Roast Rack of Lamb: An Easter Tradition

Next Sunday on Easter, the Kinkade family will gather around a beautiful rack of lamb. It's been a tradition in our family for many decades. This recipe is Nanette's and it's featured in our cookbook, The Thomas Kinkade Cookbook, A Journey of Culinary Memories.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 Lamb rib roast (8-rib; about 2 1/2 pounds)

1/4 cup apricot preserves

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2.) Combine garlic powder, salt and pepper and rub into meat. Place the meat rib-side down in a roasting pan. Roast until meat temperature reaches 140 degrees for rare, 160 degrees for medium and 170 degrees for well done, approximately 45 minutes to one hour.

3.) Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine apricot preserves and lemon juice and cook until preserves are melted. Brush lamb with apricot mixture occasionally during last 30 minutes of cooking.

4.) Remove meat from the oven and rest, loosely covered with foil, for 10 minutes. Using a sharp knife, slice between each rib bone and serve, allowing two ribs per serving.

Don't Forget this Easter Treat

This recipe is an Easter tradition in the Kinkade family. It’s from The Thomas Kinkade Cookbook, A Journey of Culinary Memories.

Big Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:
Sauce:
2 cups water
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Pastry:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
1/3 cup half-and-half, light cream or whole milk

Filling:
2 tablespoons chopped raisins or golden raisins
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
6 small cooking apples
(approximately 1 ½ pounds)

Serves 6
1.) Make the sauce: in a medium saucepan combine the water, sugar and cinnamon. Bring a boil then reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Add ¼ cup butter, stir to combine and set aside.
2.) Make the pastry: in the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour and salt. Mix in shortening until pieces are the size of small peas. Add the half-and-half, light cream, or milk and pulse for 5 seconds, until the dough is moistened. If mixture is still dry, add more liquid, 1 teaspoon at a time until dough comes together. Remove dough and form into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll into an 18 x 12-inch rectangle and divide into 6 squares. For garnishing option, see the note below.
3.) Preheat oven at 375 degrees.
4.) Make the filling: in a small mixing bowl, combine the raisins, walnuts and honey. In another small bowl, stir together sugar and cinnamon. Set bowls aside. Peel and core the apples. Place one apple on top of each pastry square. Fill apples centers with raisin mixture, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and top each with a piece of remaining tablespoon butter. Moisten edges of a pastry square with water, fold corners over apple and pinch to seal. Repeat with remaining apples.
5.) Place dumplings in a large baking dish and pour sauce over apples. Bake for 35 minutes or until apples are tender and pastry is golden brown. To serve, plate each apple with some of the sauce from the pan.

Note: If desired, roll pastry slightly larger, cut squares and use excess to make pastry leaves for garnish. Roll out extra pastry and cut into leaf shapes. Place on baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Crepes for Easter? Oh Yes!

As Easter approaches, I start thinking of our favorite foods during this wonderful time of the year. This recipe is from our book, The Thomas Kinkade Cookbook, A Journey of Culinary Memories. Crepes are among our favorite special occasion foods. They just seem to make any meal festive, and they’re perfect for holidays like Easter.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, plus more for pan
Optional filling ingredients:
Applesauce, sweetened strawberries, currant jelly and raspberry jam
Powdered sugar

Makes 12

1.) In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine milk, eggs and butter; add dry ingredients and beat until smooth.

2.) Heat a small skillet over medium heat and add ½ teaspoon butter. Pour scant ¼ cup of the batter into skillet and immediately rotate skillet until a thin film covers bottom of pan.

3.) Cook until batter dries, about 45 seconds, flip and cook until edges start to brown slightly. Repeat process, adding butter to the skillet and adjusting heat as necessary. Stack crepes on a plate, placing wax or parchment paper between each layer and cover to keep warm.

4.) To serve, place 1 to 2 tablespoons of desired filling in the center of each crepe and roll, taking care to position edge side down. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Follow Tinker Bell

How many times has Tinker Bell appeared in my 8 Disney images? Find the correct number and you could win a $750 Limited Edition Canvas of Bambi's First Year. Click here to enter today and happy searching.

Bambi is Here!

Final Hint

Here is the final sneak of my new Disney Dreams image. We've received so many guesses and all of them are great. Stay tuned to ShopNBC tonight to find out the answer. Check the schedule for the big unveiling tonight.

My Next Hint

Here's another portion of my newest Disney Dreams image. So many great guesses with just 1 1/2 days left until the big unveiling. Hopefully this will bring you closer to figuring it out!

Another Hint

Here is a section of my newest painting, #5 in my Disney Dreams Collection. In several days, we'll unveil the entire image to the world. We've had a wide range of different guesses and thanks for participating. I hope you like it, because this painting is truly dear to my heart.