Live

Make the most of life in Monmouth County with information, local articles, and things to do.

Dine

Hundreds of Restaurants reviewed and listed for your convenience. Currents Magazine is the dining expert.

Shop

Find the hottest stores and the best deals when you use CurrentsNJ.com for your purchasing decisions.

Relax

A stroll in the park, a movie or a local event you found the resource for easy living in the Monmouth County area.

Contests

Monmouth County Contests. Win your way to Broadway and more with the hottest contests in Monmouth County.

Home » Dine

Rachel Ray Valentines Day Recipes

Submitted by admin on February 8, 2010 – 2:41 pmNo Comment

Black Cherry and Black Pepper Lamb Chops with Sweet Pea Risotto

Ingredients

1 quart chicken stock
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus some for drizzling
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup peas, defrosted
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves, plus a few sprigs for garnish
Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
4 loin lamb chops, each 1 1/2 inches thick
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup black cherry all fruit preserves (recommended: Polaner brand)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper, eyeball it in your palm
Salt



Directions
Place the stock in a small pot and warm it up over medium low heat.
Place an oven rack 8 inches from broiler and preheat broiler to high.
Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 turn of the pan, with a tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet over medium to medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add onions and garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes the add Arborio and cook a minute more. Add wine and cook it all away, 1 minute. Add a few ladles of warm broth and let that cook off, stirring occasionally. The risotto will take 22 minutes to cook. Add a ladle of broth from time to time until risotto is starchy, creamy and cooked to al dente. Add peas about 2 minutes before serving. Add in cheese, chopped mint and parsley just before serving.



When the risotto is half-cooked, 10 minutes from being done, drizzle the chops with extra-virgin olive oil and arrange on a slotted broiler plan. Place chops in oven under hot broiler and cook 8 to 10 minutes for medium rare. Place a tiny pan on the stove over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and shallots to the pan. Cook shallots 2 minutes then add the preserves and whisk them together with balsamic vinegar and black pepper. Heat to a bubble then remove from heat and add remaining pat of butter. Whisk butter into sauce.


Season the risotto with salt to taste. Place a generous serving of risotto into shallow dinner plates. Arrange 2 chops on each plate alongside the risotto and drizzle the black cherry pepper glaze over the chops and garnish plates with extra sprigs of mint.


Grilled Baby Vegetables

Ingredients
6 baby zucchini, halved lengthwise, 1/2 pound
2 to 3 baby eggplants, thinly sliced lengthwise, 1/2 pound
12 baby portobello mushrooms, criminis
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 rounded teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons grill seasoning, 2/3 palm full (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning blend by McCormick)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 large clove garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil


Directions
Preheat a grill pan, indoor or outdoor grill to medium high-high heat. Place the vegetables in a large plastic food storage bag. Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl, stream in the extra-virgin olive oil and beat dressing with a fork. Pour dressing into the food storage bag and seal bag. Coat the vegetables evenly with dressing then grill vegetables a couple of minutes on each side until marked and tender. Arrange on a small platter.

Leave a comment!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar.