Follow The Recipe

Rack of Lamb

Posted on April 27th, 2009 by Danielle.
Categories: chops, dinner, lamb, recipe.

Here’s the story:

Chapter 1: My husband loves lamb.
Chapter 2: I love lamb.
Chapter 3: I search and search until I find a recipe that makes the best rack of lamb.
Chapter 4: I combine several recipes to make a rack of lamb that makes my husband, “…promise to stay married to you for at least another year.”
The End

A Rack of Lamb:

Ingredients:

1 rack of lamb
1 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
3 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbs rosemary (finely chopped)
1 Tsp Salt (or 2 Tsp sea salt)
1/2 Tsp black pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs Brown or Dijon or Yellow mustard (to your taste)

1 Tsp each of pepper and salt necessary for a rub.

Cooking supplies:

Aluminum foil
Large Sauté or flat skillet
Glass cooking pan
Make sure your oven rack is in the middle of your oven so you have room and preheat the oven to 450°.  In a big bowl combine the garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Add in Panko crumbs and mix well.
Prepare your rack of lamb (if packaged in plastic) by removing any residual liquid with a paper towel (If you got your chops from butcher they should be dry enough).  Sprinkle salt and pepper onto all sides of the lamb and rub in. Set aside.
Prepare the skillet on the stove on med high heat with 2 tbs of oil.  When pan and oil are hot begin searing each side of the lamb rack.  You want to give it 1 min. or 2 min on each side or until it is a nice carmel-y color.  Don’t forget to sear the ends.
After searing, brush the rack with the mustard on all sides and roll it in your mixed breadcrumb mixture.  Rack should be evenly coated up to the bones.
Place rack in the glass pan, bones side down.  Use a small bit of foil to cover each bone end.
Place the lamb in the oven for 13-19 minutes depending on how done you want it.   When done baking let the meat rest 5 min under a foil tent before cutting and serving.  If you have a thermometer, taking it to 120° rare should end up Med-rare after resting which is how I like it.
Serve

Follow The Recipe Extra:
Two things are important with lamb chops: 1-don’t overcook 2-cover the tips of the bones.  If you do those you should be fine making this impressive meal.  For additonal fancy-ness I make them with pre-steamed, artichokes that I season with olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley, then throw in the oven on a baking sheet for the last 5 min of baking.

45Commentshttp://www.followtherecipe.com/2009/04/27/rack-of-lamb/Rack+of+Lamb+2009-04-27+22%3A47%3A13Danielle

Fried Shoe-String Onions

Posted on April 20th, 2009 by Danielle.
Categories: onion, side dish, spicy.

I love shoe-string onions. I love them on everything, steaks, hamburgers, salmon and especially in a salad.

I finally decided to give making them a try. How hard could it be, you fry some onions? The good news is that it was just as easy as I thought.

Here they are for you to try!

Fried Shoe-string Onions

Ingredients:
1 medium sized white onion
1 egg
1 cup flour
paprika
cajun seasoning
pepper
garlic powder
salt
Canola Oil

Cooking Supplies:
Asparagus pot
or
small pot to fry in
tongs
colander
and paper towels

Start by shaving the onions super thin.  You can cut them into circles or however you’d like, but really, really thin.  Heat the oil in the pot. In a wide bowl beat the egg until smooth.  In another bowl (or a gallon sized zip-lock bag) combine all the dry ingredients.  Begin by placing sliced onions into the egg.  Hold the onions above the bowl after submersion and let the egg drip off until the onions are only lightly covered.  Place onions in the dry ingredients and coat.  Set coated onions aside for cooking.  Repeat with all of the onions you have cut.  Place onions one handful at a time in the hot oil.  Onions should stay in for a minute or two depending on how thin you cut them and how crispy you like them.  When they are golden, pull them out with tongs and set them on paper towels to drain.

Follow the Recipe Extra:

Lots of extras – First make your knife super sharp. Cut 1/4″ off the bottom of the round onion to make it more stable. Cut the onion so you get rings, they make for longer onions when fried.  Also, don’t be afraid to spice up the dry mix.  Finally for full disclosure while the flour mix is my own I got some technique help from this recipe.

86Commentshttp://www.followtherecipe.com/2009/04/20/fried-shoe-string-onions/Fried+Shoe-String+Onions2009-04-20+21%3A53%3A25Danielle

Poached Champagne Salmon over pasta

Posted on April 7th, 2009 by Danielle.
Categories: dinner, lemon, onion, pasta, salmon, sauce.

Sounds decadent doesn’t it?  So one night I was going to make my Nane’s pasta with clam sauce, but I only had salmon.  Then someone came over with a bottle of champagne.  I thought, “mmm…can I find a recipe that fits all three?”  The answer was, “with a little combination-yes”.  So here’s the recipe, taken from a HG-TV recipe, a Food Network Recipe and my Nane’s recipe.

Poached Champagne Salmon over Pasta:

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 Tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic minced
1 large shallot minced
8 oz brut champagne
3 Tbs salted butter
1/2 tsp fresh dill
1 pint heavy cream
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tsp lemon juice
1 large fillet of Salmon
1/2 box Angel Hair pasta
parsley
black pepper
Parmesan cheese

Cooking Supplies:

Large high sided skillet w/lid
Pasta pot
Small sauce pot

Heat the large high-sided skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil.  Add shallots and garlic and sauté until soft and golden.  Add champagne, lemon juice, salt and dill and bring to a boil.

In the meantime remove the scales from the salmon and cut the fillet into two pieces.

Reduce heat on the liquid to just a simmer.  Slide in the two fillet pieces and cover.  Poach 3-4 minutes.  Transfer the finished salmon to a covered plate. Leave liquid simmering in the skillet. In another pot, bring water to a boil and add pasta. Cook pasta 10 minutes or until soft.

In a small sauce pot, add 1 cup of the champagne liquid over medium heat.  Add heavy cream and butter. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and season with pepper and additional salt to taste.

Return salmon to champagne liquid to reheat.  Drain pasta and set on the plate.  Place reheated salmon on the pasta and cover in cream sauce.  Garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese if you’d like.

Follow the Recipe Extra: The important part of this recipe is to balance the flavor of the champagne liquid and the heavy cream.  Too much cream and it will be a little bland, too much broth and it’ll be too champagne-y.  The key is to taste and taste.  Once you get a handle on the mixture, you’ll be able to make this recipe a million times and always get it right.

46Commentshttp://www.followtherecipe.com/2009/04/07/poached-champagne-salmon-over-pasta/Poached+Champagne+Salmon+over+pasta2009-04-07+14%3A44%3A40Danielle