Some nights, I’m not prepared with a recipe or the recipe I planned turns out to take too much time and I started too late, forgot to thaw the meat in time, or I’m simply missing an ingredient.
So I buy extra ingredients to make a quick backup meal that I could “throw together” as my mom would say. It’s a running joke in my family because she claims to be this great cook and always says “Oh, I just threw something together.”
Here it is:
Rack of Lamb smothered in dijon mustard and sprinkled with rosemary. I cooked 2 racks of lamb for 4 people and had a little extra for leftovers for lunch.
Toss it in the oven at about 350F for about 30 minutes. Just make sure it’s at about 155-160F when you take it out. I always end up cutting it open to make sure it’s done to the level I like (pinkish-reddish).
While that’s baking, grab some olive oil and either some minced garlic, or even just dried garlic powder (I did this because I was being extra lazy) and some salt.
Tonight, I used up the rest of the spinach I had sitting around (about 5 oz worth) and some rainbow chard. My husband picked it from our community garden and I was a bit perturbed because it was not enough to make a full side or anything with. So mixing the spinach and chard worked perfectly.
Just toss the greens in the pan. Pour some broth or stock (I don’t even remember what I used). Chicken or beef, won’t matter too much. Maybe about a cup or so. I just tossed in whatever I had leftover.
In another pan, I used pomegranate seeds from a pomegranate I had leftover from another recipe. I was wondering, what in the world I would use it for. BAM. Pomegranate wine sauce! We had some random red wine laying around in the fridge that was no longer good enough to drink, but fine to cook with (about a cup).
Check out this video on how to easily get the seeds out. http://www.marthastewart.com/1094444/easiest-way-seed-pomegranate
Toss the seeds and wine together and just let it cook down on low to medium heat while everything else cooks, until it looks syrupy.
Throw some thyme in the sauce for a little more flavor. In retrospect, a little butter would have been good too.
Et voila! You’ve got yourself a fancy restaurant-grade meal in about 35 minutes.
Fortunate Femme 