Grilled Rack of Lamb

These lamb chops are fantastic! The flavors are so great, and it's really simple. I took the ingredients from this lamb rib recipe and converted it for a rack of lamb (basically just changing the cooking time/method). Can't wait to make it again. The vinegar baste adds a great tang, and I love pomegranate molasses with lamb for a sour sweetness. The sugar in the rub adds a crispy, flavorful crust when charred. It only needs an hour at room temperature to marinate in the spice rub, so it's a great weeknight dinner or pretty easy weekend dinner party meal. 

Ingredients:

1 rack lamb chops

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Balsamic Glazed Salmon on a Cedar Plank

This is awesome! Jamie and I picked up two cedar planks a while back and hadn't gotten around to using them until last night. I wasn't sure it would make a huge difference, but wow, it definitely does! It gives the salmon this amazing, smokey, camp fire flavor. It was so, so good and I can't wait to try it again. I made a balsamic glaze to put on top which complemented it perfectly. You just have to soak the plank for at least an hour beforehand and you're ready to go. 

Easy Spicy Grilled Snap Peas

We have an abundance of snap peas and I've been trying to think of new ways to cook them/eat them. They're so good when they are raw and have a nice crunch, but that's a little limiting. We were grilling last night, so I took a couple of handfuls of snap peas and tossed them with olive oil, a little minced garlic, salt, cayenne, a little cumin, and a pinch of sugar. Jamie grilled them for about 5 minutes. They were warm and crunchy and a little charred with a great sweet, spicy, fresh flavor. Such a nice way to serve them, and an excellent side dish.

The dogs were interested in the snap peas.

Fatty Cue Style Ribs

After an amazing dinner at the new Fatty Cue in the West Village, I couldn't wait to have another savory and sweet rib. I tweeted about it the next day asking for a recipe and was directed here. I'd already bought some baby back ribs from Faicco's that morning, so I decided to adapt the recipe to baby backs. I had a trip to Kalustyan's for the more exotic ingredients. They were a big hit! So juicy and tender, and the meat really shines through, so make sure to get some meaty ribs. (If you live in Manhattan, it's worth a trip to Faicco's - their baby back ribs are the meatiest and juiciest I've ever had.) Don't be scared of all the fish sauce - you really don't notice it in the final product. It just gives the ribs a great umami flavor.

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
2 racks of baby back ribs
2 cups fish sauce
6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 medium shallot, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup sugar

Banh Mi Hot Dogs

I had a few recipes in the cue to put up before this, but this one just needed to be posted. After sampling Asia Dog's delectable "Vinh" banh mi style hot dog a few weeks ago, I've been craving another. Since the banh mi ingredients aren't terribly hard to come by, I figured I'd try it myself. I made these for dinner and they were amazing. So flavorful with a great heat and much fresher tasting than a classic dog, and infinitely more interesting. Jamie scarfed two down and wanted a third, but settled for taking another for lunch (they're actually pretty filling!). We both can't wait to try this out for a big group BBQ. So unique, and really not too hard! I looked up a few regular banh mi recipes and mixed and matched a little, adapting them to hot dogs. Try this at your next backyard BBQ, or even just having a few people over to watch baseball or True Blood or something. Yum yum yum!

Ingredients:
(serves 2-4)
2 super thinly sliced carrots (using a mandolin, or you can grate)
2-3 super thinly slice radishes
3 tbsp sugar
1.5 tsbp kosher salt
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
4 hot dogs