A Weekend of Family Feasting

This weekend, Nicholas came to town and cooked Ramen. A simple dish but a long time to prepare. The broth takes about 12 hours to complete alone. Ben decided to make Alkaline noodles to go with so the boys were in charge of the kitchen.

The results:

Assembled Ramen, not your dorm room cup o soup.

 All the accompaniments to the painstaking broth includes soft boiled egg, shredded chicken and sliced pork roast, a variety of sauces, marinated mushrooms and of course noodles. It was a  tasty and satisfying dinner with great company.

The very night of the dinner I prepared 4 lamb shanks for a slow cooking experience. First, after the shanks thawed from the freezer, I browned them thoroughly in  cast iron skillet (on the outdoor grill) and then placed them in the crock pot for 10 hours with:

1 cup red wine
1 tablespoon Dijon
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
4 cloves garlic crushed
4 large sprigs of rosemary
2 carrots diced

The next morning, after the meat came off the bone, I strained the drippings and skimmed the fat, added 2 cups chicken broth and poured it into a roux I made with 2 T butter and flour. To this I added a package of sauteed pearl onions and 8 ounces of Cremini mushrooms quartered.

I served it with Greek potatoes and sauteed Broccolini.