Wine Roasted Lamb

I don't just eat potatoes for dinner, I promise. So here is the other half of my Sunday night fall roasting extravaganza. Leg of lamb!! I love leg of lamb, but I don't often by it, because they are so large, what are two people going to do with 7 pounds of meat?! So I was delighted when Whole Foods had half legs of lamb, still with the bone in, and a much more manageable 2 1/2 lbs (which was still enough to provide 2 dinners for 2 people, the leftovers became lamb fried rice, yum). The wine in this recipe soaks into the onions making them totally drunk and irresistible (yes, I called my onions drunk) and goes perfect with the richness of the lamb. A perfect Sunday evening.

Wine Roasted Lamb:
1 semi-boneless half leg of lamb, about 2 1/2-3 lbs
1 tbsp of olive oil
3 small onions
1 shallot
4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp of pepper
1 tbsp of salt
1 tsp of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup of red wine, drinking quality

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Rub the lamb with the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, then drizzle with olive oil. Put lamb in a 9 by 13 casserole dish. Chop onions, shallots and garlic and put them in the dish around the lamb. Cook for 25 minutes, reduce heat to 325 and pour wine over lamb and onions. Let cook until a thermomater inserted in the lamb registers 140 (for medium rare), about 30 minutes more depending on weight. Let rest 10 minutes before serving. Serve lamb with onions and wine drippings. Enjoy.

Happy Eating.

Butterflied Leg of Lamb

Welcome to the limbo sort of week in between Christmas and New Years, a perfect time to relax and catch up on some cooking. I have cookies, and meats, and treats I made with my wonderful new kitchen toys! To start it off, some succulent and delicious lamb. This lamb is a boneless butterflied leg of lamb, a cut of meat that I had never used before, because it's on the small side and a bit pricey. But it is worth it. It is only the best, juiciest piece of the leg, cut like a steak, and with just a bit of fat. It cooks beautifully, and tastes like a magical mix of lamb and steak. I served it up with asparagus (recipe below the lamb one) and white rice, mixed with feta cheese, a splash of chipotle olive oil, and a sprinkle of toasted almond slices.



Lamb:
1 lb of butterflied boneless leg of lamb
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
1/2 tsp of paprika
1 clove of garlic
1 small shallot
1 tbsp of olive oil

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and grease lightly with olive oil. Wash the lamb and pat dry. In a small bowl mix together the salt, pepper, thyme and paprika. Rub onto the lamb on both sides. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Mince the garlic and shallot and add to the oil. When the oil is sizzling, put the lamb in the pan, fattier side down. Cook until the side is brown, 2-3 minutes. Flip the lamb over and brown on the other side, an additional 2 minutes. Transfer to the baking sheet and cook in the oven until desired doneness. About 8 minutes for medium rare. Let sit for a few minutes before slicing and serving.



Asparagus:
1 bunch of asparagus
1 medium shallot
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of paprika
2 tbsp of sliced almonds
1 tbsp of olive oil

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash and trip asparagus. Spread out on a foil lined cookie sheet. drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Cook for 15 minutes until asparagus are tender. Remove from oven and top with almonds, return to the oven and cook until the nuts are golden, about 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Happy Eating.

Lamb Chops

Recently, I learned a valuable food lesson. Better ingredients truly does lead to better food. So when you stumble upon a new butcher and he happens to be in possession of some stunningly beautiful organic Colorado lamb and the lifetime of experience necessary to butcher to beautiful and perfect lamb chops, you are guaranteed an amazing dinner. I take no credit for this one, it was perfect all on its own. All I could do was serve it up (with some locally grown, farmer's market broccoli) and enjoy the best tasting lamb I have ever made, possibly ever tasted. I served this heaven on top of broccoli and with a balsamic syrup drizzle.



Lamb Chops:
2 lamb chops, 1 inch thick, trimmed with just a little layer of fat remaining
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp of dried rosemary
A pinch of ground cloves
1 tbsp of oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a skillet. Rub lamb with spices. Brown the lamb for 3 minutes on one side and then 2 minutes on the other. Transfer to the oven and continue cooking 5-6 minutes for medium rare. Serve the perfection of good meat. I used the hot pan with the lamb drippings to cook the broccoli as well. I just sautéed the broccoli until browned then cooked covered on low, with a little salt and pepper, let the lamb juice handle the rest.

Balsamic Syrup:
1/2 cup of good quality balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp black peppercorns, whole
1/2 tsp of whole cloves

In a small pot heat the vinegar, peppercorns and cloves. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium low. Cook on a simmer until the vinegar has reduces into a syrup. Be careful not to let the pot boil up, because the vinegar will turn to a caramel consistency. Drizzle over lamb and broccoli or whatever else you might be having. It also tastes great on crusty bread.

Happy Eating.

My Favorite Dinner

Happy Valentine's Day friends. This morning I woke up to roses, that boyfriend is so sneaky, and sweet. Lots and lots of cooking going on. Last night I made my absolute favorite dinner of always. It is any kind of lamb with yogurt sauce (we had lion chops last night), tuscan salad and rice (well the rice isn't really a favorite or a special it's really just the lamb and the salad). It is so good. I also made a very pretty and pink strawberry cheesecake, here is the recipe, from Martha, of course. Then this morning I made a very special 100% homemade eggs benedict, but you are going to have to wait for my next post for that. Yesterday, I also bought a very amazing, hand mixer (the Cuisanart 9 speed) at my favorite store, Williams and Sonoma. I have already used 3 of the attachments and I am completely obsessed! Here is how you make my favorite dinner, stay tuned for my favorite breakfast...

Lamb (for 2):
1 lb of Lamb lion chops, bone in
1 handful of rosemary, chopped.
1 handful of thyme
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Pre-heat the boiler. Coat the chops in chopped rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper and garlic pepper. Put on a broiler pan and cook on one side for 6 minutes, flip and cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side. Lamb will be medium rare. That's it. Alternatively, this tastes amazing grilled in the summer.

Yogurt Sauce:
1 6 oz container of low fat (or fat free) Plain yogurt
1/2 a lime
1 handful of fresh mint
Salt, Pepper

If you have a muddler (we do since Christmas!) use that to muddle the mint and lime juice (think mojito with no sugar) if not chop the mint as small as you can. Mix the yogurt, mint and lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until serving.

Tuscan Salad
1 container of cherry tomatoes (or regular tomatoes, if they are in season)
1 cucumber
1/2 a red onion
1/2 Lime
Salt, Pepper
1/4 a baguette, day old or fresh
Feta Cheese

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half, or give tomatoes a rough chop. Cut cucumbers and onion into roughly same size pieces. Mix all the veggies in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze lime juice over the veggies and toss. Thickly slice the bread and toast/heat in the oven/on the grill. Rip the bread into pieces around the size of the veggie (or you can cut the bread). Approximately 5 minutes before serving add bread and feta to the salad and toss to combine. The bread absorbs the juices. Absolutely delicious.

Well there you have it, my favorite dinner. Hands down. It is so simple to make and so delicious. In the summer when tomatoes are so succulent this is incredible, but in the winter if you can find good cherry tomatoes, it is almost as magical. It is the perfect meal to enjoy with a nice red wine or mojitos (or both, which we did last night).

Well that's all for now, but stay tuned after my lovely Valentine's day I promise I will discuss cheesecakes and a breakfast made with my very own homemade biscuit recipe.

Happy Eating