Lemon Week Continues.... Lemon Pepper Dijon Lamb Chops

Lemon week continues! We still have 4 or 5 whole lemons in the fridge even after tonight's dinner and a second batch of fresh lemonade. We are really doing our best to not waste any of these little tartlets.

We also continued our other weekly theme of emptying out the freezer to avoid the grocery store as long as possible. I defrosted some lamb loin chops but I wasn't entirely sure how to prepare them with lemon. After a brief web search for ideas, I figured out which direction to go in that would incorporate lemon and other ingredients we had in the house. I needed a little extra input on this meal since I don't prepare lamb that often.

I marinated 4 four lamb chops (about 5 oz. each) in the juice from 1/2 a lemon, 2 cloves of pressed garlic, salt and pepper and chilled for about a half hour.

While the meat was marinating, I mixed 1 TBSP. of dijon mayonaise, 2 TBSP. freshly chopped parsley, and 5 crushed Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits to create a bread-like mush. I covered each loin chop in the mix before baking.

I actually broiled the chops for about 5 minutes before lowering the heat to 375 degrees and baking for 20 minutes. Johnnycakes had an afterthought that we should have pan-seared the chops on each side before baking to "seal in the flavor" as he says. We'll have to remember that next time because I think he's right.

Despite that oversight, the lamb chops were packed with flavor! We both enjoy the unique flavor of lamb but we seldom prepare it or even order it at a restaurant. The last two meals we have prepared with lamb have turned out really well and have been full of taste so I think we might try to incorporate the meat into more meals.

How do you feel about lamb? Do you like to eat it, cook it, both or neither? Just curious to see how others feel about lamb.

Lemon Dill Salmon

Tonight's dinner barely got on the table and it was nearly 8:15 by the time we sat down to eat. I picked up about a pound of salmon at the Cross Street Market on my way home since, as I explained yesterday, our freezer is pretty sparse. I figured it would go well with lemon and, like I also explained yesterday, we have plenty of those in the fridge as well!

We marinated the salmon in lemon juice, dill weed, olive oil, salt and pepper and chilled for a half hour before grilling.

We also prepared a lemon dill dipping sauce to serve on the side.

Lemon Dill Sauce

1/4 cup Miracle Whip

1/2 lemon, squeezed

1 TBSP. dill weed

1 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp salt

Mix ingredients and chill for at least a half hour before serving.

Sadly, we were in a rush to eat and pulled the fish of the grill too early. When we went to serve the fish, it was definitely not fully cooked on the inside. We immediately brought the fish back outside to finish cooking on the grill. We were extremely dismayed when we discovered that the propane tank was empty. We've had the tank for less than two months but we've been cooking so much outside that we used the whole 16 lb. tank already. We had to finish cooking the fish inside in the toaster oven!