Okay, I finally made my dish, and I never even got to the fish store. What I had started out yesterday planning to cook for dinner was a fine rack of lamb with mint and oregano, but in the best way that inspirations happen I read Martin's post for the pea and mint soup and suddenly I pictured exactly the dish I made last night: Coconut and goda masala crusted rack of lamb with pea and mint ravioli. Here's a pic:
The crust: I mixed a tablespoon each of EVOO and mayonnaise together to create a thick paint and two heaping teaspoons of the goda masala. That was slathered onto the well-trimmed, salted rack and then pressed into a half and half mixture of dessicated (unsweetened) coconut and pank crumbs. A fine mist of EVOO moistened the crumbs and the rack was put into a 450 degree oven until the center clocked in at 130 F degrees, about 30 minutes. The rack was removed and set aside to rest while the ravioli cooked.
The ravioli: What I imagined here was the fruitiness of the coconut connecting with the sweet flavor of the peas, while the mint flavor was a nod to both the Indian origins of the masala and the traditional pairing of mint and lamb. I used double-ply wonton skins (because the skins I bought were a strange brand and too thin), hence the fork-crimped edges you see in the picture, which ensured that all four layers involved in each ravioli stayed together. The filling was made from a mash of frozen peas bound with a little cream cheese, a little bit of chicken broth, salt, grated fresh parmesan cheese, salt and finely chopped fresh mint. Six ravioli total were were poached in simmering salted water laced with EVOO to prevent them from both sticking during cooking and once plated--they were served virgin (unsauced), but for the mint chiffonade garnish.
Our first course was a room temp salad of fresh white asparagus spears on mizuna lettuce drizzled with a ginger-lime vinaigrette. With the main course, I paired a 1996 Napa Valley cab franc (L'Ecosse).
We loved the combinations. The progression of exotic flavors (ginger, lime, mint, masala and coconut) were quite beautiful together, and they turned three familiar but not geographically compatible forms (white asparagus, rack of lamb and ravioli) into a perfect and happy marriage. And the heart of the whole meal--the thing that linked it all together--was your goda masala. Thanks so much for creating this challenge.
