Summer Meals:

Well, now that fall semester has started, it seems the appropriate time to update a few dinners we had toward the end of the summer. I'll start with some garlic and rosemary crusted lamb chops and cold avocado soup.

The soup was "souper" easy (sorry). I sauteed up some onions and garlic and then added some low sodium vegetable broth, a chopped ripe avocado, a chopped up stalk of lemongrass, and a pinch of paprika. I let that simmer away for a little while, hit it with the immersion blender, and chilled it down in the fridge. To serve, I topped it off with a couple slices of roasted red pepper. It was a nice, crisp way to start off the meal.

Next, I did a roasted half rack of lamb that I crusted with a paste of rosemary, garli

c, and sea salt. Again, this was super easy. I just coated the lamb with the garlic and rosemary mix, seared it for a couple minutes over high heat and then put it in the oven for 13 minutes to get the internal temp up to 135. Slice and serve.

The story I need to tell here, though, is about the serving dish. While we were in Japan this summer, I bought a number of pieces of ceramics and glassware that will be seen here in coming weeks. This wasn't one of them. This piece is actually a sashimi serving plate that Mina's sister's husband's mother (my mother-in-law-in-law?) made. We were visiting their house for a local festival when my interest in Japanese ceramics came up and she opened up a cabinet in the kitchen and said, "Take whatever you want!". There must have been 200 pieces that were all handmade and all gorgeous. While I am sure she'd be shocked to see lamb served on a dish meant for fish, I think it looks great.

Anyway, I served this lamb with a Lyeth Cabernet Sauvignon that was simply fantastic for just under $10.