Celebrate Easter....with a Varied Menu

No matter how you celebrate Easter it is a special time of year to get together with family and friends and celebrate a new beginning.  Did you know that the holiday celebrations have their roots in pagan religion? This tradition particularly comes from the old European festival of “Ostara” or “Eostre” that celebrated the death of long and cold winter months and the birth of Spring and looked forward to the fertile months of summer. Its strongest association is with the egg...a symbol of birth and regeneration. Easter is a celebration of Spring and rebirth in more ways than one.  As a child I remember the joy of receiving a chocolate Easter egg from Reid's Candy Store in my home town. They no longer make the eggs but they are still in business as a tribute to the past. We celebrated by going to church, staging Easter Egg hunts, and of course eating delicious foods shared with those near and dear to our heart.


The roast lamb dinner that many of us savour on Easter Sunday goes back earlier than Easter to the first Passover. The sacrificial lamb was roasted and eaten, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs in hopes that the angel of God would pass over their homes and bring no harm.  Christians often refer to Jesus as The Lamb of God. All traditions seem to merge on this holiest of weekends.

In North America, ham is also a traditional Easter food. In the early days, meat was slaughtered in the fall. With no refrigeration the fresh pork that wasn't consumed during the winter months before Lent was cured for Spring. The curing process was lengthy, and the first hams were ready around the time that Easter rolled around. Therefore, ham was a natural choice for the celebratory Easter dinner as a sign of a new season and new beginnings.

As with all festivals food plays an important part in Easter celebrations.  Ham and lamb are traditional foods served for Easter dinner but we have been known to have a delicious roast beef, whole salmon or turkey (if we don't still have leftovers in the freezer after the Christmas holidays). The days are longer and our markets are beginning to burst at the seams with the colours of the bountiful fruits and vegetables of the season. For those who are lucky enough to live near a farmers market as I am, we would be hard pressed not to be aware of which fruits are at the peak of their season.. Pods of fresh peas and stalks of beautifully green asparagus will cook beautifully in a sauce of lemon zest, butter and mint. This is the time to enjoy fresh rhubarb, sweet garden peas and furled fiddleheads . It is the season for escarole and a wide variety of lettuce handplucked from the garden for green salads. The delightful fragrance of chives, mint, chervil and tarragon fill the air to season your dishes. All of these tastes of Spring are bursting from our gardens, forests, markets and window boxes and will be easy to incorporate into our holiday menu. Set your table with your prettiest china, make sure you have tiny spring bouquets at each place setting, and enjoy your time together with your family and friends.

Here are some suggestions to change up your Easter menu....

Windowpane Potato Chips

Windowpane Potato Chips
 Rolo me Abelophylla with Avgolomeno
Za'atar
Spinach, Ricotta and Feta Quiches
Turkey and Trimming Pinwheels
Marinated Caprese on a Stick
Garlic Scape Vichyssoise
Asparagus Soup with Mint Pistou
Spanakopita
Crab Cakes with Red Pepper Aioli

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Rosemary-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Balsamic Sauce

Rosemary-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Balsamic Sauce
Grilled Lamb Chops with Tzatziki
Feta and Lemon-Stuffed Lamb with Potato-Parsnip Mash
Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb and Vegetables with Lemon-Herb Dressing
Herb Crusted Saddle Of Lamb With Minted Peas -Dragon's Kitchen
Pistachio Crusted Rack of Lamb - Our Kitchen

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Top Sirloin

Top Sirloin with Sauce

 Top Sirloin Roast with Chimichurri Sauce
Prime Rib with Two-Mushroom Gravy & Herbed Yorkshire Pudding
Bourbon and Brown Sugar Flank Steak with Garlic-Chive Mashed Potatoes

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Balsamic Glazed Ham with Curried Pears
Rustic Roast Pork with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Fresh Ham with Honey and Cloves - Saveur
Apricot Ginger-Glazed Ham - Saveur
Honey Butter Ham - About.com

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Bakes Herbed Stuffed Salmon

Baked Herbed Stuffed Salmon
Crispy Salmon with Risotto and Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Val's Salmon in Filo
Seafood Salmon Roulade

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Scalloped Potatoes

Chuck Hughe's Potato "Risotto"
Criss Cross Potatoes
Tartiflette
Creamy Mashed Potatoes with Chives
Potatoes Grand Mere - About.com
Fresh Herb and Pea Risotto
Spring Has Sprung Risotto
Aglaia Kremezi's Orzo Risotto with Zucchini, Dill and Feta

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Photo from Saveur - Anita Calero

Grilled Asparagus with Lemon and Chive Dressing
Crustless Zucchini Pie
 Peas and Lettuce - Saveur

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Flaky Dinner Rolls
Parker House Rolls - About.com

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Opera Cake with Edible Pansies

Strawberries and Cream Cheese Tart
Sponge Cake with Mascarpone Cream and Strawberries
Opera Cake with Edible Candied Pansies
Explosive Turtle Cheesecake
Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce
Sylvia Jurys Creme Brulee
Chocolate Pate with Mascerated Strawberries
Val's Rhubarb Cheesecake
Torta di Riso - Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy
Lemon Meringue Pie - Peter at Kalofagas

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