Dateline: August 27, 2020 Lamb, taters and cabbage: An Ode to Ireland

I had purchased 2 small racks of lamb from Wegman's a while ago.  I have been waiting for either a break in the weather where I could put the oven on, or a day when it was a) not blisteringly hot, or b) not so windy that the grill would be uncontrollable.   

Today, the weather was too windy, but it was also not so hot.  I found on NYTimes Cooking a fantastic recipe for rack of lamb with crispy potatoes.  click on link for recipe

What was good about it?  Everything.  The schmear on the racks, the crushed spuds, the rosemary, you name it, it works.

To serve with it, I decided to play with the half of green cabbage that was in the fridge.   I trimmed it up, cut into 2 quarters, and sliced it thin, parallel to the base.   

Braised Cabbage with Onions and Wine

Ingredients

1/2 head of cabbage, cored, and cut into 2 quarters.  Slice thinly, parallel to the base 

1 med white onion, halved lengthwise and sliced into thin half moons

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 fresno pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

salt, pepper

wine or sake

olive oil

Method

1. Heat a large pan or skillet up and add some olive oil.  When hot, add sliced onions and fresno peppers, salt and pepper.  When the onion is softened, add the garlic.  Stir and when fragrant, add the cabbage.  Mix well to coat the cabbage with oil.

2.  Fry/Saute the cabbage until it is softened and begins to brown up.  If it sticks to the bottom of the pan, deglaze with some white wine or sake (use whatever is open or around, but not red wine!  Beer would work as well).  Turn down the heat and cover pan.  Stir occasionally to keep from sticking.  When cabbage tastes good, add some more salt and wine or sake and allow the alcohol and other liquids to evaporate as much as possible.  Add another glug of olive oil and crisp up the cabbage and onions.  If ready before the lamb is finished, turn heat off and cover pan to keep warm.

The coated racks of lamb over the crushed, steamed potatoes just prior to going into the hot oven.

The finished rack of lamb, perfectly medium rare.  I will say, that the schmear on the lamb was superb.  I was unsure if the anchovies, garlic, and mustard would be overpowering.  They were not.  It was an exquisite way to prepare the lamb.  To be sure, I will make this preparation over and over again!  I may even sous vide it so that I can torch it when it comes out of the bath!

And the taters!  Oh, boy, oh, boy.  What a freakin' treat these were.  I steamed them in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes, and then smashed them in the roasting pan.  I poured a little bit of oil over the top along with some Maldon salt and rosemary.  I can't decide which was the best of the night, the lamb or the potatoes!

Your turn to decide!