Tag: side dishes

Gordon Ramsay’s Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb ? F Word Series One

Gordon Ramsay made this tasty looking rack of lamb on the first episode of the first season of The F Word^[1]. Like many of Gordon’s recipes, the primary herb ingredients are rosemary, thyme and garlic. This is sure to be a scrumptious meal for fans of Chef Ramsay’s cooking.

Ingredients for the Lamb:

2 large racks of Lamb cut in half with 3 bones per serving
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

Ingredients for the Crust:

4 slices of stale bread made into crumbs.
7 Tbs. grated parmesan (roughly 1/2 a cup)
Sprig parsley
Sprig thyme
Sprig coriander
Sprig rosemary
2 tablespoons English mustard (or sub with dijon)
splash of olive oil

Preparing the Lamb:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. It should actually be 392 degrees, but don’t worry about getting that technical unless you have a digital oven.

Place lamb on cutting board fat side up. Lightly score the fat layer with a sharp knife. Next, generously sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper. Mop up the excess seasoning with the rack of lamb, ensuring it’s thoroughly coated.

Heat some olive oil in an oven safe pan. Seal the lamb by holding each side in the oil long enough to develop color (careful not to burn your hands). Gordon Ramsay says, “it’s simple mathematics, no color, equals no taste”. Quite simple indeed! Make sure you brown that lamb.

Transfer the pan with the lamb into the oven and bake for 7-8 minutes. Prepare the crust while the lamb is cooking.

Preparing the Crust:

Place all of the ingredients for the crust except the mustard into a blender and pulse several times until it looks nice and green. Make sure you don’t over do it with the olive oil, just a splash.

Pour the mixture into a deep dish (bowl or plate) and set aside.

Putting it All Together:

Remove the lamb from the oven and brush generously with mustard. Dip the lamb into the crust mixture coating it completely. Dip several times to ensure an even coating. Allow meat to rest for a bit.

Place it back into the oven for 3-4 minutes when you’re ready to serve.

Gordon serves the lamb with potatoes boulangère and courgettes provençal, but you can serve with anything you find fitting. I’ll gladly post the recipe for the side dishes if someone wants it. Just ask for it in a comment.

Let me know how this recipe turns out for you.

EDIT: I’ve added one of the side dishes, Gordon Ramsay’s Potatoes Boulangère^[2]. I will add the other soon and update this post with it’s link.

References

^{^} F Word (www.amazon.com)
^{^} Gordon Ramsay’s Potatoes Boulangère (gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)

A Thanksgiving Side Note

Thanksgiving is almost here, and we’ll assume you already have a great turkey and gravy recipe, so today we are focusing on the side dishes (btw, if you are still sans bird recipe, don’t panic, and just check out our critically acclaimed, two-part video series, How to Make Turkey and Gravy).

Everyone knows, it’s not a great turkey that makes the meal, it’s what you pair it with. What good is a beautiful bird sitting next to a bunch of so-so sides? With that in mind, here’s a little collection of thanksgiving appropriate dishes from days gone by. Don’t let the poor producton value on the older videos fool you, these are some great sides, and would make a lovely addition to your holiday spread. Enjoy!

Creamed Spinach

Creamy Corn Custard

Pecan and Apricot Sourdough Bread Stuffing

Green Bean and Blue Cheese Gratin

Lime and Chipotle Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Celery Root and Potato Puree

Cold Broccoli Salad

Cheesy Broccoli Gratin

Butter Roasted Cauliflower

Bok Choy Steamed Rice – You Can Taste the Unconventional Wisdom

With all the fancy, grilled summer meats flying around, it’s easy to forget about the side dishes. Nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen, when they could be outside playing volleyball in jhorts, but with this easy bok choy rice, you can have something way more interesting in the same time as it takes to make plain rice.

I believe we’ve covered this before, but yes, I’m cooking the stems about 15 minutes more than is fashionable. I love a crisp stalk of bok choy as much as the next guy, but here we kind of want it to melt into the rice. Conventional wisdom says to cook quick, but I wanted a softer, sweeter, and more subtly sulfuric grain. Think braised cabbage rolls if you’re still having a problem.

By the way, if your rice package says 2 parts water to 1 part rice, ignore it. Too much water is the main reason people screw up rice. I find 1 1/2 cups of water to each cup of long grain rice works way better, especially in dishes like this. So, ignore those directions, and give this delicious side a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:

1 1/2 cups cold water

1 cup long grain rice

1 large bok choy, separated, and sliced

1 tsp soy sauce, plus more to taste

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp sambal chili sauce

toasted sesame seeds to garnish