Grilled Lamb Chops with Fenugreek Sauce and Tumeric New Potatoes

To continue my Vij's tribute to Jeff, tonight I cooked his all-time favorite dish from that restaurant: Vij's Lamb Popsicles. To give you a sense of the flavor, I marinated the lamb in a mustard and sweet white wine mixture before I grilled them. The fenugreek sauce is cream-based with a mixture of Indian spices, ginger, and peppers. Finally, the potato dish is a mixture of sauteed potatoes, cauliflower, spinach, and masala. I can see why this is their signature dish. It's clear that Vij really spent time working on this dish to achieve the optimum flavor combination between each element. The soft meaty texture, the luxurious spice-filled cream sauce, and the satisfying hearty warmth of the vegetables complemented each other in a manner which brought each element to a new taste level. The effect was like Gestalt Theory. It really made the dish sing. I think Jeff would've been proud...and full.

On a side note, I wanted to share another Jeff memory with this post that I didn't mention in my official eulogy. One of my fondest memories of Jeff was during his Bay Area visit. He arrived on the same night as my second date with Raquel. Once I informed him of this, here is the conversation that followed:

Jeff: "ooooh, you're going out with that girl again? nice. should I take a cab back from the airport instead?"

Me: "don't be silly Jeff. my family comes first".

Jeff: "it's ok. perhaps I should find a hotel for the week? ;)"

Me: "Cut it out. It's just a second date. That's not how I roll".

The second date went well enough that Raquel and I continued to text throughout the week. When Jeff noticed, he started reading her texts and my responses over my shoulder. As usual, he couldn't help but tease me about how I have no game. So, he then proceeded to act as my Cyrano de Bergerac and fed me my flirty lines. Raquel and I have been together for almost three years now, and I'd like to think Jeff had a hand in it in the beginning. But, when I asked Raquel if any of his lines actually worked, she thought I just wanted to be friends during those texts. Ouch. Sorry Jeff, guess we both didn't have game.

Indian Lamb Stew, Yogurt-Marinated Cabbage, Cumin Basmati Rice

I'm heartbroken to say that I lost my dearest cousin, Jeff, to complications with his leukemia treatment two weeks ago. He was only 33 years old. Jeff and I were very close. He'd often jokingly say, "You're the perfect female version of myself. We're a bit narcissistic in our relationship that way. As long as you like yourself a little bit, you'll like me". I love him very much and I deeply miss him. These past two weeks have gone by ridiculously fast, and I'm still having a hard time accepting the permanence of him not being here.

So this year, I've decided to pay tribute to him in a combination of ways. As I gear up again to run the 2010 Nike Women's Half Marathon, I will join Team in Training for the first time with a few of my other cousins in tow. Our goal is to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and to donate the money in his memory. I know his presence will be with us on that day.

Aside from chatting with him online or catching up on the phone, we'd often have adventures with hiking, biking, and eating. One of his favorite Vancouver restaurants, was Vij's. So, my other tribute has been to cook my way through Vij's cookbook. And my first attempt was the Cinnamon-scented Lamb Stew, Yogurt-Marinated Cabbage, and Cumin Basmati Rice. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm allowed to post the recipes here. But, I can probably give the general idea of how it tastes.

Jeff was rightfully enamored with the rich depth of these flavors. Although, I probably altered the taste since I didn't use any ghee, and I only used non-fat plain yogurt. The combination of spices are strong enough to not need any help from ghee or heavy yogurt. I thought it was a fantastic meal worthy of Jeff's praise. And apparently, my friends agreed since they cleaned out my stockpot. Look Jeff, no leftovers! And leave it to me to make rich Indian food healthy.

For those who'd like to try out the recipes, this lamb stew and this cabbage recipe look close to Vij's. For the rice, just add cooked onions and whole cumin seed to the basmati rice while it's cooking. Stay tuned for Jeff's favorite Vij's dish: lamb popsicles.

Coconut Shrimp and Chipotle Mango Sauce

Ok, I realize that a large amount of my recent posts have somehow involved shrimp. Well, there's a simple reason for that. If you buy a huge bag of frozen raw EZ-peel shrimp, you're going to have a convenient and nutritious protein source always at your fingers. So, I'm sure my next several posts will still be about shrimp. And surprisingly, Raquel isn't tired of it. Anyway, tonight was a heavy workout night so we weren't in the mood for anything heavy afterwards. Thus, this dinner could be summed up as Happy Hour (minus the alcohol) at Surfrunner and Raquel's house.

The star of the menu was the Coconut Shrimp and Mango Sauce from Cooking Light. It was so flavorful, crunchy, and relatively healthy that Raquel has added this dish to the list of dishes that she wants me to cook for her parents. That's saying a lot considering Raquel takes days to figure out what restaurants to take her parents to when they visit. The rest of the menu was rounded out by home-made guacamole, home-made hummus, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, and bell pepper sticks. I love finger foods after a tough workout, because I always feel like I get more bang for my buck. Now, if I only could have had a beer....

Home-made Guacamole

-1 lime, juiced

-1 avocado

-1/4 onion (finely minced)

-2 Tb cilantro (chopped)

-Hawaiian Sea Salt, to taste

Throw all ingredients together and mash.

Home-made Hummus

-1 can of garbanzo beans, drained

-about 6 garlic gloves, chopped

-1 lemon, juiced (optional)

-2 Tb Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-Hawaiian Sea Salt, to taste

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend. Add water as needed to thin it out. You can also add Tahini if you have it, but I didn't.

Modifications to Mango Sauce:

(Note - I didn't have Scotch Bonnet Peppers so I substituted my own)

-Add 2 chopped chipotle peppers in blender at end. (I used the canned chipotles in adobo sauce)

-Add 2 Tb cilantro in blender at end

-Add 1 serrano chile (chopped) in to saute with garlic.