In case you didn’t know, yesterday was National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. Thusly inspired, I popped this into the toaster oven last night for a quickie open-faced grilled-ham’n'cheese:

Fast, easy, delicious. How can you argue with that?

Bet you’re wondering what that dark layer on the bottom is…that would be raspberry jam, my friend, evoking the flavors of a Monte Cristo with none of the labor. Win!

Foodgasm

The past weekend’s kitchen marathon (more on that later, as there is cupcakey goodness that requires sharing, plus some other nifty stuff) pretty much ran me dry of some staples like powdered sugar, eggs, powdered buttermilk, cream cheese, cupcake wrappers…you get the picture: I needed a trip to the market. While I was at said market, it occurred to me that I had snap beans and fingerling potatoes from the farm market that I needed to use up, but nothing for an entree.

I ran through a list of my default entrees, and then a list of entrees I’d been considering but hadn’t tried yet and nothing seemed quite right. So I decided I’d just peruse the meat section of the store and see if anything struck me. I considered steak, and stew beef, and chicken, and pork chops…and then I saw the lamb. I love lamb. I almost never get to have it because I’m what my mother calls “frugal” and everyone else calls “cheap” so I’m only really willing to pay the premiums restaurants charge — on the rare occasions when they have it — if it’s something special like my birthday. And somehow, I had never cooked lamb myself. But…it was the perfect amount: about 1.5lbs, cut from the leg. And it was only $4.99/lb. Into my basket it went.

Ragout of Lamb. Also on the plate, fresh snap beans and fingerling potatoes and freshly baked bread.

Of course, I realized as soon as I got home that I had absolutely no idea how to prepare lamb. I grabbed a bunch of cookbooks and settled in. I immediately discarded everything that called for an overnight marinade…I wanted my lamb tonight! I considered kebabs for awhile, but I didn’t really have anything on hand to kebab them with. I finally settled on a recipe for Ragout of Lamb from the 1961 New York Times Cookbook. The ingredient list was simple, as was the procedure for cooking. Exactly what I wanted.

If you’re not sure what a ragout is, go read about it here — I’ll wait. (I had to look it up myself, just for the record.) I did have to tweak the ingredients a bit — for instance, I didn’t have Spanish Sherry on hand, so I just threw in some of the Zinfandel I was planning on drinking with the meal. I also substituted paprika for the black pepper called for in the original: I don’t care for pepper, and I like paprika. I do this a lot…I just can’t be bothered to get a bunch of specialty ingredients, and the stuff I have on hand tends to be stuff I like. If it’s close to what’s called for, it almost always tweaks the recipe in a direction I like.

Below is the recipe for the ragout. I prepared the snap beans like this; boiled the potatoes for about 20 minutes, sliced them up and added them to the beans; and the bread recipe is the same one I’ve mentioned previously.

Recipe

(adapted from 1961 New York Times Cookbook)

• 1 1/2 lbs lamb (I used a filet from a leg), in 1″ cubes
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 Tbsp paprika
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• About 1 1/2 c. chicken broth (beef broth should also work)
• 1/3 c. sweet red wine (I used Zinfandel because that’s what I was drinking)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• Basil to taste

Preheat oven to 350°. Heat oil in a saute pan. Combine the flour, salt, and paprika in a dish suitable for dredging, then dredge cubed lamb. (Protip: I put it all in one of those white plastic takeout containers then just put the lid on and shook it all up instead of trying to dip each of the cubes in the flour dredge. Use a fork to flip the cubes out of the dredge and into the oil.) Cook lamb in preheated oil until brown on all sides. Add broth, wine, and garlic. Simmer for 2 minutes (give or take — you just want everything to heat through). If your saute pan is oven safe and has a lid, put the lid on and pop it in the oven for about an hour. If not, transfer it to an oven-safe casserole, cover, and pop it into the oven for about an hour.

Remove from oven and uncover. Immediately stir in cheese. If sauce is too thick, stir in a little more broth; if too thin, stir in a little more flour. Spoon onto plate. Garnish with basil.

Apologies for the poor picture quality: the battery in my DSLR was dead and I was hungry, so I just snapped a quick shot with my Droid.

Quick lunch

Delicious!

I wasn’t super hungry for lunch today, so I grabbed a couple of pieces of homemade bread, spread a little (okay, a lot) of goat cheese on each slice, popped them in the toaster oven for a few minutes and then sprinkled them with basil. This is one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever eaten — definitely a keeper! And on smaller slices it’d be a great snack, too.

Getting saucy in the kitchen

I hadn’t planned on doing a ton of cooking yesterday, but the day felt differently about things. I had a couple of days off for Passover (I’m not Jewish, but my company observes) and had been planning to make country style pork ribs in the slow cooker. I made a double batch of BBQ sauce last week so I’d have enough sauce to cook in with a bit left over to serve on top. First time I’ve tried making my own sauce, and I have to say, it is absolutely delicious. Definitely a keeper (see recipe below).

Being in the kitchen and immersing myself in tweaking recipes or prepping things so I can time them to come out so they’re ready to eat together, losing myself in the feeling of food…it’s all so therapeutic. No matter how much I have on my mind, eventually I become completely immersed in measuring, chopping, kneading, pouring, stirring — whatever the task at hand is. It’s almost meditative. When I come back from it, I may still be stressed and upset, but I am calmer and more well-balanced, better prepared to face what needs facing.

Country-style pork ribs, fresh bread, apricot-maple goat cheese

So while I was in the kitchen, I went ahead and whipped up a batch of my favorite bread (which I loaded up with apricot-maple goat cheese from my favorite local farm — accented the ribs perfectly; also, see notes for modifications I make to the recipe), a blackberry cobbler(see notes), and a couple of quarts of ice cream (vanilla and praline — both came out great). The bread dough was much wetter than usual, which made it difficult to handle, so I was concerned about how it would come out flavor- and texture-wise. It turned out just fine, even though I forgot to steam it so the crust is a little chewier than usual.

Blackberry cobbler, homemade praline ice cream

I had been planning to whip up some cheese grits, but I was a little under the weather and thought (rightly) that I probably wouldn’t be able to eat more than a few bites of anything, so it would just be a waste of grits. Most things I’m fine with having leftovers, but I just don’t care for leftover grits. Something about the texture. Leftover ribs, I discovered a while back, make excellent pulled pork. I’ll use some of it later in the week to make pork and cheddar pies, then freeze the rest.

NOTES:

Bread: The recipe calls for hand-milled wheat flour; I use King Arthur’s from the store. I also store the extra dough already divided into loaf sizes in quart Ziplocs

Cobbler: I grew up with pie crust cobbler and still love it that way, but this recipe has an almost cakey crust that’s absolutely delightful. I often have this cobbler for breakfast as well as dessert (though usually sans ice cream). The recipe calls for 6 cups of fresh berries; I find that 2 bags of frozen berries works perfectly — just thaw and drain before cooking.

RECIPE:

Laura’s Sweet ‘n’ Sticky BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4c brown sugar
• 1/2c chili sauce
• 1/2c rum
• 1/4c ketchup
• 1/4c Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4c garlic vinegar
• 3Tbsp molasses
• 3tsp onion powder
• 1tsp ground dry mustard
• dollop of vanilla
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

In a 3qt saucepan over low heat, mix all ingredients. Simmer 30 min., stirring occasionally. Let cool, then refrigerate until ready to use. Note: You may wish to remove the garlic cloves before storing.