Lamb with wine and blueberry sauce

It must be blueberry season. Every time I go to the store, blueberries are cheaper. First a few pints appeared, then a large box for $8, then the same large box for $7, then two large boxes for $5. And finally an entire case of blueberries (12 pints!) at Stanley's for 98 cents. Not all of them were great, as is typically of large quantities of fruit that cost less than a dollar. I picked through to remove the moldy ones, but the vast majority were good. Well worth the effort for a good price on a seemingly endless supply of blueberries.

So now I need to find some uses for all of these blueberries. Most of them are in my freezer, destined to become smoothies and scones and cobblers. Some of them are in the fridge for snacking, and some got cooked up with some lamb medallions. I found a recipe from Martha Stewart that looked promising (I always trust Martha), and swapped out the prescribed olive paste for some blueberries to inject some summer into this dish.

Lamb medallions with wine and blueberry sauce
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Time: About 30 minutes
Serves: 2 (with leftover potatoes)

Ingredients
Fingerling potatoes (~1.5 pounds)
8 sprigs rosemary, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced/pressed
1 pound lamb medallions
1/2 cup red wine
Handful of blueberries
Handful of arugula

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Toss with half the rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil on a foil-lined baking sheet, and roast for about 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. Check halfway through and shake them around a bit.

3. Meanwhile, dry off the lamb medallions with paper towels and toss with garlic, the other half of the rosemary, and olive oil. Let the meat marinate for at least 20 minutes. 

4. Coat a small skillet with olive oil and heat over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the lamb pieces and any residual olive oil, rosemary, and garlic. Cook for about 2 minutes per side. Don't crowd the pan - if you have a lot of meat, cook it in multiple batches.

5. Remove the meat and let it rest for a few minutes while you make the sauce. Add the wine to the pan and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the pan. Let the wine reduce. Recipes usually say to reduce until the liquid is half the volume, or has thickened so that it coats the back of a spoon, but I usually reduce until I have run out of patience (roughly 5 minutes).

6. Add the blueberries to the pan and continue simmering. Cook until the blueberries have softened but are not falling apart, less than 5 minutes.

7. Top the potatoes and lamb with the blueberries, sauce, and arugula. I added some extra salt from my fancy pink salt grinder.