County Fare sp 17
by Diana Cercone
There is not a part of the lamb that I don’t love,” says Matthew McPhelin. I couldn’t agree with him more. Which is why I’m sitting here in his cozy, chic restaurant, Maize, in Perkasie on a frigid winter afternoon to talk about the glories of lamb in anticipation of spring. After all, come spring, any food lover knows thoughts turn not to love but to lamb.
At this, Matthew shakes his head and an engaging smile breaks across his handsome and cherubic face before saying, “Most people think of lamb as just a spring dish. But, really, especially with our local famers, lamb is a great dish year-round.”
Ah, yes, that’s another reason I’ve come to talk with Matthew, a seasoned chef even before graduating from The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College and long before opening Maize in 2009. Matthew is a strong supporter of local farms, using their products and produce in his marvelously delectable and creative cuisine. Case in point: As we’re chatting, Andy Robison of Second Chance Farms in Quakertown, sails in carrying trays of freshly laid brown eggs—15 dozen in all—that Matthew will magically whisk into sauces, knead into breads and use in stuffings and desserts. (Anyone who has been to Maize knows Matthew proudly lists the names of the farms he’s using in that day’s menu on the blackboard which hangs on a front wall and in easy sight of all.)
His choice of where he buys his lamb is no different. Matthew uses those raised by Shawn Samperi of Durham Glen Farm in Pipersville. (Grass-fed and raised without antibiotics or growth hormones.) And, when he does buy Shawn’s lamb, he buys all of it. From tail to snout, for every part of the lamb can be turned into something delicious, Matthew says, from savory stocks to sweetbreads and brains, and from sizzling sausages to herbaceous stuffings to a juicy porterhouse lamb steak, a succulent roast leg of lamb and to perfectly grilled chops.
Rack of lamb and chops, both loin and rib, are probably the most popular and well-known cuts, he says, as well as leg of lamb for both the home cook and diner. For the home cook, however, he says, they’re also the hardest to master. Overcooking any of these cuts is a death sentence for the lamb with no hope of clemency.
Outside of coming to his restaurant, he says, breaking into another one of his sunny-side-up smiles, the best way to cook a rack or chop at home is to sear it and then finish cooking it in a hot oven. (The cooking method is often referred to as “sear-roasting,” where you sear the cut of meat in a hot pan and then finish cooking it in a medium to hot oven, depending on the cut.)
For chops, Matthew recommends searing on both sides for no more than 2-3 minutes per side to achieve a nice crust, and then finishing it in a 500°F oven. For leg of lamb, he says, it can be a bit trickier. Leaving the bone in adds to the flavor when roasting, he says, but it also adds to the cooking time. And, though, this is a much larger and meatier cut, it still needs tender-lovin’ care. Cooking time, like the rack and chops, is crucial. Over-cooking, just like in a standing rib roast, pork tenderloin or a turkey, can produce tough and less flavorful results.
Matthew’s solution? Do what he does at Maize to ensure each order of his leg of lamb is done to perfection and just the way his customer wants it. He doesn’t cook the whole leg of lamb at once, he says—only to have to have it sit until a customer’s order. And, then, gulp, reheating it. No way, he says, would he ever do that. Instead, Matthew cooks pre-cut pieces to each order as it comes in. “It’s much easier to do it that way,” he says, “especially when having company.” He recommends cutting the leg into smaller pieces—about 5-6 ounces each—and trimming away the fat. It’s a lot more prep work before your company comes, he says. “But it takes the worry out of cooking it too long. And that way you get to enjoy your guests.”
As with the chops, he recommends searing on both sides and then finishing in a 500°F oven for 5-7 minutes. If your home oven runs low in temperature, you may need to roast a few minutes longer.
What about seasonings, I ask — or mint jelly? Again, he shakes his head. These cuts of lamb are expensive, he says. All they need is salt and freshly ground black pepper. “I want to taste the meat.” Same with serving the cuts with mint jelly. It only disguises the flavor, he says. Matthew does, however, make a small concession since he likes the herb and grows mint in his garden among the many herbs and vegetables he uses in his dishes at Maize. He’ll make a light fresh mint pesto to serve on one side of the lamb and on another a savory au jus as well as a serving of spiced spring vegetables.
Then there are the shanks and shoulder. These are cuts that most people don’t think to use. But to Matthew’s way of thinking, they’re his favorite because not only are they flavorful but they’re also versatile. They’re also more forgiving for they usually require long cooking times and are often slow-cooked in sauces such as one that Matthew makes at home for a lamb shank dish: a roasted garlic sauce.
For shoulder, Matthew might pair it with tagliatelle, leeks and shiitake mushroom in a parmesan and chive sauce or turn it into lamb shoulder-stuffed ravioli.
OK—now I’m salivating. But what will be on your spring menu at Maize, I ask. “Let me get back to you on that,” he says. He does—with no less than seven mouth-watering entrées, such as lamb loin with celery-root-potato gratin, celery root purée, roasted onion, baby green beans and a fresh chervil sauce. Rack of lamb, lamb shanks, shoulder and sausage all figure into his spring menu, with sides ranging from fresh fava beans, morels, goat cheese polenta to fiddlehead ferns, ramps and rhubarb. I’m ready, I tell him. Bring on spring!
But before I leave that day I tell him that for as many times as I’ve enjoyed dining at Maize—and knowing that it is the Native American word for corn—I never knew why he chose the name for his restaurant.
Really quite simple, he says. “My mother and grandparents are Native Americans. They are Lakota, one of the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains. Corn has so many meanings. It’s what made this country possible,” he says, with a rightful touch of pride in his voice. “It sustained the early settlers. Without it, they would have perished.” Corn still sustains us, he says. From fresh off the cob to dried in hominy, grits and polenta to forms of fuel.
A most fitting name for his restaurant. For like maize, Matthew not only sustains us through his culinary genius—he honors his heritage and the products of Bucks County farmers.
Diana Cercone is an area freelance writer who specializes in food, art and travel.
