MB had a little lamb

Yeah, I know. There's all kinds of wrong with that title. Alas, I'm feeling a bit uninspired (and who am I kidding? For a marketing person, I've always been completely useless at product names and titles). But having just watched the series premier (thanks Project Free TV) of "Once Upon a Time" starring Jennifer Morrison and Ginnifer Goodwin, I have fairy tales and nursery rhymes on the brain (verdict: promising. Definitely enough of a hook to keep me watching next week).

All that to say, I finally started cooking again. Between travel (play and work), colds (mine and MRN's) and general malaise, I haven't been up to experimenting in my kitchen (though I did make a big dinner at MRN's brother's a few weeks ago-- yes, I've taken my show on the road). I got back in the mood this weekend when looking for inspiration (on Pinterest-- where else?) for Christmas food gift ideas and came across this lovely looking baked potato. I am not usually a big fan of baked potatoes. Too much, well, potato I guess. Don't get me wrong-- I love them mashed, roasted and even boiled (well, new potatoes, anyway). The more butter, garlic and seasoning, the better. But give me a baked potato? I'll always pass. However, the aesthetics of this thinly sliced baked potato seemed too much to pass up. I mean, come on! How pretty is this thing? So to the market I went, and I decided to pair it with herb-crusted lamb chops (yes, yes, I've posted this recipe before, but when it's good, it's good). Plus, this post is really more about the potato (well, almost).

Am I allowed to say, YUM to my own food?? The potato really turned out to be a combination roasted and baked, with the outside nice and crispy and inside mushy. You cut the potato almost all the way through (trick is to lay a spoon lengthwise along the outside of the potato so when you slice it, it stops your knife from cutting all the way through) and then "fan" the slices to better soak up the melted butter and olive oil mixture that you pour on top, and to capture the minced garlic, salt and pepper I decided to add. See, while I saw the pic on Pinterest, I actually forgot to "pin" it-- so I had to improvise with the recipe. And I was out of regular dijon mustard (for the lamb), so used wholegrain dijon, and I think it turned out even better... I'll be substituting that in the future. I also still have herbs in the garden so was able to add fresh mint, rosemary, flat leaf parsley and regular thyme to by store-bought fresh lemon thyme. The addition of mint was delightful. But really, you can use any combination of fresh  herbs you have on hand-- I usually end up with parsley and thyme because that's what's most prevalent in my fridge.

I'll definitely be trying this potato again... perhaps with more seasoning and, well, butter. Because as Julia Child always said, you can never have enough butter...


Herb-Crusted Lamb Chops with Garlic Baked Potatoes
(adapted from Williams-Sonoma's "Wine and Food" cookbook)
To get the food on the table together and hot, I put potatoes in first for about 30 minutes and then popped in the lamb for the last 15 minutes. In addition to perfectly a perfectly timed entree, your oven is also piping hot for a perfectly roasted lamb chop.

• Preheat oven to 450 F

For the potatoes:

• 2 med potatoes, rinsed and scrubbed (you can peel them, but I love that crispy skin)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• Flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped, for serving

Instructions:

• Melt butter and olive oil in a sauce pan
• Thinly slice potatoes almost all the way through (see spoon trick above), gently "fanning" out the slices
• Place potatoes in a baking dish
• Pour olive oil and butter mixture over potatoes, making sure to coat all the slices
• Sprinkle garlic in between the slices
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Place in oven for 45 minutes (checking at about 30 to make sure that they're not burning)
• Remove from oven and cover until serving
• Sprinkle parsley over potatoes 
• Optional: sprinkle cheese on the potatoes 5 minutes before removing them from the oven; bacon would be good too! Serve with sour cream, chives and all the trimmings, if you so desire!

For the lamb*:

• Approx 3 lamb chops per person (depending on the size, but I usually go with that)
• 1/2 c minced fresh herbs (such as flat leaf parsley, thyme, mint, rosemary, marjoram)
• 1 tbsp wholegrain dijon mustard (or regular if more readily available)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
• 2 tbsp olive oil

*This recipe is supposed to be enough for 12 chops-- but I usually use the entire mixture on just 6; So if you have more chops, you may want to double the recipe so you can get a good amount of the herb mixture on both sides of the chops.

Instructions:

• Season both sides of the lamb chops with salt and pepper
• Stir together herbs, mustard, olive oil and garlic
• Spread mixture on both sides of the chops
• Place an oiled flat rack in a large roasting pan lined with aluminum foil (not essential but makes clean up that much easier)
• Arrange the chops on the rack and roast until an meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a chop (away from the bone) registers 135 F for medium (about 15-17 minutes; In my fan assisted oven, 15 minutes is the perfect amount of time)
• Remove from oven, lightly tent chops with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 minutes
• Serve immediately

Herbed lamb chops

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**
This recipe totally ISN'T an Ina recipe-- haha! Go figure! I immediately thought it was because, well, most everything I cook does come from one of her cookbooks. But this one is actually from William-Sonoma's "Wine & Food" cookbook that we used as a guest book at our wedding (you know, since I love cooking and we got married in Napa). Whoops!

Another Ina recipe, this dish is the absolute EASIEST thing to make-- and perfect dinner party fare because it's 1) super-fast and 2) super impressive (because really, who makes lamb at home?). From fridge to table we're talking about maybe 30 minutes so it's also host/hostess-friendly because you won't be spending the whole night in the kitchen rather than enjoying your guests.

Herbed Lamb Chops

You'll need:
Broiler or grill pan (or i use a cookie sheet lined with alum foil for easy clean up with a grill rack on top)

Ingredients:

• 4-6 lamb chops (budget 2 per person)
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup mixed fresh herbs, minced (whatever you have on hand is fine-- I usually only have thyme and flat leaf parsley and it's great; but for the picture you see here I happened to not have killed the rosemary and mint growing in the garden yet, so included that in addition to the thyme and parsley and it was AWESOME-- so get some of this is if it's convenient)
• 1 tsp salt and pepper

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 450F (230C)
• Mix together all ingredients
• Spread mixture on both sides of the lamb chops
• Place on grilling rack
• Pop in the oven for 15-17 minutes for med (check with meat thermometer-- should be 135F)
• Remove from oven and tent with alum foil for 5 minutes
• Serve warm

Seriously. That's IT. And it's delicious. I served the lamb with a cauliflower gratin (cauliflower cheese for you Brits) using gruyere (my favorite cheese) and parmesan, and a spinach and pepper salad with onion crisps. YUMMMM.