Whew, that title is a bit of a mouthful!  Almost as big a bite as you’ll want to take of the lamb and risotto cakes once they’re in front of you on the plate.  I knew I wanted to create something really special to nosh on during our “glamping” trip since all the apple-wood we could ever use would be provided for our campfire pleasure and food cooked over apple-wood is a rare treat.  I figured a muskier meat would take on the smoked flavor of the wood, so lamb was the natural choice given that my brother-in-law Paris hasn’t yet sent over any venison from his bow-hunting spoils this season.   

I wanted to create something that would be elegant in a rustic setting, yet relatively simple to pull together without the arsenal of my kitchen at hand, so lamb on risotto cakes fit the bill.  As it turns out, supplies for “glamping” turned out to be much the same as supplies for regular old camping, so I wanted a one-stop-shop where I could pick up everything from toilet paper to parchment paper.  Normally in anticipation of a big feast I head down to the market, but because I needed such a variety, Seattle’s best grocery store fit the bill better. Read more

Can you think of a better way to start an evening post-horseback wine tasting than with delicious slices of fresh, bursting peaches? Yeah, me neither, which is why it was the first thing I cooked (yes, cooked peaches) over the campfire the other night once we got back to the posh teepees to settle in for a night of “Glamping”— that is, glamorous camping.

If all this is a little nonsensical to you, let me just explain that we decided to get out of the city a few days ago for some much-needed midweek r&r and figured there was no better place to do it than in Central Washington’s up-and-coming wine country. Specifically, we stayed at the Cherry Wood Bed and Breakfast which offers luxurious accommodations in teepees as well as the opportunity to do your wine tasting on horseback. There is nothing like sidling up to a tasting room on a saddle, and riding amongst the vines was an experience unto itself indeed, but in this post I will focus on the peaches, as the recipe warrants it’s own entry. Read more