My Prairie Cookbook (20 page)

This special-occasion dish is pretty, elegant, and delightful. Garnish with a few thyme and rosemary sprigs before you take it to the table. It makes a wonderful Easter meal, served with Potatoes au Gratin (
this page
) and Minty Peas and Carrots (
this page
).

Serves 4 to 6

1 (1¾-pound/800-g) rack of lamb

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

10 cloves garlic, smashed

Fresh sprigs thyme and/or rosemary, for serving (optional)

•
Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).

•
Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 12-inch (30.50-cm) cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the lamb, fat-side down, and cook, searing the bottom and sides of the rack, until browned, about 10 minutes. Turn the lamb fat-side up in the skillet and scatter the rosemary and thyme over the top. Add the garlic to the skillet and transfer it to the oven.

•
Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat reads 130°F (55°C) for medium-rare, about 10 minutes. Let it cool for 5 minutes before slicing the rack into portions and serving. Garnish with a few sprigs of thyme and/or rosemary, if desired.

This is a prairie dish and it's also a bayou dish. I shot a movie in New Orleans a long time ago. One day we were shooting in the middle of a bayou somewhere when there was a knock on my dressing room door. I opened it, and there was the man on whose property we were filming. He was carrying a huge baking sheet piled high with catfish he'd just caught, cleaned, and fried. I took one bite, and it was so good that I started to cry. I never learned his name, but he was very sweet and gave me his recipe. Here it is.

Serves 8

Vegetable oil, for frying

1 cup (160 g) yellow cornmeal

½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons seasoned salt

1 tablespoon garlic salt

½ teaspoon lemon pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Freshly ground black pepper

3½ pounds (1.6 kg) catfish fillets, cut into 8 equal pieces

Salt

•
Preheat the oven to 200°F (95°C). Pour the oil into a large, deep cast-iron or heavy skillet to a depth of 3 inches (7.5 cm) and heat over medium-high heat until hot, but not smoking.

•
Meanwhile, combine the cornmeal, flour, seasoned salt, garlic salt, lemon pepper, cayenne, and black pepper to taste in a large shallow dish. Thoroughly dredge the catfish fillets in the mixture, gently shaking off the excess.

•
Working in batches to avoid crowding, fry the catfish in the hot oil, without turning, until golden and crisp, 5 to 6 minutes. Keep the finished pieces warm in the oven while you fry the remaining catfish.

•
Transfer the fillets with a slotted spatula to paper towels to drain. Season to taste with salt and serve immediately.

I sure did a lot of fishing on
Little House
. I also love to fish for real—only if someone else will actually clean the fish, though. I'm fine with baiting hooks and so forth. I'm just not very good at handling fish innards. I actually created this recipe after a productive day of fishing with my boys.

Serves 4

½ cup (1 stick/115 g) unsalted butter

4 (8-ounce/225-g) whole brook, rainbow, or brown trout, cleaned, head and tail intact

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup (90 g) all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Lemon wedges, for serving

•
Preheat the oven to 200°F (90°C).

•
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 12-inch (30.5-cm) heavy skillet (preferably oval) over low heat, and then remove it from the heat.

•
Rinse the trout and pat them dry. Brush with the melted butter inside and out and season with ¾ teaspoon of the salt. Mound the flour on a sheet of wax paper, then dredge each fish in the flour to coat completely, shaking off any excess.

•
Add the oil and 2 more tablespoons of the butter to the skillet over medium-high heat until the foam subsides, then sauté the trout (in two batches if necessary), gently turning them over once using spatulas, until golden brown and almost cooked through, about 7 minutes total (the fish will continue to cook as it stands). Transfer each trout to a plate and keep it warm in the oven.

•
Pour off the fat from the skillet and wipe the skillet clean. Melt the remaining ¼ cup (½ stick/55 g) of butter over medium-low heat. Add the parsley, pepper, and remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt, swirling the skillet to combine, and remove it from the heat. Add the lemon juice, swirling the skillet to incorporate. Spoon the sauce over the trout and serve them immediately with lemon wedges.