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Butterflied Leg of Lamb and Braised Potatoes

So last night for dinner I made something I typically do not make during the week. We had got a leg of lamb before Easter when the prices were quite reasonable and I decided to make it last night for dinner. I wanted to try something a little different with it as I have made it a couple of different ways before and we felt like trying something new. I found this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated and it sounded like something that was pretty easy to do and like it would be worth giving a try. The only part of it I was a little reluctant with was actually butterflying the leg of lamb, which I had never really done before. I think it turned out pretty well though all things considered.

Roast Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Coriander, Cumin, and Mustard Seeds

1 (6 to 8 pound) butterflied leg of lamb
Kosher salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 shallots, sliced thin
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1(1 inch) piece ginger, sliced into half-inch thick rounds and smashed
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
3 bay leaves
2 (2 inch) strips lemon zest
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the lamb, place the lamb on a cutting board with the fat Facing down. Using a sharp knife, trim any pockets of fat and connective tissue from the underside of the lamb. Flip the lamb over, and trim the fat cap so it is between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Pound the roast to an even 1 inch thickness. Cut slits, spaced a half-inch apart, in the fat In a crosshatch pattern, being careful to cut down but not into the meat. Rub 2 tablespoons of salt over the entire roast and into the slits. Let stand, uncovered, at room temperature for one hour.

Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks 4 to 5 inches from the broiler element and to the lower middle position and heat the oven to 250°. Stir together the oil, shallots, garlic, ginger, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, bay leaves, and lemon zest on a rimmed baking sheet and bake on the lower middle rack until the spices are softened and fragrant and the shallots and garlic turn golden, about one hour. Remove the sheet from the oven and discard the bay leaves.

Thoroughly pat the lamb dry with paper towels and transfer, fat side up, to the sheet directly on top of the spices. Roast on the lower middle rack until the lamb registers 120°, approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven and heat the broiler. Broil the lamb on the upper rack until the surface is well browned and charred in spots and the lamb registers 125°, approximately 3 to 8 minutes for medium rare. Remove the sheet from the oven and, using two pairs of tongs, transfer the lamb to a carving board. Some spices will cling to the bottom of the roast. Tent loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, carefully pour pan juices through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard the solids. Stir in the mint, cilantro, shallot and lemon juice. Add any other accumulated lamb juices to the sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.

With the long side facing you, sliced lamb with the grain into three equal pieces. Turn each piece and slice across the grain into 1/4 inch thick slices. Serve with the sauce.

Admittedly, I looked at a couple of videos online to see what the best way would be to butterflied leg of lamb. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be and the bones actually remove quite easily. You can then trim up the roast by eliminating any excess fat that you find. If you like to meet more well done, you could roast the lamb at a higher temperature does start with and then simply broil for the last couple of minutes to get the nice crust on the outside. I thought that the lamb itself came out quite nicely and you get a very good flavor from all the spices that have bloomed in the oven before you added the lamb.

To go along with the lamb, I wanted to make some potatoes but I didn’t want to just serve the basic roast potatoes were boiled potatoes. Luckily, my new issue of Cook’s Illustrated happened to arrive yesterday morning, and they even had a new recipe in there for braised potatoes.

Braised Red Potatoes with Lemon and Chives

1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes, unpeeled, halved
2 cups water
3 tablespoons butter
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Arrange the potatoes in a single layer, cut side down, in a large nonstick skillet. Add the water, butter, garlic, thyme and salt and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, about fifteen minutes.

Remove the lid and use a slotted spoon to transfer the garlic to a cutting board; discard the thyme sprigs. Increase the heat to medium-high and vigorously simmer, swirling the pan occasionally, until the water evaporates and the butter starts to sizzle, about 15 to 20 minutes. When it is cool enough to handle, mince the garlic to a paste. Transferred the paste to a bowl and stir in the lemon juice and the pepper.

Continue to cook the potatoes, swirling the pan frequently, until the butter browns and the cut sides of the potatoes turn spotty brown, about 4 to 6 minutes longer. Off they heat add the garlic mixture and that chives and tossed to thoroughly coat.

I thought the potatoes turned out great. You do have to keep a close eye on them once the water evaporates to make sure that they do not burn or stick to the pan. Using a nonstick pan for this is really a pretty good idea. They also have a variation where you can substitute 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard for the lemon juice and used tarragon instead of chives if you want a little bit of a different flavor. I think in banks a pretty good side – and a nice variation for potatoes, giving you that roasted feel without having to roast them.

