The Moveable Feast Food Blog

The Moveable Feast is a Personal Chef Service that serves the Hampton Roads area of Southern Virginia. This blog is an extension of my web site www.themoveablefeastpcs.com and will go into more details about food and any food service industries. Any pictures and or recipes that are published here are all the property of The Moveable Feast unless otherwise noted.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Lamb Chops (not the puppet)
I have had this post for a few weeks but forgot about posting it. We had a wicked storm last night with little tee tiny balls of disaster falling from the sky. No logging onto the computer to post anything last night. So with no further delay...Pan Roasted Lamb Chops with Rosemary Balsamic Syrup & Wilted Spinach.

This is a very easy dish to make. I can't demo anything that is complicated at the store demos. The whole idea is to get folks into the kitchen and get them cooking. Besides, who says cooking food that looks good and tastes good has to be hard, complicated or expensive? Now lamb chops are $7.99 a pound, but this is the exception not the rule. Since I did this in mid March, it was to promote spring lamb. Many folks eat lamb for Easter and this is one way to fix it that is super simple!


Pan Roasted Lamb Chops with Rosemary Balsamic Syrup & Wilted Spinach
Step 1: Make the balsamic rosemary syrup in a non-reactive saucepan, combining the following:
3/4 cup Good quality balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp fresh rosemary, freshly chopped rosemary (you can use dry also if you can't find any fresh)

Over moderate heat, let mixture reduce until it is syrupy. This process will take about 8-10 minutes. You will not want to do this in the house!! You can use your grill outside to do this but it might take a bit longer. The fumes from this process will knock you socks off! The smoke alarm in your house will go off and everyone in your house will hate you for days if you do this in doors! If you have a tropical bird you know you can not do this anywhere near your bird. I can't stress enough to not do this in the house.

Lamb Chops
4 Fresh Market Premium lamb chops, trimmed of all visible fat
1 tsp of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly cracked
2 TBS Fresh Market Olive Oil to coat the pan
1/4 cup of your favorite light red wine, maybe a Pinot Noir

Season the lamb chops with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet on medium high heat, and heat the olive oil until it begins to smoke. Cook lamb chops for approximately 4-5 minutes (depending on the thickness) to yield medium rare. Remove chops and set aside. Add chopped garlic, and cook until the garlic is just softened (do not brown; it makes garlic bitter), about a minute. Take pan away from heat and then add the wine to deglaze. Pour sauce over lamb chops and cover with foil to keep warm.

Wilted Spinach
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 TBS olive oil
1 large bag of washed and ready to use Spinach

In the same pan used for the lamb chops, combine the olive oil and garlic and cook over medium high heat until softened; about 3 minutes. Add the spinach to the pan. Keep the spinach moving during the wilting process to prevent burning or sticking.

Final Assembly
Plate spinach onto serving plates. Place lamb chops over the spinach. Drizzle with Balsamic Rosemary syrup.

7 Comments:

At 2:08 PM, Blogger Michelle said...

Nice presentation! I love lamb, but I've actually NEVER cooked it, so I'm going to have to try this - especially because it seems like an easy way to start! I wish I could go to your little cooking demos...maybe you could come to Hawaii and give me a personal one for a free bed?

PS. You mean 3/4 CUP basalmic, right? ;)

 
At 4:46 PM, Blogger vlb5757 said...

Yep, thanks for asking. I just went back and corrected it. I only read that post 4 times before posting it to catch most of the errors. Should have read it 5 times!

Hawaii? Really, did you decide? Okay, now I have to plan a trip to scuba dive there and eat Hawaiian food. When will my guest room be ready????????

 
At 11:19 PM, Blogger Ed Tep said...

Vickie - I'm a complete novice when it comes to cooking lamb. You post wants me to go out and buy some to try.

 
At 5:46 AM, Blogger vlb5757 said...

Michelle and Ed-try it once or twice. It took me several times eating lamb to know if I liked it or not. I have eaten chops and then ground lamb. Try not to over cook a cut of lamb as opposed to ground lamb. If lamb is over cooked it is as tough as shoe leather and you will never want to eat it again. I ate some lamb stew last November that was really good and should have gotten the recipe. I think beef could have been used in place of the lamb so I consider that a good recipe. If you are nervous about cooking lamb go out and eat it some place first. That's how I started.

 
At 12:48 PM, Blogger s'kat said...

Vicky, your post is giving me the irresistable urge to make the syrup in the house, lol!

Ed, I've got two words for you: lamb gyros.

 
At 12:19 PM, Blogger Michelle said...

Ha ha ha! You're funny! Yep, we really decided it's Hawaii. So yes, dust off that scuba gear and I promise I'll let you know as soon as we get our guest room ready to recieve - for I fully expect a visit/meeting!! (you have lots of time to plan for it - we're hoping this coming December/January for the move. And I will try lamb - I'm planning on Easter, just because I feel it's the perfect time to try it!

 
At 2:14 PM, Blogger vlb5757 said...

Awesome! I am dusting off the scuba gear as we speak!! Yiphee, a free place to stay where someone cooks! Man, what could be more wonderful than that?? Nothing that I could think of.

I have no idea what we are having for Easter dinner. Might just be lamb...or a honey baked ham...or a rib roast...or a pizza...

 

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