What's for dinner?

Do you ever make yourself such a great dinner that you wish you took a picture of it?

I did!

The Menu:

Roasted Rack of Lamb with Tzatziki Sauce
Roasted Red Potatoes
Roasted Asparagus
Fig with Honey and Beecher's Flagship Handmade Cheese

The roasted rack of lamb was an adaptation of the recipe in the incredibly useful The Gourmet Cookbook edited by Ruth Reichl. I love this tome - more modern than the Joy of Cooking, but still very good about including adequate instruction with each recipe. The tzatziki recipe I stole completely shamelessly from Alton Brown. Goodness, do I love that man. So smart, so funny, so science-y. Together, the combo was luscious.

The roasted asparagus is the easiest thing in the world, and we've been doing it for so long I don't know where I got the recipe from, or even if it was me. For all I can remember, Chris found/stole/modified it. Basically, get some asparagus, wash them and cut off the tough bottom stems. Toss with Kosher (or sea) salt, fresh ground pepper and olive oil. Preheat the oven to 400F and cook for somewhere between 3-5 minutes per side.

The fig dish is also easy. Buy some good figs, wash them and then slice them into eighths. Crumble cheese on top, then drizzle with honey. Yum!

Notice the emphasis on roasting? That's to make the most of the hot oven. The flow of the cooking process went like this:

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Trim excess fat off of the rack of lamb, then divide into sections of three ribs each. (Note: lots of cookbooks recommend 4 ribs per person. That's too much. Three is plenty.) Rub lamb with salt, pepper and olive oil.
• Quarter small red potatoes, rub with salt, pepper and olive oil then place in 9x13 glass dish. Set aside.
• Preheat skillet to brown lamb. Heat the skillet (preferably cast iron) until hot but not smoking.
• Prepare asparagus as above. Place on cookie sheet.
• Sear each side of the lamb - about 3-4 minutes per side.
• Toss lamb (fat side up) into dish with potatoes, then insert meat thermometer. Toss whole dish into oven.
• Set meat thermometer to go off at 130F.
• Do nothing for about 20 minutes.
• When the lamb is done, check the potatoes. If they aren't done, take the lamb out to rest and return the potatoes to the oven. Meanwhile, the cookie sheet with the asparagus gets to join the roasting party.
• Roast the asparagus as above, while the meat rests at least 5 minutes. Slice figs, cheese and drizzle honey.
  
• Slice the roast into single rib slices, plate and serve!

Since pretty much everything goes in the oven, life is easy. While I was doing everything outlined above, the hubbie was making the tzatziki. Divide and conquer, baby! The key to the tzatziki is getting proper Greek yogurt. Then you don't have to do the

Place the yogurt in a tea towel, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

bit. Totally skippable.

Anyway, I'm back from the bad place of the last post, and I shouldn't have to go back for another 3 months or so. Thanks for the kind thoughts.

Yummy to my tummy

Recipe for tonight's meal:

Vinaigrette & Greens

- 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup avocado oil
- generous tablespoon tarragon
- two generous tablespoons minced shallots
- one smallish tablespoon dijon mustard
- three large fistfuls of mache (a type of green)
- two large fistfuls of spring mix greens
- two generous tablespoons of minced chives
- one medium tomato, cut into chunks

Shrimp & its brine

- 3/4 lbs deveined, but not peeled, shrimp
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups ice

Crostini

- a dozen or so cripsy pita chips
- goat cheese

Make the vinaigrette by mixing the first five ingredients in an airtight container. Shake vigorously and set aside. Wash the shrimp, then place them in a plastic bag along with the sugar, salt, water and ice. Shake to mix, then set in fridge to brine for 20 minutes, shaking to remix about halfway through.

Meanwhile, wash, dry and mix the mache and the spring mix. Toss with the chives. Then spread the goat cheese on the pita chips. Spread the chips on a baking sheet, goat cheese side up.

Once the shrimp have brined for 15 minutes, preheat the broiler and broiler pan on high. When the shrimp have finished their brine, rinse and then thoroughly dry them with paper towels. Pull the broiler pan out and spread the shrimp over the pan. Return the pan to the broiler for 2 minutes. Flip the shrimp, then broil for another minute or minute and a half. Replace the shrimp with the pita chips. Watch carefully! After about 90 seconds, the goat cheese will have melted and the chips will be browned. Remove the pita chips from the oven and set aside.

Toss the salad with several tablespoons of the vinaigrette and the tomatoes. Separate into bowls. Peel the shrimp and arrange on top of the greens, then add the pita chips.

Enjoy!

Mushroom risotto for dummies

I like to cook quite a bit. One of my favorite things is to cook for other people - especially really involved time-consuming multi-step recipes. Informal dinner parties at my condo are my favorite kind of entertainment. I can baste the chef all I want (since I don't have to drive), I can make sure that I like everything on the menu (even the veg. items), and if I do all the cooking I don't have to do much cleaning ('cause whoever cooks does not clean - thems the rules of the hiz-ouse.)

So I thought I would share some of my favorite recipes - not that you can't find most of these on other sites. Almost everything I do is a close variation of a published reciple. I'm no chef - I can't create new food, but I sure as hell can take a recipe and make it yummy!

With a nod to Alton Brown, here goes - Mushroom Risotto ala doctawife.

Hardware
deep, heavy bottomed skillet
spatula
measuring cup
small pot
cutting board
chef's knife
deep pasta pot
cheese grater

Software
1 cup aborrio or carnaroli rice
4 x 2cm diameter leeks - white part only, cut across the grain into 1 inch disks then washed by soaking in the deep pasta pot
1lbs. mushrooms - shiitake, white, baby bella, dried morel all work, caps only, quatered
4 tablespoons butter, divided evenly
4 tablespoons olive oil
about 32 ounces (two boxes) of chicken stock - I like the organic free range kind. If vegetarian, use imitation chicken stock or mushroom stock.
1/4 cup sherry, brandy or white wine - sherry is the best, so use it if ya got it.
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon - substitute 1 teaspoon dry tarragon if that is all you have
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

• Heat the chicken stock in the small pot over low heat. Do not boil.
• Heat olive oil and half of the butter over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, add the leeks. Saute for three minutes until just starting to soften. Keep the leeks moving enough and the heat just barely low enough that they don't brown.
• Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt and cook until soft, about 7 more minutes.
• Stir in the rice and keep it moving in the pan. Watch for the rice kernal to change from fully opaque to translucent with an opaque center. Without this step, the risotto won't become creamy as it should.
• Deglaze your pan with a hit of sherry. I tend to be generous with the sherry, but you just need enough to coat the bottom of the pan.
• Once the sherry (or whatever) has almost fully evaporated, add 1/4 - 1/3 cup of the hot chicken broth and stir to mix. Warm chicken broth is necessary to let the rice release its carbs out into the pan, creating that creamy texture we all know and love. Risotto with cold or room temperature stock just doesn't work. Once the first batch of stock is almost fully absorbed, add the second 1/3 cup. Keep repeating the cycle until the rice is firm to the tooth, but pleasantly soft and creamy (about 20 minutes). The amount of stock used will vary, just keep a good supply nice and hot in the small pot.
• Once the rice is done, add the remaining butter, taragon, parmesan, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Bon Apetit!