Tag: B ate it

Chef Lane, Food

Chef Lane: Some Lamb, Some Radishes and Some Kale walk into a kitchen…

the outside lane

You all know I got a haul from Bountiful Baskets, and that I had no idea what to do with some of my produce.  Namely, I had two huge bunches of kale and a bunch of radishes, and not a clue what to make of them.  I’ve been hunting down recipes and making them my own, and so far, I’m having a lot of fun and success.  Tonight, I made a dinner of grilled lamb (cooked on The Griddler, thanks Dad and Barbara!), sauteed kale, and grilled radishes.

Sounds disgusting, doesn’t it?  Surprisingly, it was delicious!

Lamb, kale and radishes. Surprisingly delicious.

You will need:

  • 6 boneless Lamb chops (They come 3 to a pack at Kroger)
  • 2 bunches of kale
  • 1 bunch of radishes
  • 3 large cloves of garlic
  • 1 cup veggie/chicken/beef stock (you pick)
  • 3 Tbs Sesame Oil
  • 2 Tbs Sesame Seeds
  • 2 Tbs butter
  • 2 Tbs garlic paste
  • 1 tsp Miso
  • 1 ice cube
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Herbal Sea Salt to taste

I love this herbal sea salt by Caber, called Seasonello.

I use this all the time. I love it for seasoning lamb.

My dad and his nifty wife, Barbara, bought us The Griddler the last time they were here.  They use it in their RV for a lot of cooking, and after telling me how easy it was to use, and to clean, I told B I wanted one for Christmas.  Dad and Barbara brought us one the next day.  It is amazing!  I love it!  I love it most because it is so easy to clean.

Anyway, while your Griddler or grill, or oven are pre-heating, salt your lamb with the herbal salt and set it aside.

I have a really cheap vegetable slicer that I bought at Kroger.  I call it the Slice-o-matic.  It looks something like this:

It slices your vegetables into wafer thin pieces! Just watch your fingers.

Use your Slice-o-Matic, or whatever you have handy, to slice your radishes into very thin rounds.  Do the same with your 3 garlic cloves.  Cut up your butter into tiny pats in a small, broiler safe baking dish, put your radishes and garlic in the dish, drop the ice cube in the center, then cover with foil.  Broil for 25 minutes.  (You can skip the baking dish and just put all of this in foil, edges wrapped up so as not to leak butter everywhere, and put this on the grill for 20 minutes.)

While your radishes are going, put half your sesame oil in a large saucepan with all of the garlic paste.  Heat until the oil is bubbly, then add your cup of stock and Miso.  You will have taken the leaves of the kale off the stalks, and ripped those into smaller pieces.  Put those in your saucepan and mix until your leaves are all covered with the oil, garlic, and stock.  Cover and cook on high for 5 minutes.  Remove cover and reduce heat, simmering until the liquid is nearly gone.  Add in the sesame seeds and stir.

While the radishes are going, and the kale is cooking, throw your lamb on The Griddler.  5 minutes for rare, how B likes it, and 8 minutes to medium, how I like it.

Serve and be surprised!

The kale has a really nice texture and the miso and sesame oil give it a great flavor.  The radishes come out with a very potato-y taste.  I was hoping B would like it, and was thrilled when he ate all the vegetables.  That’s pretty rare.  When Mom came to bring Thor home, I had her give it a taste, and she especially liked the kale.

This recipe yields dinner for 2 adults, with 2 servings of leftovers.

 

Chef Lane

What’s Cookin’: Tofu Tacos

the outside lane

Tofu Tacos were what was for dinner tonight.  They were nice enough that B ate all of his!  Thor was with Grandma, and so was spared the indignity of being served faux meat.

Some prep tips:

1.  Julie Anne Rhodes taught me that the way to prep your tofu for any kind of crumbles is to freeze, then thaw overnight.  The ice crystals breaking down does something to the texture that makes it easier to work with.

2.  You’ll be working with hot peppers, so if you are at all like me (forgetful and itchy), wear gloves.  You’ll be less inclined to rub your eyes with latex on your fingers.

3.  To warm your soft tortillas, put 4 at a time in the microwave for 15 seconds, then flip them and nuke for 15 more seconds.

4.  To get the goody out of an avocado, slice it longways, all the way around, then twist the halves until they just slide apart.  You can slide a spoon between the skin and the meat, and work it around the edges to pull the meat out whole.  Do the same thing with the pit–just work around it with a spoon until it pops out.  I learned this watching the guys at Dino’s Subs.

 

You will need 1lb of extra firm tofu (prepped as above), 2tbs of brown sugar, 2tbs of Gourmet Garden Mexican spice (or your preferred taco seasoning), 1/2 each jalapeno, poblano, red pepper (seeded), 1 small sweet onion, salt to taste, 2 Tbs of sunflower oil, 1 avocado thinly sliced, and shredded cheese and sour cream to taste.
Slice and seed your peppers. Watch your fingers! Just the skin of a jalapeno can transfer oils that will make your eyes water for days if you rub it in them. Save your produce bags for little trash bags to use as you go. You won’t want to put the pepper stuff in your garbage disposal.
I used a nutmeg grater to grate down the jalapeno. I just used half of the pepper. If you want it hotter, use the whole thing.
I use my “as seen on tv” slicer doohickey to slice my poblano and red peppers, and my onion.
Saute your peppers and onions in 1Tbs of sunflower oil. Onions should be transparent and peppers tender.
While your veggies saute, work on your tofu.  It is going to be soaking wet. Wring it out like a sponge until it is pretty dry. Then, use your fingers to crumble it into bits until it is the texture of taco meat. I was talking and crumbling and crumbled this a little too much and got a cornmeal texture.
Add your brown sugar, Mexican seasoning, and grated jalapeno to the tofu, then mix, mix, mix.
Veggies come out of the skillet, and tofu mixture goes in with its own 1Tbs of oil. Use scissors to chop up the peppers and onions into confetti.
Brown your tofu.
Warm your tortillas. Slap on a little sour cream, add a couple of slices of avocado, spoon in your “taco meat”, spoon on your peppers and onions, sprinkle on a little cheese and fold.
Serve hot with a side salad and some chips. This recipe made 6 totally stuffed soft tacos with enough left over for…
Part of tomorrow’s salad. I sliced the remaining poblano and red peppers, and mixed those with the sauteed peppers and tofu. I added about 2 tsp of Balsamic Vinegar and put it in the fridge to let the flavors marinate. Tomorrow, I will serve this over greens with tortilla chip crumbles.