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!

Champagne

Who has extra champagne in their fridge? I do... I know it's weird but that's what I get for having a New Years party, people bring alcohol and the champagne gets ignored. So I had 2 bottles of champagne and I didn't know what to do with it so I decided to cook with it because you can't open it and have only one glass.

I'll start with the bad. I tried to bake cookies; it was bad. I put champagne, flour, sugar, butter, shortening, 1 egg, and baking soda. I baked it at 350 for 13 minute. They looked so good. They smelled really good. They tasted nasty. I have never thrown out cookies before but these were awful. They tasted metallic. I'm not sure if it was the champagne or the baking soda. I think it may have been that my baking soda was old.

The good: Italian sausage, spinach, onion, and champagne. Put the sausage in a pot of champagne and let that simmer for about an hour. Then drop 1 chopped onion in the pot with the champagne and let that simmer. Pull the sausage and drop in the spinach and let that wilt down (you could also use frozen spinach, just defrost it and drain it before mixing it in the pot). My secret for spinach is nutmeg. Add a little bit for that extra something. There shouldn't be much champagne left in the bottom of the pot. Now cut the sausage up and mix it back into the pot and let the sausage heat back up again. I threw a little pepper and salt over the top. To complete the meal make a bowl of rice and drop the whole mix over the top. It's pretty fantastic!

Happy cooking!The Finest Wines of Champagne: A Guide to the Best Cuvées, Houses, and Growers (The World's Finest Wines)