Lamb Chops & Bacon Mac’n’Cheese

Dinner tonight was broiled garlic-rosemary lamb chops with bacon, sharp cheddar & Parmigiano-Reggiano mac’n’cheese.

Several weeks back I picked up a family pack of lamb chops on sale. Last night I pulled the last set out of the freezer. I wanted to do the garlic-rosemary combination that I did on my first lamb chops. To my chagrin, I was out of fresh garlic. I ground together some dried garlic and rosemary in my mortar and pestle, but needed some liquid, so I added a little bit of fish sauce. I rubbed this combination on the lamb chops and set them aside while I made the mac’n’cheese.

I took the last of a package of bacon (~ 1/4lb), diced it and threw it in my 12″ cast iron skillet. I cooked it till it was nice and brown, then removed the bacon to a plate. I transferred the grease to a small sauce pan and added some flour to make the roux for my mac’n’cheese. The cheese was a blend of sharp cheddar and Parmigiano-Reggiano that I grated earlier this week. I assembled the mac’n’cheese and spread the bacon on top.

I broiled the lamb chops for 3-4 minutes per side and then rested them while I broiled the mac’n’cheese.

The lamb chops were really good. The mac’n’cheese was good but not as good as my normal recipe. I did not care for the cheese combination and there was too much bacon (who knew that was even possible). With dinner, I had a nice Russian River Valley pinot noir.

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Christening My New Le Creuset

I received my new Le Creuset French Oven last week, so I decided to braise a beef chuck roast to christen it. I’ve never done a beef roast, so I just did it how I would do a pork shoulder.

I applied a dry rub (Cheater Basic Dry Rub) last night.

I put it in the oven before making breakfast.

The oven was set at 250deg F, and I set my thermometer for 190deg F. It took about 2-2.5 hours to reach temperature.

I rested the roast and poured off the drippings, which I put in the freezer to allow the fat to solidify. After it had cooled, I sliced and divided it into containers to refrigerate/freeze for later (this is something that is better reheated). I skimmed the fat from the drippings and divided them among the containers.

I tasted a few of the scraps, and the meat was a bit chewy. I’m hoping that it won’t be when I reheat and serve it.

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Broiled Lamb Chops with a Madeira Reduction

I pulled the lamb chops out the fridge so they could warm up before I started cooking. For the Madeira reduction, I put 1/2 cup beef broth and 1/4 cup Madeira, as well as some black pepper and fish sauce, into a saucepan and brought to a boil. While the sauce was reducing, I broiled the lamb chops for 4 minutes per side. I then rested the chops and poured the pan drippings into the Madeira reduction. I finished the sauce with some cream and ended up with about a tablespoon.

With the lamb, I had roasted Brussels sprouts and a pinot noir. I roasted the Brussels sprouts at 400deg F for about 12 minutes prior to broiling the lamb, and I kept them in my oven’s warming drawer.

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Garlic and Saffron Soup

This is another Hubert Keller recipe (Chef Hubert Keller, then Enter Secrets of a Chef, Recipes, Go To Season 1). It seems like an enormous amount of garlic, but it works (just make sure you blanch it). The “large pinch” of saffron is an understatement. I saw Chef Keller do this yesterday, and his “large pinch” was a rat’s nest, about 1″ in diameter. I served it with a slice of bread and a poached egg like Chef Keller did on TV.

Definitely a keeper…

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Broiled Lamb Chops

I decided to broil some more of the lamb chops that I bought last week. My original idea was to do the lamb chops with garlic and mint, and serve them with sautéed kale. I went to the store and couldn’t get kale, so I had to settle for mixed greens. I smelled the mint but could not detect anything. I naively assumed that the packaging was just that good (it wasn’t). So no mint and no kale.

I did the lamb chops with fennel seed, garlic and rosemary. The fennel detracted from the lamb and I won’t do it again. I broiled the chops for 4 minutes per side (just like last time) but unfortunately they did not cook as evenly as the last set.

Here it is, with the sautéed greens, garlic-Romano mashed potatoes and a French Pinot Noir.

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Deconstructed Black Walnut Pesto

“Deconstructed” because I didn’t have any fresh basil, so I couldn’t make a regular pesto. I used this recipe, Black Walnut Pesto as a base.

I started cooking 2oz of cheese tortellini. Meanwhile, I ground 1 1/2T of black walnuts in my mortar and pestle. When the pasta was done, I drained it and transferred it to a warmed bowl. I then put the pan back on the stove with 1T of butter. When the butter was hot and frothy, I pressed 1 clove of garlic into it and remove the pan from the heat. I mixed in the ground walnuts, the tortellini and goodly amount of dried basil, as well as salt and pepper. I mixed to coat, then served, garnished with some black walnut pieces.

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Pasta with a Cream & Prosciutto Sauce

The sauce was heavy cream, chevre, sharp romano, Parmigiano-Romano and prosciutto. The inspiration for this dish was, “what do I have in the fridge”. The cream was left over from a holiday cheesecake, the prosciutto was from my pseudo-Cordon Bleu and the chevre expired tomorrow.

And I also put some sun-dried tomato paste in the sauce.

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Garlic & Rosemary Lamb Chops

I’d never made lamb chops before, but they were on sale last weekend, so I picked up a package. The first serving I decided to do like this Lamb Chop Ideas.

I mixed dried rosemary (my rosemary bush is currently buried in snow) and garlic in my mortar and pestle, then rubbed it into the chops. I put the oven rack in the top position and preheated the broiler on high. I salted the chops right before putting them under the broiler, for 4 minutes per side. I was a little disappointed with the sear I got, but was absolutely shocked on the even medium doneness of the chops. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piece of meat cooked more evenly. I have two more servings, and I’m tempted to cook them just like these.

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Single-Serv Coconut Cream Pie

I love coconut cream pie, but I’d never made one because I neither want, nor need, an entire pie. Well, recently I had the idea of making a single serving pie.

I had never made a pie crust before, so I used this recipe Alton Brown pie crust. I used all butter (don’t keep lard around) and made 1/4 of the recipe (42g flour & 2T butter). I made the pie crust in a 1 cup glass bowl.

Coconut Cream Pie

1/2 cup half-and-half
1/3 egg (about 20g)
2T Splenda
10g flour
pinch salt
30g shredded coconut
1/4t vanilla extract
scant 1/4 cup heavy cream (for topping)

Toast the coconut at 350deg F in a small bowl until golden brown. Combine half-and-half, egg, Splenda, flour and salt, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 20g coconut and vanilla. Pour into pie shell and chill 2-4 hours. Top with whipped cream and remaining coconut.

I definitely need practice in making pie crusts, but the pie tasted great. Next time I’m going to up the coconut (probably to 40g).

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Tuna Salad Sandwich & Fried Zucchini

Note that I mean tuna salad, not tuna-salad.

I had some tortillas that I bought to make quesadillas that I needed to use up, so I made sandwiches. I put down the tuna first, then piled on some baby spinach. I garnished it some bacon and chevre, as well as a homemade tarragon vinaigrette, then rolled it up like a burrito.

To serve with it, I sliced a zucchini into thin medallions and fried them in a little butter.

Simple, but delicious!

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