Gremolata and Breadcrumbs
What to make for dinner to treat your ThermoHubby when he comes home from the hospital? Good question, especially when you’ve spent the past five days running between walking the dog and visiting him. Mother Hubbard’s cupboard is bare but ThermoHubby’s still hungry. Madame Thermomix had a good rummage in the freezer and the fridge and then took her scissors out to the herb garden and came up with a veritable Thermomix feast. I suppose it’s like a MasterChef Invention Test, only we do it on a daily basis and don’t get so nervous about it that we do silly things and make silly mistakes, don’t you think?
My MasterChef-style invention test resulted in Barnsley lamb chops coated in gremolata breadcrumbs, sautéed ceps and roast vegetables, with mushroom gravy made from leftover wild mushroom soup. It was fabulously delicious and a real treat for ThermoHubby after a few days of hospital food. And as always with Thermomix, no waste!
Ingredients I found in my kitchen and garden
4 slices granary bread made in the Thermomix
zest of half a lemon
a handful of fresh rosemary
a handful of fresh parsley
a handful of fresh mint
garlic, salt and pepper, olive oil
2 Barnsley lamb chops
1 egg
flour for dredging
2 huge wild cep mushrooms, foraged by me
vegetables for roasting (I had potatoes, carrots and red onions)
leftover Thermomix mushroom soup
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Prepare your vegetables for roasting and put them in the oven for a good 30 to 40 minutes.
- Make the Gremolata breadcrumbs: Peel two cloves of garlic 4 seconds/Speed 4 ½ /Reverse Blade Direction. Turbo pulse torn slices of bread for a few seconds until fine. Drop herbs and lemon zest onto blades running at speed 6 and turn off immediately.
- Dredge the lamb chops in seasoned flour, dip into the beaten egg and coat in the Gremolata breadcrumbs. Heat a fry pan with some olive oil and fry the lamb chops 2 to 3 minutes per side, then finish 8 minutes in the oven.
- Sautée the wild mushrooms in olive oil until golden brown. You can of course use any mushrooms for this.
- Add remainder of gremolata breadcrumbs to leftover mushroom soup and reheat 90°C/5 minutes/Speed 1.
Serve on warmed plates and enjoy.
So what is Gremolata, anyway? According to the BBC, it is “an Italian garnish of raw, finely chopped garlic, parsley and lemon zest.” Jamie Oliver’s Jamie Magazine calls it “a wonderful dry salsa.” In The Telegraph, Jamie further refers to it as “a great flavour enhancer” using the “classic combination” of garlic, lemon zest and flat-leaf parsley, “all chopped together really finely.” Well, I took my gremolata out of the classic zone and added rosemary and mint to it for an extra dimension of flavour. It was wonderful, and stood up to the hearty flavour of the granary breadcrumbs.
Bon appétit !
Yes Nora it was delicious! I’ve never really done any menu planning so every day I invent something from the fridge, freezer and store cupboards. Some meals are more inspired than others as ThermoHubby will tell you 😉
But you know which tastes go well together so just give it a try. The worst you can do is make a dish that will turn out better the next time you make it!
Bon courage, ma chère !
This looks delicious! You had a great inspiration there, I’m hopeless at “inventing” a dish. Maybe I dont have the self confidence to try something new (i’m too scared it might end up inedible!!). Thermohubby is very lucky indeed and I hope he’s much better after his stay in hospital.