasted carrots.

You know the drill. The crowd has gathered for the holiday, friends and family are seated around the table and lovingly-prepared food is passed from plate to plate. Just as the chatter dies down, while people dig in for their first bite, your charming child loudly declares, “Ew, this is disgusting!” We’ve all been there. (We have, right?) Well local parents rejoice: The Grille at Morrison House hosts a monthly story time tea with Mrs. B. Who’s Mrs. B, you ask? A children’s etiquette teacher.

The monthly themed teas cater to the children with an introductory activity, kid-friendly menu items (pb&j and egg salad sandwiches, naturally), and story time. All the while, Mrs. B works in subtle tips about proper tea time manners casually throughout the afternoon. Tea is served in the hotel’s elegant tea room (available for afternoon tea for grown-ups every Saturday, 2:00-5:00pm).

We were invited to attend the Spooky Halloween tea and my five-year-old son had an absolute blast. He was smitten with Mrs. B, delighted to hear they had a “special hot chocolate” just for him and thoroughly enthralled the entire time.

Spooky Tea with Mrs. B

The breaks between the savory and sweet courses helped keep him entertained, and the champagne cocktail for mama made the afternoon even sweeter. As we left he declared that he wanted to return every month. The November and December teas feature Thanksgiving and Christmas themes, naturally, but story-time teas are held the third Saturday of every month. See details below for reservation information. And visit Mrs. B’s website for more info about her other classes and birthday parties. (I foresee a birthday tea party for the foodie bebe someday.)

MONTHLY STORY TIME TEA with MRS. B

The Morrison House
Old Town Alexandria, Va.

Every third Saturday of the Month, 2pm

November 19: Giving Thanks
December 17: A Very Merry Christmas Tea

All ages welcome

$38 adult / $28 child

RSVP
703-838-8000
storytime@morrisonhouse.com

Disclosure: We attended the tea as guests of the Grille at Morrison House. As always, all opinions and reviews are our own.

Today marks the eight-month anniversary of the Japan earthquake and tsunami that brought widespread devastation to that country. While our news cycle has moved on to many other stories in the weeks and months since then, the people of Japan continue to rebuild their homes and livelihoods. A few months ago, I contributed a recipe to Peko Peko: Family Friendly Japanese Recipes, a charity cookbook organized by Stacie of One Hungry Mama and Rachel of La Fuji Mama. Through the generous support of Blurb.com, $11.45 from each book sale (purchase price $29.95) goes directly to the GlobalGiving Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. That’s right — unlike other charity sales where pennies and nickles go to the cause, more than 1/3 of the sales go to the most critical areas in Japan.

Click here to see the full list of recipes contained in the cookbook — each contributed by well-known food bloggers.

(My contribution is pictured above, but you’ll have to buy the book for the recipe!) And then hop over to Blurb to order copies for all your friends and family for the holidays.

Thanks for your support!

{This is, obviously, a not-so-meatless recipe. Check back next week for a fresh and seasonal Meatless Monday recipe.}

As a devotee to all-things-dairy, I was excited to spot the “Goaterie” blog party mentioned on Twitter. Of course, there’s more to goat (or from) than cheese, so it seemed time to give the meat a try. Fortunately, I knew right where to turn for “happy” goat meat — Painted Hand Farm at the Bloomingdale Farmers Market in DC. When I asked which cut of meat would be best for cutting up, I was steered towards the leg — more meat than the shoulder. I bought two small leg pieces and headed home to research recipes. I originally had a curried dish in mind, but the Middle Eastern kabob recipe jumped out at me. I had read complaints about goat meat’s toughness, so I employed my favorite tenderizing marinade: yogurt. In this case, goats-milk yogurt, of course. The result was quite tasty — grilled to medium rare, the meat was still tender and moist. It has a flavor somewhat in between that of lamb and chicken, and in fact, goat meat has less saturated fat than even chicken. I used my favorite purple bell peppers from the market, but you can use any color you prefer.

Recipe: Middle Eastern Grilled Goat Kebabs
Adapted from Blue Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
• 1/2 cup goat milk yogurt
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 pounds trimmed goat meat, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 bell pepper, cut into chunks
• 6 bamboo or metal skewers
• pita bread

For yogurt sauce, layer the following in a small bowl:

• 1/2 cup goat milk yogurt
• 1 tomato, diced
• several leaves fresh mint, chopped

Instructions: Heat small skillet over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and stir until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Grind cumin in mortar; add garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and cinnamon and grind to a paste. In a large bowl or 1-gallon plastic bag, mix the spice mixture with pomegranate molasses and yogurt.  Add goat meat and rub to coat pieces evenly with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. While meat marinates, soak bamboo skewers (if using) in water.

Preheat grill to medium-high. Remove goat from marinade. Thread goat pieces and pepper pieces on to skewers. Grill, turning frequently, for 5-7 minutes for medium-rare. Serve with yogurt-tomato sauce and warm pita bread. Makes 3-4 servings.

This post is being shared with the Goaterie event hosted by Creative Culinary and La Fuji Mama. If you’re curious about cooking with goat meat, check out Goat: Meat, Milk, Cheese by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough.

Washington, DC’s first ever Farm-to-Street Party takes place tomorrow, Saturday, July 16, on V Street, NW, between 13th and 14th Streets. (Right outside Busboys & Poets.)

Part of the inaugural Eat Local First DC local foods week, the Street Party will feature activities for kids, a chance to soak Busboys & Poets owner Andy Shallal in a dunk tank, a pie-eating contest, and of course, locally-sourced food, beer and wine. The event is sponsored by Think Local First, a coalition of locally-owned businesses supporting sustainable economic development in DC. Buy tickets online ($15, includes 2 food tickets) or at the door.