March 27, 2014 Grilled Lamb Chops, Eggplant and Mexican Squash

March 27, 2014 Grilled Lamb Chops, Eggplant and Mexican Squash

I had to attend Book Club this evening, so I stopped at Sprouts after my 9:00 meeting and purchased 2 large artichokes ($.98/each), 2 lamb shoulder chops ($4.47/lb.), 1 lb. of fresh halibut ($7.99/lb.?), a red onion and 2 limes ($.50 each). 

Suzette arrived home shortly after 5:00, as I was simmering the two artichokes, and said she was too tired to cook and made a gin and tonic with one of the new limes.  I asked her if she wanted fish or lamb and she said lamb.

I got the lamb, an eggplant bought yesterday at Pro’s Ranch Market ($99/lb.), and four Mexican squashes (Pro’s $.33/lb.) out of the fridge and Suzette supervised as I cut up the eggplant and squash to make sure I cut them thick enough so they would not burn or collapse on the grill (about ½ inch thick seemed to be the best thickness for the eggplant and I sliced the small Mexican squashes in half).  Then she peppered and salted the lamb chops and started the grill.

We poured olive oil into a bowl and added salt and pepper and some Herbs Provence and Suzette got a brush and brushed the eggplants and squash slices with the seasoned oil.

I asked Suzette what she wanted to drink with the lamb and she said, “Pinot Noir, of course!”   I guess our Southern Rhone days are behind us for a while.

While Suzette grilled the lamb and vegetables, I fetched a bottle of 2011 Carmel Road Certified Sustainable Pinot Noir grown in the Arroyo Seco appellation in the Santa Lucia Mountain foothills in Monterey County, California.  The wine tasted silky smooth but did not have much character at first.  It tasted better with the food and opened up a bit as we ate, but it never got to breathtaking, more like a sustained blaah.  It lacked the fruitiness and delicacy of the pinots grown in northern California and Oregon’s Willamette Valley.  It had a musty, spicy, organic taste.  The great pinots of Burgundy are often grown sustain-ably and they have great power, clarity and character, so sustainable growing alone is not the difference in flavor.

I then peeled, seeded and sliced one-half of a large cucumber and dossed it with Spanish sweet paprika, salt, olive oil and a liberal amount of goat cheese (at Suzette’s suggestion), to make it into a sort of Greek salad.  It was delicious, especially with the lamb and eggplant.  We did not have any Greek yogurt, so could not make tzatziki.   We were ready to eat by 6:00 as Suzette arranged the slices of grilled eggplant and Mexican squash attractively on a plate with the lamb chop.

The lamb shoulder was cooked to medium rare and had a good flavor but was a rather tough and bony cut of meat (we both agreed we preferred the T-bone chops and racks of lamb at Costco better, even though they cost more).  The grilled eggplant was delicious and so was the grilled Mexican Squash.  This is my favorite way to eat Mexican squash. 

     

After a quick but wonderful dinner, at 6:30 I left Suzette for book club with a half of a bottle of wine still undrunk.  As I said goodbye Suzette said, “I will let you know if it opens up.” 

  

It must have opened up because it was gone when I returned home at 10:30.

I saw a rather odd movie named “Paradise Road” later in the night; a true account about a large international

group of women interned in a prisoner of war camp by the Japanese in Sumatra in WWII.  The cast included many famous stars, like Cate Blanchett and Glen Close.

Bon Appétit