Receta Lamb chops with Baked Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts for IHCC

by Eliot

Lamb chops with Baked Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts for IHCC By Eliot, on January 6th, 2019 The very first theme of 2019 for I Heart Cooking Clubs is A NEW START!  Shouldn’t we all be  getting more veggies into our diet, taking our lunch to work, baking our own bread.   We were challenged this week to make any Ruth Reichl recipe to celebrate a new start in the kitchen. This recipe doesn’t necessarily mark a new start for us at EE (except for the fact that this is exactly the second time I’ve ever cooked lamb).  Instead, it is a turning point for Reichl.  “Quick, Easy Do-Ahead Dinner for Two People:  A Ten-Minute Meal” is the very last recipe in My Kitchen Year.    She writes: Remembering how miserable I’d been at this time the year before, I smiled.  Since then, I’d discovered the many things that I will never need.  A year ago, when the movie ended, we probably would have gone out to eat.  Someplace fancy, perhaps, where we’d have spent a pile of money to sit surrounded by strangers, minding our manners and lowering our voices each time a waiter appeared.  Or we might have chosen one of the chic noisy places and sat shouting at each other over the din.  Living in that fast-paced world, I would not have thought to come home and make a quiet meal. (104) Here’s to taking life simpler in 2019, enjoying what we have, celebrating family, and enjoying each other with special dinners for two. Lamb Chops with Baked Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts By Ruth Reichl, My Kitchen Year “The lamb chops were crisp, the potatoes baked almost to melting, the sprouts sweet, salty and spicy.” Ingredients 2 large russet potatoes* olive oil 1 T. miso 1 onion, diced (I used a red onion.) 1 clove garlic, smashed 1 lb. Brussels sprouts, shredded chile pepper flakes 2-4 lamb chops 1 t. maple syrup 1 t. soy sauce salt and fresh ground pepper Instructions Preheat oven to 375 F. Rub the potatoes with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes or until soft. While potatoes are baking, clean and shred Brussels sprouts. Dice the onion. Add a bit olive oil in a medium skillet, toss in onion and the smashed garlic.  After they grow fragrant, season with salt and pepper; add some chile flakes and the miso.  Stir.   Toss in Brussels sprouts and stir, cooking about 5 minutes or until wilted. Season the chops with salt and pepper.   Heat more olive oil in a hot cast iron skillet.  Allow chops to get a good crust on the outside while remaining bright pink within (about 4 minutes a side).  Remove to a platter to rest. While the chops rest, sprinkle the Brussels sprouts mixture with the maple syrup and soy sauce. Yield: 2 *Instead of russet potatoes, I used some baby potatoes that I had on hand. I also used the food processor to shred the Brussels sprouts. As with many a Reichl recipe, this one was written in narrative form with a “bit of this” and a “bit of that.”   I wrote out the instructions in a traditional manner above. I thought I would love the Brussels sprouts more.  I might increase the red chili flakes a bit more next time.  They were still good; don’t get me wrong.  There’s also a LOT of them.  I will be having Brussels sprouts for lunch tomorrow (and Tuesday and Wednesday). This meal took us about 30 minutes to prepare.   (Our tiny potatoes took only 20 minutes to roast.)   This recipe will be in our weeknight rotations.   As far as getting back to the theme for this week and new starts: I’ve cancelled our Blue Apron subscription and hope to create my own meals for two like this one in quick and easy and healthy fashion. We’re going to try to have more meals at the kitchen or dining room tables…not eating in the car, grabbing something on the run, or (sigh) eating in front of the television. Healthy is going to be a key for us—more veggies.  In fact, I just heard that “flexetarianism” is the next big thing for 2019. Please help monitor us to keep us on track. Check out next week’s IHCC (and the weeks after) here.   Join us for 2019!   For all my IHCC posts, click here. Clubs and Blog Hops, Recipes, What we're growing, eating, and doing.   Brussels, I Heart Cooking Clubs, lamb, lamb chops, maple syrup, miso, onion, potatoes, Ruth Reichl, soy sauce