Rack of Lamb

On April 22, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes12 Comments

Lamb is one those ingredients that is quite common around the world and can be used in a variety of dishes. Rack of lamb makes for an elegant presentation and is very tasty if cooked properly. One of the keys to cooking a successful lamb is to make sure that you don’t undercook or overcook the meat. Having an instant-read thermometer handy is a key to making sure that you cook the lamb to a medium temperature with a pink interior. Lamb can also be a little gamey, so using a flavorful rub is a way to make the flavor a little more mild. We really enjoyed this as a wonderful weekend dinner.

INGREDIENTS

Rack of Lamb – frenched
3/4 tbsp Kosher Salt
1 tbsp Dried Rosemary
2 cloves Roasted Garlic (or 1 clove Garlic)
1/8 cup Dijon Mustard
1/8 cup Stone Ground Mustard
1/2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tbsp Olive Oil

INSTRUCTIONS

In a small food processor, combine the salt, rosemary, garlic, Dijon mustard, ground mustard, balsamic vinegar and pulse to form a thick paste. Preheat an oven to 450 degrees. Rub the fat-side of the lamb with the mustard and herb paste, spreading it evenly across the lamb. Let the lamb sit at room temperature with the rub for about 30 minutes. Place the lamb in a cast-iron skillet or roasting pat with the olive oil, bone-side down, and cook until the internal temperature reaches about 135 to 140 degrees. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut into either double chops (2 bones per chop) or single chops and serve.

Taking a Cooking Class in Hanoi, Vietnam

On December 11, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes, Vietnam2 Comments

One of our favorite memories of our recent trip to Vietnam was taking a cooking class in Hanoi. This was a true cooking class, not a demonstration, where we purchased the food from a local market, prepped all of the ingredients, and did the cooking ourselves with our chef’s instruction. There were only five of us in the class, making it very intimate and interactive. We created a four course meal, which we enjoyed eating family-style after cooking everything.

Cooking Pork Meatballs and Barbequed Pork

After buying our ingredients, we went to a local house to prepare our meal. Our dinner included Banana Flower Salad (Nộm Hoa Chuối), which we made from banana leaves, a variety of vegetables, and sautéed beef. Our entrée was Vietnamese Grilled Pork With Rice Vermicelli Noodles (Bún Chả), which originated in Hanoi is a famous dish in the region. We made it with both pork meatballs as well as barbequed pork. To accompany the Bún Chả, we made Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls (Nem Rán), which are often served as an appetizer as well. For our dessert, we made Vietnamese Egg Coffee (Café Trứng), which is rich and delicious and is made with egg and condensed milk.

It took about five hours to do our shopping, prepping, and cooking, so we were quite hungry by the time our meal was actually ready. The class is offered in both the morning to create lunch or in the afternoon to create dinner, but we chose to do the dinner class and were glad that we did. Our chef was extremely knowledgeable and shared stories with us while we prepared our meal. It is an experience that we would highly recommend to anyone who visits Hanoi. After completing the class, the chef sent us all of the recipes that we made as well as others, which we are looking forward to cooking and sharing in the near future.

Whisking the Egg and Condensed Milk for the Egg Coffee

Buying Ingredients at a Local Market in Hanoi

On December 4, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Vietnam1 Comment

We decided to take a cooking class during our trip to Hanoi, Vietnam where our chef took us to a local market to buy all of the ingredients needed for our dinner. Obviously we wouldn’t have been able to navigate the market without the help of our chef and there were plenty of ingredients that we can’t necessarily find at home. We were told that the local people of Hanoi, like in a lot of cities, go to the market every day or at least every other day in order to buy fresh ingredients for their meals.

We needed both beef and pork for our recipes, so the butchers trimmed the fat for us as we waited. There were stalls that specialized in vegetables, spices, fruit, as well as different meats. You could find live chickens as well as fresh fish swimming in buckets of water. It was very colorful as well as very busy as people navigated their motorcycles through the stalls picking up items.

Getting fresh ingredients to create local dishes was definitely an incredible experience and we are looking forward to trying our best to create some of the meals in the near future. Picking out all of our vegetables, meats, and other items was as interesting as the experience that we had actually preparing the meals afterwards. Taking a cooking class in a foreign country is definitely an experience that we would recommend and getting to go to the market truly enhances the experience. It was as close as we could get to preparing a meal like a local.