What to do with leftover lamb?

As the follow-up to my last recipe post about my leg 'o lamb... here is how I ended up using the remaining scraps...

One night I made a pizza. A Greek pizza. Roll out some fresh pizza dough from Trader Joe's. Sometimes I cook pizzas on a regular cookie sheet which I think works just fine. Lightly oil the pan with some olive oil on your fingertips and press the dough into a rectangular shape. Spread some oil on top of the dough and layer on shredded mozzarella, crumbled feta, diced lamb, sauteed onions, roasted garlic and dried oregano. Bake according to the directions on the pizza dough... usually about 10 minutes at 400 degrees but eyeball it until it's done to your desired crispiness.

Feeling like I was close to being "lamb-ed out" the following night I used all of the remaining meat and made lamb stew. Here is my brother, my sous chef, who helped and requested a shout out...

Anyways, here's what you do. Dice up the lamb, as much as you have left, and put in the crock pot along with a sliced onion, a can of garbanzo beans, a can of Italian style diced tomatoes and a carton of beef stock. Sprinkle in some salt, pepper, a pinch of oregano and a tiny pinch of red pepper flakes (I always season more once the dish is done cooking, too, based on what I think it needs.) Because I had limited veggies on hand, I didn't add some "stew staples", but would recommend adding some diced celery, carrots, potatoes or anything else you have laying around. Despite the lack of veggie presence, the stew ended up fantastic so no need to stress. Cook on low for 10 hours and serve with some piping hot Pillsbury Grands biscuits!

Next, take a break from lamb for a while :)

Hello, Mr. Owl!

Cost Plus World Market is one of my favorite stores. It's dangerous for me since I'll go in for one thing and leave with $100+ of stuff I didn't even know I needed!

On our last trip there, in addition to finding our outdoor rug, we found this adorable owl door stop. He was only $9.99 and  he kinda makes me smile.

It's the little things :)

Outdoor Living Room

Now that the weather is finally starting to cooperate and the sun is staying out later, I love spending more time outside. I have been working on turning our patio into an outdoor living room and have been looking for an outdoor rug to tie it all together. Recently at Cost Plus World Market, I found one for $39.99. The price was right and so I figured I'd give it a try.

Here's the before pic...

And here's after...

Here's the close-up. I love the yellow/grey-blue combo...

It's made from recycled plastic so to clean it I can either shake it out or hose it off. Gotta love low-maintenance. Finding a simple accent piece like this can make a space feel totally different. I am a fan!

Greek Lamb and Feta Sandwich

We are big fans of Greek food. As a partially Greek gal, I like to keep several items on hand at all times: Greek Seasoning (as I mentioned last week in my pasta post, I discovered that you can order it online! You're welcome), oregano, a block of good feta and olives. With those at your fingertips you can add some Mediterranean flair to just about anything you're cooking up. Once every couple months, we try to make a visit to Papa Cristo's in L.A. to stock up on our Greek groceries and visit our pal, Papa Cristo.

They have a Lamb and Feta Sandwich that is off the charts, in fact it was rated as one of the best sandwiches in Los Angeles. So once I got home from our visit this weekend, I decided to try to recreate it. Here's what you need:

1 leg of lamb (4-5 lbs or so)
Olive oil
Whole garlic cloves
1 onion thinly sliced
Juice from 2-3 lemons
Greek seasoning
1 fresh crusty french baguette
Tzatziki Sauce (I made my own, see recipe below)

First, get started on the lamb. Put some garlic cloves in the meat, using a knife to cut some slits all over. Rub down with some seasoning, olive oil and lemon juice. I top mine with some sliced onions. Depending on the size, you'll want to cook it for 25-30 minutes per pound at 350 degrees, but keep an eye one it. Mine was 4.5 lbs. and I cooked it for about 1 hr. 45 min.

Once the lamb's in the oven, get started on the tzatziki sauce. Here's what you'll need:

1 lb. plain Greek style yogurt
1 cucumber peeled and diced
A few sprigs of fresh dill
2 cloves garlic
A splash of olive oil
Salt to taste

Combine everything in a bowl...

and mix with an immersion blender. Or you could use a regular a blender or food processor. They'll all get the job done. You just want it to look like this:

Put in the fridge until you're ready to assemble the sandwiches. You'll have plenty and it will keep for a few days. It's great to have on hand especially during the summer, too. Yum!

As I completely forgot about our vegetable side for dinner, I threw together some really easy brussell sprouts. Toss some sprouts on a cookie sheet with a diced shallot, some olive oil and S&P, pop them in the oven when the lamb has about 10 minutes left and you're done.

Once the lamb is done, it will look like this:

You'll notice I also put a lamb shank in with the leg, why not. Take a chunk of the meat and carve into bite sized piece to put on the sandwiches. You will have PLENTY of lamb leftover, my plan is to use the rest in a lamb stew crock pot creation next week, stay tuned. To assemble the sandwiches, slice the bread in half and drizzle some tzatziki on each side like so...

