Lamb Chops, Pears, and Potato Risotto
When our friends Ann and Julie were in Paris a few weeks ago, Ann sent me an email describing a potato dish she had had for dinner one night... a creamy pureed potato with chunks of potato. She raved about it! I don't mind living vicariously through anothers culinary adventures thousands of miles away. Really. I was extremely only slightly jealous as she was describing the dish... I thought it sounded close enough to a potato risotto that I just made a potato risotto! At the risk of sounding like I'm bragging (and of course, I am!) the dish came out fantastic!
I am reasonably certain it's nothing like Ann's Parisian Potatoes (I added cheese and didn't top with almonds, for one...) but it's something that will be going into the winter rotation at our house! Yumlicious!!!
Potato Risotto
- 2 cups 1/4" cubed potatoes
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Saute onion in butter in small frying pan. Add potatoes and mix well with onions. Add about 1 cup broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of broth is absorbed. Add another half-cup and continue cooking until potatoes are tender. Add a bit more broth as needed to keep potatoes moist. You do not want them to dry out.
When potatoes are fairly tender, add cream and continue cooking until sauce thickens a bit. Stir in cheese.
These were definitely a hit. A bit of a stove-top take on scalloped potatoes.
The lamb was an impulse-buy at the grocers today. It just looked good.
I marinated the chops in olive oil, garlic, and rosemary, and quickly browned them in a hot skillet. I took them out and added about a half-cup of fresh apple juice and let that cook down for a minute. I then added 1 red pear that I had peeled and cut up.
When they were hot-through, I drizzled on some balsamic vinegar and then cooked it all down to a saucy consistency.
I'm now in a fall-cooking mindset and the weather is supposed to be mid-to-high 70's most of the week.
We need another good BBQ. Maybe Tuesday.
We have Pasta Monday tomorrow!
Fairytale Pumpkin
I decided today was the day to address the fairytale pumpkin I bought last month.
One of the great things about big ol' squash like this is they can sit around and look pretty for weeks before you have to do anything with or to them!
Fairytale pumpkins are some of the best-eating pumpkins around.
They're deeply ridged with a bright orange flesh that just screams to be roasted, pureed, and made into soups, stews, and pies!
I quartered this particular beast and placed it on two sheet pans and put them into 350° ovens.
I didn't put anything on them at all, nor did I cover them. They roasted for about an hour and a half.
When a skewer went in and out with no problem, they were done.
I scraped the flesh into the food processor and made a lot of puree.
A LOT of puree. Probably about 20 cups or so. Enough for about a dozen pies.
It's all nicely portioned. The two-cup measure is for a possible pie tonight. The rest will go into the refrigerator and freezer.
It's a lot of pumpkin for $7.99.