Fair Haven Fixer Upper – Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lamb Ragu Recipe

This is the darkest hour when renovating a house. You’ve signed off on having any disposable income for the next thirty years and been given the keys to your dream home that is suddenly, woefully less than perfect…On television Chip gleefully bashes in a few walls, finds one problem with a no more than $3000 solution and from then on it is smooth sailing to Joanna’s staged finale.

In reality, demo is a really big, dirty job that uncovers issue after issue. The list is endless in an older home and no matter how prepared you think you are there is always something else to contend with. The good news is under the carpet upstairs we found the original wood floors largely intact. And it looks like we can save the windows.

Then we found what I call shiplap and Keith calls 1 x 6’s on the ceiling in the dining room that I would like to not only keep but extend to the kitchen–seeing as the plan is to combine the two rooms.

When doing a project like this it is really important to get the correct permits from the town. Right now we are working with a non-structural demo permit, which basically means we (by we I mean Keith of course) are removing decades-old sheetrock to see what is there–or not there–in terms of plumbing, heat, and electric. (Spoiler alert–in our case–not much.)

The next step is to have an architect, in this case, our friend and neighbor, Matt Cronin, draw up plans for the structural changes we are making–another step you rarely see on television but essential in real life. We are opening up the foyer, and the dining room to the kitchen (sadly the end to the little hobbit hallway but so much more functional for modern living).

The good news is I get to plan and replan kitchen layouts and ponder all kinds of design elements. Granite or marble? Upper cabinets or open shelves? Tile floors or continue with the wood that is in the dining room? Below is my preliminary sketch.  The kitchen is 19′ wide and just 10′ deep. I’ll enlarge the existing windows so I can peer over my neighbor’s hedge to see the Navesink River and remove the ones looking right into my other neighbor’s kitchen windows. I’d like to put all the appliances on one wall–but that is so subject to change after I visit a number of local kitchen cabinet builders over the next week or so. Once my basic plan is finalized I’ll add a custom island for storage and seating that will come from the factory in Hungary that builds a lot of our furniture and if there is room, a hutch.

Meanwhile, I’ve upped my cooking game. It’s the least I can do for the guy filling the dumpster. Nothing tastes better after a hard day’s work than a plate of pasta with tomato sauce and I think adding lamb takes it to another level. Fortunately, Keith agrees.

Lamb Ragu

Sprinkle with salt and pepper then sear 8 shoulder blade lamb chops in hot olive oil in a large sauce pot. Then chop up one 1/4 inch thick slice of pancetta and toss that in the pot. Add an onion coarsely chopped, a couple of cloves of garlic, a pinch of oregano, 1/2 can of tomato paste and two cans of whole tomatoes that you squish into bits. Let simmer until meat falls off the bone (about 90 minutes).

Take the meat off the bones, chop and return to the sauce. I like to serve this with fettuccine but any pasta works. Top with grated parmesan, add a tossed salad and a nice bottle of plonk and enjoy.

                          RESOURCES

Architect: Matt Cronin http://croninarch.com/

March Madness

Lamb Ragu Recipe

Spring at British Cottage
Praying for March to end

Some poets say April is the cruelest month but my bet is on March.  Spring finally gets here but all there is to show for it is a few lousy daffodils gasping for life in a tangle of dead leaves.  The only thing to do when it is still too early for cocktail hour is to hunker down with a good book or two and wait it out.  Fortunately I buy coffee table books like other people buy candy so there is usually a large stack just awaiting  perusal.

"Beautiful" by Mark D. Sikes
Mark D. Sike’s “Beautiful”

One I recently enjoyed was by Mark D. Sikes, whose blog, Chic People, Glamorous Places, Stylish Thingswas such a sensation a book deal followed. Beautiful  All-American Decorating and Timeless Style is the result, an engaging glimpse of a master at work.   In room after room Mark starts with pale walls and pale carpets, then adds another layer, then another with a bit more color and structure and the next thing you know there is a profound sense of elegance and comfort.

And I just love that he is totally passionate about blue and white, something we share here at British Cottage, and something that may contribute to the air of harmony you find in his rooms.  Think of faded blue jeans worn with a crisp white shirt and a fabulous navy blue blazer. The look transcends gender and genre, casual yet always stylish, and that is what, I think, we all wish for our decor.

Looking "Beautiful" at British Cottage
Looking beautiful at British Cottage

Fussy feminine rooms with swags and knick knacks, yuck.  All brown leather and mid-century modern, double yuck.  The best way to describe Mark’s ethos is to evoke Nancy Meyers and her Something’s Gotta Give house.  Nancy is crazy about Mark’s style and even wrote the introduction to his book.  What is her style?  Coastal chic?  Country home casual?  I don’t know what to call it.  But I like it.

This book shows you how it is done.  How to style coffee tables and side tables, add pops of color and accessories, arrange your seating–always tricky–and get it to all to work–even trickier.  If you don’t want to buy the book you can always tootle over to British Cottage; we’ve got all the right stuff to pull this look together.

Accessories can make your rooms beautiful
British Cottage Showroom

Lamb Ragu

But before you curl up with a book on this windy and raw Sunday, now would be the perfect time to take a moment to toss a few ingredients together and cook up a hearty stew.   With fresh lamb in the markets what could be better than this lovely Lamb Ragu?  Just four hours later and it’s buon appetito!

You can do this with lamb shanks but I usually just buy a boneless leg of lamb–it is all in one piece and easier to handle.  Salt and pepper then sear on both sides in olive oil in an oven-proof pot.

Remove the lamb from the pan and add about 4 ounces of diced pancetta and quickly fry –you don’t need to do this but I think it adds tons of flavor to the mix.  Put the lamb back into the pot along with two or three onions coarsely chopped and 5 cloves of minced garlic,  some celery and a carrot or two–I like mine finely chopped so it disappears into the sauce. Then pop in one large can of whole tomatoes and one-half can of a decent red wine.  Add a bay leaf, some thyme, a pinch of hot red pepper flakes and put in a 350-degree oven for 3 1/2 to four hours.  That’s it.  Some will say saute the onions, celery, and carrots first but I say–don’t bother.  You have books to read.

Lamb Ragu

Remove the pan from the oven and shred or chop up the meat.  Put it back into the sauce and serve over the pasta of your choice (I like to use pappardelle) and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Accompany  with a tossed green salad, a loaf of garlic bread and a couple of bottles of chianti and even the people who for years have been telling you they don’t like lamb will love it.  Trust me.  Hopefully, they’ll leave you with enough sauce to freeze and you are all set for your next Sunday supper–lasagna.