Photos: Passport & Plate - Braised multi-spice Crusted Rack of Lamb

cultureoneday — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 03:17:00 GMT

Ingredients
1 tsp. olive oil
1 packet defrosted Frenched Rack of Lamb
1/2 cup crispy bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dill seeds
1/4 tsp.chipotle chile pepper
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. sweet basil
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup water

How to prepare this recipe
1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium size flat bowl stir together the crispy bread crumbs, salt, dill seeds, chipotle chile pepper, black pepper, ground ginger, garlic powder, sweet basil, and ground cumin until evenly mixed.
2. Meanwhile, add the olive oil to a skillet. Heat skillet to medium high on stove top.
3. Roll the Rack of lamb in the bread crumb and spice mixture until evenly covered pressing firmly. Use hands to fry the sides of the lamb in the skillet until each side is golden to dark brown.
4. Remove Rack of Lamb from skillet an place in medium size ceramic bowl, add 1/4 cup water and cover bowl with aluminium foil.
5. Place bowl in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until desired meat texture. Remove foil and bake for extra 5 minutes.
(while lamb bakes, the rest of the meal can be prepared. Everything takes less than 30 minutes to make. This dish is eaten with asparagus, fried small red potatoes, cornbread dressing, bread rolls, boiled carrots, and fruit salad)
6. Remove bowl from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Decorate the two inches of exposed bone on the rack of lamb using clean white paper (for consumers to hold without getting messy)
7.Serve sliced between or unsliced

The story behind this recipe
My Braised Multi-spice-Crusted Rack of Lamb recipe is an innovative masterpiece. This recipe features a medium cooked lamb ribs nestled in a crusty, roasted well-selected spice-bread crumb mixture that produce a divine tantalizing aroma. Its yummy, succulent taste always leaves an aftertaste that keeps me wanting more. All my family loves it.
This dish is special to me because it reminds me of Christmas Eve. It is our family tradition to include the lamb racks when all family members converge home for the Christmas holiday to enjoy mom’s cooking. Fortunately, I get to help prepare the dish that I enjoy very much. The dish is usual combined with chicken noodles, bread rolls, corn bread dressing, asparagus, yellow fresh corn , fruit salad, and of course followed with a piece of pecan pie smashed in vanilla ice cream slathered with cocoa syrup.
The thought of lamb gives me hope and excitement with each passing year, always looking forward to the next Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is my favorite part of the holidays when we all flock home and share stories of the soon to be wrapped-up year. That sense of oneness playing dominos around my parents’ large dining table is unbeatable. To me lamb dish is a reflection of how the four different generations in my family are connected, just like the racks of lamb. It represents our family values of living to higher appealing standards.
We all have that ‘little special something’ which triggers unforgettable moments that we cherish forever in our lives. Feelings, smells, tastes, and cues that make us stay connected to times and places in the past, and give us the endurance to pursue the future knowing the sunrise of tomorrow will again present an opportunity to relive those special moments. The Braised multi-spice crusted Rack of Lamb is my ‘little special something’.

My Scholarship entry - Understanding a Culture through Food

cultureoneday — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:51:00 GMT

Food is an important part of our society. However, there is more to food than many of us perceive. In the medieval times, food was core to Greek hospitality. Does food control our culture today?
Shawn and Sarah took me to a restaurant as soon as they ferried me from the Oklahoma City airport. It was a little past sunset on a Friday night. The parking lot was full that we had to squeeze around to get a spot.
Shawn ordered fried zucchini. The waiter, a young man in clean white clothing asked me if I was ready to order. I was drowsy. Somehow, my jetlag was killing me. I perused over the menu, but the list was confusing me.
Sarah patted me as she ordered fried shrimp. ‘You will like it’ she whispered. I nodded albeit I had no idea what was coming.
The room was full of chattering, people in clusters. Nobody caring of what the next person was saying. Everyone was talking; politics, sports and gaming. More than half had sportswear. I noticed that they were very few infants.
There were LCD screens, all showing college football. I noticed a group of men and women sitting on the bar counter on a secluded corner.
Later, eight waiters besieged a small, well-decorated table on the middle of the room and started singing ‘Happy Birthday” to the young woman sitting.
My order arrived. My stomach was full, but who would dare resist such tantalizing aroma. Four, five bites, I gave up. Sarah ordered a takeaway box to load my food.
‘I ordered fried chicken nuggets not a burger!” one man barked. They brought him a new order.
On my first hour in America, I grasped the way of American culture through food in the restaurant. I understood why America has many food places. Food is the very social connect in any activity, meeting, get together or family union. The society like to celebrate with food, console with food and reward with food. The culture revolves around food.

culture shock on first day

Photos: Passport & Plate - Braised multi-spice Crusted Rack of Lamb

My Scholarship entry - Understanding a Culture through Food