Broiled Lamb Chops with a Balsamic Reduction

My first experience with lamb was in the Middle East. There was a restaurant that delivered, and when it's 140 degrees out, you tend to stay home in your underwear by the AC vent. Their roasted chicken was melt-in-your-mouth good, and someone mentioned their lamb chops, so I decided to try them. Though the restaurant's lamb chops were grilled, and they had no sauce, I found a recipe that I really wanted to try, even if it was one of Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals. But it seemed like it would be good. And it was. Needless to say, this recipe has been in my repertoire for almost 10 years. It's off of Food Network's website, and I refuse to use the picture because it looks unappetizing as hell. Maybe when I get the chance to make it again, I'll take a picture myself. Without further ado...

Broiled Lamb Chops with a Balsamic Reduction

By Rachel Ray (yummo!)

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds rack of lamb cut into chops, 3 chops per person
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed and cracked away from the peels

Instructions

  1. Preheat broiler. Arrange chops on broiler pan.
  2. In a small pot, combine vinegar, sugar, rosemary, and garlic. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer 10 minutes to thicken sauce. Remove garlic.
  3. Broil chops 5 minutes on each side for medium rare. Season chops with salt and pepper. Transfer chops to warm serving platter and drizzle with balsamic rosemary reduction.

Link to original recipe

You could even grill the chops instead of broiling them. I actually prefer them grilled. Either way, be careful not to overcook them. I serve garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes with these.   If you've never tried lamb before, this is a great recipe to start with. In the Middle East, lamb is easy accessible, but certain areas around the US I've only seen it available around Easter. I have a rather large lamb roast in my freezer that I bought around that time. I plan on making lamb biryani if I can find a somewhat easy recipe for it. As it is, there's a bajillion ingredients for it. I'm okay with that, but the one and only time I made it, it turned out...weird. But that will be a blog post for another day.


Cheater Korean Beef

First, let me say that I have a thing for Asian food.  Like I would possibly marry it if it was legal. But only if Asian Food would let me see other types of food every now and then. Second, I don't have a wok. I don't even have anything that resembles one. And honestly, I don't always have the time to put the preparation required of a lot of my favorite Asian dishes. So if I can find a recipe that at least gives me the taste, if not the mouth feel, and is quick, than I'm going to try it. This recipe was a link from a friend. We share recipes all of the time. She usually finds the good ones first, mostly because I'm too busy playing Candy Crush Soda Saga on Facebook to look for new recipes. I have made this at least three times. For such a simple dish it's really good, but I have made modifications based solely on personal taste preferences.

Cheater Korean beef

Korean-beef-plate1
Photo credit: lizzy writes

By Elizabeth Bryant (with modifications by me in parenthesis)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar (it was originally too sweet, so I use a little less than 1/4 cup)
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce (I use tamari, and less than 1/4 cup)
  • 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
  • 1/2 - 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers (or a couple of quirts of sirracha, depending on your wuss facot, or if you have kids like me)
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 bunch green onions, diced

Instructions

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown hamburger with garlic in the sesame oil.
  2. Drain most of the fat and add brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper and red peppers.
  3. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors.
  4. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions.

Link to original recipe

As you can read, it's a very simple dish. It takes no time at all to do. As far as the ginger, you can get fresh and store what you don't use in the freezer, get the tube o' ginger from the produce aisle (which I also keep in the freezer and take it out as I do all the prep to let it thaw a bit) or I have even seen the cubes of ginger in the freezer section, already portioned out for you. If you're not doing the rice thing, you can always serve these in lettuce leaves as cups or wraps. Ooh! Maybe you can make spring rolls out of soybean paper or something. Add some julienned carrots, maybe a dipping sauce...the choices are endless.

I'd end this post with some Korean thing, but since I don't know any Korean, I hope you enjoy your meal.


Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Vinegar & Honey

Let me say first that I love almost every vegetable equally.  I have never been one of those people that hated brussel sprouts. Lima beans are a different story, but probably because I haven't yet found a recipe I like.  But brussel sprouts, while not really a favorite, have always been yummy. Even if I have only ever seen them in the freezer section of the grocery store.

Last year was different. The hubby and I took the kids to one of the local farms to get pumpkins, and decided to go into the on-site store to see what goodies we could find. He spotted it first - a weird nubby stalk. I cannot express the excitement I felt when I saw the sprouts in the natural glory, not can I forget my amusement at the confused look on Hubby's face while he was trying to figure out if it was something that could be eaten, or possibly an alien species hiding in plain sight.

Well of course we took them home.

He wasn't really sure about them, but he trusted me.  The only brussel sprouts he had ever had was the boiled mush that happens when you boil them to death.  I was determined to find a recipe that was different for me, and would make him forget about brussel mush memories forever.  So of course I did a search on the internet, and luckily my Google-Fu was strong.  Behold the Holy Grail of brussel sprouts recipes!

Roasted brussel sprouts with balsamic vinegar and honey.

Brussels-sprouts-575x430

Photo credit: Once Upon a Chef

By Jennifer Segal

Servings: 6

Total Time: 30 Minutes
 

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, halved, stems and ragged outer leaves removed*
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon honey

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. In a large bowl, toss brussels sprouts with 2 tablespoons olive oil, kosher salt and pepper. Transfer the brussels sprouts to baking sheet and roast, stirring occasionally to ensure even browning, until tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes.
  3. Place brussels sprouts back in bowl. Add remaining tablespoon olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey and toss to coat evenly. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then serve.
*If you have some brussels sprouts that are very large, cut them into quarters. They should all be cut about the same size to ensure even cooking.

Link to original recipe

To borrow a phrase from back in the day, these are the bomb! No seriously. I have made these four times in a 6 month period. They have been requested at Thanksgiving. Because of this recipe, I have brussel sprouts growing in my garden. It was so simple and so delicious, there was no need to change anything.

If you ever needed a reason to try brussel sprouts again - and you should definitely try them again - this is the recipe for you. The husband cannot get enough of these. Sometimes I have had to do a double batch because they go so quick. Even my 18 month old loves them. My three year old still prefers broccoli. You can't win them all.


Welcome to my digital recipe box

I grew up loving food. I was born in New Orleans and lived there until I was 14, when I moved to Texas. My love affair with gumbo and jambalaya, barbecue and Tex-Mex grew into a full-blown gastronomical romance with food from anywhere and everywhere, especially after I joined the military at 18 and traveled the world. I've eaten sushi in Japan, dim sum in Hong Kong, tom kha gai in Thailand, shawarmas in the Middle East, and well you get the picture. Whether I returned home from a deployment or an ethnic restaurant, I would try and recreate some of the recipes on my own or find them on the internet. And I'm not forgetting what is considered American meals and eateries. I love to eat and make them all.

Here is where I want to collect and share some of my favorite recipes, that I may or may not have tweaked. There will probably be a few from the same site, and I might even throw in some of my own. I plan to also toss in some non-food recipes that I have tried.  I'm trying to cut out some chemicals in my family's life, trying to be frugal, and lead a more natural lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, food is also comfort as well as nourishing, so I won't be throwing out the frozen chicken nuggets just yet, and sometimes I crave fast food.  But it doesn't mean I won't make a bechamel sauce for some homemade macaroni and cheese.