All Good Things...

Nothing lasts forever and all good things must come to an end.  True?  Well, in the case of The Lark Restaurant in West Bloomfield, that certainly seems to be the case.  The owners, Jim and Mary Lark, have announced that they will be closing the restaurant on December 23 after 32 years.

I have enjoyed several wonderful meals at The Lark.  So have my children.  And it is less than a mile down the road so it is very convenient to get to.  But since I could not get reservations for this past week-end, I tried to re-create the dinner on Sunday, including their famous Rack of Lamb Genghis Khan.

When you order the lamb in the restaurant, you are given a card with the number of the rack served, thus:

I have no idea what number they are up to or will finish with before closing.  I do not even remember what year it was that I had the lamb.  

On the flip side of the card is the recipe.  The first time I made it at home I nearly started a fire as I did not know to add the glaze in the last five minutes of roasting.  Once burned, I figured it out.  On Sunday, the lamb was delicious.  If you make the recipe, you can probably figure on 2.5 persons per rack.  And do wait to add the glaze at about 135 degrees and then finish roasting.  Bon Appetit!

Foodie Stuff

When I wrote my last blog post,  I went to site for The Lark and read their latest newsletter.  The last time I ate there was last year on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Yes, all those leftovers at home and my son made reservations for The Lark.  It was wonderful.

They are having a special autumn dinner on Monday and Tuesday this week.  I looked at the menu and saw this choice for an entree: Paleron of Boeuf with Café de Paris Sauce.  (Paleron is the French term for the upper shoulder blade steak)

I had not made this in quite a long time.  I went to look at my recipe files for the recipe and saw that in the class I had with Marcus Haight he served it with a New York strip steak that had marinated for two days.  I read the recipe with the thought that I might make some butter, as it freezes quite well.

How easily we forget.  There are 23 ingredients in the butter.  That probably explains why my notes show I made a little over a pound of it.  If I tried to cut this down to one stick of butter, those other 22 ingredients would be next to impossible to measure. What exactly is one-sixteenth of an ounce of chopped anchovy?  I'd have to make at least one-half pound.

It does freeze well.  And it was delicious on many vegetables.  I am not much of a beef eater, except for the occasional hamburger.  But I think I will check-out the ingredient list and maybe try to make a batch.  Maybe I will even indulge in a small steak.  As I recall, the meal we prepared in class was quite good.

I searched online and found this recipe which is different than what I have, but has a good story about the butter's origin.