Tag Archives: Lamb

Hardcore Hobbit: Rack of Lamb with Mint Sauce

Posted on March 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

In the game this lamb dish is made with mint sauce, mixed herbs and rack of lamb. This is definitely a special occasion dish, I don’t know many people who have a rack of lamb on any old weekday night. It was definitely a hit, the lamb was so tender and the mint sauce drizzled on was just perfect! I can’t wait to do it again sometime. I’m hoping next time we can grill the meat. I have a feeling that grilling this will lead to epic levels of tasty.

  • Rack of lamb
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 medium onion
  • 2 tbl fresh tarragon leaves
  • 1 tbl malt vinegar
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Hardcore Hobbit Mint Sauce
  1. Puree the onion, garlic, lemon juice, tarragon, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper in a blender. Massage the marinade onto the rack of lamb and allow to sit, refrigerated for atleast 4 hours.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400F and heat a pan over medium high heat. Spray with cooking spray.
  3. Sear the lamb on both sides in the pan. Move the lamb to the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes.
  4. Cover the lamb with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
  5. Drizzle with a bit of mint sauce just before serving.

You know what. Just because this is a special occasion dish let’s not talk about the nutritional info just this once. Keep in mind though the more you trim some of that fat off your rack of lamb the healthier it is. Don’t trim too much off though or you will sacrifice flavour. Serves 4 ( two chops each typically). Amazing when served with a side of pan seared polenta and on a bed of wilted spinach as pictured.

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Posted in Dinner, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Lamb Sliders

Posted on October 14, 2010 | Leave a comment

As promised, here are the sliders that go with those cute onion mini buns. I love that sliders are so popular right now. There are so many ideas out there to help you step out of the beef burger box. Careful while eating these bad boys, they are indeed juicy…as my shirt found out halfway through dinner. Clumsy, clumsy hobbit.

  • 1 lb lean ground lamb
  • 1 sprig rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 1 splash of red wine
  • 1 tsp garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • 40 grams raclette
  • 2 tbl tzatziki sauce
  1. Combine the first seven ingredients. make 9 small patties.
  2. Cook patties as desired. I grilled but you can also pan fry or bake. Grilling took 12 minutes with a flip halfway.
  3. Top each patty with a pinch of raclette cheese. Continue cooking for a few minutes until cheese is bubbly and melty.
  4. Place each patty in a bun and top with 1/2 tsp of tzatziki on each. Like so:

Makes 9 sliders. Each slider (including the cheese and tzatziki but not the bun) contains 110 calories, 5.1 grams fat and .1 gram of fibre. In my recipe I also threw in a couple of teaspoons of benefibre, the tasteless one for shape management to up the fibre. I didn’t include that in the write up and calculations because not everyone likes to cook with benefibre. I suggest it though, didn’t taste any different and higher fibre is good for you! I served this with a side of hardcore hobbit: golden roasted potatoes.

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Posted in Craving Buster, Dinner

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Hardcore Hobbit: Shepard’s Pie

Posted on September 27, 2010 | Leave a comment

That’s right, a real shepard’s pie. *food snob moment* Shepard’s pie contains lamb…if it does not it is a cottage pie *end food snob moment*. It’s true…no imitation here. Did you know that lean lamb is just as low in fat as extra lean ground beef? So, there is no reason to live by chicken, pork and extra lean beef alone! Lean lamb is here to save the day! This recipe is inspired by lotro, the recipe in game is made from: pie crust, sharp cheese, mashed royal taters and lamb. The mashed royal taters according to the game contain: salt, royal taters, and mixed herbs. This time I’m actually going to deviate from the inspired recipe, I’m skipping the pie crust. It’s added fat and calories we just don’t need and a traditional style shepard’s pie can live without it. So on we go!

  • 1 lb lean ground lamb
  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  • 1 large carrot, shredded
  • 1 tbl tomato paste
  • 3 cloves of garlic, pressed
  • 1 tbl poultry seasoning
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 cup chicken broth, reduced salt
  • 500g yukon gold potato
  • 30g raclette cheese, grated
  • 2 tbl fat free sour cream
  • 2 tbl basil, fresh chopped
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary, fresh chopped
  • 1 tsp chives, fresh snipped
  • sea salt and ground pepper
  1. Spray a pan and heat. Season the ground lamb with salt and pepper and brown. Drain any fat. Add the garlic, onions, carrots, tomato paste and poultry seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  2. Add the red wine and reduce until almost gone.
  3. Add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the sauce has thickened. Spoon into the bottom of a 9×9 baking dish.
  4. Cut the potatoes into chunks, cover with salted water and bring to a boil. Cook until fork tender. Drain and return to the pot. Add the sour cream and fresh herbs. Mash until desired consistency. Layer the mash on top of the meat to form an upper crust.
  5. Top with the grated raclette cheese. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. The pie should be bubbling. Allow to rest and cut into quarters.

