Tummy-warming lamb T-bones with figs, mint

Celebrate fall with chef Craig Koketsu’s cozy and sophisticated dishes

Video: Luscious lamb T-bones

Closed captioning of: Luscious lamb T-bones

Advertise | AdChoices

>>> this morning, we're cooking with park avenue restaurant's chef, where as the seasons change, so does park avenue 's decor as well as its menu. chef, good to see you. more fall, comfort food ?

>> we're going into richer, deeper flavors.

>> now we're making lamb chops . what makes this lamb chop some.

>> this is actually a lamb t-bone, and it's like a beef t-bone where it has a half sirloin and half tenderloin.

>> kind of same price point?

>> no, actually, with lamb, it's such a small animal, it's hard to market this piece as a steak, so it's actually a more economical cut.

>> cool, all right. so, how do we get started?

>> first, we're actually serving it with black mission figs. these are dried black mission figs. we're going to marinate this with orange juice and balsamic vinegar.

>> nice.

>> and you want to let this sit for about an hour before you cook it.

>> so, basically, rehydrating the figs.

>> yeah, you're rehydrating it and getting the acidity and the sweetness into the fig.

>> then what are we doing with the lamb chops ?

>> we're going to season it up right now. salt, pepper. really important when you season meat that you season it all the way around. so, like --

>> flip these over?

>> yeah, all that stuff on the board, yeah, get in there.

>> get it in there.

>> i'm going to get my pan nice and hot and add some canola oil.

>> is that because it's got a higher heat?

>> exactly, and actually, it doesn't have a lot of flavor, too, so you don't want anything sort of masking the flavor of the lamb, although that's hard to do.

>> right.

>> so, we're going to put this in there to seer.

>> okay.

>> and then imagine this would sit for about one hour. we're going to pour this in. we're going to strain it through because we want to take out some of the seeds.

>> okay.

>> we're going to let that sit and we're going to reduce this for about ten minutes, until it gets to a nice --

>> basically it's going to thicken up.

>> yeah, and then we'll add these back in and finish it with some butter.

>> very nice. how long on each side would you do the lamb chops ?

>> one of the important things with lamb is you want to get the fat sort of rendered out. so, not just searing the two big sides, but you actually want to get it up on the side.

>> okay.

>> we're going to flip this over, imagine we've seared that nice golden brown . we are going to pop this in the oven.

>> and what heat oven?

>> it's a hot oven, it's 450.

>> all right, and it comes out?

>> when it comes out it looks like this, and you can see the fat's nice and rendered, it's nice and brown. we're going to put this right on this plate right here.

>> very nice.

>> and here we have some of the figs that have been reduced with the liquid.

>> oh, that looks so good.

>> we're just going to spoon that right over.

>> then a little mint?

>> a little mint on top. this is sort of a take on a classic mint and lamb dish.

>> i don't give a fig about figs. wow!

>> that's good.

>> what's the side dish here?

>> that is something we serve in the restaurant. it's meso brussel sprouts with some bacon and --

>> bacon! mm-mmm, lamb and bacon.

>> fresh figs. that's pretty.

>> it's a nice, fresh accent to that.

>> chef, thank you so much.

>> thank you so much.

>> great to have you here.

>>> still to come on "today," nick lachey 's stopping by to hang out with hoda and kathie.

>>> plus, solutions for tired hair? who knew your hair gets tired? after your local news.

>> mine's asleep.

>> i'm tired.

Show transcript

TODAY recipes

updated 10/7/2009 10:20:27 AM ET

Print
Font:
+
-

Celebrate the new season with a delicious dinner menu from chef Craig Koketsu of New York's highly acclaimed Park Avenue Autumn. Learn how to easily make lamb T-bones with black mission figs and mint, with a side of miso-glazed brussels sprouts:

Recipe: Lamb T-bones with black mission figs and mint (on this page) Recipe: Miso-glazed brussels sprouts (on this page)

Recipe: Lamb T-bones with black mission figs and mint

Craig Koketsu

Ingredients

Eight 1 1/4"-thick lamb shortloin chops (aka lamb T-bones or lamb porterhouse)
2 cups dried black mission figs, cut off stems and cut in half
1 quart of orange juice
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 fresh black mission figs, cut into quarters
16 mint leaves, roughly chopped
Salt
Pepper
Canola oil

Preparation

Place the dried figs in a bowl and cover with the orange juice and balsamic vinegar. Let sit for at least 1 hour. Preheat an oven to 450 degrees. Preheat a large, heavy-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Season the lamb T-bones on both sides with salt and pepper and place in the pan.

Sear the T-bones on all sides over medium high heat. Place entire pan into the oven and let cook for about 5 minutes. Remove pan from oven and transfer T-bones to a warm plate to let rest. Strain the fig liquid and reduce in a large sauce pot. When the liquid begins to thicken a little add the soaked figs and reduce until liquid becomes a glaze. Swirl in butter until fully incorporated.

To plate: Place two T-bones on each plate. Top with the glazed figs and sauce. Garnish each plate with fresh figs and chopped mint.

Serve immediately.

Serving Size

Serves 4

search for more recipes in TODAY Food

Print Email Save to my recipe box Go to my recipe box

Recipe: Miso-glazed brussels sprouts

Craig Koketsu

Ingredients

For vegetables
2 pints brussels sprouts, blanched, shocked and cut in half
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and cut into medium chunks
Sugar
Canola oil
6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2” chunks
1 cup miso glaze (recipe below)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 mint leaves, cut into chiffonade
For miso glaze
1 cup sake
4 cups chicken stock
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/3 cup white miso paste
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon sriracha

Preparation

In a bowl, sprinkle sugar over apples to lightly coat. In a large sauté pan, sauté apples in canola oil until golden brown. Transfer apples to a plate lined with a paper towel. In another large sauté pan, render bacon in 2 tablespoons of canola oil until nicely browned. Remove bacon from pan, but leave the fat. In the same pan brown the brussels sprouts in the bacon fat on the cut side until golden.

Add the miso glaze and reduce until it clings to the sprouts. Swirl butter into pan until fully incorporated into the glaze. Add bacon and apples to the sprouts and stir to fully coat all ingredients.

Transfer to a serving bowl and top with mint chiffonade.

For the glaze: In a large pot, bring sake to a boil and then reduce by 2/3. Add chicken stock and garlic and reduce mixture by half to yield about 2 cups of liquid. Add miso paste, honey and sriracha. Strain.