I collect ideas as much as I collect recipes.  Sometimes they are more helpful anyway.  You might store the idea away and one day, you’ll see the key ingredient and bingo, you’ve got dinner -- no recipe or list of ingredients required.  If this sounds good to you, I hope you’ll file it away and pull it out sometime with delicious results.

My 11-year-old kitchen assistant has insisted that she doesn’t like lamb.  She’s otherwise a thoroughly easy, adventuresome eater, so I was willing to keep lamb off the menu, even though it is a wonderful accompaniment to our Pinot.  But, with Easter menus on the brain, I began to crave lamb, so when I saw a package of 3 lamb loin chops at Food Front, I snatched it up and dinner was literally ready in minutes.  I’m lucky to have Food Front just 3 blocks away.  Their meat selection has improved since they added the Hillsdale co-op, and their meat comes from the same type of small, organic producer that I could buy direct from at the Farmers Market.  Three small but thick and meaty lamb loin chops were $8. 

So, I rubbed on the chops a mixture of lemon zest, chopped rosemary, chopped garlic (I chop it up weekly and keep in a tight-lidded jar in the fridge), a smidge of olive oil and plenty of salt and some pepper, and let them sit for a while (up to an hour).  I made a pot of grits, simmered in salted water (or you can use chicken broth) according to package instructions, and then stirred in 1/4 - 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese, tablespoon of butter (you can improvise - I had mascarpone, the Italian style cream cheese, but not at all needed - I usually do grits with just a little butter, a little parm or cheddar cheese, maybe some chopped garlic).  I cooked the lamb chops under the broiler for 3 minutes per side.  With the lamb under the broiler, I got the vegetable going.  Greens from the Farmers Market are so young and tender and sweet, they are a big kitchen helper and time saver.  I had a beautiful bunch of rapini, so I chopped the stems up smaller so they’d cook fast, and rough-chopped the leafier part.  Just a quick sauté in a little olive oil in a wide skillet over high heat, plus a dash of red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and squeeze of lemon. 

Home bistro dinner on a school night for 3, $11.  11-year-old actually eating, and liking, the lamb? Priceless!