Lamb Flank Steaks

Difficulty: Medium

Prep time: A minute. Plus a couple of minutes to heat the pan

Cooking time: A minute or less on each side

Cost per serving: $3.00 to $5.00

How to use leftovers: Sliced thin on crackers with mustard and lemon juice, or added to salads, perfect for sandwiches. Best eaten cold as a leftover as these are thin and can dry out.

A pretty nice lunch featuring Lamb Flank Steaks

I love these! Inexpensive (for lamb), easy easy easy to cook and very tasty.

You have to use a hot, heavy-bottomed pan for these. They need to brown fast without overcooking the thin interior.

Lamb flank steaks - figure 2 per person. They are about 2 oz. each, or you can serve one as an elegant appetizer
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Salt the lamb. Put a teaspoon of oil in the pan for each steak. When it starts to smoke add the flank steaks. Don't crowd the pan or they will boil in their own moisture rather than brown. You want them to brown in less than a minute.

When they are browned turn them over and brown the other side. They will brown more if you wipe them around the bottom of the pan to scrape up the brown bits.  As soon as they are browned take them out of the pan and keep them warm on a plate for a minute.  Grind pepper over them.

Hints on using leftovers

In a restaurant we don't want to eat leftovers but at home we treasure them! Leftover steak! Leftover potatoes! Sauces, pasta, soups all make great leftovers if you follow some principles and don't have a bad attitude about them.

1) When you cook think about what you might do with the leftovers when you make the original recipe. Making pizza? How sad to have some leftover slice tomatoes, garlic in olive oil, shredded cheese!

Good dishes make good leftovers, crappy dishes make crappy leftovers.

2) We are judicious seasoners and don't tend to use a lot of salt but leftovers frequently need a kick. You need to add salt, pepper, hot sauce, fresh herbs, something - to kick the flavor up.

Leftover rice and smoked ham? Aww.

3) Always think soup if you can. Make a simple brunoise or duxelle and add your leftovers, some wine (white or red, Marsala, Madiera, Sherry, etc) and you are there.

4) I never order manicotti or stuffed shells in a restaurant because you have no idea what's in there. But at home I do know and can use many dishes by adding a bit of tomatoes or sauce, olives, etc, to the chopped leftovers and make stuff pasta.

5) If you have a nice piece of beef or lamb or pork, eat it cold! Let it come to room temperature for a few minutes and serve with a vinaigrette with lots of Dijon mustard or fresh herbs in it.

Home made pizza!

 For us pizza is a summer food made with ingredients from the garden: tomatoes, garlic, basil, sweet or hot peppers. We keep it simple. For dinner parties we like to line pie tins with dough and let people make their own.

We chop the garlic and put it in some olive oil and wipe the oil on the edge of the pizza.

We peel great fresh tomatoes and slice them. For me a great treat is to drink the tomato water left at the bottom of the bowl! Fantastic!

We shred or cut mozzarella (not from Wisconsin, of course) and sprinkle on basil and some of the garlic. This is the way I like it, simple and delicious.

Here is one that has some browned, crumbled sausage and slice green olives added.

In case you are wondering, YES it does taste as good as it looks. So easy, so delicious!

Confession time: I do make the dough sometimes but frequently we use Bridgeford's frozen bread dough.

Lamb chops or steaks

A Fernand Point style recipe:

Make sure your chops or steak is at least an inch thick for best results.

Let them come to room temperature. Salt them but do not pepper them.

Heat a heavy bottomed sauce pan and add a thin layer of olive oil. Put the chops in the pan and cook them uncovered and undisturbed for 4 minutes. They should be nice and browned. Turn them and brown the other side. If they are not done you can turn them again or put them in a hot oven and cook them until they are just past rare. Take them out of the pan and put them on a plate.

Drain the fat out of the pan but don't wipe it out. Put it back on the heat and add half and onion chopped fine, a pinch of salt and some celery seeds, thyme or rosemary. Cook the onion quickly and add some lemon juice, a tablespoon of water and some salt and pepper and boil down until there is just a trickle of sauce. Serve it over the lamb chops.

Truffled Mushroom Sauce

I don't make a lot of sauces. I can make several dozen but we eat pretty cleanly here.

But on special occasions this kicks butt. Don't believe the snobby wisdom that canned or jarred truffles aren't worth eating. They are not the same as fresh truffles but for a sauce like this they are fantastic. I buy mine from Pistol River Mushrooms. Right now a small jar of truffle peelings (perfectly good for this) are less than $7 and whole truffles are less than $8.


