Sorry, Mary

Lamb. Chops.

Today was day 2 of lamb day... Day 1 was butchery, so I didn't think y'all wanted to be a part of that. Yesterday we each cleaned and cut lamp chops and today we learned about how to prepare them to deliciousness.

The first thing I did was crack white peppercorns (using a skillet as my masher). I also got out some dried rosemary and crushed that up a bit. Once I had my spice mixture, I coated my lamb chops with it, and then smothered it in high temperature oil (like canola).

Then, I got my pan hot. Hot hot hot with no oil. So, I have a scorching hot, empty pan, and I have meat which is coated in oil. Once I knew my pan was hot, I started to sear my lamb chops.

After I got a good sear on each side of the chops, I placed them on a sizzle plate (which is basically an iron plate that goes in the oven...I've been using them every day and I kind of can't remember what it was like to cook without them), and placed the chops in the oven. For a rare cook, Chef says they should be in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, turning them over once about half way through. The problem today was that 5 other people were using the same oven, so the door kept opening and closing and the heat did not remain consistent. So, it took me a little longer.

While the lamb chops were in the oven, I got to work on my tarragon sauce. This sauce is a brown sauce, so you know we used the veal stock sauce that we made last week. Tarragon sauce is made up of dry vermouth, white wine, tarragon (duh), shallots, and demi glace (the veal stock sauce we made last week). The sauce wasn't coming out the way I wanted it to; it was a bit too thick and strong. Whenever you have a sauce that's too thick, you can always thin it out with more stock. That way, the taste of the sauce doesn't get diluted with water since the stock that you're adding has a ton of flavor.

We were also responsible for a starch and a vegetable for the plate. My buddy and I teamed up to make smashing mashed potatoes, complete with a full head of roasted garlic, sauteed onions, and a lot of love. Yum.

I found a recipe for french peas. I know, I know. How lame? I wanted to make them because peas are something I never cook, and this summer is all about going out of my comfort zone and trying new things and new tastes. Would I order peas in a restaurant? It's not a baad choice but I probably wouldn't. But now I know that peas go well with sauteed Boston lettuce (or green cabbage since we didn't have Boston lettuce today), and that they need sugar in thickener to bring out the sweetness.

The result?

Sorry for the ugly presentation. For some reason, the picture of my finished plate didn't come out well, but here I get to sheer with you what I had for dinner tonight.

In my humble opinion, the crust on the lamb was a bit too peppery and I would definitely tone it down on the pepper and crank it up on a mixture of other herbs and spices. But after everything, I don't think I'd ever had lamb chops before. And let me go out on a lamb here and say that it was so much fun to slave over them from fabricating to searing to cooking to plating to eating!

Tip of the day: When sautéing or searing things on a fire, use a high temperature oil that won't burn up very quickly. I know we've all gotten used to using olive oil because it's healthier, but the darker the oil, the lower the cooking temperature. Canola oil and other light oils can be used to saute or sear at a very high flame without burning. But hey, I'm not your mother. Use a darker oil. I dare you.  

I'll sheepishly admit it: Lamb puns are baad news. Good thing ewe wool not have to suffer through this any longer.