I’m not gonna play it cool, I’m a little bit excited about this post.

Always a sucker for competitions in which I am bound to get pwned, this recipe is going head-to-head-to-head-to-head with some other fine bloggers in the fifth battle of Foodie Fights.

So since I guess pictures are what may make or break this thing, you may want to see a bigger version of the top image.

Oh, and dear first-time visitor: that picture of me on my about page, it’s a little haggard, I know. I was in the middle of an Oktoberfest drinking extravaganza so gimme a break. I didn’t have time to go get some pro glamour shots made. And I’m not just some piece of meat for you to look at first-time reader, jeez. This is a serious website…

Ok enough joking around. Food things:

What I Used

• Gorgonzola
• Baby Arugula, chopped
• Ground Lamb
• 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 1 Lemon, zest of
• 1 Lemon, juice of
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 3/4 Cup of Extra Virgin Oil
• Mini Kaiser Rolls

What I Did

Gorgonzola Mayonnaise

1. Combine about a quarter cup of Gorgonzola, chopped or crumbled, with the egg yolk and lemon juice in a food processor.
2. Start the food processor and slowwwwwly drizzle in the olive oil until fully incorporated.
3. 
   Try to convince everyone in the house to eat a spoonful.

Arugula Gremolata

1. Combine lemon zest, arugula (I started with half a cup of loosely packed leaves before chopping), minced garlic, and salt.
2. You’re done. Seriously. What do you want?

Finished Slider

1. Depending on how lean your lamb is, fold some of the mayonnaise in with the meat.
2. Form a patty with about a sixth of a pound of the mix. Salt both sides liberally. Cook in very shallow Canola oil for five minutes on each side or until pink in the center. Or use one of those fancy thermometers and make it to your liking.
3. Cut the Kaiser roll in half and toast it either on a pan, under the broiler, or in your toaster.
4. Mayo up each side of the buns. Add finished lamb. Add gremolata. Eat it. Take a nap.

Considering how strong Gorgonzola can be, this was my best attempt at giving it a formidable flavor compliment (lamb) and something fresh to keep it from completely dominating everything. Did I do ok? Check out the other entries and vote if you think so!

Update: I’ve also entered this recipe in the Ultimate Burger Contest by Chez Us. Please do check their site out. These SF foodies are always posting amazing stuff. You don’t get to vote for this contest (Lenny has a scoring system) but we’ll see how it turns out come July.

Orzo. It’s nearly obscene how much I love this stuff. If I’m cooking pasta for day-to-day eating purposes, I’d wager 80% of the time it’s Orzo.

Sometimes I’ll cook a little diced bacon and finish the last minute of the Orzo in that pan. Orzo, bacon, and grease. Yet one more fine example of why you shouldn’t listen to me when it comes to food.

Hopefully this little mix doesn’t send you to the ER. Some places might call this an Orzo salad but I’m just going to call it what it is. A hodgepodge of Greek stuff.

What I Used

• Orzo
• Ground Lamb
• Capers
• Feta Cheese, crumbled
• Apricot, diced
• Garlic, minced
• Butter

What I Did

1. Over a medium heat skillet, melt butter and sweat garlic.
2. Add the lamb and cook through.
3. In a separate pot cook Orzo according to box (or fresh if you’re so lucky) instructions and strain.
4. Combine Orzo and lamb mixture with some of the Feta crumble, just enough so that as it melts everything starts to bind together.
5. Plate and add more Feta crumble, capers, and apricot.

As an “engineer” I’m inclined to overcomplicate solutions, needing to work constantly to remind myself: Keep It Simple Stupid. It’s really a problem most people share, engineer or not, but I feel like we’re classically trained in the unnecessary.

So I decided to do something simple. Soup. Mirepoix, garlic, meat, done. These things taste good on their own. Why muddle them?

Ok, so I used mint, but only to finish, I swear. The flavor boldly said: Lamb. Good, mission accomplished.

The last thing I’d like to note, besides being stupidly easy to make, is this dish wont require a bank loan…not that they’re giving them out anyway. I picked up the lamb shank for $3.50/lb and the veggies were almost negligible in cost. Sometimes I’ll be discussing lamb with my college friends and they view it as exotic, hard to come by, or too expensive. These days you can pick up several cuts running the gamut of price ranges at almost any local store. So give it a try, and keep it simple.