Bet Your Dinner Was Better Than Ours!

Well I can truly says this was an epic fail (greater than missing the countdown on New Year's Eve)!

On the menu:

It doesn't sound so bad right, but where did it go wrong?
  1. The risotto relied on aromatic greens for the flavour.  What are those you ask?  Tarragon, fennel, and green onions.  A far cry from the lemon zest and asparagus risotto from two weeks ago.  Tarragon and fennel have a licorice flavour (the black stuff, not the red strawberry stuff).
    Note: these herbs are good laxative agents (something you may not want).  
  2. Shawn has grilled a rack of lamb before, so not sure why it took three attempts to get it to medium rare.
All in all, the presentation was good, but the risotto lacked flavour and we were frustrated with the lamb and its lack of want to be grilled to medium-rare!

P.S.  I don't like lamb.

Grilled Lamb with Risotto and Aromatic Greens
Prep Time: 8 hours
Cook Time: 20-30 mins

For this recipe you need
  • 1 lamb rack
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 hoisin sauce (like Chinese plum sauce)
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup pineapple juice
Directions:
  1. Combine all ingredients expect the lamb and mix well
  2. Place lamb and sauce in a ziplock bag and marinate for at least 8 hours
  3. Remove lamb from bag and reserve sauce for basting
  4. Grill the lamb on the BBQ until the desired doneness is achieved (it took us 3 attempts to get to medium rare)
Makes 2 servings.
We get our meat from Burton Meats
This is what Hoisin Sauce looks like
Marinade ready for mixing
Lamb marinating 
It doesn't look so bad right?
Risotto with Aromatic Greens
Prep Time: 10 hours
Cook Time: 45 mins

For this recipe you need
  • 2 cups arborio rice
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions
  • 6 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 5 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fennel
  • 1 tablespoon tarragon flakes
  • 1/2 cup white cooking wine
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese flakes
Directions:
  1. Sautée the green onions and olive oil for a couple of minutes
  2. Heat the water in a pot
  3. Add the rice, parsley, tarragon and fennel and sautée for a couple of more minutes
  4. Add the white wine and stir occasionally until evapourated
  5. Add the water one ladle at a time and stir occasionally until liquid has evapourated
  6. Once all the water has been added and evapourated, stir in the parmesan cheese flakes and serve
Makes 6 servings.
Risotto flavours
Tarragon (L) and Fennel (R)
It doesn't look awful, but it lacks taste --- very bland

Our wine choice was Ringbolt Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 from Australia.  This was on the only great part of dinner (but remember, I don't like lamb).  The wine was given to us by our friends Tim & Annette (thank you --- it was delicious).  The Globe and Mail did a review of the wine in May 2014 (click here to read more).


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