Mary Had A Little Lamb...

Dear friends and family, tonight, I feel as though I have committed a terrible crime against humanity. What you see above (if the title didn't give it away), are lamb chops. LAMB chops. Chops from a sweet, innocent, little lamb. I bought them yesterday, and had a very hard time bringing myself to do it. They're from a LAMB!!! Come on now, how adorable are lambs? And yes, I said lamb, not sheep, meaning it was just a baby!

I made the last recipe in the "Everyday Grills and Sautes" section of the "Everyday Entrees" chapter. And yes, it was Grilled Lamb Chops. I started by making a marinade of EVOO (yes, the real stuff), fresh rosemary, garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper. I put this all in my food chopper to form a paste, but lo and behold, the blade on my chopper don't quite hit the bottom of the barrel. And there wasn't much to the marinade. So really all the copper did was fling the ingredients around. Luckily, I had chopped most of the ingredients pretty well, so at that point I just said "screw it" and rubbed it on the chops and let them marinate.

As the chops marinated, I preheated the toaster oven and prepared some Brussels sprouts for a side dish. These grills and sautes recipes are never complete meals, and I never really know how they will turn out (let's face it, I'm no grill pro yet) so I'm always sure to roast some vegetables for the side. That way I know I won't starve.

I let the chops marinate for about half an hour (the very minimum suggested. I would have let them sit all day, but Tuesdays and Thursdays are my busy days, and I really didn't have time to do this at 6 a.m.). I then placed them on the smokin' hot George Foreman grill. According to the recipe, you need to sear the chops for two minutes on each side, then cook them for an additional three minutes per side to achieve a medium-rare doneness. I personally don't do medium-rare (I like my meat thoroughly dead), so I went for about five minutes per side.

I had no idea how these were supposed to look (or that they would contain so little meat, but it was a lamb after all), so I was a little freaked out at the abundance of red juice that resulted from cooking the chops and kept telling myself that it wasn't blood (cause it wasn't...right?).

It's obvious in the picture above that my marinade was hardly a paste. You can see some pretty full pieces of rosemary on those chops. This is probably why it tasted mostly like rosemary. I think I got a hint of lamb, it tasted like a mild steak, and it wasn't bad from what I could tell. It probably would have tasted better had it sit longer in the marinade, and if I had actually made a paste. I did eat the little bit of meat that was on there though. It was hardly a tuna situation. And of course, I ate every last Brussels sprout because they were roasted to perfection :)

And that is my crime story for the night. I've still got a guilty conscience about the whole thing. I think there was an episode of the Simpsons where Lisa couldn't eat meat because she kept seeing this lamb talk to her and make her feel guilty. I now know how she feels. But I'm not about to give up eating other meat.

I will be cooking again on Thursday so check back for some fun with veggies!!

Lions and Tigers and Brussels Sprouts...Oh My!

Tonight was not a Giada night, however, I still had to eat and I much prefer to cook than buy something. Since I didn't have a recipe to follow tonight, I let my creativity take over! Pictured above is a Turkey Burger (it's kind of hidden, I know) and some Roasted Brussels Sprouts. Yum, yum, and more yum.

For starters, I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. As it heated, I chopped the Brussels sprouts. Side note: for those that think they don't like Brussels sprouts, 1) you've probably never tried them or 2) you've never tried them like this. Once again, I take no credit for this idea, it was all my mother. When you roast Brussels sprouts at a high temperature, they caramelize on the outside and lose their cabbage-like flavor. They become really nutty and crisp and you really have to take my word for it. Even my father that doesn't like Brussels sprouts prepared the conventional way loves these. Anyhow, I halved them each and took off most of their outer layers since those get a little wilted from being in the fridge. I then placed them all cut-side down on a cooking sheet sprayed with EVOO and sprinkled them with salt and pepper.

As those cooked, I prepared my turkey burger. I've never made these before and had to look up how long they need to be cooked because, as Rachael Ray says, no one wants a rare poultry burger. From what I read, they need to be cooked about three to four minutes on each side. Of course, had I not been on the phone the entire time I was cooking, I probably could have timed this, but my sister and I had much to discuss from the VMAs to Irish dancing. I didn't want to just make the burger out of ground turkey meat, so I decided to add a wedge of Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow cheese. I also added a splash of balsamic vinegar to keep the burger moist. For some extra flavor, I added some oregano.

I combined the whole mixture with my hands (for some reason I love mixing raw meat dishes by hand. It's so much easier. It was one of my favorite things about making meatballs) and formed it into a patty. I then cooked it in a heated pan that had been sprayed with EVOO and seasoned with salt and pepper. As this cooked, I took the Brussels sprouts out to flip them and let the other side cook up a bit. I was a little paranoid about the burger being cooked through all the way, so I probably cooked it more than necessary on each side. It was a bit dark, but I figured I would rather have a dry, well-done burger than one that was pink in the middle.

Once this was all finished, I headed back down to my room (with ease other than almost losing my phone while I was still on it) and assembled the dish. I used a Multigrain Arnold's sandwich thin for my burger (for those doing the Weight Watchers point system, I HIGHLY recommend these. They are one point each!) and then halved two cherry tomatoes to add to the burger. These are the reason my burger is hidden in the picture, they made it a bit of a big bite. Guy Fieri would be proud. And let me tell you, this dish was money.

I don't know how I do it, but I once again cooked the meat perfectly. It wasn't dry in the least and was cooked all the way through. The cheese made the texture very smooth and the oregano really stood out among the other flavors. My Brussels sprouts were roasted to perfection as well and I had more than anyone probably ever should (but I needed to use them before they went bad, and they're Brussels sprouts, they're good for you). Overall, another successful night of food :)