Add some feta to one side of the sandwich halves...

And then add the lamb...

Put the top half on the bottom half and press with a panini press for a few minutes, just enough to warm it  and make all the elements blend together.

Slice in half and plate with the sprouts and a small dish of tzatziki for dipping. Can you say amazing??

 Enjoy!!

Bread Pudding and a China Cabinet Re-Vamp!

I came home from our vacation inspired. Inspired to cook and to breathe some new life into our china cabinet. Random, I know. Let me explain.

While in the airport terminal in New Orleans buying pralines for my grandma, I had an impulse buy of bread pudding mix they had by the cash register (remember how I am with those impulse purchases? Dangerous.) I love bread pudding and make Emeril's Bourbon Bread Pudding abnormally often now that I think about it. It's just too flippin' easy and delicious and my husband is a bourbon drinker so everybody wins. Post said purchase, I realized that the mix is a "just add water" deal. Just add water, bread and raisins. Interesting.

So here's what you need:
- 1 packet of the mix
- 1 loaf of slightly old french bread torn into pieces (it calls for 8 cups)
- about a handful of raisins
- 2 cups water

Dissolve the mix in the water...

Add the liquid to the bread and the raisins and stir until everything's coated...

Put in an 8x8 greased pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes. And here's the finished product.

And it was delicious. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of cool whip on top and you're in heaven!

I looked on the pudding mix company's website, The Praline Connection, and you can't order it online... bummer. But I did find this option online, or I'm sure you can find some sort of mix in the grocery store, I've just never looked for it, but I will now!

Ok, so onto the china hutch that I re-vamped. I adore our china hutch. It's beautiful and gives us some much needed storage. On our flight home, I was thinking about house stuff and reminiscing about how I was so thrilled with that side table I repainted last week... I decided to add a coat of paint to our china cabinet. One our way home from the airport, we stopped at Home Depot and I picked out a lovely shade of paint called Egyptian Nile. Doesn't it sound exotic?

Here's the before shot:

And here's the after shot:

Not too bad, right? We also moved it from our kitchen to our dining room which was a feat in itself but now the room feels much more complete. As a matter of fact, at this very moment I am sitting at our dining room table, eating my bread pudding and admiring my paint job as I type. Sigh... all in a days work.

Spicy Sausage Pasta Toss

Sometimes on a chilly evening a hearty warm pasta meal hits the spot. This dish is quick and easy to throw together and is perfect to have up your sleeve when you feel like having a cozy laid back dinner... it is slightly pathetic that Los Angeles is having this crisp weather and it's mid-May but might as well embrace it, right?

Here is what you'll need:
- Sausage of your choice. Tonight I am using Jalepeno and Monterey Jack Bratwaurst. An Italian sausage was my second choice and would also be delish!
-1 diced green bell pepper
-About 6 diced green onions
-1 bag of spinach coarsely chopped. You can never have too much spinach in my opinion.
-1 lb. spaghetti
- Some minced garlic to taste
- Tomato sauce (recipe below)

My husband made the sauce ahead of time, he's really good at it, it's kind of one of his culinary fortes. You take large can of Italian style whole or diced tomatoes, add a pinch of red pepper flakes, a dash of Greek seasoning and a splash of olive oil. Blend it up with an immersion hand blender (or in a real blender, up to you.) And that's it.

Dice up the sausage and get cooking in a heavy sauce pan with the garlic. After a few minutes add the bell pepper.

Once they're softened, add the green onions and spinach.

After everything is combined, add the tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes on low.

I add the cooked spaghetti directly to the pot and give it a toss.

Top with some freshly grated parmesan and voila, dinner!

Since I used a very spicy sausage, I paired this dish with a cold beer. It was necessary, and plus, it's Monday.

For what it's worth, I also had an adorable audience the entire time I was cooking.

Back from the Bayou!

Did you think that I up and left and forgot all about you? Well, I did skip town for a much needed vacation but certainly didn't forget about you. Here's who I hung out with while I was gone:

Ok, so it's not a person, it's a dish of creme brulée with a powdered sugar fleur de lis decoration on top... but it was worth the trip. While I ate my way through New Orleans this week (see photo above, don't be fooled by the two bites taken from the brulée. That baby ended up polished off. Of course, I had help so please refrain from judging me, thanks), not only did I come home with about 5 extra pounds that I didn't have before, but I also brain-filed away plenty of yummy recipes to try and ideas for how to add a bit of the South to our home style. 

One of the amazing restaurants we visited was Commander's Palace. Not only was it phenomenal, but I commented to the waitress that I loved the pepper jelly that came with their Shrimp and Tasso Henican and she gave me the recipe for it- Score! You can guarantee I'll be making it this week, in addition to busting out the pickled okra by brother made me that's been chilling in a mason jar in the fridge since Christmas. My to-do list is growing by the minute and I promise to document my adventures :)

On another note, in case that dessert photo above didn't make you salivate, perhaps this bread pudding pic will to the trick:

For what it's worth, I did finish the bread pudding on my own. (Credit goes to Commander's Palace for both of the fabulous desserts featured in this post.) 

