Gordon Ramsey Makes things look way to Easy

Here's a recipe taken from The F Word (Chef Ramseys other, other show).

They manage to show this being made quite easily from prep to finish (yes I know the magic of television and maybe a few illusionists mirrors) however after reading this recipe it really seems like you're going to have about 30 minutes or more (depending on experience) prep time, and 30 minutes cooking time. If you get all ingredients together ahead of time and preprep a bit this could be a nice quick meal.


Herb Crusted rack of Lamb with potatoes boulangère and courgettes* provençalServes:

Ingredients :
2 large racks of Lamb cut in half with 3 bones each portion
1 liter chicken stock
1 sprig thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
3 crushed cloves of garlic
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely
large onions, peeled and sliced
4 large Desiree potatoes peeled and finely sliced, on a mandolin if possible

Herb crust:
4 slices of stale bread made into crumbs.
100g grated parmesan.
Sprig parsley
Sprig thyme
Sprig coriander
Sprig rosemary
2 tablespoons English mustard

6 large courgettes* cut into 1/2 inch pieces
(Courgette is the British term for Zucchini also commonly called Italian squash)

1 sprig rosemary
2 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
500g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 sprig basil
1 sprig coriander

Olive Oil
Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400f.

For the potatoes bring the chicken stock to a boil and infuse with thyme, rosemary and crushed garlic cloves. Strain before use.

Gently sauté the onions and garlic in olive oil until softened and lightly colored.

Rub an oven proof dish with olive oil and layer the onions followed by the potatoes, repeating until the dish is full finishing with a final layer of potatoMake sure to season each layer as you go.

Pour over the stock until it comes 2/3rds of the way up the dish. Press down on the mixture to help the liquid absorb and finally drizzle a little olive oil on top.

Bake in the oven at 400f for approximately 20 - 25 minutes or until soft and golden on top.

Next, season the lamb and seal in hot olive oil. Bake in the oven at 400f for 7 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a blender, thoroughly mix all the herb crust ingredients together, season and set aside.

Remove the lamb from the oven and brush with the mustard before dipping into the herb crust mix covering the fat thoroughly.
Allow to rest and before serving simply return the lamb to the oven for a further 2-3 minutes.

For the vegetables, sauté the courgettes and rosemary in olive oil, season and add a dash of vinegar.
Add the tomatoes, basil and coriander and cook for approximately 5 minutes further seasoning with a little more oil and vinegar. Allow to cook until the vegetables have just begun to soften.

Slice the lamb into 3 chops per person, serve with the courgettes and a generous helping of the potatoes before spooning over a little of the vinaigrette from the vegetables.

So Far So Good....

I'd like to say thanks to everyone so far thats been clicking the ads on my page, hope you've found sites worth at least looking at through them.

Adsence seems to be slowly working and looks as though it's going to be a viable sourse of "extra" income provided enough people stop by the blog and they get clicked regularly.

Please ask all your friends to take a quick 5 minutes to check out the blog and click every link and ad at least once, it will be a great help for sure.

I will start making weekly updates regarding how the adsence program is doing but for now this will be the last post on the matter since this is severely off track from the original idea for the blog.

A little later today I'll post another recipe or food tip for you all to try

Alot of Ads

You might notice the blog filling up with advertisement

I have done this as a secondary way to generate some money towards getting a laptop to carry with me when I go to local eateries and "health" food stores and blog on the go ( I'm sure there's plenty of open wireless connections in the city to mooch off of)

Please click on every link and take a minute to browse the sites, you never know , you may find something worth buying

If you do buy anything from ANY of the sites advertised here, please let me know what you got and how everythnig turned out.

I do NOT run any of those sites and the products are not mine so if you have a problem be sure to take it up with them. and of course let me know about any bad experiences with them as well so I can get thier ads changed to better ones.

Be sure to keep an eye out for "What NOT to do on a Diet (Part 2) " coming soon to this blog or you're favorite RSS reader (oh thats right, I forgot to mention I added that... Subscribe to my feed!!!! )

Things NOT to do on a diet (Part One)

I myself am not on a diet, but I eat and use lots of things that are considered to be mainly for dieting.

I was looking through my fridge the other day and not finding anything I wanted to actualy cook, I noticed I had a few cans of slim fast left. Now you might think a person would just go ahead and drink it and that would be a good healthy lunch, but not me, I'm not on a diet.

So I have this can of slim fast, chocolate flavored, and for those of you that have never tried slim fast it's a little thick and slightly chalky tasting on it's own, I opened the can and poured it into my blender, opened my freezer and grabbed the ice cream, put 2 decent sized scoops into the blender with my "diet" lunch drink , I thought for a second ( it was a pretty short second mind you) about turning it into a nice mudslide.

I'm not really an alchoholic but I keep plenty of alchohol around(you know, just in case) so I put 2 shots of southern comfort in with my slim fast and ice cream , and blended it all together.

If you're on a diet this is a HUGE no no , if you want a great tasting mudslide that will serve 2-3 people (or just one of me) then give it a try.

Here it is without having to read back through all of that....

1- 11oz can slim fast optima , rich chocolate royal flavor shaken well
2-3 scoops of ice cream , chocolate
2 shots of your favorite whiskey , rum , whatever (doesnt matter really, if done right you'll only get a slight flavor from it)

Put all ingredients into a blender and mix (liquify setting work well but to long and it loses it's thinkness)
Makes about 3 6oz servings

~Absinthe~ Just a personal preference

The following is an excerpt from the wikipedia about one of the best drinks ever.

Allways remember to drink in moderation and don't let friends drive drunk (force them to drink sodas so they can drive you home safely)

Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic (45%-74% ) beverage. It is an anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood". Absinthe traditionally has a natural green color but can also be colorless. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as "la fée verte" (the Green Fairy).
Although it is sometimes mistakenly called a liqueur, absinthe was not bottled with added sugar and is therefore classified as a liquor. Absinthe is unusual among spirits in that it is bottled at a very high proof but is normally diluted with water when drunk.
Absinthe originated in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It achieved great popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. Due in part to its association with bohemian culture, absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists. Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, and Aleister Crowley were all notorious bad men of that day who were (or were thought to be) devotees of the Green Fairy.
Absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug. The chemical thujone, present in small quantities, was singled out and blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in most European countries except the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although absinthe was vilified, no evidence has shown it to be any more dangerous than ordinary liquor. Its psychoactive properties, apart from those of alcohol, had been much exaggerated.
A revival of absinthe began in the 1990s, when countries in the European Union began to reauthorize its manufacture and sale. As of February 2008, nearly 200 brands of absinthe were being produced in a dozen countries, most notably in France, Switzerland, Spain, and the Czech Republic. Commercial distillation of absinthe in the United States resumed in 2007.

The First of Many - A Simple About Me

I'm not to sure where to start really,

I am an avid writer , author of many short stories nobody will ever read, amature food critic, and self proclaimed chef.

I have a few ideas as to the direction I want this blog to go and will update it as frequently as possible (probably daily).

Of course as soon as I write up a profile here you'll be able to read much more about me there.