Greek-Style Stuffed Peppers

Greek-Style Stuffed Peppers

These stuffed peppers were really delicious. The peppers were sweet and perfectly roasted, but without getting mushy and bland. The filling was soft and flavorful. I don't like when the filling comes out like a little hard meatball. This gives me flashbacks to bland stuffed cabbage (kåldolmer) dinners in my childhood. The greek flavors is just as vibrant as the colors of the beautiful roasted peppers.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 100 g orzo
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 450 g (1 pound) ground lamb
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon chopped, fresh mint leaves
• 1 little handful Italian parsley, chopped
• 1 can diced tomato, drained
• 10-12 pitted kalamata olives, chopped
• 3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
• salt & pepper to taste
• 4 bell peppers
• olive oil

Directions:

Cook the orzo according to the package, I used the liquid drained from the tomatoes in the cooking water. 

Prehaet the oven to 400℉ (200℃).

Sauté the onions until translucent, add garlic and meat and brown it. Remove from the heat. Mix in spices, herbs, tomato, feta, olives and the cooked orzo, season with salt and pepper.

Cut the tops of the peppers, and remove the seeds. Coat the outside with olive oil, and place them in an ovenproof dish. Fill the peppers and place the top on the peppers as small lids. Bake the peppers for 30-40 minutes until the peppers are tender, but still holding up.

Serve the peppers with a simple greek salad, containing greens, cucumber, red onions, tomatoes, olives and feta.

Enjoy!

Leg of Lamb, Provencal

Leg of Lamb, Provencal

We never had lamb in my house growing up. My dad said it tasted like chewing on wool, and he would never eat it. Luckily he didn't state that he rather eat an old hat, because he came to love lamb in his later years. I guess that he got to eat sheeps-meat instead of lamb when he grew up, during and after world war II, when money were scarce.

My beloved niece, eating a leg of lamb, 2004.

My first encounter with lamb, was when my brothers then girlfriend made this dish for us. Ohh My it was good. The great tasting lamb with more than a hint of garlic and rosemary. The potatoes gets the flavors from the lamb roasting on top, and are soft, with a crispy top. This dish quickly became a family favorite.

 This leg of lamb is really a great meal when you are having people over. All the prep can be done hours in advance, so you can get the kitchen and your self cleaned up before the guests arrive. I love meals like that, served family style.

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients:

• 1 (6-7 lb.) bone in leg of lamb

• 9 cloves of garlic

• 3 sprigs of rosemary

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• 12 medium-large potatoes, peeled and sliced

• lamb stock or chicken stock

• salt & pepper

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 450 ℉.

Place the leg of lamb in a large roasting pan fat side up and pat it dry with paper towels. Poke holes into the meat, slide a small piece of garlic into the hole, repeat this all over the leg of lamb. Combine the oil, 1 garlic clove, leave from the rosemary sprigs, salt and pepper in a mini food processor and pulse until the garlic and rosemary are minced. Spread the mixture on the lamb.

Slice the potatoes, and place them in a large roasting pan. Pour in stock, so it almost cover the potatoes.  tuck in the rosemary sprigs. Place the leg of lamb on top.

Roast for 25 minutes. Turn the heat down to 350℉ and roast for another 2 hours, until a meat thermometer registers 165℉ for well done. You can serve the lamb medium (140℉). Place the lamb on a cutting board, covered with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Return the potatoes to the oven to keep warm. Slice the lamb and arrange on a platter, and serve it with the potatoes.

Enjoy!

Lamb chops sous vide

Lamb chops sous vide

I got a new gadget for the kitchen this christmas. I got an Anova sous vide Immersion circulator. It's the nerdiest gadget to date. I almost feel like I'm back at the lab growing cells or making analysis.

Sous vide is cooking in a water bath at exact controlled temperatures. You put the ingredients in a vacuum sealed bag and cook it at the temperature you want your ingredient to end up with, but you have to take food safety in to consideration. If you want a medium rare steak (131℉ or 55℃) you cook your steak at 131℉ or 55℃ for a certain amount of time. The time seems to be some kind of trial and error. But I’m not the first to have this type of equipment in my home, so there’s a lot of websites recommending time and temperature for different ingredients.

These lamb chops was tender and moist, and by far one of the best I have ever had. Next time, I would remove more of the fat, no other changes.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 rack of lamb, cut up to 4 chops

• 2 sprigs of rosemary,

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 1 tablespoon butter

• salt and pepper

Directions:

Wash you hands very thoroughly. 

Pour boiling water over the rosemary. Cut the rack of lamb into 4 chops. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Place some rosemary leaves on each chop and a few slices of garlic. Place two chops in each vacuum bag and place some butter, rosemary and garlic slices on the other side of the chop. Vacuum seal the bags and submerge them in the 130℉ (54.5℃) water bath to cook for 2 hours.

After the 2 hours take the vacuum bags out of the water and remove the lamb chops from the bags. Sear the chops on a scalding hot pan, about a minute on each side.

Enjoy.