Culinary Disasters

Before I start anyone good with logos?  I want to do a blog cook contest and would love to have a logo for it.  My photoshop skills can’t even successfully draw stick figures.  I am looking for cheap/donation with credit too since I don’t think what I am looking for would take someone with skills more than 10 minutes.

So staring in the freezer at a package of lamb chops that have been there for awhile and I figure time to get them used.  I love lamb but never find myself really using it.  The only thing I can really attribute this is that lamb is not that prevalent in this town.  If I want it the only decent butcher shop that carries it is over an hour and a half away.  Which reminds me I have another trip coming up here shortly so time to stock up and experiment more.

Oh yeah yesterday the weather turned out to be awesome (for us that means 50 degrees and sunny) so I drug me and camera out for some Indiana spring pics in the backyard.

My first stop was to the compost bin because at least once a week I like to get this turned.  It really helps speed up the decomposition process and since I have about 2 yard actively working away right now any speed up is awesome.  This is just 1 section of my 3 stage compost bin that I built last year.  The other section looks identical and the third section should have some compost ready for me in another month or so since I started that section last spring.

After that I noticed my chives and strawberries are starting to show some life.

Of course chives I have decided are impossible to kill but the life of the strawberry plants makes my cereal bowl really happy.  Hopefully another month or so I will be able to suck down fresh strawberries.

Past that everything looks springish which is wet and starting to turn green but just not there yet.  Worst news of the day had to be the rumor that weather.com is forecasting snow on Monday and Tuesday.  cry.

To do these lamb chops I modified another one of my pork rubs I use in BBQ.  The only real addition from this and my other rub (besides the obvious dumping out the sugar since hot pan and sugar is nasty tasting) is swapping some chili powder with cinnamon.

For this recipe you will need (the amount in this rub will cover a lot of chops or one leg of lamb however, having rubs on hand is never a bad thing):

• 2 TB Hungarian paprika
• 1/2 TB cumin
• 1/2 TB cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• Pinch of kosher salt and black pepper
•  cayenne pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and set aside.

Lamb chops I like to treat like steaks which means they are going to sit on the counter for a good 30 minutes before any heat touches them.  This avoids the dreaded burnt to a crisp exterior with a raw interior.  Once the lamb chops have sat for a good 30 minutes I rubbed them with some canola oil and then only seasoned one side of them with the spice mixture.  Reason being is this mixture packs a lot of punch and could easily kill the flavor the lamb.  While the lamb chops are relaxing on your counter top go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a screaming hot cast iron skillet add the lamb chops and let them go for a couple of minutes, flip, let them relax in the pan for another couple of minutes, and finally transfer to the oven to finish cooking.  I love lamb chops about medium-rare so these sat in the oven for about 5 minutes.

(insert missed shot of lamb chops in a cast iron skillet relaxing because my shiny object syndrome kicked in)

Let them rest for a good 10 minutes to redistribute the juices.  Serve and enjoy!

p.s. yes the lamb was shot with the old camera and it is amazing the shot quality difference between the two cameras.

Tags: lamb, All //