I had the happy occasion to cater an eight-guest, semi-formal dinner party very recently. The entrée of the menu was beautiful, rare lamb roast served with a strawberry balsamic sauce. As I was wrapping up the leftovers for storage, my client asked for suggestions on using the leftovers. They were hosting more guests for a very casual Sunday afternoon visit - the very next day. My suggestion was to carve out the remainder of the lamb roast and serve lamb and leek sandwiches on either croissant rolls or onion rolls. Highlight the lamb with the sweet strawberry sauce.

As the first course of that same evening meal, there was served Caribbean shrimp with lime and jerk seasonings. I suggested skewering these leftovers - three to a small skewer or five to a large skewer with yellow and orange bell pepper pieces. Then, marinade very lightly in (leftover) lemongrass vinaigrette. For serving, use small salad plates and serve one skewer of the shrimp with a two-tablespoon portion of the (leftover) fennel and artichoke heart salad. This would put to use all of the leftovers within a short time span and provide an interesting but easy to manage menu for the Sunday guests’!

Here are the recipes for the strawberry balsamic reduction and the lamb and leek sandwiches. By the way, the Sunday afternoon visitors enjoyed their snacks as much as the dinner guests enjoyed their meal the evening before!


Strawberry Reduction

2qts of strawberries, clean, wash and pat dry then, quarter
4 cups sparkling water
1 cups white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup white rum

½ cup heavy cream, at room temperature

In a deep saucepan, start with water and sugars. Stir occasionally until sugar is melted then, add strawberries and balsamic vinegar. Simmer for 1 hour and add in rum. Continue simmer on medium-low heat until the entire volume reduces by half. Stir frequently.

Once the mixture has reduced by half, slowly stir in ½ cup of heavy cream (that is at room temperature). (You should mix in slowly to avoid the cream curdling from the heat of the strawberry mixture.)

Turn off heat, let sit for about five minutes then serve. This stores well in an airtight or vacuum-sealed container for two weeks.

This reduction is absolutely WONDERFUL as a sauce!!! Try as a toss vinaigrette in a spinach salad or as a flavor enhancer for vanilla ice cream or a pound cake or angel food cake slice !

6 medium-sized slices cooked lamb roast
2 lg leeks (white part only), sliced, simmered in butter for 10 minutes
2 onion rolls or onion bagels
Strawberry Reduction

Place a heaping portion of the leeks (drained) on one side of each bun. Top the leeks with 3 slices of your cooked lamb. Drizzle with about two tablespoons of the strawberry reduction. Add top to the bun. Enjoy!!