Pistachio-olive Lamb Chops (served with sauteed summer squash and wild rice)

This was my second attempt at making lamb, ever. It was delicious! Part of that might be due to the fact that I got the lamb from the Brooklyn Kitchen's Meat Hook! If you haven't been there yet and live in BK I recommend you go go go soon! All the meat sold there is local and treated nicely. It was a celebration dinner with a few close friends for getting 3 job offers! Finally, a chance to work in a hospital as an OT!

This recipe was originally Anne Burell's but I got it from this blog.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pistachios, shelled and toasted
1/2 cup pitted green olives
2 T capers
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 t dried oregano
2 T parsley, freshly chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
4 Lamb Loin Chops
Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper


1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper and place in the fridge.
3. In a food processor, mix the pistachios, olives, capers, garlic, oregano, parsley and two large splashes of olive oil. Add additional oil until it is a moist consistency. Mix in the lemon zest pulsing the mixture until just stirred.
4. Add a splash of olive oil to a large frying pan or grill pan. Pan sear the lamb until golden. Then bake in the oven until medium. (This took about 10 minutes because I cooked it for a while in the frying pan with a lid on).
5. Coat the top of the lamb with the pistachio-olive tapenade. Bake in the oven for 2 more minutes.

Serve immediately with sauteed squash (below) and rice. I had some leftover tapenade so I placed a dollop on the side.


 Summer Squash:
extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 yellow summer squash, chopped
sea salt and freshly grated pepper
1/4 c water

10 chives

1. Saute the garlic in the olive oil for one minute.
2. Add the squash, salt, pepper, and water.
3. Bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer. Continue to cook until tender.
4. Stir in the chives and serve immediately.

And...since no dinner party is complete without dessert, I made strawberry rhubarb crumble using Heidi Swanson's recipe. This is the most amazing crumble. It has a nice salty and sweet flavor. I didn't bother to type up her recipe as I didn't modify it. The only change I made was to use whole wheat flour versus spelt flour.