An Earth Celebration Menu
Zero out your earth day dinner's carbon emissions.
March/April 2009
By Roxanne Hawn
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Finding meat from a local provider lessens your meal's carbon footprint. This Lamb Ravioli in Broth features ingredients available from your area dairy.
Photography By Joe Lavine
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This Earth Day—or any holiday, for that matter—why not host a low- or even zero-carbon celebration? Menu selection, travel planning and carbon offsets make such an event not only possible but pleasurable.
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Jason Rogers, executive chef at the St. Julien Hotel and Spa in Boulder, Colorado, hosted a zero-carbon dinner for Earth Day last year. Rogers developed recipes for a five-course meal made from local, natural, or organic proteins and produce. On average, the various ingredients traveled 43 miles from farm to plate.
The hotel calculated its carbon emissions in tons for the day of the event, including local food transport, wine shipping from California, and guest and staff travel. Though their use was 13.61 metric tons, the hotel purchased offsets through UHG Consulting, also in Boulder, for 100 metric tons.
You too can achieve a zero-carbon dinner party by creating a seasonal, local menu and asking guests to offset travel. Offset the food’s travel costs yourself, or ask each guest to sponsor one course or ingredient.
Lamb Ravioli in Broth
Serves 8
Pasta Dough
11⁄2 cups flour
1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1⁄2 tablespoon water
1⁄2 tablespoon olive oil
1. Make a mound of flour with a well in the center. Sprinkle salt over flour.
2. Add eggs, yolk, water and oil to well. Using a fork, incorporate eggs and liquid in a circular motion, pulling in small amounts of flour until dough becomes stiff.
3. Knead dough, adding flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
4. Wrap in plastic and let sit for 30 minutes.
5. After dough rests, roll out and cut into 21⁄2-inch circles.
Lamb
1 leg of lamb
1⁄2 quart chopped onions, carrots and
celery in 2:1:1 proportion
Red wine (enough to 3⁄4 cover meat)
1 sprig rosemary
5 garlic cloves
1 gallon demi (beef stock reduced by half)
1. Season and sear lamb leg in a rondeau (shallow, wide-bottomed) pan.
2. Add onion-carrot-celery mix, red wine, rosemary and garlic cloves.
3. Reduce wine until thick and syrupy.
4. Add demi. Cover and simmer on medium-low heat until lamb falls off bone.
Broth
1. Strain remaining braising liquid. Pour strained liquid back into pan, then reduce slightly and season with salt and pepper.
Ravioli Filling
Meat from braised lamb, finely chopped
2 eggs
1 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
1 cup hard goat cheese, grated
1. Combine meat, eggs, Parmesan, salt and pepper. Add goat cheese and mix thoroughly.
2. Roll into ½-ounce balls.
3. Place ball in middle of ravioli circle. Place another circle on top. Use small amount of water to make ravioli edges stick together.
4. Cook in boiling water until raviolis float.
To plate: Place several ravioli in a shallow bowl. Ladle broth over ravioli.
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