Making Lamb Headway!

The title of this post 'making lamb headway' does not refer to a new recipe or method for cooking lamb. It's actually a celebration of sorts, in that I have finally managed to persuade hubby to partake of lamb, not under duress, but in actual enjoyment of the same!

Hubby has always maintained that he is a simple man in tastes, with an easy-to-satisfy appetite but I have learnt in the last decade from living with the man that the alleged appetite is a myth. There is a whole lot of stuff that he has barred from ever entering his mouth, too numerous to list and which defies logic when one considers the other stuff that has entered that orifice. For instance, he consumes beef and veal but not lamb or mutton? What gives?

So it was with trepidation that I made last night's dinner of Grilled Lamb Steaks, a 'touch and go' affair really, and if he didn't go for it, he would be dining only on a salad of cooked potatoes and french beans with corn and crabmeat soup (I did not really place him under duress since the salad and soup were quite substantial as a meal in themselves). To make lamb palatable and somewhat familiar in taste, I marinated the same in an Asian marinade of sorts.

• To make marinade for 2 lamb steaks: Whisk together 6 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of finely grated ginger, 1 small garlic (minced) and 1/2 teaspoon of honey.
• Add the lamb steaks (chops if you prefer) to marinade and let stand for at least 15 minutes or so.
• Grill lamb steaks (or chops) over moderate heat for about 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium rare, I did mine a little bit longer (6 minutes or so) as I wasn't quite sure that hubby was ready for medium-rare lamb.
• Remove lamb steaks from grill and let rest on covered plate for at least 5 to 10 minutes, before slicing steaks.

The steaks were quite moist and tender, and with the marinade having done the trick, hubby was chomping the stuff down. Hopefully, I can now go on to experiment with other lamb dishes.

The Fresh Corn Soup with Crabmeat is a quite a breeze to make, and you can choose to puree everything and strain the soup through a sieve for a smooth 'restaurant-style' consistency or do a 'half-baked' puree job leaving bits and pieces (as shown in pic) for more bite. Recipe below serves at least 3.

• cook 1 small carrot (diced), 1 medium onion (diced), 1 celery rib (diced) and 1 garlic clove (minced) in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heated sautepan, for about 5 minutes until slightly soft
  
• add corn kernels (from 3 ears of corn) and 1 bay leaf and cook for another 5 minutes stirring occassionally
• add 3 cups of water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes
• discard bay leaf, and puree the soup in a blender
• season with salt and pepper to taste
  
• to serve, add some cooked crabmeat and sprigs of basil on top of soup (or you can also choose to add part of the crabmeat into soup and mix well before serving)