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!

Goat Chops with Coconut-Oil Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Wanted something easy but a bit fun tonight. So grilled the rest of the goat chops on Mechazawa-san (the large Egg; 40 min from frozen to nicely medium rare) and made some sweet potatoes that turned out really well.
Recipe:
(serves 2 as a side)
One generous sweet potato
Bacon grease or lard or ghee
Coconut oil
Red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Grease with fat or lard.

Scrub the sweet potatoes and slice approx 1/3" - 1/2" thick. Place on the greased foil. Put a small dollop of coconut oil on top of each slice. Shake red pepper flakes over.

Bake 5 min at 425F and then reduce heat to 375F and cook 40 minutes more.

Eating notes: With the instructions given, the potatoes will crisp just a little on the bottom and around the sides. If you'd like them to be soft all over, do it at 375F throughout; if you'd like them more crispy, keep the oven hot for 5 or 10 minutes longer.

Lane's Squid Day 2 and Herb-Roasted Yam

Long day today, requiring a dinner with little or no work. So. Leftover squid from yesterday, plus a yam sliced, lightly brushed with olive oil and coated with herbs, and roasted at 425F for 50 min.

Eating Notes: The squid was better yesterday. By 24 hours later, the ginger dominated a bit too much. That said, it was still really good and a nice combination with the sweet softness of the yam. So, no complaints!

Christmas Leftover Dinner

A bit of clean-up tonight. A few leftover organic roasted chestnuts from our Solstice Supper for an appetizer, followed by a millet/sweet potato melange. A repeat of the cheese cracker course from yesterday closed out the meal. Highly satisfying, although it is clear to both of us that we have had far too many carbs over the last couple of days and need to go back to our normal diet.

For the leftover Millet/Sweet Potatoes:

Put millet in a ring around the plate; put the sweet potatoes on the inside. Microwave on high for one minute. Sprinkle "heavy" (normal, Kikkoman type) soy sauce around on the millet. Garnish with fresh sage leaves (intended for eating). Serve hot.

Christmas Dinner Course 7 - Garlic-Parmesan Yams

I absolutely hate sugared yams. I'm not a big sweet-tooth in general, but taking a perfectly good and naturally very sweet vegetable and turning into candy makes me cringe. This is my antidote. The garlic/sweet potato combination especially was really refreshing and a lot more interesting than I had expected. If you look at the amounts in the picture, there was about one more serving left over.

I'll definitely do this one again. I cooked it early and it sat in the warmer for 4 or 5 hours. The Parmesan took on a plastic note during that time. I think an hour probably would have been fine.

Courtney's Garlic-Parmesan Yam Casserole

Serves 4

2 small - medium sized yams
1 lg clove of garlic
2T unsalted butter
1/4 c shredded Parmesan
black pepper or curry powder to taste

Wash the yams and slice them into 1 cm rounds, trimming any soft or spoiled parts (do not peel the yams). Finely dice the garlic (Follow my fellow foodie Lane's advice about garlic and use a slicing, rather than an impact, action)

Dot the bottom of a 1 qt casserole with butter. Put half the yams in a layer. Top with half the garlic. Dot with half the remaining butter. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Repeat. Dust with black pepper to taste. This would also be good with curry powder.

Cover and bake at 325F until tender (about 1 hour for the batch pictured). No need to preheat oven. OK to make ahead, but not more than an hour or so if you're keeping it warm.