Always a New First - Lamb

I've eaten lamb before, mostly while living in China (either in Hot Pot or at the barbeque restaurant). I was at the store this past weekend, browsing the butcher's display. Some lamb loin chops caught my eye, so I bought three. It ended up being three meals worth of food, which is perfect. I ate the leftovers for lunch the past two days. I also went to the farmer's market. While the farmer's market in Portland is nice, it doesn't live up to my childhood farmer's market. There aren't nearly as many vendors. The prices aren't as low. And some of the produce is seriously sketchy. Oh, and one stand didn't live up to their posted prices, which seriously annoyed me. But, I ended up with some sweet corn (not sweet enough), green beans (haven't eaten them yet), wild blueberries (I've had better), and yellow zucchini (small ones! I was happy about that).

Loving the challenge of something new, I dug out my various resource cookbooks and did some research on lamb and cooking it. I decided to cook it stovetop, using tips from a recent Cook's Illustrated article about barbequed porkchops inside. I also decided to use garlic and cumin to flavor it. So, after spending the afternoon at the Eastern Promenade reading and enjoying the weather, I walked the three miles home and started my dinner.

I rubbed the lamb chops with chopped garlic, cumin seeds and oil. I covered them tightly (as in against the meat, not over the plate) with plastic wrap and let them sit at room temperature for about 1/2 an hour. I took out some yellow squash, a small white eggplant, and an orange bell pepper and prepared them. I washed everything, trimmed the eggplant and squash and sliced into lengths. I seeded the bell pepper and sliced it. The eggplant got salted and put in a drainer for a while. I heated some olive oil with garlic and red pepper flakes and let that cool. Near the time for cooking, I brought the oven to about 350 degrees. I rinsed the eggplant, then laid it with the other vegetables and brushed all with the cooled spicy garlic oil. That went in the oven and I heated a cast iron pan over medium heat until hot. I added a little oil, then the lamb chops and cooked them about 5 minutes on the first side. I flipped them (they were browned on the first side) and let them cook on the other side until the thermometer read 130 degrees. I took the chops off the heat, put on a plate and let them rest. Once the vegetables were slightly tender, I removed them from the oven. I ate one chop with some of the vegetables. It was fabulous! I had a leftover lamb chop today for lunch with some leftover cream of mushroom soup. Very good together! I was definitely happy with this new cooking venture.

Jamaican Chicken with Curry Tortillas

So, a while back I mentioned some Jamaican food I made. I was thinking about making it again and thought I should actually get around to sharing it with the rest of you... assuming anyone reads this infrequently updated sorry excuse for a blog. The New York Times had a recipe a while back for Jamaican Beef Patties, so I adapted this to what I had on hand (chicken) and my inability to bake anything due to a dirty oven (thus the curry tortillas).

4 handfuls of flour
1/2 tsp salt (approximate)
1 to 2 tbsp curry powder
1/4 inch thick slice off of a pound piece of lard (or you can use butter)
water

Mix the flour, salt and curry powder in a bowl.
Add lard (or butter) and rub in with fingers until incorporated.
Add water 1 tbsp at a time, stirring with a fork until the dough forms a ball and sides are clean.
Take a piece about the size of a pingpong ball and roll into a ball.
Roll out very thin on a floured board.
Heat cast iron pan to medium-high, then turn down to medium.
Cook tortillas about 30 seconds on each side.
Keep warm between two sheets of aluminum foil.

2 tbsp oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 hot pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp thyme
1 whole split chicken breast, boneless, skinless - chopped fine
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
water

Heat oil in a pan and add onion, garlic and hot pepper and cook until tender, but not browned.
Add paprika, allspice and thyme and cook until fragrant.
Add chicken breast, mixing well.
Add salt, pepper, sugar and enough water to cover.
Cook until almost all of the water is gone and sauce is made.

Spoon chicken mixture into curry tortillas to serve.

A Month?!

So, my work has been keeping me busy lately and I have sorely neglected not only my blog, but also the essence of this blog and one of the things that brings me happiness in this world. Most of the cooking in my kitchen, as of late, either doesn't count as cooking (though I am enjoying what I call my "European" meals) or is quick cooking, which I don't find interesting to blog about (hello breakfasts of fried egg sandwiches). I'm tired and feeling a little worn out.

Perhaps sensing my exhaustion, my alarm clock chose this morning to not go off. It's a random occurrence (trust me, I couldn't sleep through the thing) that has me baffled. I got to work late and rebelliously left "early" (meaning before seven). I got home early enough to take my dog for a nice walk. I met a lovely woman who liked talking about dogs, so we walked with her a while, even though Magellen was seriously annoyed that we were sauntering along rather than briskly trotting from tree to tree. Sensing his annoyance (and tired of having him trying to pull my arm out of its socket) we turned around, quickly walked home and I even had time to go to the grocery store!

You should see my fridge. It is the saddest sight ever! You know the scene in Bridget Jones when she's eating her depression away? That's what my fridge looks like, but without the Parmesan and with a gigantic jar of green olives. I didn't buy a ton tonight, no point since I still have at least one week of absolute craziness at work. I was also riding my bike, and I can only carry so much on my back.

Though it's not a cooking feat and I've posted about it before, I made Cream of Mushroom Soup tonight. Yum. I can't tell you how much my body relaxed while I slowly chopped up the 3/4 pound of mushrooms. The Riesling I bought might have helped a bit too, but I had some wine this past weekend and I didn't feel nearly as calm and centered as I did tonight while cooking. I have a chicken in the fridge right now waiting for tomorrow night when I'm going to bake it (probably cut up so that it cooks faster) and serve it with lemon sauce from Betty Crocker. (Not that crappy low fat version in more recent books, but the one from the 70s). I bought some green beans and I have some small potatoes that I plan on serving with it. ("Serving" - to me, there isn't anyone else here to enjoy it).

It's been suggested by multiple family members that I become a chef, but when I get down to cooking and pondering that thought, I think it wouldn't make me happy. I enjoy taking my time, cooking something that I want to make, being creative, and not having the stress of anyone waiting (unless that's family members and I can always tell them to eat a snack while I finish the meal). I think I would enjoy writing a cookbook and I have an idea or two in my head along that line. Maybe cooking for an in-home party once in a while might be fun, but I'll have to find people who could afford me to come and make a mess in their kitchen. I'd clean up afterwards, even; as much as I dislike cleaning up.

I did spend the first two weeks of August in San Francisco, though during the week I was dealing with teenagers and work stuff. I got the weekend to look around San Francisco a bit. It was nice. I had a couple really good meals, one absolutely amazing meal (which are on my "must blog about" list). For now, though, here are a few pictures from my trip to cold and foggy San Francisco.