Marinated Lamb Chops, Yams and Kale

I fasted today (despite lunch with Lane - sorry to be a stick in the mud but you deserve it for not covering for me by blogging yesterday!) because I just wasn't very hungry. But Phil had no such proclivities and by dinner I was ready to get back to normal so, a full spread of lamb chops, yams with herbs and cheese, and lard-fried kale was made to order.

Instructions for lamb: Make a marinade of about 1/3 c peach preserves, 1/4 c Thai chili garlic sauce, 1/4 c cider vinegar and garlic and pepper to taste (pic below shows the lamb marinating). Marinate 2 hours or so, flipping intermittently and spreading the mixture all over. Heat grill (I was cooking the lamb chops from nearly frozen so used Mechazawa-san). Put lamb on. Cook approx 10 min 1 side; flip and add some marinade and cook 10 minutes more; flip and put on, with any big bits of peach on top of the lamb. Cook another 5 min or so and then pull off, keeping the big bits of peach balanced on top. When plating, lift carefully to keep the big bits of peach on top, and pour any remaining marinade over.

Instructions for yams: Put the yams in a layer on a roasting pan. Grate some cheese (Ok, mom, the grater did do a better job...) and sprinkle over (see pic above). Cover with foil. Bake at 400 for 40 - 45 min.

Instructions for "dinosaur" kale: At about 1-1/2" wide at the broadest part of the leaf, dinosaur kale is very thin. If you are using more broadleaf kale you may want to chop more finely. Chop the kale from stems to top in increasingly longer sections from root to leaf (approx 1/2" at the root end and 2" at the leaf end). Heat 3-4 T lard in a heavy pan. When melted and hot, add the kale stems. Saute 4 min or so and then add leaves. If desired, add some soy or soba sauce. Stir fry until well wilted.

Eating notes: I am constantly amazed at how Mechazawa-san can turn out amazing results from things like frozen-solid lamb chops. Arigatou gozaimasu!