Sorrel Stuffed Leg of Lamb with Blackberry Shiraz Glaze

For the glaze:

1 bottle shiraz (we used Purple Moon, $4 at Trader Joes)
~ 2 handfuls of ripe blackberries
~ 1tsp to 1tbsp sugar

For the lamb:
1 3-5 lb boneless leg of lamb, fat trimmed
4-5 leaves sorrel, sliced thinly
salt & pepper to taste



Preheat oven to 350. Coat inside of lamb with salt, pepper, and sorrel. Roll lamb and tie with kitchen string. One end of the lamb will be nice and neatly packaged, one end will look "flappy." This is fine, it won't affect the cooking. Cook for about 1 hour (the general rule is 30-35 minutes/lbs).

While the lamb is cooking, combine wine, sugar, and blackberries in a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Use a whisk to mash the berries and to stir occasionally, reducing mixture by roughly 2/3, or until syrupy.



Use a brush to coat the lamb in glaze, then cook for another roughly 30 minutes, re-glazing regularly. When the internal temperature of the meat reaches 150-155 degrees, remove from oven and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Slice and serve.





We had this with corn and asparagus. We matched it up with Black Mountain Vineyards 2006 Pinot Noir and Gaetano D'Aquino Valpolicella.


Thoughts:
Next time I may apply the glaze throughout the whole process. The flavor of the glaze wasn't a strong as I expected, nor did it get any "crunch." Those aren't necessarily bad things, but it wasn't exactly what I expected.

This was phenomenally delicious.

Pan Seared Scallops in Citrus Saffron Beurre Blanc

My brother Daniel came over for wine tasting and debauchery tonight. We decided to experiment.



We made this with broccoli and garlic roasted potatoes

Citrus Saffron Beurre Blanc:
Original recipe courtesy of That's My Home

1 C. Chardonnay
2 T. minced garlic
2 T. lemon juice
1 pinch saffron
6 oz. heavy cream
4 oz. unsalted butter

Pan Seared Scallops:
1 T. olive oil
18 sea scallops
Salt and pepper to taste

To make Beurre Blanc, combine wine, garlic, lemon juice and saffron in stainless-steel pot. Bring to simmer and reduce. Add cream and reduce by half. Turn the heat to high and whisk in cut up butter, 2-3 knobs at a time until all butter is well incorporated. Finish with a hand-held mixer.

For scallops: Heat olive oil in saute pan. When simmering add scallops seasoned with salt and pepper. Brown on each side until opaque in center. Serve sauce over scallops.
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This turned out really well. The scallops were just the slightest bit tough, but we were using Trader Joe's frozen scallops, so I'm not entirely surprised. They were delicious, very sweet and almost no fishy flavor.

The Beurre Blanc turned out quite well. It should have reduced a while longer, but that was the only real problem.

Everything was delicious