Quarantine Kitchen: Easter Edition

I have had a small lamb rack in my freezer since my last Butcher Box delivery back at the beginning of February. I added it to that order specifically to include in Easter dinner at my parent’s house this year.

Ever since I accidentally learned how to cook, I’m apparently in charge of holiday dinners now. But hey, my parent’s kitchen is practically the size of my entire downstairs, whereas my own kitchen is a tiny closet of barely-functional sadness. So the opportunity to wallow in kitchen luxury was kinda difficult to turn down.

Plus they have completely updated nearly all of the tools and equipment in that magically-spacious kitchen — for my benefit, you see. For me. Me who only uses that kitchen a small handful of times per year. MmmmHmmm… #ThatsMomsExcuseAndShesStickingToIt

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But, The Great Plague of 2020 had other plans for Easter Dinner this year — as I’m sure it did for nearly all of the rest of you.

However lamb was planned for Easter dinner, and lamb was in my possession. Oh well — better luck next year for the rest of them! #NomsAreMine

I already knew I was going to cook it sous vide (I’ll pause here for a moment, so that you can recover from the shock of hearing that I now cook sous vide) — because in addition to being a cooking method that is darn near impossible to screw up, it’s also the ultimate in lazy cooking!

• No ingredients prep necessary.
• No chopping.
• No measuring.
• No extra dishes from all that chopping and measuring!
• Can cook from frozen!
• Once it gets to temp, it stays there, never overcooking, until you’re ready to eat!

Most things are only needing 90 minutes to 2 hours, so I can just come home from work, flop a slab o’ meat into a bag, dunk it in the Meat Jacuzzi, come back later when I’m hungry, and then nom. It practically takes more effort to cut and EAT it, than it does to prep and cook it! And it comes out so dang good it doesn’t even need a marinade / sauce. And given that I’m #LazyAF, I almost never even bother with the searing step. It doesn’t need to look pretty in my tummy! Plus I have amazingly low standards when the trade-off is between carmalization and me being massively lazy while still getting fed! 😂😂😂

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If you’re intrigued, you’ll need 5 things to get started.

(If you feel like pampering yourself, add [6] “Sous Vide for Everybody” by America’s Test Kitchen, to learn the science behind how/why it works, and how to do it safely.)

1. A big pot or other heatproof vessel (preferably one you already own)
2. A layer of heat resistant something, to go between the vessel and your countertops
3. An immersion circulator (usually $70 – $80 for an entry-level model)
4. Some appropriately made heat-durable bags (silicone zipper bags, BPA-free Ziplock brand Freezer Bags with Easy Open Tabs, or vaccuum sealer bags)
5. The Joule: Sous Vide by Chef Steps app (Android, or iOS)

Item #5 here is The Magic! (And no, you don’t need a Joule circulator to use the app! That’s what the happy “Skip” button at the top-right of the home screen is for!) Once you get past the home screen, just search for the ingredient you want to cook, then follow one of the provided specific recipes, or leverage the provided “visual doneness guide” videos and prompt questions to help you dial in your optimal time and temp.

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So anyway, back to my rack of lamb!

The trick was going to be finding a recipe that both (a) sounded yummy, and (b) did not require a trip to the grocery store. (Because: cooties.)

After reading through multiple recipes for a few hours, I finally settled on one that fit the bill.

The next trick was figuring out a side dish to go with it — again based on my criteria of not needing to go to the store for ingredients.

That quickly narrowed things down to anything that could be made from frozen broccoli, frozen green beans, or frozen broccoli.

And since my mom HATES green beans — well that decision was pretty easy to make! LOL 😱 #NotSorry

And once I remembered I had some shallots that weren’t dead yet, the plan finally started to come together.

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And so, my #Plague2020 #QuarantineKitchen #PandemicPantry Easter Dinner was…. Sous Vide Rack of Lamb with Rosemary & Garlic, on Blistered Green Beans with Pickled Shallots

Not too shabby for my first time cooking rack of lamb! I could have done a better job rendering and searing that fat layer, prior to slicing. Or I could have just trimmed it all off instead. But hey! My first time cooking rack of lamb!

And only 10 Ingredients Needed!!

1. Rack of Lamb
2. Salt & Pepper
3. Garlic
4. Rosemary
5. Olive Oil
6. Lemon Juice
7. Shallots
8. Sherry Vinegar
9. Green Beans
10. Powdered Parmesan

Since I didn’t have fresh rosemary, I used dried.

Since I didn’t have lemons, I used juice from a squeezie bottle.

Since I didn’t have fresh haricot vert (it definitely would have been better with fresh), I used frozen.

And since I had no bread, I used powdered Parmesan instead of breadcrumbs!

And let me tell you…

It. Was. Delicious!

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Recipe Sources:

• https://www.umami.site/recipes/sous-vide-rack-lamb-rosemary-garlic
• https://www.thekitchn.com/blistered-green-beans-22956014

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