The Painted Apron

Recipe Box, Irish dinner

Posted by the Painted Apron on March 6, 2013 · 5 Comments 

Being in the St. Patrick’s Day mood around here right now, we decided to have an “Irish” dinner of lamb chops, potatoes and asparagus.  Potatoes are such an Irish staple, and lamb or mutton is common too.  I wasn’t sure about asparagus, but it was green!

HHjr was cooking this meal and his favorite way to do lamb chops is to marinate them with fresh rosemary & mint.

He makes the marinade with soy sauce, a little brown sugar and sesame oil and then adds crushed mint and rosemary.  The aroma of fresh mint and rosemary made the whole house smell divine! A few hours bathing in this marinade added a delightful flavor to the chops.  It also eliminates any gamey taste that lamb sometimes has.

Because the soy sauce is salty, he just seasoned the meat with a little pepper.

He also made a wonderful potato dish.  The men around here LOVE potatoes so I am always looking for new ways to cook them. HHjr made a simple casserole with frozen hash browns, but his addition of roasted garlic and red onion sent this to the next flavor level.   He also used Vermont White Cheddar which is one of my favorite cheeses because it has an extra tang that regular Cheddar lacks.

TIP:  I don’t recommend using refrigerated potatoes for this, or EVER!  We have both experimented with them many times and have concluded that something about the texture of refrigerated potatoes is off, and they don’t seem to ever soften up, even after cooking for hours in a slow cooker.  From now on it’s the frozen variety every time.  Of course you can make your own freshly shredded potatoes if you’d rather….I would rather NOT!

His presentation was elegant, and I knew we were in for a treat…

A special meal indeed!

Here are the recipes:

ROSEMARY & MINT MARINATED LAMB CHOPS

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Marinate 3 hrs

Course Cook out, Main Course

Cuisine American, Irish

Servings 3

Ingredients

  

• 5-6 bone in loin lamb chops
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 T brown sugar
• dash of sesame oil
• 3-4 sprigs of rosemary leaves removed and chopped
• 10-12 mint leaves crushed and chopped
• pepper

Instructions

 

• Combine first 3 ingredients in a ziplock bag. Add crushed/chopped herbs. Sprinkle the lamb chops with pepper and put them in the bag with marinade. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours for flavors to infuse. Grill chops until done. Serves 3

Keyword chocolate mint, grilled lamb chops, lamb chops, lamb marinade, rosemary

ROASTED GARLIC HASHBROWN GRATIN

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 50 mins

roasted garlic 1 hr

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

• 20 oz. frozen hash brown potatoes thawed
• 1 head garlic
• 4 T butter {1/2 stick} melted
• 1/4 cup light sour cream
• 1/2 red onion chopped
• 6 oz. 2% Vermont White Cheddar cheese {Cracker Barrel in green wrapper} grated

Instructions

 

• Cut top of garlic head off and discard. Place garlic on a square of foil, drizzle with Olive oil and bring up all 4 corners into a package. Place in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour. Remove and open foil to cool.
• Place thawed potatoes in a large mixing bowl, add melted butter, onion and garlic by squeezing the garlic head directly over potatoes and discarding the papery garlic shell. Mix.
• Gently mix in grated cheese and turn into a sprayed baking dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated and golden on top. Serves 4-6. Great leftover!

Keyword cheesy potatoes, do ahead, hashbrown gratin, hashbrowns, potato casserole, potato gratin

Lamb Chops were on my Bucket List this month, The March Paint Bucket and I am so glad they were!

May your future be full of 4 leaf clovers!  And Rosemary & Mint Marinated lamb Chops with Roasted Garlic Hashbrown Gratin!

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