Lamb, Skordalia and Spinach

We are continuing to cook from: A Year In The Kitchen by Skye Gyngell. Her cooking is very much our style. We decided to make Lamb Chops With Skordalia And Spinach. I have never had the Greek dish: Skordalia. It is basically Mashed Potatoes with the addition of Roasted Garlic and Blanched Almonds and Lemon. It is a find! Mashed potatoes have, of course a smooth texture. These potatoes have the crunch of almonds in them. The Lemon, and Garlic punch them up. You can also serve them cold. We had lots of leftovers so we even sauted them into Potato Pancakes! They will appear in lots of future recipes, I am sure.

The Spinach taste is driven by the intensity of the Chili Pepper. In our case, although the pepper was red and other peppers from the same bag we purchased at our Southeast Asian grocer were hot, turned out to be mild. We decided to add some Red Wine Vinegar to intensify the flavor when we ate it as leftovers. Finally we made a Gratin from the spinach by adding Cream and Cheese! It had 3 lives!

We had purchased 12 Colorado Lamb Chops from McCalls Meat and Fish and with our 2 leftover meals simply ate the lamb at room temperature. We like cooking where we have lots of delicious leftovers! Try those Potatoes!

Lamb Chops With Skordalia And Spinach

A Year In The Kitchen

Skye Gyngell

Serves 4

·       12 lamb rib chops

·       sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

·       vegetable oil, if needed

Skordalia

·       5 cloves garlic (unpeeled)

·       2/3 cup blanched almonds

·       3 small-medium round waxy potatoes, such as Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn

·       finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

·       sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

·       scant 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

To serve

Spinach with Garlic, Lemon, and Chile

All nuts need warming gently in the oven to release their flavor—just 3 to 4 minutes is all it takes in a preheated moderate oven to bring out their natural flavor and aroma.

Little lamb rib chops are delicious griddled or barbecued and served with skordalia—a Greek-style mashed potato, only much more. A good skordalia is garlicky, sharp, and tangy, with a texture that is slightly crunchy and creamy all at the same time. It tastes best at room temperature. Ask your butcher for French-trimmed chops.

First, make the skordalia. Preheat the oven to 325T (convection oven to 300°F). Put the garlic cloves on a small baking sheet and roast in the oven until soft and caramelized, 50 to 60 minutes. Set aside to cool. Turn up the oven up to 375°F (convection oven to 35o°F). Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and cook in the oven until warm, 3 to 4 minutes. Let cool, then grind very coarsely using a mortar and pestle, or by pulsing in a blender.

In the meantime, peel and chop the potatoes and cook in salted boiling water until soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl. Squeeze the soft garlic flesh out of the skins and add to the potato. Mash together until really smooth. Add the ground almonds, lemon zest and juice, a good pinch of salt, and a grinding of pepper. Stir to combine, then slowly add the olive oil in a thin stream, whisking as you do so. Check the seasoning.

To cook the lamb chops, preheat your grill, broiler, or griddle pan (oiling it lightly if necessary). Season the lamb chops generously on both sides. When hot, place the chops on the grill or griddle pan (or under the broiler) and cook for 3 minutes, then turn and cook for another 2 minutes.

Place the lamb chops on warm plates and serve with the warm spinach and skordalia.

Spinach With Garlic, Lemon, And Chile

A Year In The Kitchen

Skye Gyngell

I love all vegetables (with the possible exception of okra), but spinach is the one that I am totally devoted to. To me, it is equally appealing eaten hot or at room temperature, and I often crave a

mouthful of its inky goodness. This side dish goes with many things, but I particularly like it with simple broiled white fish and pan-fried veal or chicken.

Serves 4

2 - 1/4 pounds spinach (preferably young leaves)

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

½ medium fresh red chile, seeded and finely sliced

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

juice of ¼ lemon

Wash your spinach really well in a couple of changes of cold water. If using young spinach, there is no need to remove the stems. If using bigger spinach leaves, cut out the slightly tough central stem. Shake the leaves dry.

Cook the spinach in several batches in a large saute pan over medium-high heat with just the water clinging to the leaves after washing until only just wilted, then drain in a colander to remove excess liquid. Wipe the pan dry.

Heat the olive oil in the saute pan over medium-high heat and add the garlic and chile. Tip the spinach into the pan and add a generous pinch of salt. Toss to mix—the spinach will look vibrant and glossy with its coating of olive oil.

Squeeze over the lemon juice and add a grinding or two of pepper. Serve immediately.