One of the great things about moving to Halifax four years ago, was that I discovered the little gem that is Sugar Moon Farm. I recently went back for my third "appearance" and had a blast! This time around, I not only had put together a menu based on maple (as they are a sugar shack), but I also had to incorporate all things "Spring". What a task... spring goodies that are found in Nova Scotia; lamb, rhubarb, asparagus, fiddleheads, baby spinach & sorrel. So, those were my ingredients, and what follows was the finished product. Behind the scenes I had a little help from my usual sous-chef/driver/psychiatrist/husband, Doug, as well as two of my favourite cooks in the world, Johnny "The Mad Scientist" and Darrick "Mr. Rock ‘n' Roll".

The meal started off with an amuse bouche of Roselane Farm Westphalia ham, fiddleheads, That Dutchman's Old Growler Gouda & a lemon vinaigrette..very pretty. Next, for the first course, a soup of Jerusalem artichokes with maple roasted shitake & oyster mushrooms..silky smooth with nice, sweet & salty roasted mushrooms. The third course was a salad of baby spinach with sorrel from Riverview Farm, smoked halibut from Scotian Halibut and a mint, maple and barberry vinaigrette. As a main course, I was asked to use lamb, and as always I purchased it from Bill Wood of Wood'n'Hart Farm in Tatamagouche. I had been experimenting with lamb bellies, and came up with the following dish; lamb belly stuffed with ground lamb, sultana raisins, pine nuts, mint, fresh coriander and a plethora of mid-east spices including sumac, cumin, zataar. This was roasted, thinly sliced and served atop a quinoa salad with grilled asparagus, goats' feta from Ran-Cher Acres and a ton of fresh herbs. We topped off the evening with a trifle of maple custard, stewed rhubarb and maple soaked brioche...very decadent! All this was graciously paired with wines by Bishop Cellar's sommelier, Alanna MacIntyre. What a night!