Baked Orzo with Fragrant Lamb

Man alive, did we have a crazy weekend!! Our realtor called Saturday with some houses she wanted to show us, so my mom ended up coming over to stay with the kids while we went looking at houses. Some were okay, some were horrible. We're still holding out hope that the one we put the offer on will come back approved from the bank. The waiting game sucks!! We should have an answer in four weeks or so at least, so we just have to hang in there. Anyway, the boy and husband went to a hockey game Saturday night, so the baby and I didn't really do anything special for dinner.

Yesterday was just about as crazy. Church, taking lunch to and visiting my friend Jen and her new babies. The boys were both melting down when we left, so we came home for naps. The husband went grocery shopping for me while I took a much needed siesta, then the husband and boy went to get haircuts, the husband went shooting, I made dinner, we ate, kids went to bed, husband and I watched a movie. Man! Not much time in there for updating the blog here. But I'm just a day late so I don't feel that bad.

Awhile back I found some ground lamb on manager's special at the grocery store and scooped it up. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it, but it was a good deal and I thought it would be something new to try. I checked one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks and found this recipe that used ground lamb--perfect! I was really excited to try something new, and this sounded really easy.

Baked Orzo with Fragrant Lamb

1/2 pound orzo
6 ounces lean ground lamb
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fennel bulb
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried mint
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 ounces reduced fat feta, crumbled
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick spray; set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the lamb and cook, stirring to break up the meat until browned, 3-4 minutes. Remove lamb with a slotted spoon and transfer to the bowl with the orzo.

Add the onion, fennel, garlic, mint, and oregano to the same skillet. Cook, stirring until onion begins to soften, 3-4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and cinnamon; cook until mixture thickens, 6-8 minutes.

Combine the tomato mixture with the orzo and lamb. Stir in the feta and mix well. Pour mixture into the baking pan. Sprinkle top with the parmesan. Bake until hot, 25 minutes.

Points Value: 6 (makes 6 servings)

*****

So, I had a bit of a mishap. The baby was standing next to me while I opened the package of lamb, and I checked the baby's diaper because the air smelled pretty gross. It wasn't him, it was the lamb. I was a bit skeptical of using it but went ahead and defrosted it and started cooking it. Then I called my mom to see if she knew if ground lamb was supposed to smell like a baby's dirty diaper. She didn't know, but we both agreed it probably wasn't a good sign. At this point the smell of it was making me want to puke, so I decided to scrap it. Luckily I had some ground veal in the freezer--the only other ground meat I had on hand--and quickly defrosted it and browned it. So, that was substitution #1. I ended up using the whole pound of veal because I needed to be using it up and really had no other ideas for what I could do with it. To compensate for the additional meat I added in more crushed tomatoes (conveniently I bought a 28 ounce can of tomatoes instead of 14) so it was a bit saucier. I also used fresh mint instead of dried.

I took a bite of it all mixed together before I put it in the baking dish and LOVED IT. I wasn't really sure how the cinnamon would play in when I was adding it, but it really accented the flavor of the tomatoes and feta. Who knew! Honestly I took quite a few bites before putting it in the baking dish...I couldn't stop eating it. Even once it was all heated up and baked it was so good!!! We all really liked this. I think it could easily be made with ground beef or turkey, which I would probably do in the future since it's pretty rare for me to have ground veal on hand. This was really so easy and tasty!! I'm glad I tried it--and I'm glad I had the lamb mishap. :)

Veal Marsala

Okay, I'm back from San Diego and trying to get back into the swing of things. We got home Thursday, but the weekend was spent celebrating my grandma's 90th birthday. Needless to say, things have been pretty darn crazy the past few days. Now this week I'm going to try and get everything back to normal and on a regular schedule. Figured I'd get up before everyone else and get a jump on the day. So far I've sat at the computer...there's a ridiculously large pile of laundry waiting for me downstairs that I'm trying to avoid.

Anyway, we had this one night for dinner before I left for CA. We waited and ate after the boy was in bed because frankly two year olds don't need to eat veal (although when he was a baby I saw Gerber veal baby food...seemed a bit ridiculous). I know veal is super controversial, but it's just so darn good. My brother has a theory that it's so good because it's so wrong to eat it. I have to agree. I try to just savor the deliciousness when I eat it and not think about where it came from.

I had found veal cutlets for super cheap and had them in the freezer. I checked allrecipes.com for a veal marsala recipe. I'd only ever made veal once or twice before, so it wasn't anything I wanted to wing. There were a few recipes I found but one especially seemed super easy. I modified it a bit, but I'll add that at the end.

Veal Marsala
1 1/2 pounds veal scallops, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup all-purpose flour for coating
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
1/2 cup chicken stock, divided
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Season veal with salt and pepper to taste; dredge in flour to coat. Shake off excess flour. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. When foam subsides, add veal 3 to 4 pieces at a time and saute for 2 to 3 minutes each side, until browned. Transfer meat to a plate.

Pour most of the fat off from the skillet; add wine and 1/4 cup of the stock and bring to a boil over high heat for 1 or 2 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the skillet.

Return meat to skillet; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, basting meat with pan juices occasionally. Transfer meat to a platter.

Add remaining 1/4 cup stock to skillet and bring to a boil, scraping bottom and sides of skillet. When sauce has reduces to a thick, syrupy consistency, remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 2 tablespoons softened butter and pour sauce over meat.

*****

I like mushrooms with my marsala, so I added in a package of sliced mushrooms after the meat was done and before the 1/4 cup stock at the end. I let them saute a bit before adding in the stock. I think I ended up adding in a bit more marsala and stock because the mushrooms took some of the sauce. I honestly don't remember...pregnancy brain is hitting me hard this time.

It turned out really yummy. I had three veal cutlets to make, and the husband ate two of them. I was going to get all fancy and make roasted garlic mashed potatoes to go with it, but I was lazy and we just had baked potatoes instead.

I have no idea what else we had for dinner that week, so I guess this is the only catch-up recipe I'll post. I did a ham in the crockpot, but it was pretty uneventful. The ham was good, but the way I did it wasn't anything special.