Cumin scented steak with roast veggies

On my last China trip, I again had these wonderful cumin scented lamb ribs they serve in Hunan and Sichuan restaurants (in Shanghai at least). Plus I brought back (or smuggled in) a bag of best grade Sichuan peppercorns - which I learned to distinguish in one of my food classes in China - you only want the hull, the more of the seeds are in there the cheaper the product, because they are gritty and don't add taste.

Yesterday was when I finally put it together. Our first CSA share of this year's quarter cow had beautiful steaks in it, and I had read a few months back that steaks get crispier when you salt them about an hour before you are about to make them. The salt will pull the water out of a thin layer on the outside of the meat (don't do it too long, or you'll get dry steaks..). Just before you're about to put them on the BBQ dry them off, then season them. It results in a very nice dry outside, and, when timed right, in a beautiful juicy pink interior. I had tried that before with great results, but was a bit timid on the seasonings. Not this time, though.

For the seasoning I crushed cumin and Sichuan peppercorns, about 1/2 tsp each, and I added some fresh ground black pepper for good measure. This was for 1 smallish NY strip steak - but I guess you can adjust it for your taste. I love both cumin and Sichuan pepper, so ours was pretty strongly flavored.

We also made some veggies, on a griddle plate on the BBQ, great way to use the heat of the BBQ while it's warming up for the steak.

The veggies were some zucchini, a passilla pepper and an onion, dusted with some more of the cumin - Sichuan mixture, along with some salt, and some olive oil for frying.

Veggies and steak both came out great:

Sorry for the bad quality of the steak photo, but we were hungry and we didn't want to waste time on making it the perfect shot. For those of you who haven't tasted them yet: The Sichuan peppers have a very nice citrus taste, and they numb your taste buds. Not terribly, at least unless you throw lots of them in your food, just a little bit for a slightly strange and tingling sensation. We had a big, jammy Zinfandel (red of course) with it, and it seemed to taste even jammier with the peppers, perhaps because the numbed tongue took the acid out.

A little salad on the side, boring hearts of romaine jazzed up with sunflower sprouts and tomato, dressed with a miso sesame dressing that I got from Japan, from a friend who lives there and shares our love of food and drinks (Thanks Jeff!)

A perfect end for a perfect weekend. Ok, perfect except for the poison oak I got while trying to wrestle the blackberry bushes out of what we call yard.

Thyme Lavender Lamb Loin Chops

When bread and cheese is verboten as a weeknight dinner because I'm trying to loose weight it usually comes down to meat and salad. Stopping by Karin's farm on the way and desperate for a dinner meat I fished the thinnest piece of meat out of her freezer that I could find. And man, was I in for a treat. It was lamb loin chops. 4 of them, for a scant half pound, and all of them for me. I put them up under the windshield as I was driving home so the sun had defrosted them when I got here.

I put together a little rub with a lot of thyme, some lavender salt (that I found at Whole Foods a year ago) and some pepper, rub it into the chops, and put them away at room temp.

Heat your pan. Really hot. Then add oil that can take the heat. Canola, Grapeseed, no olive oil. Test the temperature with the a little corner of a chop. If it start sizzling, really vigorously, everything is hot enough. Put in the chops - I used four just for myself, but if hubby had been around I would have stretched them to last for both of us. Don't touch the chops until they are browned enough to come loose by themselves. Then turn them, leave them in for a little longer - they are so small that they are done really fast, but they are so tender you can't overdo them unless you leave them in for a really long time.

Today I have one left-over little gem salad, which got dressed with a little lemon juice, some of my favorite olive oil, some pepper, some salt. And here is the result - all for me alone!

Recipe:

Thyme Lavender Lamb Chops

2-4 lamb loin chops per person

thyme - as much as you dare

lavender salt - or lavender and salt, about 1/4 teaspoon

pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of canola or grapeseed oil

Make rub from tyme, lavender (,) salt, pepper, rub into chops, let them rest for 2 hours or more. 

Heat pan to high heat, add oil. (I really dislike nonstick for this, it doesn't get hot enough, and you boil the meat instead of frying it.) Test temperature with a corner of a chop - if it sizzles your pan is ready. Put the chops in, but don't crowd the pan. Turn when the chops loosen off the surface without any pulling or scraping. Leave on the other side shortly for medium rare, or till a bit browned for medium well.

Serve with a simple salad, a glass of Dolcetto or other nice red, and enjoy!

Lamb Shoulder Steak with Farmers Market Loot

Ok, no beef tonight after all, I had some lamb shoulder steaks that were waiting to be eaten. And I had been at the Farmers Market in Santa Cruz and came home with some beautiful loot that want to be eaten!

Let's start with what I brought home - watermelon radish. It's exactly what I love about Farmers Markets, you get things you've never seen before, challenging your senses, your cooking, and tasting very good. So what is watermelon radish? They are a relatively unknown radish, about double the size of your standard grocery store radish, and surprisingly sweet and tender. And they look spectacular!

Beautiful, huh? And now you understand why they're called watermelon radish? Ok, they'll be part of the salad, perhaps sliced on top? Oh dang, my mandoline is already packed up for the kitchen remodel. Hm. Braised radish? We'll see!

Next comes the lamb: Karin Sinclair's lamb is superb, very tender, and not muttony at all, to a point where I almost could use a bit of mutton! It gets marinated, with market fresh sage, pepper, salt, and good German mustard. This is how it looks like before the mustard gets smeared all over:

Ok, braised radishes it is. Delicious as it cuts some of the sharpness. Together with the BBQed mustard marinated lamb steak - delicious!

Recipes (exceedingly easy):

Lamb steaks with Mustard Sage Marinade

2 lamb shoulder steaks

1 tablespoon minced sage

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard or similar

salt, pepper

Add sage, mustard, salt pepper to steaks, spread over steaks, let marinate for a few hours, then barbeque till desired doneness.

Sage Braised Radishes

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons sage - or more if you feel like it!

1 lb radish - watermelon, daikon, summer radish

salt, pepper

Melt butter in a wide pan, add sage until a little crisp, add radish, mix, cover for a few minutes on medium heat, salt, pepper to taste.

Enjoy!