Recipe: Crane Dance Lamb Chops with Rosemary

I found this recipe in an unlikely place - About.com (here's the original recipe).  I didn't make any real changes to it, except that I don't use black pepper, and only used 4 lamb chops for this marinade (you could use 8) when the recipe called for 10-12, which seems excessive.  The only other change is that I slowly drizzled and simultaneously whisked the olive oil into the other marinade ingredients so that the vinaigrette did not separate.  I loved what this recipe did to the lamb.  It mellowed but kept the wonderful game flavor of the lamb, and then deepened the flavor just enough. 

As with all good recipes - quality ingredients are key.  I got my grass fed lamb chops from Crane Dance Farm.  Grass fed lamb is higher in nutrients, including Omega 3 (yep, lamb has 50% of the OM3's of fish), Vitamins B12 and B3, tryptophan, and thyroid and immune system-loving selenium.  Grass fed meat also digests more easily.  I found the Crane Dance Lamb Chops to be top notch meat.  Loved them.

Prep Time: 12 minutes

Cook Time: 16 minutes

Total Time: 28 minutes

Yield: Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients:

• 4-8 loin lamb chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (optional)

Preparation:

Combinethe vinegar, rosemary, garlic and salt  in a large glass bowl (or an 8x8 shallow pan).  Slowly drizzle and simultaneously which in the olive oil.   Place chops in bowl and turn repeatedly to coat well.  You could put all of the contents into a ziplock bag, too.  Cover and refrigerate for 4 to 12 hours. Once marinated, remove chops from fridge and allow to come to room temperature (20 minutes). Preheat grill or grill pan for medium-high heat. Remove chops from marinade and place on a lightly oiled grill rack. Cook for 8 minutes on each side. Remove from heat, allow to rest for 3-5 minutes, and serve.

RECIPE: Roasted Delicata and Sweet Dumpling Squash (with Rosemary and Maple Syrup)

Whole Roasted Sweet Dumpling & Delicata (left), Roasted Sweet Potato & Summer Squash (middle), & Delicata with Maple Syrup & RosemayWhen I opened my Doorganics Box last week, I was excited to see a couple of sweet dumpling squashes.  They looked up at me and said, "Roast me!" 

There was also a long, winter-squash-type thingy that I had never seen (nor eaten) before.  It said nothing. 

I needed it to speak, so I turned to the magic of the Internet and discovered that the long, squash-like thingy was a Delicata squash, and that it could be roasted easily, either whole and open-faced.  Then, thanks to four beautiful sprigs of rosemary sitting on the counter, I was inspired me to think, "maple syrup!" (Don't I always think maple syrup?)

I took initial whole roasting guidance from a neat blog called Fanatic Cook.  It is written by an aerospace engineer turned Master of Public Health/Master of Science in Human Clinical Nutrition and Biochemistry.  Say that 3 times fast.  The author ("RB") shows us how to beautifully roast a whole dumpling squash.  I've deviated a bit from RB's instructions, so I could try more stuff at the same temperature. 

Now lets have some fun with squash.  Here's three easy recipes.  The 2nd is a favorite.

Whole Roasted Winter Squash

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Make sure no parchment sticks out past the pan (or it might burn). 

Thoroughly wash one dumpling squash and one delicata squash (or 2 or each, just leave space enough for the squash to breathe and turn).  Use a knife to pierce each squash in several places all the way around to vent.  Place them on the cookie sheet and set into the preheated oven. 

Every 15 or 20 minutes, turn the squash so that every inch can get an even heat exposure.  Turn from top to bottom first, and as it starts to soften, turn side to side. 

When the squash is soft and browning, remove from the oven.  Let it cool down, cut in half, scrape out the seeds and pith.  Then serve hot. You can add a little sea salt, or some brown sugar or maple syrup, or just eat them plain.  Butter lovers can use these dairy alternatives, too.  The dumpling squash is quite delicious roasted and naked (you can even eat the dumpling's skin), so purists like RB might not want to dress it up at all. 

The delicata squash will take about one hour.

The dumpling squash will take about 1-1/2 hours.

Roasted Delicata with Rosemary and Maple Syrup

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

1 delicata squash

1 tsp. safflower oil

1 pinch of sea salt

*please use sea or kosher, not the variety that comes in a blue cylinder.*

2 TBS of maple syrup

2 large sprig of fresh rosemary

Thoroughly wash one delicata squash and cut it in half, lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and pulp and save the seeds (so you can plant in your garden!)  Put a little (a tsp.) safflower oil on your hands and "lightly" (I mean, lightly) rub the inside and the outside of each half.  Sprinkle the insides with a little sea salt - a pinch on each half.  Then spread the maple syrup on the flesh (inside) of each half - one TBS per half.  Make sure you get some up the sides.  Remove the rosemary leaves from the stem and sprinkle on the flesh.  Put in the preheated oven. 

After the first half hour, check every 10 minutes.  Cook for about 1 hour until soft, and carmelized.   This is so, so yummy.

Roasted Sweet Potatos and Summer Squash

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2 Sweet Potatoes (I used Covington, super good)

1 large Yellow Summer Squash

Safflower Oil

Sea Salt

Line a cookie sheet with parchment and set aside.  Wash the squash and scrub the sweet potatoes, then chop of the stem and butt ends.  Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, then place face down on the cutting board and slice into 1/4-1/3 inch think slices.  Then cut those slices in half.  All of the vegetables should be slightly larger than bit sized pieces (potatoes smaller than the squash for more even cook time) since they shrink in the oven.  Place on the sheet.  Sprinkle two pinches of sea salt over the vegetables.  Place the oil in the cup of your hand - about 1 TBS.  Lightly rub the potatoes and squash pieces with the oil. 

Roast for about 30 minutes, stirring up occasionally so that they get lightly browned on either side.  Serve hot.  Devour.

This method also works great for turnips!