Sunday, May 3, 2009

The Perfect Remedy.





Readers, I'm back in action. My "no dill, etc." wounds have been licked thus, healed, and I am ready to spoil you rotten, as promised. This is a full on courtship, dears, and I would like to serenade you with dinner and desert.

You deserve it after having to view my laundry room. After all that folding, pressing and ironing - who wouldn't want to wolf down a juicy lamb burger? On second thought, and, after having tasted it, why would anyone want to eat a beef burger? Why walk when you can run, right?



Right.

This burger is so deluxe, fragrant, and mouth-wateringly satisfying it makes beef look like, well, an old cow. But ground lamb begs to shock you with it's exuberant taste, it wants to bring so much flavor into your life. Enough with the stuffy lamb/mint combination, it's almost summer, and it's time to revitalize burgers. And, since this is my entree gift for you, it's only polite that you should take a few bites. Don't forget to save room for desert.

John's Lamb Burgers on Toasted Ciabatta

1 lb. ground lamb
1 tsp. sea salt
a few course grinds fresh pepper
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins)
2 tsp. Premium Steak Rub ( JB's Fat Boys)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1-3 medium ciabatta loaves

Heat grill to 450 degrees. In a medium size bowl, add ingredients to ground lamb and mix well. Shape into patties, making sure to keep them a medium-large size, as they shrink more than beef. Place on grill for approximately 7 minutes and flip, grill other side for 7 minutes. Remove from grill. Place ciabatta bread white side down and grill for 3 minutes. Serve.


The below present for you is the perfect remedy to stress, or, for John, a full weekend of studying for exams. It's Molly Wizenberg's Apple Tart Cake, but I'm co-naming it John's Study Day Cake. Also, it's easy. Really! (Take it from me, I'm an amateur.) Most of the cooking time is spent unattended, lounging in wait while enticed by the sweet, aromatic cinnamon and tart apple smells drifting across the living room. (Even though the opening shaved apple picture makes it look like a frazzled venture, it was the opposite: the most therapeutic thing I did today was shred those apples.) I guess it wasn't fair to torture John with that aroma as he studied, but I meant well. And, as an added bonus, it brings my aforementioned poor presentation skills up a lot. It's a thing of beauty, on the inside and out.


I do hope you can find the time to treat yourself. You can find the recipe here.






Here's to a better Sunday.




(*Also, we get our ground lamb and baking goods from either Athens Locally Grown or the Daily Co-Op. We're not cheating, promise.)

5 comments:

anna j said...

Oh, this sounds like a delightful dinner! Had I not been treated to a friend's fine cooking this evening [thai chicken, squash, and green beans], this would have been on my menu . . . but I am a sucker for a meal cooked by someone other than me :-)

A.Kelley said...

Sounds delicious! Thai chicken... yum. You'll have to make the cake as a gift to your sweet friend. I promise it's very easy, and worth your time!

anna j said...

You're right, I will: though I may have to wait until August, as I have apple trees that tend to overwhelm me with their fruitfulness. In fact, I was asking my brother to give me his wife's apple pie recipe and he never did . . . it might lose out to yours this summer :-)

A.Kelley said...

Apple trees overwhelming you with their fruitfulness? Okay, you might just be the luckiest person I know. I can't imagine it, please post photos on your blog when in season. Please hire me to pick them all autumn. :)

anna j said...

Would you? Oh, I would be so happy if you did . . . last year I was saddened that no one in my neighborhood seemed as excited about them as I was, so many went to waste :-(

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