What We Were Drinking the Other Night
Lovely. But WHAT to have for dinner with it?! Having spent the whole day in the car, we were loathe to climb in again. So. Improvise, adapt, overcome!
We did a little kitchen reconnoitering to see what we could throw together to save us a grocery jaunt…
Lamb chops in the freezer, ready-to-go gnocchi and some leftover Fresh Market PINGY gorgonzola. Sounds like a plan!
Defrost and clean lambies up, then pop in big enough bag to hold. Then major dad doctored up some Paul Newman’s Organic Tuscan Italian by replacing the oil with extra virgin olive oil and dumping in a healthy portion of Penzey’s Greek Seasoning. Shake, pour over lambies, seal, squish all around and flip occasionally. Leave ’em.
For the gorgonzola gnocchi sauce, raid the fridge. I started with a big shallot, minced and enough butter to get it going. Sweat the little bugger ’til clear, then in goes about ½C of dry vermouth. (He’s a Beefeater ‘tini man ~ it’s ALWAYS on hand.)
Reduce at med-hi heat until…
…(as I like to say) it’s syrupy and “talkin’ to ya”. Now add about ¾C chicken stock, some parsley and ½ t or so thyme…
…and reduce to about ½ C. Here’s where I took it off the heat, got my water boiling for the gnocchi and watched flames shoot skyward up in the backyard.
As you can see, the grill meister has a raging charcoal inferno. He recommends 4 minutes per side, then set on T-bone end for about 3 minutes (saving you raw lambie at the bone). You’ll have to tweak this dependent upon the thickness of your loin chops and how hot your grill is.
When he’s thrown the flag that there’s about 5 minutes left, I pull the gnocchi sauce back on a med-lo heat and in goes 3 or so GENEROUS tablespoons of lo-fat sour cream. Incorporate that…
…then crumble up your cheesy goodness, add to pan, stir until melted…
…and adjust your seasonings. (Everything I use is low sodium, but, conversely, blue cheeses can be very salty, so I hold off adding ANY salt until this point.) Turn off the heat. (But watch to make sure sauce stays warm but doesn’t simmer/boil.)
You should already have a boiling pot o’ salted water going, so add your happy potato dumplings and stir. These ONLY take about 3-5 minutes, so no wandering off like you do with pasta. Stir occasionally (And VERY gently ~ they disintegrate!) and you will shortly see little ghostly figures…
…floating toward the surface. When it seems like the majority of the gnocchi have made an appearance, drain immediately and add to your sauce.
EVER SO GENTLY, spoon sauce over gnocchi and get them nestled in.
(Honestly, it’s like folding something into beaten egg whites ~ GENTLY does it.) You can keep this warm for a short while over lo heat, but letting it sit at length is a no-no.
By this time, if you’re as lucky as I am, your multifaceted spouse will have a salad ready to go and his perfectly cooked…
…lamb chops ready to plate with the gorgonzola gnocchi, garnished with chives.
Strategically locate decanted bottle of wine and voilá!
God, I love that man!!
Swill Food and Grog | tree hugging sister | 
April 22, 2008 3:06 pm
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Man, I WISH we had gotten together last Christmas! I neeeeeed som Major Dad chee-burgers!
Hot diggity, that sounds yum. I adore all things Stag’s Leap. Add the lamb and blue cheese…oh my.
I’m even willing to over-look your usage of something “lo-fat.”
Well, the point was to use what we HAD and that were it. {8^P
And LISA, you’ve gotta give us a howl if you come down again this year. You GOTTA!
Man that looks good!
Nice touch with the 80’s pink finger nail polish.
Nice touch with the 80’s pink finger nail polish.
Yeah, major dad manages to wear it well, doesn’t he?
Mmmmmmm……..that brings back memories…..