Happy New Year!!!

I am officially stating here that while I have been absent from my Blog for a few months now, I am recommitting in 2012 to continue cooking and sharing my experiences and recipes. When I say experiences I mean the nitty gritty. If something did not work as planned I will share that with you as well. None of us are perfect, we all know that about Julia Child, and can be sure that the Anthony Bourdain's, Scott Conant's and Giada's of this world have burned or undercooked their food once in a while. This brings me to my first meal of the New Year.

January 1, 2012 New Years Day and My husband Mike's birthday.

A couple of weeks ago Mike came to me and said I would love to have a rack of lamb for my birthday.

Flashback about a year... For one of the holidays I came into two racks of lamb without a clue how to cook them. I pulled out a pile of Bon Apetit magazines and began to search for a recipe. Bingo, I found the perfect recipe, could it really be that simple??? I tried it and not only was it simple but it was one of the best meals I have ever made.

Fast forward to this year... I had to order the lamb from the butcher, and for beauty and a natural handle I asked him to "French" the lamb. No he was not making out with it, he was cleaning off the bone and trimming the fat so they would be perfectly ready to cook.
They should not charge you anything extra to do this for you. Also, ask them to give you the trimming, it makes a fantastic soup base.

The menu: Rack of Lamb with Baby Potatoes and Haricot Verts

I cannot take full credit for this birthday dinner, every one of my kids had a hand in dinner.
First, I coat the lamb with salt, pepper, olive oil,and rosemary. You can use any herbs you like including mint if you like the flavor. Sear the meat on both sides in a hot pan and set into a roasting pan. Lamb does not need a lot of time to cook. It was one of the things that most amazed me when I first cooked it. Also, if you do not like rare meat lamb may not be your bag. It should be cooked Rare to medium rare for best texture and bite.

Here is where things went wrong. I placed the lamb in the oven for roasting as we sat down to our salad (spring mix with avocado, pepper, and red onion, dressing is a store bought Vidalia onion dressing). Shout out to Samantha who put the salad together. Fifteen minutes later I removed the rack to rest for a few minutes prior to cutting. I cut into the rack and it was not cooked. OH NOOOOOOO! Back into the oven it went and I filled up the wine glasses. I went back to check after round two in the oven and while it is better, the meat is still not completely cooked on the inside, ugh!!!! While we are struggling to figure this all out, we are plating the side dishes. We decide to slice the lamb chops and sear them off on the stove until just cooked. Phew! They turned out great, but not without a few moments of absolute panic. Disaster averted!

Alex was making the potatoes and we did something new. We bought these tri-colored baby potatoes, and boiled them off until just fork tender. Then we drained them and set it aside. You will want to heat oil in a skillet and toss potatoes in with salt, pepper and some herbs. Whatever herbs you used for the meat would be good. Leave the potatoes alone at this point, you want the skin to crisp up. The results were incredible, creamy on the inside,crispy on the outside. Our second side was Haricot Verts (fancy french green beans you can get at any market and don't have to stand and snap off the bottoms), simply pan fried in a bit of oil, salt and pepper until just tender.

Lastly, because what is a birthday without cake? We made a chocolate ganache cake. I know what you're thinking, its so much easier to buy a cake and it is....and I tried. The bakery did not have the cakes Mike likes. Next we went to the local grocery store that has a kosher bakery, again they had no cakes that peaked anyones interest. Next, we considered a Dunkin Hines Red Velvet. At that point, I thought, I am making a fabulous, mucho fancy dinner from scratch, and I am planning a Dunkin Hines box cake. No way!! So Chocolate Ganache cake it was, and boy did it come out yummy!! Thanks to Jessica who frosted the cake (and the plate I might add).

Pictures Below.... Happy Birthday Mike and Happy New Year to you all, may you commit to making Good Food in Good Time in 2012!