One of the laments that my friends, who don’t cook, have is, “I always have ingredients left over and I don’t know what to do with them.” So, for this dish, I wanted to make use of items that I had leftover from last weekend’s dishes and stuff I had in the pantry. Limiting the things I needed to pick up was key. I allowed myself 1 item that I could buy.

So let’s see what we had left over from the other weekend and what was in the pantry:

baby potatoes - from the serrano wrapped scallops recipe
asparagus - from the farmer’s market
canned chickpeas

hmm…I have my veggies and starch…now, I just need the star. One of my friends/readers “hinted” on how I was making so much seafood, so meat it is. Lamb, haven’t had it in a while and I think the chops are perfect for grilling.

So, let’s get to it.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the lamb:
8 lamb chops - ask your butcher for them “frenched” - means, trim the fat off of the bone, keep ‘em skinny. This is a joke for my sister.
6 TBs. of soy sauce, low sodium - I like to control my salt content
2 TBs. of dijon mustard
2 TBs. of Worchestershire sauce
2 TBs. olive oils
1 TBs. of fresh rosemary, chopped
4 tsp. of fresh thyme, chopped
4 tsp. of fresh sage, chopped
1 tsp. of freshly ground black pepper

For chick pea rosemary ragout:
1 15.5 oz can of chickpeas
1 TBs. + 1 tsp. of demi-glace concentrate, or to taste
1 tsp. of fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp. lemon zest

For baby potatoes and cumin vinaigrette:
I found a great looking recipe at, 28cooks.com. The recipe below is similar to theirs but I had to substitute some items because I couldn’t break the 1 item rule.

5 cups of baby potatoes, I had red and purple mixed from last weekend
5 cups red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1″ pieces
1 tsp salt
2 green onions
3 tbsp shallots, diced

Vinaigrette
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper
1/2 c fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 jalapeno
1 tsp minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
6 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

For lemon garlic asparagus:

1 bunch of asparagus - I use about 5-8 spears per person
2 TBs. of shallots, chopped
1 TBs of garlic\
1 TBs. of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. of fresh lemon zest, chopped

Preparation

1. Chop the potatoes into 1″ cubes and place in a medium saucepan. Fill with water and add 1 TBs. of salt and bring to a boil. Boil until for tender. Drain and add the green onions, shallots and toss with cumin vinaigrette to taste. Set aside to cool. Serve at room temperature or with a slight chill.
2. For the lamb, combine the soy sauce, mustard, worcestershire, olive oil, rosemary, thyme, sage and black pepper into a large ziploc bag. Add the lamb after you’ve given the bag a good shake. You’ll want to marinate the lamb for at least 30 mins. Keep refrigerated but remove, 20 mins. prior to grilling.
3. Preheat the grill to high.
4. Drain and rinse the chickpeas but preserve the juices. Add the chickpeas, 3/4 cup of the juice, rosemary, demi glace and lemon zest into a small saucepan.
5. Bring the mixture to a lower simmer and raise the heat to medium low. Make sure to constantly stir. You may need to add more of the reserved chickpea juice, if the mixture gets too dry. If you run out juice, add a bit of water. Simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes until the chickpeas are soft and creamy. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Cover to keep warm.
6. Remove the lamb chops from the marinade and brush off any extra herbs. Discard the marinade and place lamb chops on the hot grill. Heat about 2 minutes per side for medium rare. Depending on thickness. My lamb chops required 3 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove from the grill and let the lamb rest.
7. Meanwhile, heat a medium Sauté pan on a medium heat. Add 1 TBs. of olive oil and add the chopped shallots, garlic and lemon zest. Sauté for about 2 minute and then add the asparagus. Sauté the asparagus for about 4 -5 minutes or until el dente. Drizzle the asparagus with lemon juice to finish the dish.

Here are some plating examples:

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Sometimes…I just get those cravings. What I loved about this dish is the smoky, grilled flavor of the fillet and bacon contrasting against the sweetness of the mint pea puree. It’s also great that this dish comes together quickly and easily. Whenever I grill beef and don’t have pan drippings to make a sauce, I use stock concentrates to make a quick sauce. Arom-max is a line that’s perfect in a pinch.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For beef fillet
2 6 oz. pieces of fillet mignon
4 slices of applewood smoked bacon. You use a your favorite. Peppered bacon is a solid alternate.
extra virgin olive oil for grilling
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 toothpicks or skewers

For mint pea puree

1 10oz. bag of frozen peas
1/4 cup of fresh mint leaves
2 garlic cloves
1-2 TBs. of heavy cream - depends on your taste and desired consistency
1-2 TBs. of grated Parmesan cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat your grill to high and soak the toothpicks or bamboo skewers under water.
2. In a medium sauce pan, add the peas, mint, garlic cloves and 1/4 cup of water. Bring to a boil and cook until peas are tender. Drain the mixture and place in a food processor, along with the heavy cream and grated Parmesan cheese. Puree to desired consistency and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
3. Place the puree back into the sauce pan and cover to keep warm.
4. Liberally season the fillets with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.
5. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
6. Wrap each fillet with two pieces of bacon and secure with toothpicks or skewers.
7. Place the fillets on the hot grill. Here’s a general rule that I use for medium rare steaks. Each inch of thickness requires 2 minutes per side. The fillets I had were about 2 1/2 inches thick, so I went 5 minutes a side. Once I flip the fillets, I turn down the heat to med-high. Grill until an internal temperature of 135°F. Remove from the grill and let the fillets rest.

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I added some tweaks to this recipe found on epicurious.com

You’ll need to season the pesto with quite a bit of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I like my pesto with a bit more punch.

Ingredients

8 ounces baby spinach leaves (about 10 cups packed)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
Large pinch of dried crushed red pepper
4 cups (packed) fresh arugula leaves, divided (about 5 ounces)
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons (packed) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 3/4 pounds ground beef (20% fat)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 hamburger buns, split horizontally
6 1/3-inch-thick slices fresh mozzarella cheese
(about 10 ounces)
2 large beefsteak tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds

source: Bon Appétit, August 2006

NOTES: I use 2 pounds of ground Kobe beef. It has a higher fat content and the meat is more flavorful. Also went with Heirloom tomatoes instead of the beefsteak.

Prepartion

Rinse spinach; drain briefly, then place in large glass bowl. Microwave spinach, uncovered, on high just until wilted, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Drain, then squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Combine garlic, lemon peel, and crushed red pepper in processor; blend until garlic is finely chopped. Add spinach, 2 cups (packed) arugula, pine nuts, and lemon juice; process until coarse puree forms. With machine running, gradually add oil in thin stream and blend until almost smooth. Mix in cheese. Transfer pesto to small bowl; season with salt.

Do ahead: Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover; chill.

Combine ground beef, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, and 6 tablespoons spinach-arugula pesto in large bowl; mix lightly with fingertips or fork just until incorporated. Form meat mixture into six 3/4-inch-thick patties. Place patties on platter.

Do ahead: Beef patties can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill burgers to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Grill buns, cut side down, just until lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Build burgers with pesto, patties, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and arugula. Cover with bun tops.

NOTE: Take the beef patties out 30 - 45 mins. before grilling to get them to room temperature.

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