Last Night's Dinner: Lamb Medallions

One of my favorite dishes is lamb. Many people have only ever had their Aunt Freida's Lamb Roast with Mint Jelly, so their opinion off lamb is tainted. anyone who has ever had a really good rack of lamb, knows what lamb can be: luscious, tender and decadent. My favorite is a thyme-crusted rack that I do that is ingrained in my mind now and I don't even need the recipe. It's what a rack should be in my opinion. I've converted lots of lamb haters or skeptics with this recipe.

Last night I pulled out a package of lamb medallions I picked up the last time I was in a Fresh Market. They looked like the start of an easy and delicious meal and they proved to be just that. Originally I was going to simmer them in my clay Emile Henry flame-pot in an Indian-style sauce, but then realized I wanted the lamb unmasked, sauteed and crusted and prominent. I thought it would be nice to try the recipe they were featuring at the FM when I bought them. I remember how wonderful it smelled and the ingredients were right up my alley.

So I did a little searching and uncovered the recipe: Irish Lamb Medallions with Creamy Cabbage.

Ok, so the creamy cabbage part sounded weird, and you could leave out the cream, but I used a scant amount and it was pretty darn good.

The bonus was that I knew I had at least two heads of ready to pick Savoy cabbage in the garden! How perfect. The culinary stars were aligning!

So here is the recipe and I wish I had taken a picture, but I simply forgot. Don't pay any mind to the brand names used in this recipe. Obviously FM is pitching their stuff, since they were doing a cooking demo and trying to reel in shoppers.

Also, my tip is not to coat the medallions in pepper so that there is a "crust" unless you like all of that pepper spice. If I did it again, I would lightly coat the and I would salt them FIRST, then crushed pepper. Also, PLEASE use fresh cracked pepper, not ground pepper in a bottle. I use a Tellicherry blend. And I used a high quality sea salt from a grinder. I also sprinkled a little ground thyme in the cabbage and two cloves of garlic. I used spring onions from the garden, but would probably pick a punchier onion next time. I also used 3 strips of low sodium bacon because that's what I had on hand and I cut it into maybe one by one inch pieces. I used just a splash of half and half instead of heavy whipping cream and I used unsalted Plugra butter. I seared the meat in my flame pot and then used it for the rest of the dish. Perfect vessel for this although you might get a better SEAR with a stainless. I just love how easy clean-up is in the flame-pot and how even the cooking is. I kept the lamb covered with foil in my warming drawer, but an oven on 200 would be just fine. Be sure not to cook the meat too long in the pan, because it will continue to cook once it's covered and kept in a warm oven. I sauteed them on one side until the up side started turning slightly opaque flipped them and kept them there briefly. I would say it was about 3 minutes on each side on medium to medium high.

I served it with steamed broccoli since I had the last stalk from the garden. This is not a first date meal, but better for a couple that's been together a while ;) But any bright green veggie on the side would be great. Be sure not to cook the cabbage so long, that you don't still have some green in there. I had some whole wheat sour dough from the European bakery with it and drank a Spanish blended red wine with it. Any dry red will work with the recipe, I had a chianti reserve which I think probably punched up the sauce a bit more. ENJOY!!!

Irish Lamb Medallions with Creamy Cabbage

	3 tablespoons Antara Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
	4 (4 ounce) lamb tenderloin filets
	1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
	1/2 cup Pinot Noir, Robert Mondavi Private Selection
	2 tablespoons Kerrygold Unsalted Pure Irish Butter
	4 thick slices pancetta, chopped
	1 large sweet onion, peeled and chopped
	1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
	1 carrot, peeled and chopped
	1/2 head of Savoy Cabbage, shredded
	1/2 cup TFM Chicken Stock
	1/2 cup TFM Whipping Cream
	season to taste with salt and pepper

Preparation:
Heat a skillet over medium high heat for 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and swirl to coat. While skillet heats, press cracked pepper into the lamb, creating a thick pepper crust, then season with salt. Place lamb in the pan and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Reduce heat and continue cooking until meat is done to the desired level. Transfer lamb to a plate and cover to keep warm.
Remove pan from open flame and add wine, scraping up any browned bits. Allow wine to reduce slightly, and then swirl in the butter creating a velvety sauce. Pour sauce over the resting lamb.
Add remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and cook pancetta until golden brown. Add onion, garlic and carrot; continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, until onions are translucent and carrot is softened slightly. Add cabbage and cook over high heat for about a minute. Add stock and stir thoroughly, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add cream, heat briefly and season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, place the lamb on top of a bed of cabbage, with the pan sauce on the side.

CHEF Jessica

Mexican Grille

Last night, June 3, was the official launch of the cooking school in our new location. We had to ask tolerance as we introduced paper plates and plastic cups in lieu of our Buffalo China tasting plates and stemmed wine glasses. Our clean up kitchen is still not up and running so we are doing dishes by hand and as classes can generate bus pans full of dishes, utensils, appliance parts, it was best to keep them to a minimum. No one seemed to mind.

Now about the food; the theme of the class was Mexican Grille. The kitchen was filled with the aroma of fresh homemade corn tortillas, grilled fish with smoked chipotle seasoning, black beans with cumin and fresh cut vegetables for making the various salsas.
Students were greeted with glasses of white wine sangria. Chef Jessica’s signature drink for this class. This delightful libation is infused with peaches, basil and simple syrup.

Chef Jessica presented the ingredients used in the class, most of which came from a local Mexican food store, some from Kroger and some from Culina. The salts and spices all came from Culina. As usual, Victoria Gourmet came through for us with her outstanding spices. We also introduced a new salt line from “Nothing but Salt”. The Lime Sea Salt was used to season the homemade tortilla chips. One of our students commented that her husband could eat it with a spoon! Me too.

We only had one hiccup, Chef Jessica’s assistant “me” was so involved making home made tortilla chips with lime salt that I forgot to make the tortillas and have them ready for wrapping the fish when it was done. She fired me three times last night but rehired me because there was no one else. We recovered quickly because corn tortillas are so easy and quick to make that we had served up a dozen fish tacos plated with salsas and cumin black beans within minutes. I solicited a little help from a student to get the assembly line moving. While everyone was eating and making Mmmmm good, Yum, Delicious noises, I threw together another batch of tortillas to ready for seconds just in case. Well, most had another round of tacos, salsa and sangria.

One comment from the cooks: No household should be without a pressure cooker. Why wait four hours to cook a pot of beans that can be cooked in less than two hours? It doesn’t make sense. One student figured that out and took advantage of her discount to invest in one of the most useful and efficient cooking vessels she will ever own.

Our next class is Tuscan Tenderloin and we cannot wait. Happy Cooking Everyone.