Pan-fried Lamb Loin Chops

Lamb loin chops are super easy and quick to cook. They may be small in size, but the flavor is larger than life. The bone certainly adds flavor in the cooking process.


Ingredients:

8 lamb loin chops

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbsp fresh thyme - chopped (used dried thyme)

1 tbsp fresh basil - chopped (used dried basil)

2 tsp fresh rosemary - chopped (used dried basil)

2 cloves garlic, minced

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Combine everything in a bowl. Dip lamb chop into mixture to coat evenly. Cover chop and refrigerate 30 minutes. Heat up cast iron on medium heat and put a little olive oil on the bottom. When pan is hot, lay lamb chop in the pan and let them sear for 4-5 minutes. Once the side of the lamb chops has been seared, flip over. Make sure most of the seared part is brownish. Put the lamb chops under the hot broiler for 5 mins. Remove the chops from the broiler and let them rest in the pan, covered, for 10 minutes.

Useful link:
How to cook meat.

Pineapple Tarts (Kuih Tat Nenas) - Eid Mubarak 1432 -

Wishing my friends and readers 

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri / Eid Mubarak 1432 

I'm sharing a recipe that is considered as "festive" cookies in Singapore. Be it be during Eid or Chinese New Year. These tarts are small bite-sized pastries filled or topped with pineapple jam in the middle. 

There are many shapes but I preferred in the typical shape of flat open tart with pineapple jam in the center. Besides the flat open shape, there are other two favorite shapes; rolls filled with jam that are open at the ends under a lattice of pastry and jam-filled spheres (using cloves as the decor).

Ingredients for Jam:

1 ripe pineapple - grated and drained

170g sugar

1 heaped tsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp egg color food coloring

2 cloves

1 cm piece cinnamon

Mix all above ingredients together in a pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until it turns a golden color and the consistency is thick like jam. Leave to cool, removing cinnamon and cloves. Pre-roll the pineapple jam into balls

Ingredients for Pastry:

250g plain flour - sifted

400g unsalted butter

1 egg yolk

1 level tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Beat together for 5 minutes the butter, egg yolk, vanilla essence and sugar, then fold the sifted flour and mix to form a soft dough.

To make TARTS:

Roll out pastry between sheets of plastic or wax paper to a thickness of about 3mm and cut into rounds using cutter. Arrange the tart shell neatly on the baking tray. Place the pre-rolled pineapple jam balls in the center of each tart shell. Bake in a pre-heated moderate oven 350 deg F or 176 deg C for about 20 minutes or until light brown. Cool well before storing in airtight container.