Stay tuned, friends!

Salvation Army Side Table: Part Deux

I did some painting today. As you should remember from my previous post about my thrift store side table find, I wanted to transform the table into something that fits more with our style and quite simply, with a little bit of elbow grease, some sandpaper, two cans of spray paint, a little bit of hope and a dash of creativity I turned that petit table into a little bit of wonderful.

First I sanded because it had a super glossy finish. Once it was sanded down, I primed it with some white spray paint:

I picked Holiday Red for its new color which is vibrant and fun- perfect to add some life to our chocolate brown and earth tone living room...

Here is the table post-painting:

And here is the finished product with all of the accoutrements:

Not bad, huh? Going along with my new infatuation with red, I found this fun candle at Targét on sale for $6. It smells lovely and adds a pop of color to my bedroom dresser. Don't you love it?

The great thing about adding some vibrant colored accents throughout your home is that you don't have to commit to them. If I love red this week and hate it the next, not a big deal... I'll swap them out or buy another color of spray paint and change it up!

A bag 'o marinade for your bag 'o tricks

I made an amazing discovery. I'm sure these have existed for a while but somehow I didn't see one until now. Marinade in a sealable bag... an EZ Marinader if you will. This was a total impulse buy as it was on special for something like $2.00... This marinade is made by Jack Daniel's, don't be fooled though, the package is clearly labeled with a "Does not contain alcohol" warning. 

I picked up some flap meat at the store. Flank steak would have been another great option. Or even chicken or pork- yum! Last night I popped the meat in the bag o' marinade and put in the in fridge. And just like that, step one was done!

Tonight as I was cooking for uno, I decided that as a side, I'd cook out of the pantry. I had about one cup of rice left in a ziploc bag and a few green onions in the fridge that were about a day away from needing to go in the trash. This is probably the easiest thing ever... after I started the rice, I trimmed up and diced the green onions and sauteed them lightly in some olive oil. 

By the way, my trick for making rice is adding some chicken bouillon and a pinch of salt to the water while it's coming to a boil. It adds a yummy flavor. So, when the rice is done, mix in the green onions and add some fresh cracked pepper and a pinch more salt to taste. Another trick I learned from my grandma is to put a clean kitchen towel over the pot and underneath the cover. It helps the rice keep a nice texture.

As for the meat, since Chris my barbecuing guru was not around, I grilled it up on a cast iron grill pan which worked just fine. Although, I did miss that just-off-the-que flavor. Tear :(

And after slicing it up...

Here's the finished product...

The marinade was surprisingly good and marinating overnight made the meat tender and flavorful throughout. This handy baggy is totally worth a try. I'm going to continue to be on the lookout for these delicious gems every time I go to the store. In honor of Cinco de Mayo... que delicioso!

Salvation Army Side Table: Part 1

I picked up this side table from Salvation Army today. One thing we lack in our house is adequate side- tableage. Once I got it all spruced up, it looked weird next to everything else in our house... and totally didn't fit in as well as I had initially envisioned. I don't want my $20 to go to waste so I am going to sand it and paint it something that will go with our stuff better... stay tuned.

In the meantime, any color suggestions?

Quiche-y Keen!

I have heard that the way into a man's heart is through his stomach. (Since I inherited the Sicilian cooking gene, this has never been much of a problem.) I would actually like to re-write that phrase to say: The way into a man's heart, at least my husband's, is through this quiche. I am not exaggerating.


The recipe is Paula Deen's Spinach and Bacon Quiche so you can rest easy knowing that it's fat free and zero calories :) The great thing about this recipe is that it has a good base. You can easily make a vegetarian version by leaving out the bacon and adding some lightly sauteed veggies like mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. Or instead of bacon, use some left over ham, steak or even chicken. Don't have mozzarella? Use whatever you have in the fridge. There are so many ways you can make it so get creative. If you click on the link above, there are lots of reviews and variations on the recipe's website. It's savory and fluffy, and works just as well for dinner as it would for breakfast or champagne brunch.


Here is the recipe, my personal notes are in BOLD.

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach, packed
• 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled  I slice it up before popping it in the frying pan.
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese  I use Mozzarella, it's easier to find and my personal preference
• 1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust, fitted to a 9-inch glass pie plate
•  I also add a dash of freshly grated nutmeg, just for fun.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine the eggs, cream, salt, and pepper and nutmeg in a food processor or blender (I use a hand immersion blender. Way easier and less clean up!) Here's the secret ingredient:

Get some whole nutmeg and give it a couple scrapes on your microplane grater into the egg/cream mixture before whipping.

Layer the spinach,

 bacon, 

and cheese 

in the bottom of the pie crust, then pour the egg mixture on top. 

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the egg mixture is set. I like the top to have a little crunch to it so it should look like this:

Even Mikey likes it.

Happy Quiche-ing!