The art of cooking perfect lamb chops

Lamb chops are tender, juicy, and easy to make. Simply rub the meat with some chopped herbs, garlic, salt and pepper, and olive oil, let it sit for a while, sear all over on high heat, let it rest a few minutes, and serve. The only thing you really have to take care with is to not overcook it. Lamb is best served rare, though if you have eaters who prefer their meat medium, you can always cook it longer. The innumerable variants of lamb chops differ in spice blends, marinade, cooking style, method and cooking degree but the main ingredient is the same. Cooking a perfect lamb chop is like an art which one attains through experience. Mustard lamb chops with veg skewer(Serves 4)IngredientsLamb chops 12 piecesOlive oil    4 tbspGarlic, chop 4-5 clovesEnglish mustard 1 tbspSea salt to tasteBlack pepper to tasteBroccoli 2 headsCherry tomato    10-12 noMushroom 10-12 noCarrot, slices few nosParsley, chop 2 tbspFor sauceButter ½ tbsp    Garlic 2 clovesLamb meat trimmings as availableParsley 1-2 sprigMint leaves few sprigsDijon mustard 1 tspMethodSelect lamb chops which is 1-1/2 inch thick and is bright red in colour. Marinate the lamb chops with chopped garlic, mustard, salt and pepper and rub gently to coat evenly.Refrigerate for 20 minutes to allow the meat to acquire the flavours.Skewer the vegetables on a skewer and marinate in the same marinade. Pre heat a grill and cook the lamb chops to desired doneness from both sides, take care not to overcook the lamb chops, also grill the vegetable skewer.For the sauce, saute garlic in butter and add the lamb trimmings available from the chops.Add moisture and allow to simmer for 30 minutes so that the flavours are extracted.Once the sauce thickens strain the trimmings and add mustard, chopped parsley and mint and adjust seasoning.Once the lamb chops are grilled and nice golden brown serve hot with the prepared vegetable skewer and sauce on side.Petit foursPetit fours are small bite-sized French sweet or savoury dessert served usually at the end of the meal. There is a story about the origin of petit fours that they were usually baked next to the main oven to utilise more of the expensive charcoal fuel. So they are always in smaller portions as they would bake easily and quickly. But as time progressed they were appreciated because of their decorative nature and small-sized portions, and now they are made and served exclusively in restaurants. Petit fours nowadays mainly present the creativity of the chef.

Pistachio marzipan rollIngredientsPistachio plain 250gIcing sugar 2tbspVanilla extracts few dropsRose water few dropsMarzipan 400gEgg white 1 noFor sugar syrupSugar 250gWater 100mlMethodPlace pistachios in a baking tray and roast at 180 degrees for 7-8 minutes and allow to cool (make sure the pistachio is not over roasted otherwise the dish will be bitter). Crush using a rolling pin to break into small pieces.Prepare a thick sugar syrup by boiling sugar and water for 10 minutes, keep aside and allow to cool down.Add icing sugar, vanilla extracts, rose water and prepared sugar syrup to the pistachio and mix well.Do not add all the sugar syrup at a time, pour slowly to get a thick dough.Roll the pistachio mixture to get a ½cm diameter roll.Take marzipan and flatten it using a rolling pin to 3-4 mm thickness, cut into 1- 1 ½  inch broad strips.Place the pistachio roll in the centre of the marzipan strip and roll over to seal the roll.Cut this prepared roll into 1 inch and arrange again in a baking tray. Grease with egg white, bake at 250 degree Celsius just to colour the top.Store in an air tight container and serve accordingly.Note: There are no specific rules to make petit fours, you can experiment with the commonly available ingredients. Garnish them nicely to make your signature petit fours.Mustard lamb chops with veg skewer.