Recipe Catch Up

I realized that in a couple of my recent posts I mentioned recipes ”to come”.  Well it’s about time right?

First off will be the amazing lamb marinade that I used to marinate the 6+ pounds of lamb that Brian and I made for dinner 1 night on our trip to the Outer Banks.

I am told that my mom or one of my aunts found this recipe in a magazine or some place way back in the day and everyone loved it so much it became sort of a regular occurrence at any family gathering.  That is until everyone had too much of a good thing and got sick of it, therefore I really do not remember said lamb.  That and I don't think I was too keen on eating lamb as a kid anyways.

My mom dug the recipe out for my Bridal Shower actually!  There was a Greek/Mediterranean theme to the food so this was perfect…as was my shower :)

Anyways…the Marinade:

Leg of Lamb in Mustard and Herb Marinade
(this is slightly altered from the original recipe, but very close, and easier)

1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons water
3 medium garlic cloves peeled and minced
crushed red pepper (I added a few shakes)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh rosemary leaves
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
approx. 6lbs boneless leg of lamb

The method I like to use is to place lamb in a large ziploc bag (or multiple large ziploc bags if needed)

Combine all other ingredients in a bowl, stir to combine, and then pour marinade into bag(s).  Let sit preferably 24hrs, or at least overnight.  You can also place bags of lamb/marinade in the freezer until ready to use. 

Grill lamb to desired doneness…I prefer medium – medium rare.  I’m no expert in the cook time of meat, so I’d recommend checking a cookbook or online for cooking times based on amount of meat you have.

Next!

This lamb was served with an orzo salad that had lots of delicious veggies and feta cheese.

Here’s what I did:

Mixed Veggie & Orzo Salad with Feta
(my version fed 13 people…so obviously scale down if needed)

• Veggies to Grill (I used zucchini, red bell pepper, and red onion, but you could use anything you like….summer squash, eggplant, etc.)
• olive oil (for grilled veggies and  I used about 1/4 c. for salad)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 box Orzo
• 1 bag Baby Spinach
• 1 package cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• fresh dill (finely chopped)
• fresh parsley (finely chopped
• salt & pepper
• 4 oz. Feta, crumbled (or more to taste)

  
Cut up veggies to grill, and brush them with olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.

• Grill veggies, let cool
• Cook orzo according to box
• In a large bowl, place baby spinach
• Pour hot Orzo on top of spinach to wilt the spinach
• At this point you may want to add a drizzle of olive oil to prevent orzo from sticking
• Chop up grilled veggies
• Chop fresh veggies
• Add all vegetables to salad
• Combine lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
• Pour dressing over salad
• Add chopped herbs
• salt and pepper (don't be shy with the kosher salt)
• Don’t forget the FETA!!  Add crumbled feta
• Finally, toss this huge mess of salad gently until everything is somewhat evenly distributed
• Add additional herbs, salt, pepper, lemon juice, or olive oil as needed.

The salad was a hit!  So simple, yet so good.

The other item I made that night was the Key Lime Pie.  For this I used Barefoot Contessa’s recipe for Frozen Key Lime Pie.

My modifications were:

• Cut the butter in the crust down to 4T, plus 1-2T of water
• As I didn’t have time to freeze the pie, after the filling was placed into the baked crust, I BAKED the pie for 15min at 325 to set the filling.
• I THEN placed it in the freezer to cool down for an hour or so
• Made homemade whipped cream before serving :)

As nervous as I was cooking dinner for 13 people, it all worked out and everyone loved the food (so they say anyways).

I still have 1 more to go, the muffins, but this post has blown up before my eyes…and these eyes need to sleep!

Sweet dreams…about muffins :)

p.s. I’m trying my hand at cold-brewed iced coffee tonight.  Let’s hope that goes well!