Wendy Ra­hamut

East­er is a time for cel­e­bra­tion for Chris­tians around the world. A grand East­er feast usu­al­ly marks the end of the Lenten fast­ing sea­son. A su­perb meal head­ed by a meat roast is usu­al­ly the way East­er is cel­e­brat­ed here in Trinidad and To­ba­go and in many coun­tries around the world.

Roast leg of lamb usu­al­ly makes a very fes­tive en­tr�e ac­com­pa­nied by many mouth­wa­ter­ing side dish­es.

Here are some sure-to-please dish­es which I know you will en­joy this hol­i­day week­end! Hap­py East­er!

ROAST LEG OF LAMB WITH ROSE­MARY AND GAR­LIC

4 lb leg of lamb

2 tbs Di­jon mus­tard

8 cloves gar­lic, minced

4 tbs red wine vine­gar

2 tsp coarse­ly cracked black pep­per

2 tbs chopped fresh rose­mary or one tbs dried

2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp salt

METHOD

In a food proces­sor com­bine gar­lic, vine­gar, mus­tard, pep­per, rose­mary and olive oil, process un­til com­bined

Rub mari­nade over lamb, cov­er and re­frig­er­ate overnight.

Be­fore roast­ing re­move lamb from re­frig­er­a­tor, bring to room tem­per­a­ture, rub salt over lamb,

Pre­heat oven to 375F and roast lamb for 1 to 11/2 hours or un­til done.

Lamb is usu­al­ly at its best when a meat ther­mome­ter in­sert­ed in the thick­est part reg­is­ters 140F

Al­low roast to rest for 15 mins be­fore carv­ing.

Serves 8 to 10

LEMON RICE WITH­PARS­LEY AND PEP­PERS

1 cup long grain rice

1 tbs un­salt­ed but­ter

1 tbs veg­etable oil

1 small onion, fine­ly chopped

1 medi­um sized sweet red pep­per, seed­ed and chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs fresh­ly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

2 tbs chopped fresh pars­ley

21/2 cups veg­etable or chick­en stock

METHOD

In a medi­um sized saucepan, heat veg­etable oil, add onion and saut� un­til ten­der, about 2-3 min­utes, add pep­per, lemon zest and rice, saut� for a cou­ple min­utes more, add broth, lemon juice and sea­son with salt.

Bring to a boil, cov­er and low­er heat, sim­mer for 20 min­utes un­til cooked.

Stir in pars­ley and but­ter. Taste and ad­just sea­son­ings.

FES­TIVE OR­ANGE RAISIN RING

1/2 cup dark rum

1 1/2 cup raisins

1 cup cit­ron can­died peel

5 1/2 to 6 cups all pur­pose flour

1 pack­age ac­tive dried in­stant yeast

2 cups warm milk (120F)

2 tsp salt

1/3 cup brown sug­ar

1/4 cup veg­etable oil

1 egg

METHOD

Com­bine fruit with rum and soak for about 4 hours.

Com­bine 2 cups flour with yeast, salt and sug­ar

Add oil to milk and add egg.

Pour in­to flour mix­ture.

Add fruits in rum.

Knead to a creamy con­sis­ten­cy.

Add re­main­ing flour 1/2 cup at a time to form a soft dough that just clears the sides of the bowl. turn on­to a work sur­face.

Knead un­til smooth and springy.

Place in a large bowl, cov­er and let stand un­til dou­bled, about 11/2 hours.

Pre­heat oven to 375F

Grease and flour a 9 to 10 inch tube pan.

Punch down dough, roll in­to a log and place in­to tube pan.

Let rise for about 30 min­utes.

Bake for 40 min­utes un­til gold­en.

Makes 1 ring.