Balsamic, Mint & Rosemary Lambchops with Quinoa Salad

Collaboration with The Meat Club
Dish 1 - Homemade Beef Burger 
Dish 2 - Apple Sage & Rosemary Pork Sausage
Dish 3 - Chorizo & Beef Sausage Meatballs in Tomato & Creamy Sauce with Fusilli Pasta


My last dish that I'm sharing is this gorgeous lamb chop imported directly from Australia! All the premium quality produce from The Meat Club arrive here in Singapore fresh and chilled and not frozen. Apparently when you freeze meat, the cellular structure of the protein is compromised, causing the meat to "bleed" when cooked and thus resulting in less tender and juicy texture. The meat produce from The Meat Club are specially vacuum packed which helps seal the freshness and quality.

The Meat Club actually has an interesting subscription service where if you opt for an Auto-Pilot service, your selection of meat will be delivered in line with their import cycle (every 28 days) ensuring that you get the freshest batch of produce with a longer shelf life monthly. That said, they do offer one-off, just in time delivery for meat as well. Visit their website to find out more!

Mentioned in some of my previous posts that I'm interested in western food and plating recently, so even before I started thinking about how to cook the lamb chops, I was already thinking about how to present the dish and the accompaniment :) But since I'm a noob in this area, it was rather challenging!

Should I serve the lamb chops with mashed potatos or pureed cauliflower or pumpkin, or roasted vegetables? Eventually I decided not to over-complicate and just go with a simple Quinoa Salad which is easy to put together.

As for the lamb chops, usually I would just season with salt and black pepper, pan-grill and eat with lots of mint sauce. But this time, I made a marinate using mint leaves, rosemary, garlic, caramelised balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and lemon juice. Just blend all the ingredients, rub them on both sides of the lamb chops and let the meat marinate for thirty minutes to an hour.

Thereafter, pan-sear the lamb chops for about 2-3 mins each side and transfer to the oven to bake for 6-8 mins.

Balsamic, Mint & Rosemary Lambchops with Quinoa Salad
(serves 2)

Ingredients
Lamb chop

• 4pcs lamb chops
• 12g fresh mint leaves
• 4g fresh rosemary
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp caramelised balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• Juice from 1/2 lemon

Quinoa Salad

• 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 cup water
• Bunch of rocket leaves
• 1/4pc carrot, shredded
• 30g cranberries
• 12 olives, chopped
• Caramelised balsamic vinegar, lemon juice

Steps

1. Add mint leaves, rosemary, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, seas salt, black pepper and lemon juice into a food processor or electric chopper, blend into a coarse paste.
2. Rub the marinate on both sides of the lamb chops and let the meat rest for 30-60mins.
3. To cook, heat a grill pan with olive oil on stove till very hot, add the lamb chops and grill for 2-3 mins each side.
4. Remove grill pan from stove and place it into the oven (pre-heated) and bake for 6-8 mins.
5. Once done, let the meat rest for a few mins before plating.
6. To cook quinoa, place water and quinoa into a pot and cook on medium low heat. Stir the quinoa occasionally. Once the water is almost absorbed by the quinoa, turn off the heat. The cooked quinoa looks "popped" open revealing the germ of the kernel.
7. To make salad, toss cooked quinoa, rocket leaves, shredded carrot, cranberries, chopped olives, lemon juice and caramelised balsamic vinegar together till well-mixed.
8. To serve, divide the quinoa salad onto the serving plates, rest the lamb chops on the salad, garnish with some mint leaves. cranberries and balsamic. Ready to serve.

I love how the dish turned out! The lamb chops were succulent and flavourful without any gamey smell and the quinoa salad was a nice pairing. I think I should do this more often!

With this dish, it concludes my collaboration with The Meat Club. Really appreciate the opportunity to try out the premium quality produce that the company offers. Do check out their website for exclusive promotions and details!