Monday, September 7, 2009

variety is the herb of life

I like variety in my diet. In fact, at one point last year the carnivore and I went 6 months without any repeat dinners (leftovers excluded) till the carnivore asked if we could have something twice. I personally think changing things up is a good thing. The carnivore, on the other hand, could probably eat the same four or five things for the rest of his life and be just fine. (Pizza, pasta, burger, steak...) In fact, I am pretty sure this is how he survived after he left his parent's house and before we got married.

Poor carnivore, I am constantly make him try new things. Not only do I sneak veggies on his plate all the time, but I also try to vary the meat I make for him. Recently, I encountered the carnivore's variety aversion in action when I mentioned that I was going to make him herb roasted lamb for dinner. Nonplussed he simply stated before the dinner was made (but after the lamb was bought), "I don't really like lamb." Sigh. I suggested, like I always do when he proclaims he doesn't like something before he has even had it, that he just try it. At worse, only has to eat it once...maybe twice.

I thought this lamb recipe, that I cut out from an old Bon Apetit magazine, would be a great idea because I could use up some of the herbs from the garden we grew together this year. Thus, I should say I also just guessed on the herb measurements. I mean what does a tablespoon of rosemary look like in the planter anyway? Also, since I was making this just for the carnivore I only made enough marinade for two servings. Finally, I used leg of lamb because the butcher was out of chops, but they worked just fine.

To make this meat main dish you will need (with my tweaks from the original recipe):
2 large cloves of garlic, pressed
1 tblsp of rosemary, lighted crushed
2 tblsp of kosher salt
enough olive oil to coat the meat, and a bit more to coat the pan
2 lamb loin chops, or pieces of leg of lamb

Mix the first four ingredients together. Add the lamb and toss it to coat. Let it marinate at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Then place the lamb in an oven safe skillet with a bit of oil. Heat each side about 3 minutes per side over high heat. Then transfer the whole skillet to the oven for 10 minutes (for medium rare meat). Put the lamb on a platter and let it rest 5 minutes before serving.

Despite his hesitation towards all things new, the carnivore literally licked his plate clean and told me that "that lamb was good." Shocking!

menu ideas:
When the carnivore had this, I made myself a marvelous mushroom (find the recipe here). We shared mashed potatoes and peas as side dishes.

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