That’s all I have for today as far as recipe ideas. Tonight I think we are having Sloppy Joe’s for dinner tonight. I have posted a recipe for this before if they want to check it out and see what it’s like. I did add something new to it this time with a new recipe for coleslaw that I tried. I may post that recipe tomorrow along with one Michelle used for brownies that she made this weekend which everyone seemed to love. Check back tomorrow and see what we have. Until then, enjoy this beautiful spring day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on April 9, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Lamb, Potatoes

Tags: Braised red potatoes with lemon and chives, butterflied leg of lamb with coriander cumin and mustard seeds, cook's illustrated, roasted leg of lamb

A Great Weeknight Meal: Go Ahead and Thai One On

13 Oct

Now that the trip to Ireland is over and done, it’s time to get back to some everyday cooking again. I made a few different meals this week, but the one that stands out as something different was this one. I recently started a subscription to Cook’s Illustrated and when my first issue came, I had picked out this recipe as the first one I wanted to try. It is a Thai dish called pad see ew. It is a traditional street dish of charred rice noodles with some kind of meat, Chinese broccoli and eggs in a sauce. It looked good and the recipe seemed pretty straightforward to me and it seemed like something the whole family would eat. I am the first to admit, I do not normally like pasta or noodles, but the rice noodles had a little bit of different texture and taste to them and since they were crisping up in the cooking, I didn’t mind them at all. The hardest part I had was finding all the ingredients locally. Serrano chiles are apparently hard to come by around here, and it took a little work to find some broccolini and oyster sauce as well, but I did track them down at a local market that has mostly Asian food.

Stir-Fried Noodles with Chicken (Pad See Ew)

Chile Vinegar

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 serrano chile, stemmed and sliced into thin rings

Stir-Fry

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut against the grain into 14-inch thick slices

1 teaspoon baking soda

8 ounces rice noodles

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup oyster sauce

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon molasses

1 teaspoon fish sauce

3 garlic cloves, sliced thin

3 large eggs

10 ounces broccolini, florets cut into 1-inch pieces, stalks cut on the bias into 1/2-inch pieces

For the Chile Vinegar: Combine the vinegar and the serrano chile in a bowl. Let stand at room temperature for at least 15 minutes.

For the Stir-Fry: Combine the chicken with 2 tablespoons of water and the baking soda in a bowl. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Rinse the chicken in cold water and drain well.

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Place the noodles in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water over the noodles. Stir, then soak the noodles until they are almost tender, about 8 minutes, stirring once halfway through the soak. Drain and rinse the noodles with cold water. Drain well and toss with 2 teaspoons of the oil.

Whisk the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, molasses, and fish sauce together in a bowl.

Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil and the garlic in a large nonstick skillet over high heat, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is a deep golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chicken and 2 tablespoons of the sauce mixture, toss to coat, and spread the chicken in an even layer. Cook without stirring until the chicken begins to brown, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Push the chicken to one side of the skillet. Add 2 teaspoons of the oil to the cleared side of the skillet. Add the eggs to the clear space. Using a rubber spatula, stir the eggs gently and cook until they set but are still wet. Stir the eggs into the chicken and continue to cook, breaking up the large pieces of egg, until the eggs are fully cooked, about 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer the chicken mixture to a bowl.

Heat two teaspoons of the oil in a now-empty skillet until smoking. Add the broccolini and 2 tablespoons of sauce and toss to coat. Cover the skillet and cook for 2 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking. Remove the lid and continue to cook until the broccolini is crisp and very brown in spots, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking. Transfer the broccolini to the bowl with the chicken mixture.

Heat two teaspoons of oil in the now-empty skillet until smoking. Add half of the noodles and 2 tablespoons of the sauce to coat. Cook until the noodles are starting to brown in spots, about two minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Transfer the noodles to the bowl with the chicken mixture. Repeat the process with the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil, the noodles and the sauce. When the second batch of noodles is cooked, add the entire contents of the bowl back to the skillet and toss to combine. Cook without stirring until everything is warmed through, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer everything to a platter and serve immediately, passing the chile vinegar separately.

