Marinated Grilled Leg of Lamb Sandwich

The Ed sandwich from the Left Bank restaurant in Larkspur Ca. One of the best things I ever had off their menu and I probably had it 20 times when I lived in Ca. The combination of the grilled lamb, rustic sliced and toasted olive bread, arugula greens, mayonnaise and fresh ground salt and pepper is just unbeatable.

 

Ingredients:
Grass fed leg of lamb
1 sprig rosemary, chopped
8 cloves crushed garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
Rustic black olive bread, sliced
Arugula
Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper

Preparation:

I like using grass fed leg of lamb because it's generally a smaller cut of meat. Start by rinsing and drying the meat. Place the meat into a large Ziploc bag and add the chopped rosemary, crushed garlic and olive oil. Marinate a few hours for best results.

 

Grill the marinated lamb over medium high flame to char the outside. Turn the meat on the grill every few minutes until the internal temp hits 145 degrees which should take about 25 minutes for medium rare. Remove from the grill and let rest 10 minutes. You can see I like my leg of lamb pretty rare so I took mine off the grill at 130 degrees. When the lamb is ready to serve, slice into 1/4" slices for your sandwich.

 

To prepare the sandwich, slice the olive bread and toast. Take the bottom piece of bread and add some mayonnaise. Next, add some of the lamb slices and give a nice grind of fresh slat and pepper right on the meat. Take a little bit of arugula greens and the place on the sliced lamb. Lastly, add some mayonnaise top piece of bread and complete the sandwich.

 

Serve with a simple salad. Enjoy!

Garlic Marinated Lamb Loin Chops with Mushroom Couscous

I love lamb, don't have it very often and always wonder why. This dish is really something special though. The flavor of the garlicky lamb and lamb sauce is awesome. The earthy mushroom couscous is a perfect partner to serve with the lamb. The key to this dish is the sauce, it brings it all together.

Ingredients:

4 lamb loin chops

8 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup beef broth

1 teaspoon corn starch

1 cup couscous

1 pound crimini mushrooms

1/2 cup chicken stock

Preparation: Lamb Loin Chops

Crush all the garlic and add to a large zip lock bag. Add the loin chops to the zip lock bag along with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and marinate for a minimum of 4 hours, 8 is better.

Heat a 10" sauté pan until it just starts to smoke, add a splash of olive oil and the lamb chops. Salt and pepper the lamb chops and sear for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes turn and salt and pepper the chops and sear for another 5 to 7 minutes. Towards the end of the cooking time the lamb will release juices into the pan that you'll use in the sauce.

Preparation: Sauce

Take one teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon brand beef base and mix with 1/2 cup of water to create a light flavored beef broth. Take just a tablespoon of water and mix with 1 teaspoon of corn starch, mix well and add to the broth. Take the pan drippings from the lamb chops, add to the broth and set a side for service.

Preparation: Mushroom Couscous
Mix 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon brand chicken base with 1/2 cup of water to make a light chicken broth. Add the broth along with 1 1/2 cups of water to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add the couscous, stir once with a fork, cover and let sit while you cook the mushrooms.

Thin slice the mushrooms and sauté until fully cooked. Once cooked take paper towels and remove as much of the moisture as possible from the mushrooms. Combine the mushrooms and couscous, check to see if properly seasoned. It's likely that you'll add a grind of salt and pepper.

To serve, plate the mushroom couscous and top with 2 loin lamb chops and drizzle with sauce.