Sunday, May 23, 2010

Dinner

I thought I'd post what I had for dinner, even though I've written about it before. I cooked Giuliano Hazan's Parmesan Encrusted Lamb Rack from his Every Night Italian, and ate it with Alice Water's Potato Gratin and a salad with nice lettuce leaves, chopped tomatoes, mint and left over bread crumbs from the lamb rack.

It didn't go as well as I would have liked.

I've had the Lamb Rack before. It is excellent. Tonight it was just off the mark. I don't know why. Perhaps it was the quality of the lamb. It's hard to see how you get the rest wrong. The bread crumbs were a delight - I just baked them for 10 minutes or so with a little olive oil.

Anyway, the lamb rack didn't reach the dizzy heights it did last time. I'm going to persist though, because I know how good it can be.

Now the potato gratin. It's one of the tastiest things I can cook. It is so simple, and so delicious. This time I tried to embellish with some tyme that had dried in my kitchen, and I also was self indulgent and put some parmesan in. I don't know why I messed with something great.

Anyway, it too was a bit of a flop. It has never failed me before. It seemed a bit undercooked, and milky. All I can think is that the lamb rack tray blocked the heat and didn't let it cook. I also forgot to pat it down after 30 minutes.

The only thing that saved me was the salad. Beautiful lettuce leaves and tomatoes, with the cheeky breadcrumbs and mint, because I had some. I dressed it in the Italian fashion - olive oil, salt and red wine vinegar, and it was delicious. It was the tastiest part of the meal.

I haven't gone mental however, as I also cooked Giuliano Hazan's Lamb Stew from his How to Cook Italian. It is a favourite, and did not let me down today. I used red wine instead of white, and had to cook it for an hour or so longer than he suggested to get it tender. I guess that's the common sense part of cooking.

I did not eat it of course. I'll have that for dinner tomorrow with a vegetable.

2 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about the lamb rack, David. That's the thing about cooking, it's not an exact science and things sometimes don't turn out. If it makes you feel better, it happens to me too.

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  2. Thanks Giuliano. It does make me feel better. Having said that, I'd like to try and nail the lamb rack each time as it was so good last time! I'll be sure to post my efforts. David

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