Last week we got cyber attacked… Twice! I’m pretty sure they were not after our little blog, but it still took a lot of work to put it back together. We did lose a couple of entries (thank goodness for backups) and possibly a couple of comments, that I could not recover. I think we are back up and on track again. Things have been warming up here, after a record cold February (we did not go over the freezing mark all month). A few days lately when the sun is shining, it is starting to feel like spring, so maybe we can shift our menu a little in that direction too. This week all we could decide on was the appetizer. While we were at the cottage, we had great fun making some interesting pastas. One that is always a treat to make is Farfalle Tricolore (tricoloured bow tie pasta). We made carrot pasta, beet pasta, and swiss chard pasta (usually it’s made with spinach, but we had swiss chard in the freezer). These are combined and cranked through the pasta machine, then cut and shaped.
So with our trio and special guest Ruth, we sat down to Farfalle Tricolore with Pancetta and Peas. The flavour of the bacon and peas, with a light cream sauce, complimented our pasta nicely.
While the main was coming up to temperature, it gave us time to talk about our upcoming show, brand new score, Cammac reading of the Judith, and to learn more about our guest. For our main, we had 2 lovely racks of lamb, marinated in olive oil, garlic rosemary and thyme. We served it with roasted golden beets, carrots and sugar snap peas, and a Dijon mustard sauce made with a Tomassi Ripasso, which we also served alongside the meal.
The crispness of the vegetables and the lamb, seems like a good spring meal to me. This also reminded us that we need to start coordinating what we will grow in the gardens this year. For dessert we wanted something light and zesty, so we made little éclairs filled with lime custard and a lime drizzle on top. I usually think of éclairs filled with cream and covered in chocolate, so there were surprising, zesty and light.
Spring is in the air…. it also seems to be in our cooking. I have to say we had a delightful evening, with pleasant company, but Monday Night Dining in season is on a strict schedule, so we must hasten to rehearsal. I just wanted to add a challenge to the blog… Steph bought this silver item, at a sale at the convent, and we are trying to figure out what it is. If you know, please comment, or click the “contact us” button.
I’m looking forward to eating al fresco!
Your tricolore pasta is a wonder of nature! Thnkas for posting the mystery solver object. Maybe someone out there in cyberspace knows what it is.
The meal looks scrumptious, guys!
I am going to take a stab at your silver object: that it is a form aspergillum, with reservoire, for the storage and sprinkling of holy water. Assuming the little ball at the top is perforated (?)
Suitable for aspersions of all kinds! Just a thought.
Brian: This was my first idea, as well. The little ball is solid silver though. I took this little gem to Church, to show the rector. He had a few ideas, but thought aspergillum might be correct. He added some water and immediately drenched me from head to toe, robes and all. I was wet most of the service. The look on his face…. kind of shock, mixed with remorse, all the while laughing his butt off!!! It made our day!!!