![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Playing a bit of catch-up tonight - the previous dinner was on Monday and this dish was the one I just finished cleaning up the kitchen from. Cooking would be so much easier if I had someone to clean up after me...
Tonight I managed to redeem myself, either because I wast just more on or because this was actually a good recipe. I've always had a soft spot for lamb but I don't often cook it because ... actually, I have no idea why I don't cook it more often. Especially considering it appears that my roommate, Marissa (i.e., my test subject/frequent victim), likes lamb as well. I probably don't cook it often because Giant doesn't do well by it but that may end as I've discovered a butcher within driving distance. I'll be testing him out this weekend.
I also appreciate any recipe that comes with its own side dish, as one of my failings is I make the main dish ... and then realize that I didn't prepare anything to eat with it. Thank god for microwave veggies. I have really got to think that far ahead.
The what? Spiced Lamb Chops w/Cucumber and Red Onion Salad
From where? WeightWatchers Ultimate Flex & Core Cookbook
Side dish: Came with it - cucumber and red onion salad
End Result: Loved it
( Spiced Lamb Chops w/Cucumber & Red Onion Salad )
Instead of rubbing the spice mixture over the sides of the lamb, I gently pressed the meat into the bottom of the bowl to get a nice coating, shaking off any excess rub before flipping it over to repeat on the other side and then moving to the next one. I had to shake the bowl from time to time to get enough in the center but it seemed to work really well that way.
Problems didn't start to arise until I was right about to start grilling the chops on my babyForeman grill. The grill was starting to break. Not in any explosion types but the one side wouldn't lift up all the way. And the chops were a little thick for me to grill them properly. For a moment I had been stumped, wondering if I could just grill with the top open and flip it but I had been worried that the middles wouldn't get properly cooked.
And then I realized that I could close it - kind of - and grill for 4 minutes on each side while I prepped the oven. I set it to 350F and let it preheat as the chops got this really nice seared top to the, complete with grill marks and everything. After about 8 minutes, all in, I put them on a tray and baked them at 350 degrees for 10 minutes (and I say I haven't learned anything...).
The only major problem came when I set fire to the tea towel. 5 minutes in and I went to check on them but I couldn't locate the mitten that prevents my hand from catching on fire. So I grabbed a tea towel, which I've done before, but never when what I was cooking was on the bottom rack. The bottom of the towel swung down and juuuust barely hit the hot red coil, immediately igniting a small section of the towel that was currently in my hand.
A few seconds of screeching and flinging the towel into the sink went by, after which the fire went out, I double checked to make sure I still had eyebrows and I went and found the mitten.
So, anyway, the chops ... They came out medium, maybe a bit medium-rare, which meant fantastic, of course. My meat should still be kicking a bit when I eat it.
I think maybe a little less of the spice mix next time - it was very, very good but a bit grainy in some places from where I'd pressed down. The flavors mixed really well together and there wasn't one that really overpowered any of the others. And the salad was very good as well, with a nice bite from the vinegar, if at times a bit too much bite when mixed with the red onion. I don't know how to down play that bite, though. Any ideas?
Overall, a very successful dinner that I'm certainly going to be repeating. Once I get a new grill, as I had to bury the current one (alive! Mwahaha...). If you don't count the fire bit...
Any helps, hints and suggestions are welcome!
Tonight I managed to redeem myself, either because I wast just more on or because this was actually a good recipe. I've always had a soft spot for lamb but I don't often cook it because ... actually, I have no idea why I don't cook it more often. Especially considering it appears that my roommate, Marissa (i.e., my test subject/frequent victim), likes lamb as well. I probably don't cook it often because Giant doesn't do well by it but that may end as I've discovered a butcher within driving distance. I'll be testing him out this weekend.
I also appreciate any recipe that comes with its own side dish, as one of my failings is I make the main dish ... and then realize that I didn't prepare anything to eat with it. Thank god for microwave veggies. I have really got to think that far ahead.
The what? Spiced Lamb Chops w/Cucumber and Red Onion Salad
From where? WeightWatchers Ultimate Flex & Core Cookbook
Side dish: Came with it - cucumber and red onion salad
End Result: Loved it
( Spiced Lamb Chops w/Cucumber & Red Onion Salad )
Instead of rubbing the spice mixture over the sides of the lamb, I gently pressed the meat into the bottom of the bowl to get a nice coating, shaking off any excess rub before flipping it over to repeat on the other side and then moving to the next one. I had to shake the bowl from time to time to get enough in the center but it seemed to work really well that way.
Problems didn't start to arise until I was right about to start grilling the chops on my babyForeman grill. The grill was starting to break. Not in any explosion types but the one side wouldn't lift up all the way. And the chops were a little thick for me to grill them properly. For a moment I had been stumped, wondering if I could just grill with the top open and flip it but I had been worried that the middles wouldn't get properly cooked.
And then I realized that I could close it - kind of - and grill for 4 minutes on each side while I prepped the oven. I set it to 350F and let it preheat as the chops got this really nice seared top to the, complete with grill marks and everything. After about 8 minutes, all in, I put them on a tray and baked them at 350 degrees for 10 minutes (and I say I haven't learned anything...).
The only major problem came when I set fire to the tea towel. 5 minutes in and I went to check on them but I couldn't locate the mitten that prevents my hand from catching on fire. So I grabbed a tea towel, which I've done before, but never when what I was cooking was on the bottom rack. The bottom of the towel swung down and juuuust barely hit the hot red coil, immediately igniting a small section of the towel that was currently in my hand.
A few seconds of screeching and flinging the towel into the sink went by, after which the fire went out, I double checked to make sure I still had eyebrows and I went and found the mitten.
So, anyway, the chops ... They came out medium, maybe a bit medium-rare, which meant fantastic, of course. My meat should still be kicking a bit when I eat it.
I think maybe a little less of the spice mix next time - it was very, very good but a bit grainy in some places from where I'd pressed down. The flavors mixed really well together and there wasn't one that really overpowered any of the others. And the salad was very good as well, with a nice bite from the vinegar, if at times a bit too much bite when mixed with the red onion. I don't know how to down play that bite, though. Any ideas?
Overall, a very successful dinner that I'm certainly going to be repeating. Once I get a new grill, as I had to bury the current one (alive! Mwahaha...). If you don't count the fire bit...
Any helps, hints and suggestions are welcome!
