Market Fresh Dinner

As previously mentioned, our first big shopping trip at the farmer's market Saturday scored us two lamb loin chops, mint, and asparagus (among other things). Today I ran to the Pike Place Market to pick up some additional ingredients (almonds, raspberries, figs, and pancetta), and tonight I turned them into dinner. If we were serving it in a fancy restaurant (instead of our dining room), the menu might've looked like this:

Pancetta Wrapped Market Figs with Burned Almond
Sea Breeze Lamb Loin Chop, with Raspberry & Mint Reduction
Roasted Yukon Golds with Hawaiian Red Salt and Mint
Asparagus Bundles with Salumi Pancetta Bands



The appetizer was something that I hadn't planned on, but when I was at Pike Place I saw figs and couldn't resist them. So I sliced the tops and bottoms off, scored an X on the top of each, wrapped it in pancetta from Salumi, then pushed an almond in the center that I'd previously burned slightly in the oven. Then I roasted them for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees. When you bit into these (or pop the whole thing in your mouth), the first flavor you get is the saltiness of the pancetta, then immediately you get some sweet/sour fig taste. Then, the almond provided a smoky, bordering on bitter taste, which is mild compared to the salty sweetness.



The asparagus I bundled into threes, wrapped near the base with pancetta, and the roasted for a few minutes (they got a little too cooked while I tried to keep them warm). I sprinkled them with a little lemon just before serving.

The potatoes I cut into small pieces, drizzled with olive oil, and seasoned with pepper, Hawaiian salt, and mint. The Yukon golds were nice and buttery, without the need for any actual butter.

And the lamb I coated in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and grilled outside until the center was 145 degrees. While everything was cooking, I cooked down some raspberries and mint, straining out the pulp after it had cooked down a bit, adding water, then reduced it down until it was a little thicker and could be drizzled on the lamb.

I would definitely do a few things differently (timing wise, in particular), but we both enjoyed the results. I took the smaller lamb chop, so mine ended up a bit more well done. I should've pulled mine off early, then let Dan's cook up to temperature. But we both enjoyed them regardless.