Guest Post with Natasha aka the 5 Star Foodie!

Greetings to all the readers of Cleanliness is Next to Godliness. Emily has been a great blogger friend whose excellent posts and recipes I read on a regular basis, and it is an honor to be guest posting here today.

Every time I travel to new destinations, I bring back an inspiration to create new dishes based on the flavors from the places I visit. Sometimes, if there is a concept of a dish that I've had in a restaurant, I may try to replicate it or create my own version inspired by the original concept.

On our recent trip to Southwest we had a wonderful dinner at Anasazi restaurant in Santa Fe. I ordered the Double Cut Colorado Lamb Chops with green chile grits cakes, cumin carrot puree, snow peas, and pasilla cherry demi glace. It wasn't a perfect dish, with the grits cake being too rich and the pasilla-cherry sauce too subtle, but I loved the concept of this dish, and decided to create my own improved version at home, Grilled Lamb Loin with Pasilla-Cherry Reduction, Green Chile Grits Cakes, and Cumin Carrot Puree. I made the sauce a lot more flavorful by highlighting the cherry flavor and the spicy kick from the chiles. I also did not batter and deep fry the grits cake as in the original dish but simply sauteed them in butter which made them a lot lighter. This was a very successful dish that everyone in my family really enjoyed.



Ingredients:

pasilla-cherry reduction
2 cups pitted sour cherries
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 dried pasilla chiles
1 tablespoon agave syrup

green chile grits cakes
2 cups salted water
1/2 cup uncooked grits
Salt to taste
1 4-ounce jar of green chiles
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2-3 tablespoons butter

carrots
About 8 ounces baby carrots
1/4 light cream
1 teaspoon (or to taste) cumin (toasted cumin seeds, ground)
Salt to taste

lamb
1 boneless lamb loin
1/2 teaspoon ground dried sage
Salt, pepper to taste
Olive oil
Cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

pasilla-cherry reduction
In a medium pot, add sour cherries, sugar and vanilla extract. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Lower the heat and simmer until the cherries let out the juice. Take off the heat, strain the juice into a bowl, saving the cherries for another use.

Dehydrate pasilla chiles, by cooking them in boiling water. Take the seeds out if desired. Blend in a food processor with agave, and 1/2 cup of leftover liquid from dehydrating the pasilla chiles, adding more liquid if necessary. Strain.

In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of cherry juice and 1/4 cup of pasilla chile paste. Bring to boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until it reduces by about a third. Keep warm until serving.

green chile grits cakes

Add grits to salted boiling water, and cook 10-15 minutes on low heat. Mix in green chiles and Parmesan, then spread prepared grits evenly in a single layer in a baking sheet, and cool completely. Cut out 4 small rounds, 2.5 inches in diameter. Melt butter in a skillet, then add the grits cakes and fry them on both sides until golden brown.

carrots

Add baby carrots to salted boiling water. Simmer until the carrots are tender. Blend in a food processor with cream and cumin. Strain. Keep warm until serving.

lamb loin

Prepare the grill. Sprinkle the lamb loin with olive oil, sage, salt, and pepper. Grill for about 4-5 minutes per side for medium rare. Let the lamb rest for a few minutes then slice into rounds.

to serve:

Spoon cumin carrot puree in a center of the plate, place a green chile grits cake in a middle of the puree, top with a slice of lamb loin and garnish with cilantro if desired. Drizzle the Pasilla-cherry reduction sauce around.