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A Carole Peck Easter
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Easter with Carole Peck
A Chef du Jour column by Barbara Coles
Vibrantly colored hard-boiled eggs, ham, kielbasa, beets, pirogies.
These are the foods that Carole Peck -- arguably the most celebrated female chef/restaurateur in Connecticut -- conjures up when she thinks of Easter. Among Peck's kudos are being named one of the nation's top chefs by Food Arts and Eating Well magazines. Readers of Connecticut magazine consistently vote her Good News Cafe in Woodbury as "Best Overall Restaurant" in Litchfield County.
"It all goes back to my Ukrainian heritage," Peck remarked at her prize-winning cafe as she prepared a sampling of what she served on the holiday.
Two special Easter entrees were fresh ham with homemade fig and citrus jam, and rack of lamb with sheep's cheese crust, roasted asparagus and cauliflower, pine nuts and raisin flan. Appetizers included "The Martha" (a three-layer salad with julienned beets on the bottom; avocado, peas and cucumbers in the middle; and horseradish chive cream on top); and spring vegetables (fresh artichokes, fava beans, spring peas and carrots) with avgolemono sauce (a Greek lemon and egg sauce). For dessert, there was Mile High Coconut Cake, three layers with boiled icing, enhanced by mango and raspberry sauce.
"I grew up in Newburgh, NY, in the 1960s, and my family was Ukrainian Orthodox. Easter was a huge holiday, bigger than Christmas," Peck recalled. "We didn't have a big family. My grandparents left the Ukraine and moved to New York State. Two of my grandparents never even learned English!"
Here in the States, the family kept the Old World traditions. Because they didn't live close to a Ukrainian Orthodox Church, they attended a Greek Orthodox Church.
"So when I think of Easter, I often think of Greek foods, too," chuckled Peck. Ah, that explains the avgolemono sauce.
"Easter day was so special," continued Peck, the youngest of three children. "Church was about five hours long, with processions and all. But Lent was over, so Easter dinner was eagerly awaited.
"Notice how I sneak a little egg into places people can't see," Peck pointed out. The flan that accompanies the rack of lam has egg in it. The spring vegetables with avgolemono sauce is "finished with a little egg," she mentioned. "My mother used to do the Ukrainian eggs (exquisitely decorated eggs). I thought every kid had Ukrainian eggs!" admitted Peck, who said she still has one of her mom's egg masterpieces.
The Martha is named for one of her grandmothers. One time Peck appeared on Martha Stewart's television program and prepared -- what else? -- The Martha.
Speaking of her grandmothers, Peck told a poignant baking story about her other grandma. Bread was a very important part of a Ukrainian holiday.
"The ladies of the Orthodox church back in the Ukraine used to bake paskha at Easter," Peck said. "The church had a little competition to see who could make the most beautiful bread with rose-shaped dough on top. My grandmother made a large, lovely rose on her paskha. But her bread got so big while baking that she had to cut off the rose design on top in order to get it out of the oven! It was a lesson in humility."
However, the chef extraordinaire reflected, "You see where I get my culinary drive from!"
"My grandfather made homemade fresh farmer's cheese," added Peck. "He always made it at Easter. He put cloves on top in the shape of a cross."
"I think of coconut as an Easter item, don't you?" queried Peck, referring to her Mile-High Coconut Cake. "The coconut cake is light and fluffy. It's always a featured dessert at the Good News Cafe."
Becky Vermilyea, Good News Cafe's pastry chef, also prepared Mrs. MacGregor's Carrot Cake with pineapple mousse for Easter.
An Easter dinner recipe from Carole Peck
Spiced rack of lamb
Ingredients
6 half racks of lamb (allow 3 chops per person)
1/2 cup blanched almonds or pine nuts
1 tbsp. chopped fresh ginger
1 tbsp. black peppercorns
1 tbsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp. juniper berries
6 whole cloves
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. coarse salt
Vegetable oil for coating the roasting pan
Preparation
Prepare the lamb by removing the top fat layer and all the silver skin with a sharp knife. Cut out the excess fat between the bones and scrape them clean of fat and sinew. If you don't want the work of cleaning a rack. let the butcher do this for you.
Combine the nuts, ginger, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, juniper berries, whole cloves and cayenne pepper in a spice grinder or mortar and grind coarsely. Add the salt. Coat the racks with this seasoning mixture and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to permeate the meat.
When ready to cook, sprinkle a roasting pan with vegetable oil and heat it in a 450-degree oven. Wrap the lamb bones in aluminum foil to prevent burning and place, bone side down, in the hot pan. Roast 15 minutes, turn over and roast another 10 minutes for rare to medium-rare meat.
Remove from the oven and let rest. Cut between each bone and place the chops on a serving platter.
Note: To make a sauce from the pan drippings, deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup cognac and whisk in 3 cups stock (meat or vegetable). Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half.
The spice mix can be made up to a week ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Once it is patted on the lamb, the meat can be left in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours before roasting.
The lamb is delicious served at room temperature, but if you prefer, undercook the chops by 5 minutes, then reheat in a 450-degree oven 5 minutes before serving.
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