It’s a pretty simple meal that I think turned out quite well. Michelle and Sean both loved it, and I liked it too. And it’s nice because it fits easily into a one-pot meal for easy cleanup as well.The whole meal itself does not take long to cook and prepare, so it fit well into a school night meal.

As I said, finding some of the ingredients can prove to be a challenge depending on the type of markets you have locally to you. If you can’t get broccolini, you could substitute regular broccoli with no problem. I think you need to get the rice noodles to make it authentic and it does add to the taste, though I found the rice noodles to be quite expensive ($6.99 for a 1 pound box of noodles).

I had my budding photographer Sean take the picture of the meal for me as it cooked. He wants to be my blog photographer, so the job is his right now. I think he did a pretty good job on this one.

That’s it for today. i do have some more recipes to post that we have done recently, including some tacos and a bacon-wrapped tilapia, so look for those over the next few days. Until then, enjoy the rest of your fall day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 13, 2012 in Cookbooks, Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Poultry

Tags: broccolini, cook's illustrated, Pad See Ew, rice noodles, Stir fried noodles with chicken

Thin-Crust Pizza – Cooks Illustrated

02 Oct

Thin-Crust Pizza – Cooks Illustrated.

I don’t often make my own dough for anything because we have such a small kitchen and no counter space to do it, but this one sounds like it is worth giving a try. If I am going to eat pizza, I would choose a thin crust every time and it looks like this one will come out perfectly. I haven’t tried it yet, but I plan to give it a shot and you should too! If you have tried this one, let me know how it has worked out for you so we can see it.

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Posted by MikeG on October 2, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Pizza

Tags: cook's illustrated, thin crust pizza

Back from Dublin for Some Home Cooked Pork Loin

01 Oct

After spending a wonderful week in Dublin last week, it’s time to get back to the real world of work, school and chores around here. That means back to cooking dinner, and yesterday I decided to make some pork loin. I had gotten the recipe from a Williams-Sonoma link I posted here on the blog a while back but I hadn’t had the chance to cook it yet. Last night I gave it a shot, and I can tell you it turned out great and the lentil salad was out of this world.

Roasted Loin with Lentil Salad

1 cup lentils

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

6 cups chicken stock

Salt and ground pepper

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 pound, trimmed of excess fat

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

In a saucepan, combine the lentils, half of the garlic, bay leaf and stock. Season well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer the lentils until tender, about 45 minutes. Let the lentils cool in stock.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the pork well with salt and pepper. In a ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sear the pork, turning occasionally, until well browned, 6 to 8 minutes total. Add the remaining garlic and rosemary. Place the pork in the oven and roast until the juices run clear when the pork is pierced with a knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the lentils and put them in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup olive oil, mustard, vinegar, onion and parsley. Season and toss to combine. Spread on a serving platter. Slice pork thinly, arrange on lentils and serve.

The lentils tasted great. The combination of the mustard, red onion and red wine vinegar add just the right tang and bite to the lentil salad. We also had enough left over that we can use it as a side dish again later this week with one of our other meals. I also served this with some brown rice and steamed green beans.

For the rest of this week, I plan to post some recipes of things we ate while in Ireland. I will also give some of my observations about the food and pubs and the style of cooking that we observed while we there. It was a great experience on many levels for me, with the food aspect being just one of them. You can check my other blog at The Office of Iguana Flats this week for some of my more personal outlooks on the trip.

I also have some recipes planned for this week that we’ll be using in the coming days that I hope to get up on the blog soon as well. Check back and see what we had in Ireland and what I’ll be making in the coming days. Fall is coming, so we are planning lots of soups, stews, and slow cooker meals. I also recently subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated and got a few great recipes from there this month that I plan to cook soon. Boy, we have a lot to cover! Until next time, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 1, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dinner, Pork, Salad, Side Dishes

Tags: brown rice, cook's illustrated, lentil salad, pork loin, pork tenderloin, the office of iguana flats, williams-sonoma

4 Tips for Perfect Stir-Fries | The Feed

18 Jul

4 Tips for Perfect Stir-Fries | The Feed.

Stir fry dinners are a staple in our house. We eat them about once a week and I try to vary them as much as possible between chicken, seafood, beef and pork and sometimes just vegetables. here are some good tips to follow from Cook’s Illustrated on how to create a really good stir fry. Check it out!