An Elegant Tuesday Night Meal

Since Mr. Lush was off for Veteran’s Day, I took the day off as well. Nothing beats a weekday day off. We played a little and did some errands (boo hiss on being an adult and not being able to play all day!) and we ended the evening with an elegant Tuesday night meal. We had some lamb chops drizzled with a balsamic reduction sauce, asparagus, and a recent selection from one of our wine clubs, the 2003 Michaud Syrah.

First the lamb chops- seasoned with tarragon, a smidge of thyme, garlic powder and fresh ground pepper. Quick pan-seared them in some olive oil, set aside, deglazed the pan with some (about ¼ cup) balsamic vinegar, added some chicken broth (about 2/3 cup), and the seasonings from the meat. Let reduce a bit, put in a bowl and set it to the side, then finished cooking the chops to about medium rare-medium. I sautéed the asparagus in minced garlic, olive oil, and fresh ground pepper. The lamb chops were amazing. The sauce was good, although next time I’d use better quality balsamic vinegar (we had about mid grade and it really needs high grade) so it wasn’t as good as it could’ve been and I’d probably let it reduce a bit more or add some cornstarch to thicken.

On to the wine-it was fantastic as well. Slightly petrol nose, but mostly flavors of black cherry and just a bit of pepper, none of which were overwhelming, and it had a nice long finish. We got it from the Taste of Monterey club, and of course, its from Monterey CA, specifically from the Chalone appellation. Per the notes: “Wines from the Chalone appellation require a little additional time to open up to their maximum expression. This happens 15-20 minutes after a bottle is opened. If you would like to hasten this process, we recommend decanting the wine.” Luckily for us, even though we didn’t read the notes before hand, we did pour the wine into our glasses about 30 minutes before we ate, so it all worked out to be the recommended time. It was excellent with the lamb, particularly with the tarragon. I think it retails for about $40.

I so love cooking at home because you get the opportunity to justify splurging on some nice cuts of meat, like lamb chops. And really, who doesn’t like an elegant meal on a Tuesday, particularly in today’s economy, for what ended up being cheaper than a meal at Applebees?? Can’t beat it.