Easter is this weekend and what better way to celebrate than with lamb, a staple food dating back to Biblical times. The cool, fresh flavor of the tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber sauce with garlic and lemon) is a perfect match for the peppery lamb. I know you usually see the lamb done with rosemary, not oregano, but I LOVE fresh oregano as it grows wild in Greece and is the preferred herb for lamb.

In This Menu:

• Grilled Leg of Lamb
• Sweet Potato Puree
• Fresh Artichokes with Lemony Mayonnaise
• Broccoli Crowns with Butter
• Cyrus O’Leary Cream Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 1 leg of lamb, boned (about 2 to 2½ pounds)
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons DaVinci Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons each chopped fresh oregano, parsley, and thyme
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
• 4 teaspoons coarse black pepper

PREPARATION

Fire up the grill. Place lamb in a shallow dish and pour vinegar and olive oil over lamb and rub into meat until lamb is evenly coated. Sprinkle the garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper evenly all over the surface of the meat, and again, rub until evenly coated. Place the lamb on a medium hot grill (350° if you have a thermometer) and roast for about 45 minutes until the meat thermometer registers 140°. Remove lamb from grill and allow it to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Make sure you slice across the grain into ¼ inch thick slices. Serve with tzatziki.

INGREDIENTS

• 16 ounces (2 cups) of plain yogurt
• 4 to 10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• ½ cup of diced or grated cucumber (Kirby or “English”)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice

PREPARATION

Prepare all ingredients in advance. Combine oil and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl. Fold the yogurt in slowly, making sure it mixes completely with the oil. Add the garlic, according to taste, and the cucumber. Stir until evenly distributed. Garnish with a bit of green and serve well chilled.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon coarse, black pepper
• 3 tablespoons Hiland butter
• ½ cup Swanson’s chicken broth

PREPARATION

Peel potatoes, cut into 1″ cubes and place in saucepan. Fill pan with enough water to cover the potatoes by 1″. Turn on high heat and bring to a boil. When boiling, reduce heat and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Place potatoes with remaining ingredients in a countertop mixer and whip on high speed until smooth. You can also use an electric beater.

I remember the first time I cooked artichokes. I was 14 and had my first job at a legendary Springfield restaurant, Ebenezer’s. We would cook 3 or 4 cases at a time in a very large steam kettle and the pickling spice I use in the recipe below is from those Ebenezer’s days. I can still remember the wonderful aroma of the spices coming from the kettle while the artichokes cooked. I have not cooked or eaten artichokes in a very long time and forgot how wonderful they really are. Kids even seem to like them and enjoy pulling off the leaves. Who doesn’t?

INGREDIENTS

• 4 fresh artichokes
• 2 tablespoons pickling spice
• 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
• 2 lemons
• 1 cup Hellman’s Mayonnaise
• ¼ cup DaVinci Extra Virgin
  Olive Oil
• 1 bulb garlic
• ¼ teaspoon each salt and
  black pepper

PREPARATION

Put 3 quarts of water in a large saucepan and add pickling spice and salt to water. Cut 1 lemon in half, squeeze juice into water from each half and drop the lemon halves into the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. While water is heating, prepare artichokes. Take off the outer leaves of the artichoke and cut ½ inch off of the top. With a sharp paring knife or kitchen shears, remove any remaining pointy spines. Cut off the ends of the artichokes right up to the base. When water is boiling, add the artichokes and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover pan and cook artichokes for 30 to 40 minutes until an outer leaf pulls off easily.

Crush garlic bulb with the flat side of a large knife. Remove the skins from all of the cloves and put cloves in food processor. Add ½ of the olive oil to processor and chop garlic until fine using the pulse action. Scrape side of processor bowl to get an even chop. You can chop with a knife and then add oil to garlic. The garlic in oil will last weeks in the refrigerator and will taste much fresher than any garlic in a jar.

Cut other lemon in half and squeeze juice through a sieve to catch seeds into a small bowl. Add mayonnaise, the remaining oil, and 1 tablespoon of the garlic to the bowl. Add the salt and pepper and mix well.

Remove the artichokes from the water and drain well. Serve immediately with lemony mayonnaise. If you have never eaten them before, you are in for a treat! To eat them, pull off leaves, starting at the outside then dip bottom of leaf into mayonnaise. Pull the bottom part of the leaf through clenched teeth. The soft, edible part will come off the leaf. Discard the remainder of the leaf. As you move further inside the artichoke, there is more and more that is edible until you reach the prize, the heart! You will notice when you pull all of the inner leaves out of center, you will see a furry type substance. Cut this out and discard as it is not edible. What remains is the artichoke heart and is completely edible and really wonderful. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 broccoli crowns
• 3 tablespoons Hiland butter
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon coarse, black pepper

PREPARATION

Cook broccoli until tender, but not soft. You can either steam or boil. When broccoli is done, immediately plunge in ice water to set the color. Remove from water and drain. In a small saucepan, melt butter with salt and pepper over low heat. Add broccoli to pan, cover and heat for abut 4 minutes until broccoli is warmed throughout.

Purchase at the Deli