1 half of a black truffle or the same amount of chopped truffles
1 onion, diced very finely
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 oz dried mushrooms, any kind
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 tablespoon Madeira or Marsala
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter

If you make the steaks in a frying pan you can take them out and make this sauce in the pan while the meat is resting.

Soak the dried mushrooms in a cup of hot water for at least 15 minutes. I start them before I cook the steaks.

Saute the onion and fresh mushrooms in the butter until the onions are just translucent and not browned. Add the truffle, tomato paste and the garlic and cook, stirring constantly for a minute.

Add the liquid from the dried mushrooms and if they are tender enough, chop and add them. Off the heat add the Madeira or Marsala then cook for another minute (being careful as it might flame up).

Add the cream and reduce everything over high heat for a minute until it thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve in a sauceboat and it won't be long until the groans of pleasure begin!

Chicken Stuffed Under the Skin

The secret to this dish is to put something flavorful under the skin then get the skin crisp. In this version I use bacon but you can use butter, sauteed mushrooms or onions or carrots or just about anything. I will admit that when I made this for the blog I ate both portions one after the other. As I write this I am stuffed but it’s a good kind of stuffed. I’ll eat light tomorrow.

Oh man Oh man Oh man Oh man

If you don’t want the extra fat in the skin just take it off after cooking. It will help to keep the meat from drying out. Cooking with the bones adds a lot of flavor.


I know this looks long and difficult but it really isn't.

For 2 people:

2  Chicken breasts, bone in and skin on. You want a lot of skin.
1 slice of bacon (of course I used my home made bacon for extra incredibleness)
Hartman House Spice Mix or your favorite spice blend or rub
Olive oil
4 lemons

Put some olive oil in a bowl and add the spice rub. Add salt if you wish but don’t use pepper until after it’s cooked.

Slice the bacon in half width wise. Trim any extra fat or bones off the chicken.

Take each chicken breast and loosen the skin at the top and the bottom so you can slide the bacon right in there. Make sure it lays flat.

Dip the skin of the chicken into the spiced olive oil or rub it on the chicken with a spoon.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. You want the skin to brown and sizzle but you don’t want to burn the spices.

Put the chicken skin side down in the skillet. If the sides get hot lean the chicken against them so the most skin is touching the hot surface as possible.

Wash the lemons and cut them in half. Throw them in the bowl with the spiced oil and swish them around. Put them cut side down if possible in the skillet.

Turn the oven on to 375°.

When the chicken is brown put the pan in the oven in the middle rack or higher. Roast for 10 minutes then turn the chicken skin side up. Baste with juices from the pan. If there aren’t enough then add a tablespoon of water and swirl it around.

Bake for another 5 minutes and check to see if they are done. This is where experience helps because the best way to tell is by touching the chicken. When it is raw it feels mushy and soft, when it is overdone it feels hard. When it is just right it feels firm but springy.

When they are done take them out of the pan, blot them to dry the surface and let them rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with a grinding or two of black pepper.

Meanwhile squeeze all the juices from the lemons (a big spoon works well) and if you need to add a little water and scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom and pour this sauce into a bowl. Add salt and pepper and a bit of fresh lemon juice if you want. This is a dipping sauce for the chicken.

If all has gone well the skin will be flat and crisp and will have a smokey flavor from the bacon. The spice rub will add a lot of flavor and the sweet and sour lemon sauce is a great foil.

Clams and Celery with Vermouth

Difficulty: Easy

Prep time: 10 minutes plus an hour to soak the clams

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Cost per serving: $1.50

Useful leftovers: Good served cold with a flavorful sauce

Fast and easy and so tasty

Serves 1

4 clams
1/4 rib of celery
1/2 shallot
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of water
1 tablespoon of dry vermouth
Zest and juice of a lemon

Soak the clams in cold water for an hour. Scrub them to make sure they are clean and have no grit.

Finely chop the shallot and cut the celery into 1/2 inch pieces. Saute them gently with the zest in the olive oil.

When they are translucent and slightly browned take the pan off the heat and add the clams, the vermouth and the water. Cover the pan and put it on high heat.

Cook for two  minutes then peek to see if the clams are starting to open. If they are, remove the open clams to a bowl. Season the liquid in the pan with salt and lemon juice. Pour the liquid over the clams and serve.