Wowing your guests right from the start

With Judy off this week, we’re reprinting one of her recipes from December 2011. This is one of her first columns for The Jewish Star — all food, no Jerry.

As a personal chef, I am sometimes asked by clients to recommend a signature, mouthwatering dish that is sure to “wow” their guests. Without hesitation, I always offer my favorite appetizer — baby lamb chops in pastry dough smothered in mushroom sauce.

This recipe consists of quite a few steps, but the finished product will be well worth the effort. Just ask my good friends, Ira Grosser and Joe Grob. When they are invited to my home for dinner, it’s a given that I’m going to make baby lamb chops wrapped in pastry dough and smothered in onion and mushroom sauce … or else.

In my opinion, no single gesture by a host or hostess shows culinary sophistication quite like serving an impressive appetizer. While this recipe may initially sound a bit intimidating, to quote Chef James Beard, “The only thing that will make a soufflé fall is if it knows you are afraid of it.” Keep that in mind as you follow these directions.

Baby lamb chops, wrapped in pastry dough, served with mushroom and onion sauce

Ingredients

10 baby lamb chops, uniform in size

4 round bone shoulder lamb chops

10 pieces of puff pastry frozen dough (3 x 3 inch) can be found in most supermarkets, in a 10 or 36 piece package

10 frilly paper caps to encircle the bone end of the chops (made of white paper), optional

2 pounds fresh mushrooms

5 large onions, peeled and diced

1/8th cup of Mikee garlic, stir-fry and rib sauce

10 sprigs of fresh rosemary

garlic powder

salt

pepper

8 tablespoons Osem mushroom soup and seasoning mix

2 cups cold water

1/4th teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce

1 cup canola oil

Instructions

Slice and sautée mushrooms in a small amount of canola oil.

When mushrooms are just about done, raise the heat and pour in a tablespoon of the Garlic Sauce and mix thoroughly for a minute.

Peel, dice and sautée the onions in canola oil until they are soft and caramelized (about 40 min)