Bran: We were supposed to go for high tea at the Concorde’s lobby cafe in KL, courtesy of a voucher that I’d won at my company’s annual dinner (the first time I’d legitimately won not one but two prizes at a dinner’s lucky draw!). Alack, being on the very last vestiges of my 3 weeks of leave, I awoke too late for Jac and I to be in time for that. And so, our plan to have lamb chops was brought forward a day to Saturday.

I’d always wanted to grill something, having never had the utensils for that and this was the perfect opportunity to try out the electric grill/stove that we’d gotten for the Shabu Shabu session we had on Near Year’s eve (Jac Edit: That’s another food post that’s sitting on the back-burner somewhere. It’ll see daylight, you know, eventually..). And so this was the menu:

Grilled Lamb Chops with Rosemary

Mashed Potato with Chicken Stock Gravy

Mixed leafy greens salad

My recipe for Grilled Lamb Chops with Rosemary is my own creation, so please excuse the lack of measurements.

Grilled Lamb Chops with Rosemary

1. Marinade – Take the lamb chops and rub in sea salt on each side. Then drizzle some olive oil and rub that in as well, sprinkling generous amounts of paprika on the chops while you’re at it. Take the rosemary, bend and bruise, and put the sprigs in between the slabs of lamb for maximum contact. Put into a large ziploc bag or put into a deep dish and cover with plastic wrap. Leave for 3 hours.

2. Just before grilling, add a few dashes of Balsamic Vinegar and mix that into the chops.

3. Grill, rosemary sprigs and all!

4. Enjoy the scent of cooked lamb and rosemary around the house/apartment for several days after…

Mashed Potatoes with Chicken Stock Gravy

Mash:

1. To ensure that it doesn’t take years to boil the potatoes to the requisite tenderness, cube the potatoes.

2. Dump in pan and boil in water

3. My trick is to boil the potatoes until the water is starchy and the potato chunks fall apart when you stick a fork in them.

4. Drain and mash ‘em up in the saucepan! You’ll know they’ll be at their creamy best when it takes no effort at all to mash the potatoes up. On very low heat, stir in milk and butter, until you get a nice creamy consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste, just enough so that you could live on mash alone….

Chicken Stock Gravy

1. Use the leftover ABC chicken soup from the night before as the base for a sauce. Add a bit of butter, reduce, and add a bit of tempura flour (mixing it in a separate sauce dish with cold water, before adding it in). Salt and pepper to taste!

2. Try not to make Campbell’s cream of chicken soup…

Mixed leafy greens and beetroot salad

1. Dump salad into a salad bowl. Chop beetroot into little bite sized pieces and let it join the rest of the vegetables.

2. Drizzle olive oil and white wine vinegar. Sprinkle sea salt and black pepper.

3. Toss gently with your fingers, a la Jamie Oliver.

Bran: The anticipation was torturous, the grilling was absolutely fantastic – there’s nothing like rosemary and paprika specks burning and getting into your nostrils and eyes, together with the lovely light gamey-ness of lamb, browning and sizzling. And to transfer it right on to the plate for immediate consumption….

I’m not sure Jac loved the lamb chops as much as I did, but I have to admit, those were the best lamb chops I’d ever cooked before – or eaten in any restaurants.

Jac: What? The ‘orgasmic’ oooohhh’s and ahhhhhh’s and pools of saliva weren’t enough? It was indeed magnificent, but the best ever? Hm…I remember a certain New Year’s eve years ago with honey glazed, charcoal-charred lamb chops also expertly grilled by my other half. So I’m divided in the most delightful way you see

Yummificity – 10

Difficulty – 3 (it’s almost impossible to get wrong, you can never put in too much paprika, just be careful with the salt)

Re-playability – Definitely something to try again in the future, after putting the grill to good use with beef and prawns and lobster and squid and burgers and….

Pleasurably Guilty – 10 – This was probably what sparked Jac and I’s recent foray into dieting, but if you’re watching the fat intake, cut out the fatty bits from the lamb and use half of the olive oil you’d normally use, (Jac Edit: My hun must have wandered off to la-la land and forgot to finish this sentence, therefore the rest of it is my guess-timation) you might stave off the guilt for an extra day or so!