Rockaway, Queens

Rockaway Beach, July 2015

Sunday Potluck Brunch

I love brunch but I can't stand the crowd or having to wait for a table. But yesterday, we decided to do a potluck brunch with a smorgasbord of delicious foods. I brought slices of pies from Four & Twenty (of course), chopped liver, and some Hungarian salami which had sweet paprika and pork. Other people brought bagels and spreads, mixed berries, cherries, avocado spread, beers, gin & tonic, juice, hash brown, eggs, veggies, croissants, bacon, and turkey sausages. Yum!

Luna Saves The Day

Sometimes I imagine, if I can travel back in time, I would change this and change that. You know? How things might turn out differently if I had been more out going in high school or had the courage to talk to that girl. Or maybe if I actually studied more in college though I was sure I didn't want to be an economist.

It's kind of like these soap bubbles, eh? Once they burst and go away, that's it. You can't bring that bubble back and all you can do is look forward to the next bubble. Wobbling through the air. No point in thinking about the past, got to look forward to the next wobbling bubble. Heck, even the Doctor can't go back into his own history.

Bubbles by Luna Saves the Day

Roasted Lamb With Mint Sauce

This actually started when I got stuck with a big bunch of mint. I thought about making minty brownies but that would require me to get chocolate and baking soda and other stuff. Then early last week, when I opened the freezer to get my ice cream, I noticed that I still have a lamb shoulder chop from few weeks ago. I had bought a pound of it and took most of the chops to a friend's bbq. I've been buying bulk and storing lots of meat in the freezer.

And since it's been so cool lately, I decided to roast the lamb chop in the oven. That's how this whole thing came about. Also since I had everything I needed for the flatbread, it was an obvious idea.

Annnddd the day before, I bought a pound of ground lamb meat at Fleischer's and made lamb meatballs. All lamb, all weekend.

I was on the phone with my dad today and he told me to eat less meat. =(

There are talks about a Portland, Maine road trip in August. Lobster rolls and clam bake. Soon it'll be autumn.

Mint Sauce 2 cups loosely packed mint leaves 1/2 cup loosely packed parsley 3 cloves of garlic Juice and zest of 1 lemon Few pinches of salt and pepper Olive oil

If you have a food processor, put everything in except the olive oil and give it a good few pulses. Then let the machine run and slowly drizzle in enough olive oil to make a nice green sauce. Or if you're like me and does not have a food processor, slice and dice and chop everything by hand. Again, add enough olive oil to make a sauce. You can make this the night before. Only gets better the longer it sits.

Flatbread 1 cup flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon yeast 1/2 cup warm water

*Note, I used 1/2 teaspoon of yeast and it didn't rise as much as I wanted it to. I guess 20mins was too short. So I'm suggesting 1 teaspoon of yeast which should help the dough rise quicker.

Lamb shoulder chops (1 chop per person) Turnips (Or potatoes or carrots or radishes or whatever root vegetables you like) 1 lemon Salt and pepper Olive oil

Pre-heat a 350 degree oven. Take the lamb chops out if they are in the fridge and let them sit for 30-45mins so they come up to room temperature. While you're waiting, start on the flatbread...

In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and yeast together. Then add in the water. Mix the whole thing together until a dough is formed. Put a towel over it and just let it sit till you're ready to roll it out.

If you're using potatoes or carrots, be sure to par-boil them first before roasting in the oven unless you have those tiny thin carrots. I didn't par-boil my turnips.

When the oven is ready, put a piece of parchment paper on a roast pan or sheet pan. Put the lamb chops, vegetables and the lemon, sliced in half, onto the pan. Drizzle olive oil and season everything. Pop the pan into the oven for 30mins if you like medium rare or 40mins for medium. Flip the chops half way through cooking to ensure browning on both sides.

While the lamb and vegetables are roasting, turn the dough out onto a floured surface. This sort of depends on how big you want your flatbreads to be. I rolled the dough into a tube shape, about 2 inches wide. I cut the dough into 4 pieces and stretched each one like making a pizza. I could've made them looked prettier but I don't have a rolling pin =(

Get a pan hot, brush oil onto the flatbreads, and cook the flatbreads on the pan until golden brown on both sides.

When the lamb chops are done, take it out of the oven and let them rest for 10mins.

Serve it with the flatbreads and few big spoonful of the mint sauce.

Squeeze lemon juice on everything.

EAT