In case you haven't noticed, it's Valentine's Day. Although it would be really close to impossible not to notice. Anthony Bourdain aired a "Food Porn" special (wildly entertaining, especially the 101 on how to make a cooking show: tight sweatered babe, fondling of food, borderline obscene displays of gustatory appreciation), as did Andrew Zimmern. Just as I expected, Mr. Zimmern talking with bystanders at the Mall of America in great detail about the aphrodisiac qualities of bull testicles, chicken uterus, and tuna sperm both gave me the heebie-jeebies and made me laugh hysterically.
Television aside, you might have figured out the hard way that if you don't book Valentine's Day dinner two months in advance, you're not going to get a table at a reasonable hour at any restaurant you'd like to dine at. Which is sort of crazy, but makes sense when 40,000 students, not to mention the other residents of Bloomington, all want to take a special someone out for dinner to celebrate America's favorite Hallmark Holiday.
Or maybe you'd like to do something special for Valentine's Day, but are strapped for cash and the thought of dropping $80 for you and your date to wine and dine doesn't sit so well. Or you'd like to celebrate, with a group of equally cynical friends as I have done a couple of times, in opposition to the farce that is Valentine's Day. One day for love? Pssh.
I recently got a slow cooker as a graduation/Christmas present, and I must say that if I was giving out Valentines this year, my slow cooker would get one. She is a beautiful and helpful companion. I was trying to figure out more jobs to give my slow cooker AND ways to use up the lamb in my freezer (more about that... once a year I buy a whole local lamb from Jenny at Ewenique Sheep Farm. They sell at the Bloomington Farmers' Market). Browsing my favorite blogs, I saw lots on braised lamb shanks. Lamb shanks are great, but I didn't have enough to feed a crowd, and ever since they became the "it" thing to make, they aren't really the bargain they used to be.
Chops. I would like to make slow cooked chops. Yes, chops are luxe, but shoulder chops are affordable and still pretty sexy. I decided on something Italian-ish, because nothing says romance like Italian food. And something easy and hands-off. As much as I love a piece of rare lamb, coordinating dinner like an orchestra is not my forte and overcooked shoulder chops are inedibly tough. But braising I can do ahead of time, and when everyone shows up all that's left to do is to cook the pasta, and maybe saute some pleasantly bitter greens. An apt side for an anti-Valentine's Day dinner, don't you think?
Braised Lamb Chops Provencal
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
3 pounds shoulder chops, about 1/2 inch thick
One half of a large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
One large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
One large bunch baby carrots (about 10), peeled, trimmed, and sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme*, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh savory*, chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons flour
1 anchovy, chopped
3 cups diced tomatoes, with juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup dry, medium bodied red wine (you'll have the rest of the bottle, so make sure it's something you would actually like to drink)
OR, substitute 2 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar for wine
2-4 cups chicken stock
1 cup kalamata olives
Fresh parsley
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat in a large, deep, ovenproof skillet, dutch oven, or similar cooking device that can go from stovetop to oven and has a lid. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper and add to pan, being careful not to crowd them. You want them to get a nice brown crust on them, and if there are too many in the pan that won't happen. Leave them for about 3 minutes and then brown on the other side (it will take a little bit less time than the first). Remove them and put them on a plate, and repeat this procedure with all of the remaining chops.
Add a little bit more olive oil to the pan if it looks too dry, or drain some out if your lamb gave up a ton of fat. If you use local, Icelandic lamb, you shouldn't have too much fat. Reduce the heat to low and add the vegetables (fennel through baby carrots), stirring them around and making sure they do not brown or crisp and getting all of the brown tasty bits from the lamb off the bottom of the pan. Turn down the heat if you have to. When the onions and fennel have softened a bit, add the herbs. Cook, stirring constantly, for about a minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for two minutes or until veggies start to stick a little bit to the bottom of the pan.
Add the tomato paste and chopped anchovy. If you REALLY hate anchovy and can't even think about buying them, leave it out. BUT, you can't even taste the anchovy in the final dish - it just adds delicious depth and is awesome with the lamb. Stir the vegetable mixture until the tomato paste and anchovy have disappeared into the rest of the veggies. Then add the diced tomatoes with their juice and the half glass of wine. Turn up the heat and bring this mixture to a boil, letting it cook down until it starts to look like a sauce (about 4 minutes).
Take your lamb chops and any juice that has accumulated on the plate and add to the sauce mixture. Stir the chops around and try to cover them with the tomato mixture. Then add just enough chicken stock to BARELY cover the chops, and bring that mixture ALMOST to a boil. Put the cover on your cooking pan and put it in the oven. Let it cook for at least two hours, but no more than four.
When you are ready to serve dinner, remove the dish from the oven. Evaluate your sauce. Is it thick enough for you? If it is, just add the olives, cook for about 10 minutes longer to heat them, and serve. If your sauce isn't really where you want it, remove the lamb chops from the braising liquid, put them on a separate plate and cover. Take the pan with the sauce and put it on the stove over medium high heat and boil it down, stirring often, until it has reduced to a good consistency.
Ladle the sauce over pasta (I like linguine or spaghetti, but you could even serve this over other things like polenta or mashed potatoes) and serve each guest with 2 or 3 chops and maybe some sauteed broccoli raab.
* You can substitute chopped rosemary for the savory and/or thyme, but I really like a combination of two fresh herbs.
If you want to make this a slow cooker dish, a couple of points:
- Make sure your slow cooker has a removable aluminum (or other heat-safe) insert that can go from stove to slow cooker. These are really the best kind to buy because you can use the insert itself as a cooking vessel, the insert is dishwasher safe, and you can brown your meats and saute veggies before slow cooking them, amping up the flavors of the things you cook.
- Move the insert back into the slow cooker when the original recipe calls for moving it to the oven. Use the HIGH setting on your slow cooker, keep it covered, and cook for at least 2 hours.
- If you want a recommendation for a slow cooker, this is the one I have. I love it. Thanks, Mom!
