Lake John: We Don't Need No Stinkin' Recipe Book

When it comes to cooking, I definitely ride Marie-Eve's coattails. She is without a doubt the brains of the operation; I just follow orders and reap the benefits, kind of like the movie Ratatouille but with less rats and more hair-pulling.

That said, I do love to cook, almost as much as I love to eat. I find it very rewarding, but for me the challenge is weening myself off the recipe book. I can follow a recipe with the best of them, but heaven help me if I go commando. So, over the years, I have been challenging myself by gradually learning recipes inside and out, to the point where I can say: "Recipe book? We don't need no stinkin' recipe book."

Perhaps one of the first 'elaborate' meals I ever committed to memory was Pecan-crusted lamb chops. Marie-Eve and I love lamb, and this particular dish is a Lake Jane favourite. This was waiting for her last night after coming in from a photo shoot, accompanied with an arugula salad and cumin seed-coated oven baked sweet potato fries.


Pecan-Crusted Lambchops

3-4 lamb chops, trimmed of their excess fat
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup breadcrumbs, I use regular
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 tbsp fresh rosemary
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp coarsely ground pepper (or to taste)
1 tbsp olive oil
4 or 5 healthy dollops of traditional Dijon mustard (don't you just love the word 'dollop'?)
Electric Chopper/Grinder

1. Preheat your oven to 350°. Grease your roasting pan with your olive oil.
2. Combine pecans, breadcrumbs, parsley, rosemary, garlic, salt & pepper and blend in Chopper/Grinder until you get a coarse mixture. This will be your delicious crust; for me, the coarser the better.
3. Apply the mustard to your lamb chops, thoroughly rubbing it in. This will be your delicious glue.
4. Apply the pecan mixture to your mustard-rubbed lamb, covering each chop with a consistently thick crust of pecan goodness.
5. Place the chops on your greased roasting pan and pop in the oven for 20 minutes for medium rare, flipping the lamb once halfway.
6. Once out of the oven let the chops sit for a few minutes to let them cook in their juices.

Now the world is a better place.