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There was some great riding to be had this holiday weekend. I rode all 4 days, varying distances. July 4th was pretty darn windy here, but we got 50 or so miles in. The 5th, I just did about 20 in the morning; it was still pretty windy and I felt pretty beat up from the day before. Yesterday and today were nice – we got about 55 miles in yesterday and 77 today.

We had some pretty good food at home this weekend, too. We treated ourselves to a marinated tri tip on July 4th and enjoyed this with lemony Caesar salad with homemade croutons, and some grilled potato. We were a little too ambitious with food and also grilled a couple of ears of corn, but that ended up being too much, so we saved them for the next day. With the leftovers, we made some upscale tacos.

Tri Tip Tacos

We had some leftover mango-papaya salsa and a really ripe avocado, so I made a pseudo-guacamole by mashing the avocado a bit with some fresh squeezed lime juice and the stirred in the salsa. I made a simple corn relish by slicing the corn off the cob, adding a healthy heaping of chopped fresh cilantro, the juice of one lime, about a teaspoon of agave nectar, and seasoned with salt and pepper. In hindsight, a thinly sliced or chopped serrano chile pepper would have been a great addition. I cut the leftover tri tip into small bite-sized chunks, and sauteed it a bit in a little olive oil over medium high heat. In a cast iron griddle, I heated some corn tortillas, and then assembled some simple tacos. If you can find a local, artisan corn tortilla, it is worth the extra money. I have just recently discovered Mi Abuelita Bonita Tortillas Sonora Style traditional corn tortillas and might never eat “regular” store bought corn tortillas again.

Espresso-Herb Marinated Leg of Lamb

I don’t eat much red meat, but for some reason I was craving it this weekend, so I picked up a boneless leg of lamb at Costco. A few years back I made a leg of lamb with an espresso marinade. I couldn’t remember exactly what I had done, so I did a quick Google search and found this recipe for an Espresso Marinated Lamb Roast. I modified this just a little bit. I happened to have a bit of fresh mint leftover from another recipe, and lamb with mint is a classic combination, so this is my twist on the recipe …

Espresso-Herb Marinated Leg of Lamb

Boneless leg of lamb (about 3 pounds)
2 shots of espresso, cooled
1/2 large red onion, cut into a small dice
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the espresso, onion, garlic, herbs, honey, and soy sauce in a medium bowl. Stir to mix well.
2. Trim excess fat from the meat and blot with paper towels.
3. Place the trimmed meat into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Add a few grinds of black pepper.
4. Pour the marinade into the bag, seal it, and work the marinade around so that it covers the meat as evenly as possible.
5. Place the bag in a bowl and then into the refrigerator.
   

   Medium Rare

6. Marinate at least 6 hours, but overnight is better.
7. Grill at about 325-degrees to your desired doneness. Let it rest about 10 minutes before slicing.

We served this with grilled eggplant and squash. It was fantastic, if I may say so myself! The mint stood out a bit more than I expected it to, but it was not overpowering at all. We enjoyed this with a Willamette Valley Vineyards Barrel Select Pinot Noir, 2010. The wine was fairly light, not too fruity, and just earthy enough to compliment the grilled lamb and vegetables.

And then, there was dessert …

Fresh Blueberries and Strawberries with Just a Touch of Salt Caramel Gelato and a Bit of Dark Chocolate

This was all great motivation to get a good ride in today. I hope you got a chance to get out and enjoy some fun and exercise this weekend. How did it go by so darn quickly?

Here’s to a super busy work week ahead. I am feeling reinvigorated and ready to go and will need to keep that motivation for this entire week. I scheduled a lot of appointments and have extra events going on this week. What was I thinking? 

The weather forecast is promising and I expect to get a ride in each day, maybe even a few evenings after work, too.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 8th, 2013 at 1:23 am and is filed under Comfort Food, Cycling, Desserts, Entrees, Fruits & Veggies, Meat, Salads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.