Lamb Breast, Not Impressed

HAHA! Look I can rhyme! Now if I only had rhythm. As impressed as I am with my linguistic abilities I'm equally unimpressed with my lamb breast preparation. I'm not sure if it was my preparation or the cut of meat or (most likely) both. I marinated it in red wine(Cabernet sovengnion), balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, salt, pepper, ground mustard, and nutmeg. After marinating for a few hours I set the lamb on 2 overturned ramekins in a pan full of the marinating liquid and covered the whole thing with tin foil. I didn't want the meat to sit down in the liquid because it would boil instead of roasting in a moist environment.
The meat was moist due to the massive amounts of fat under the muscle. The meat tasted ok, but the texture wasn't much to write home about. I didn't hate it but it certainly wasn't special. I think it needed a glaze or something with an intense flavor. The marinade lacked pop. It had no standout flavor. Now that I'm drinking a glass of the wine I can say with certainty that the wine has something to do with the lack of flavor. It's flat, there is nothing terrible or outstanding about it. I think it's actually on the edge of going bad. It's not even old.
It's really too bad. I like lamb when it's done properly. I'm going to need to do some more research before I attempt lamb again. Maybe next time I'll actually get a leg of lamb to roast in the rotisserie.
I know yesterday I said I was going to do the summer squash. I didn't get to it tonight. I tried but I got distracted by the lamb. I'll get to the squash... I promise!

Kosher Butcher Experience

I've never been to a butcher shop before. I've always gotten my meat at the grocery store. Yes there is a person employed by the grocery store that has the title "butcher" but I'm talking about a store that only sells meat. So today I decided was the day. I live in a neighborhood with a pretty large observant Jewish population so we have a kosher butcher. I figure that's the place to go because I know it's going to be clean and fresh. I was totally intimidated. I had no idea what I was really asking for. Now I know I was really looking for a leg of lamb, something that was pretty sizable but without a bone. What I asked for was "lamb". They said what kind. I said "well I don't really know I want to cook it in a rotisserie oven". I ended up walking out with a lamb breast. It has bones. I'm not really sure what to do with it. I have it marinating right now but I'm not really sure what cooking method to try. I can't put it in the rotisserie, I won't be able to get the skewers into it. I know I can't pan fry it. I think braising it is the way to go, but I'm not 100% sure yet.
So even after I conquered my fear of the butcher I'm still a little intimidated but next time I'll know what I'm looking for before I go in.

Okra - Part 2

Different. That's how I'm currently describing my feeling about okra. I'm not sure I've been exposed to enough to really know how I feel. I took my frozen okra, defrosted it coated it with corn meal and dry ranch dressing. I tossed it in a pan of hot vegetable oil and fried it up. I think it needs a little something to make the corn meal stick to the okra. The flavor and texture are worth noting. The flavor was similar to cucumber (maybe it was the seeds, not sure) but the texture was reminiscent of a jalapeno. I am interested to see where this goes. Maybe I'll try butter instead of okra next time! :)
Up next is a yellow summer squash. Until tomorrow, eat what you love!

Okra Part 1 ... before the pan

Ok so I’ve done it. I bought okra. Although it’s not fresh it’s still okra. I’ll be honest I approach the cooking of this particular vegetable with some trepidation. I have heard all kinds of things about it being pretty gooey and slimy if cooked improperly. In my efforts to buy fresh okra I decided to search the internet first. It turns out that you can buy it in the 2 metric ton shipments (yes really). While it would give me a great opportunity to play and learn about how to best to serve okra I don’t think my apartment will hold 2 metric tons. My next venture was to the local supermarket but they don’t sell it fresh. So to the frozen food section I went on a whim.

Random useless and useful information about okra (thanks to Wikipedia)

Okra is:
in the same family as cotton
a traditional food in Africa
used to thicken stews including the southern American favorite: Gumbo

On a side note
I’m pretty sure I could go to the grocery story every day for entertainment. I just went to a different grocery story today. I’m actually really excited about this one. I forgot how much I like SuperFresh. My ACME is no good. I have an issue when the vegetables and fruits are crawling with fruit flies and other bugs. SuperFresh is bigger and better lit and has a better selection of fresh produce. I'm probably only going to ACME for packaged stuff last minute. I'll actually have to plan my shopping trips now but it will definitely be worth it.

Ok to the cooking of the okra. We'll see how it goes!

Bored

Ok guys. I'm totally bored with my food. I need some help. I'm apparently not very imaginative lately. I'm trying to be healthy but I seem to not be able to branch out form carrots, bell peppers, and broccoli for veggies and chicken and sausage for meat. Any suggestions?? I'm heading to the farmer's market tonight to find new foods. If you suggest something I will try to eat it (unless it's truly nasty or I can't find it).