Rack of Lamb
You know life is good when you decide to make a rack of lamb for dinner because you're feeling lazy.
But less than15 minutes in a hot oven and dinner was on the table. The rice took longer to cook!
And fresh carrots steamed and then sauteed with honey and dill finished off the plate.
Back when I worked at Hugo's at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe I cooked a dozen or so racks of lamb every night. There, we seared them, spread a thick layer of dijon mustard on them, covered 'em with seasoned bread crumbs, and finished them in a hot oven. Probably charged 25 bucks for it - in 1976.
This was considerably easier - and less expensive.
Lamb is something I don't cook often. No particular reason other than I really just don't think of it.
One of these days I'm going to have to try and replicate my Great-Aunt Dolores' bone-in leg of lamb, complete with lamb gravy. It was stellar. I remember a lot of garlic... she sliced it in slivers and stuck it deep into the leg. And rosemary. Auntie was a great cook. It will have to be for a crowd, though. A bone-in leg would be a bit much for two.
One of these days.....
Lamb Chops with Sun-Dried Tomato Butter
I used to make compound butters all the time when I worked in those fancy hotels. Maitre d' Butter, Chipotle Butter, Chive Butter, Herb Butter... The things you can mix with butter are pretty endless. But I think of all the one's I've had in the past, this one is the tops!
Everything about it is good. The recipe called for sun-dried tomatoes in oil, but I have some really good fresh sun-dried and used them, instead.
Sun-Dried Tomato Butter
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Put all ingredients except butter in a food processor and pulse until paste. Blend in butter and lemon juice, then season with salt, as desired.
It rocked on top of pan-fried lamb chops.
Victor made some awesome risotto cakes to go with the chops. He added a bit more rice, cheese, and an egg to last night's leftover risotto, breaded them with fresh bread crumbs, and then baked them at 375° for about 40 minutes, flipping them half-way through.
Vegetables were green and yellow squash, leeks, and a variety of mushrooms.
My stomach is smiling!
Lambs, Yams, and Red Peppers
This was a fun one, today! I dirtied FIVE pots and pans on a weeknight dinner. It's a new record for me, I think.
I had a few nice lamb chops, so I just marinated them in a bit of olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. The basics. Fried 'em up in a bit of olive oil. I made a quick red pepper sauce by pureeing a jar of red peppers with some olive oil.
I boiled the sweet potatoes and fried some onions, adding just a bit of thyme. I then used my handy-dandy immersion blender and whipped the potatoes and onions together, adding juuuuust a pinch of cloves, salt, and pepper.
Frozen Peas.
Dinner took more time to clean up than to cook. It was great. And we ate one of the fruitcakes for dessert. Dayum, they're good!