This dish makes four large servings. Each serving contains 356 calories, 10.4 grams of fat, and 3 grams of fibre. A real winner on these fall days and quite enough to fill up this hungry hobbit for a bit. I think the game says it best about this shepards pie:

Removes up to 1 Fear effect from the target

+3120 non-Combat Power Regen
Duration: 5m
+180 in-Combat Power Regen
Duration: 5m
+2924 non-Combat Morale Regen
Duration: 5m
+240.7 in-Combat Morale Regen
Duration: 5m
Minimum Level: 50

It’s hearty, filling, and hobbits love it.

~Hehehe…I definitely feel less fearful after consumption for sure. Enjoy!

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Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Hardcore Hobbit: Lamb and Barley Soup

Posted on September 14, 2010 | Leave a comment

Now that I have that lovely lamb stock it’s time to make something of it! So many of the recipes in the game have more than one level of prep to them. Again, this one is no exception. The result though is totally worth it! This soup was a success, I was so proud that this soup was built from the ground up. No idea why but that always gives me a puffed up ego for a day or so. I’ll just write it off as the power of soup. Soup, that mysterious semi liquid food that can be both fancy or humble, warm or cool, but always does the trick. Anyways, we aren’t here to read about me waxing poetic about soup now are we? In the game Lamb and barley soup contains: barley (shock!), mixed herbs, and lamb stock. After all the hard work we put into the stock making the soup is so delightfully easy. Now, On to the nummy recipe!

  • 5-6 cups lamb stock
  • 1/2 cup pearl barley
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 2 potatoes, diced
  • 1/4 tsp each rosemary, thyme, parsley (poultry spice mix can be a great substitution)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Combine ingredients in pot. Cover. Boil for 30 minutes.
  2. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Told you it was easy! This soup serves 4. Each serving contains 249 calories, 3.1 grams of fat, and 7.5 grams of fibre. I know that barley sounds like a lot. We just prefer it that way. We love our hearty barley soups around here. If you prefer less just cut that barley amount in half and you should be good to go. Wondering what those buns are on the side? They are the potato buns I posted in april. I made them in a muffin pan this time to make them pop up like a biscuit. Definitely a tasty side dish for dunking in the soup.

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Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner, Lunch, The Hardcore Hobbit

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Hardcore Hobbit: Lamb Stock

Posted on September 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

It was one rainy weekend over here at the hungry hobbit hole! My favourite thing to have when its rainy out is a nice warming soup. Any good soup you put out there deserves to have a great base to build on. So it’s worth putting a bit of effort into making a homemade stock one and awhile. Since you can’t pick up lamb stock off most supermarket shelves around here, that can also be motivation enough to get into it. This particular lamb stock took inspiration from the stock made in Lord of the rings online for so many other recipes. In the game the stock is made from a rack of lamb, royal taters, and water. In my case I used lamb chops since I had them on hand. Oh my! Tasty stock! This one has been my favourite stock experiment so far.

  • 1 lb lamb chops
  • 2 small carrots, quartered
  • 1 potato, quartered
  • 1 large onion, quartered (and I do mean large)
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic, halved
  • cooking spray, buttery (optional)
  1. This is an optional step I took. Take your quartered onion wedges, spray with cooking spray. Roast under the broiler until a golden brown. If you choose to skip this step just toss the onions into the stock pot.
  2. Add all the ingredients to the stock pot and cover with water (5-6 cups approximately)
  3. Cover and slowly simmer on low for 2 hours. It should begin to look like this:
  4. Skim the foam and oil off the top. Remove the solid ingredients.
  5. Trim the bones and fat off the meat. Add the meat back to the broth. I had about 7 oz of shredded meat added back to the stock. This is ready for soup making!

This makes about 5 cups of stock. Each cup of stock contains 65 calories, 2.5 grams of fat and no fibre. It is not the lowest fat stock out there but it sure is satisfying and tasty. A delicious base for soup that requires very little additional seasoning. Just add some veggies, spices and go! Tomorrow I will post the soup that I made from this stock, another hardcore hobbit recipe ofcourse!

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Posted in Comfort Foods, Ingredient, The Hardcore Hobbit

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