Mr. Rice's Birthday

Last thursday was Mr. Rice's birthday :) But because we were both busy on that day, we agree to celebrate on friday.


We started our day by having breakfast at this pop & mom breakfast place.

I love this small, old-school eatery. They makes food with heart. From the outside, anyone might think that it is just another deli that sells lotto and candys. But once u stepped in, this waitress who has probably been working there for centries will greet you with a big wram smile. And most of the customers already know what they want by the time they sit down.
This guy who works behind the open kitchen (which is merely a flat griddle) rarely talk, but remebers the names of all the old customers.
Besides the breakfast section, they also serves specialized sanwiches, wraps, burgers, appitizers etc. Everything is so cheap but the protion is just huge. So far we have had breakfast and some sandwiches from there, and they are tasty and def. hit the spot.

For his birthday dinner, I have made stuffed artichokes and roasted rack of lamb with chopped vegetables.

For the chokes, I combined a few recipes that I found from internet. We both agree that it tasted just the same as the one we had from the italian restaurant.

Ingredients (per 1 big artichoke):
1 big artichoke
2 lemons (will use both the zest and the juice)

stuffing:
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (depending on the size of your choke)
2 Tbs(Tablespoon) grated parmasan cheese
2 Tbs chopped onion
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint/basil
3 Tbs olive oil
pinch of parprika
pinch of red pepper flake
salt and pepper for seasoning

1. Cut the buttom of the choke so that it can be standed. Trim about 1 1/2 inch of the top and cup away the spikes. Scoop out the inedible part in middle. Brush the choke with lemon juice to prevent from turning black.
2. Combine everything for stuffing expect 1 Tbs of olive oil. Add zest in the stuffing. Spread out the stems of choke and fill it with stuffing.
3. Put choke in a pot of water( up to ~1/2 height of the choke) with juice of half a lemon. Bring to boil and then turn to small flame and simmer for 25 mins or until stems are soft to fork.

Lamb Rack

This is my first time making lamb (inspired by Mei), I brought half a rack of lamb from an arabic meat store recommanded by my co-worker. For some reason, the America Supermarket (etc. pathmark, shop & stop) dont really carry many varieties of lamb. It is so much easier and cheaper to buy that from arabic store, obviously they are more crazy about lamb.

I merinated the lamb rack for 2 hours, then bake it with some chopped mushroom, carrot, potato, onion at 450F for 15 mins, then lower it to 350 for 25 mins.

Dont forget to let it sit for 10 mins before cutting it up, or else all the juice with be on the plate instead of inside the meat.

Marinate:

4 cloves of Garlic

1 bunch of Parsley (not the italian one)

3 TBS olive oil

Lemon juice from 1 lemon

lemon zest

salt and pepper

Execpt lemon zest, salt and pepper, blend everything in a blender until it for into a paste.

Store brought stuffed clam

What a beautiful day with perfect weather :)