Tag Archives: Meat

Photos by and property of Royce Cara Berler. May be used with author’s permission.

Spicy Lamb Meatballs with Green Goddess Dip

0 comments Appetizers, Dinner, Lunch , ,

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
  • 3/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 medium scallions, chopped
  • 2 drained canned anchovy fillets
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Canola oil, for greasing baking dish
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 Tablespoons harissa (such as Mina)
  • 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
  • 1 pound ground lamb
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1/3 cup minced shallot
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 2 teaspoons Hungarian hot paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground fennel

Instructions:

  1. Process parsley, basil, sour cream, mayonnaise, scallions, and anchovies in a food processor until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture into a medium bowl; add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

  2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 13- x 9-inch baking dish with canola oil. Whisk together 1/4 cup water and harissa in a medium bowl. Stir in breadcrumbs; let stand 5 minutes. Add lamb, cilantro, shallot, egg, garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, fennel, and 2 teaspoons salt; stir well to combine. Shape mixture into 24 meatballs. Arrange meatballs in prepared baking dish so they are touching slightly.

  3. Bake in preheated oven until meatballs are browned and a thermometer inserted in thickest portion of meat registers 160°F, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve with dip.

Servings: 6-8

Photos by and property of Royce Cara Berler. May be used with author’s permission.

Kokkari Style Lamb Chops

0 comments Dinner , , ,

These are so delicious you will never cook them any other way! I was in San Francisco many years ago and had dinner at a restaurant called Kokkari, a greek restaurant that I fell in love with. Aside from the atmosphere and decor, the food and the service was phenomenal.

“Upon entering Kokkari, guests experience the old-world charm of a rustic mediterranean country inn” and it only gets better from there. Well they have published a cookbook that really conveys the authentic greek style and way of cooking so I decided to try and have prepared the most mouth watering lamb chops I have ever eaten in my life!

Please try it, you will not be disappointed and you will want to remake this dish often. It is great for a dinner party because it is so impressive when presented, is so simple to make and tastes so delicious!

I can’t wait to hear what you think.

Ingredients:

Serves 5 to 7 people

8 double cut lamb chops or
2  8- rib racks of lamb (about 2 pounds each)
4 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
4 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt
2 whole lemons
1 lemon sliced thin

Instructions:

First make the dry rub:

In a large bowl mix together the garlic salt, black pepper and the oregano. Coat the lamb chops on all sides with the dry rub and refrigerate for several hours until ready to cook.

When ready place the ribs back into a large bowl and use the 3 tablespoons of oil to coat all of the lamb chops. Once they are coated let stand to bring to room temperature for about 20 to 30 minutes.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450F, place lamb chops fat side up on a large iron skillet or two if you don’t have one large enough and cook for 15 minutes and then turn ribs over and cook for another 20 minutes or until lamb chops are still slightly pink inside. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

(place the cast iron skillet in the oven while the oven is preheating so that the skillet itself is nice and hot before adding the chops. This will give them a nice sear before turning them over)

Then you can cut the chops so they are single and place on a serving platter with some of the juice from the skillet. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top before serving and place the lemon slices around the platter as garnish and serve.