April 24, 2012 Lunch – Japanese Kitchen; First Candle Lit Dinner in the Garden of the Year – Grilled Rack of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables and Steamed Asparagus.

April 24, 2012 Lunch – Japanese Kitchen; First Candle Lit Dinner in the Garden of the Year – Grilled Rack of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables and Steamed Asparagus.

I ate lunch with Robert Mueller at Japanese Kitchen in my continuing quest for new and more wonderful restaurants.  Robert suggested that Japanese Kitchen had a really good and generous chirashi.  We both ordered it and when it came I was amazed when we were served two lacquer boxes stacked one on the other.  In one was the traditional sushi rice  topped with a pile of salmon eggs, a piece of grilled unagi and a small pile of pickled umabashi plums.  The other box had a bed of shredded diakon on a layer of ice cubes.  The diakon was topped with an assortment of slices of sashimi, including 2 thick slices of salmon and three slices of maguro red tuna, two slices of octopus tentacle, one surf clam, two slices of omelet, several slices of baby hot house cucumber, one slice of red snapper or mahi mahi, two pieces of squid roll, one scallop, a pile of squid salad, and one large slice of yellowtail. We nibbled and talked for over an hour enjoying the many different delicacies.  I thought it was an entirely delicious food experience ($18.00).

Last Saturday, when Suzette was out of town, I bought a Rack of Lamb because it is one of Suzette’s favorite meats ($9.99/lb at Costco, an eight chop rack is about $16.00).  Although we had each been working hard, Tuesday is a mandatory night to cook, since we both are usually at home, so I took the rack out to thaw before going on an 18 mile bike ride that did not get me home until 7:00 p.m.

Suzette was at home with I returned and we decided to roast some potatoes and Brussels sprouts.  So I cleaned and sliced about 1 cup of Brussels sprouts and cubed into about 1 inch cubes about three or four baking potatoes and one large brown onion and cut up about five or six cloves of garlic and tossed that all with about 1 ½ Tbs. of garlic infused olive oil Suzette had made in a ceramic casserole dish and covered them with aluminum foil and baked them for about 45 minutes in a 350° oven and then I threw in four or five sprigs of fresh rosemary and baked them for about another 15 minutes while Suzette grilled the rack of lamb and I steamed about fifteen stalks of asparagus.  

I fetched a bottle of Valréas “Cuvée Prestige” 2008 Côtes du Rhône Villages (75% Grenache and 25% Syrah, Trader Joe’s $5.99?) that went really well with the smoke flavored grilled lamb and the garlicy roasted vegetables.  I dowsed the lamb with some mint sauce we made from a recipe in the Joy of Cooking that had a lot of vinegar and some sugar in it that accentuated the flavor of the meat a bit more.  Since I was a little tired from my ride I toasted a couple of slices of whole grain bread from Costco and slathered one with the juices from the lamb that had accumulated when we covered the rack of lamb with aluminum foil after taking it off the grill to let it seal in its juices.

Suzette lit candles in the chandelier in the gazebo and we had our first meal of the year in the garden in the warm glow of candle light.  What a lovely meal.   

I was still a little hungry so I fetched the wedge of French triple crème brie and slathered the other slice of bread with it and we finished the bottle of wine with bread and cheese.

A lovely French meal on a lovely cool spring evening in our garden.  What could be better?

Bon Appétit